Hello, Shirley here. So after a work-week’s worth of training and technical’s, guidance and good-bye’s, Becky and I are attempting to fill the metaphorical shoes that Hannah leaves us. I think I speak for both of us when I say that “filling Hannah’s shoes” cannot be the goal of this transition. I don’t think it would be possible. And not only because they are probably ridiculously cool-purchased for $5 on ebay-much hipper than anything I could ever wear-shoes, but because they are HANNAH’S shoes. And she’s just too smart, and talented, and skilled, and perceptive, and engaged to try to “replace”. We carry onward, but we do so because of Hannah, not instead of Hannah.

And I am indeed excited to carry on the tradition of providing an additional voice to Ari’s here on the blog. Hopefully you’ll hear from all of us at one point or another. It’s an amazing group in this narrow little office, and I suspect that each and every one of the Theater J crew has a tidbit or two worth throwing out here.

To start with, I wanted to add some thoughts to my premiere blog post from last week. I realized too late that I’d neglected to answer what might be the most important question of all: what am I most excited about for next year? This is kind of a cop-out but I will say it–everything excites me about next year’s programming, indeed everything that I have read so far or read about.

The easy answer is ANNIE HALL, the play I am actually directing. It’s the one I’ll have the most hands-on role for, a world premiere at that, so a new birth of a new play from a voice new to us (writer Sam Forman). And this play? Funny, honest, hip, stylish, did I mention funny?, and startling art-imitating-life for me. Emerging artists struggling to find their distinctive voices while trying to find a way to live their lives. And be happy. Or at least stable. Or at least decently well-fed. Sam is a delight and the cast we’ve amassed so far are a stellar bunch.

As for the rest of the season, I’ve now had the chance to read three of the plays and to read about the remaining three. ANd I am struck by a connection between ANNIE HALL, HONEY BROWN EYES and SHOLOM ALEICHEIM: LAUGHTER THROUGH TEARS–three plays that couldn’t seem more different–and yet each reveal the powerful force that music can generate. In HONEY BROWN EYES we meet two men divided by heritage and politics such that it would make friendship (and perhaps even presence in the same room) impossible. What does provide a link? Music. A rock band. No longer active, but once? Once so good. Once nearly the best. And the ALEICHEIM piece—a virtuoso story-teller telling fabulous stories from and about the master story-teller of them all–all punctuated with the songs of our fathers. Or our father’s father’s fathers.  More flashbacks: my junior year of high school I played Golda to my brother’s Tevye (and we actually wondered why we had trouble getting dates to the prom) so we had a chance to bring Aleichem’s wonderful stories of his lovable milkman and his family to life. Now to see and hear Theodore BIkel (the most frequent Tevye of them all!) do this piece feels wonderfully full circle for me.

Finally THE ACCIDENT. Not so much with the musical theme. But a play that is as immediate and disturbingly captivating as its eponymous event–a car accident on the side of the road. It’s one you may want to turn away from but I dare you to try.

Of the others, PLONTER (Tangle) is the one I am most curious about, as it is a piece coming to us from the Cameri Theater in Israel from an exciting young playwright and director that gives us what sounds to be a new and different (and funny!) look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  This feels particularly meaningful after the discussion launched by American Theater, that Ari and others engaged in last year, debating how we should (or should not) address this conflict as theater-makers. I say we do. I say we are. I say–let’s keep trying.

Today is my last day at Theater J and this is my last blog entry, for the moment at least, who knows what the future holds in store. I thought I would just re-post for you the letter that I sent to my colleagues and the artists I have worked with.  The same sentiments in the letter holds true for the Theater J audience. I have loved working at Theater J and will hold all of my memories dear.

Dear All:

Tomorrow is my last day at Theater J.  Over the past five years I’ve been lucky to work with wonderful people, I mean all of you.  Theater J has become a second family to me and it’s hard to believe that in a couple of days I won’t be here anymore. It has been an extremely moving experience to pack up my desk, take postcards and mementos off my wall and start saying my goodbyes.  I’m excited for the future as I move up to New York to pursue a MFA in Dramaturgy from Columbia University, but it’s still hard to say goodbye.

I first came to Theater J the Spring of my senior year of college. I took a week off of school to come down to DC and volunteer at the International Jewish Theater Conference. I was at the time focusing on theater and Jewish history at Sarah Lawrence and was interested in finding a way to combine my interests.  Theater J was the perfect fit. I enjoyed the conference, the theater and the people that I met.  The week after graduating, I returned to Theater J and found a home and family as excited as I was about producing new, thought provoking works that touched on our experiences as American Jews.  I have loved interacting with the audience that came to our theater and made many wonderful friends within the DC theater community.  I am also constantly impressed and stimulated by the work being done in the center. This building, of which the theater is just a fraction, provides so much to the community and is really in my mind the pinnacle of what a Jewish organization should be: open, interested, creative, provoking and providing for all who pass through the doors. Aside from saying goodbye to the people I know that it’s going to be a  difficult transition to be no longer working in a Jewish environment.

  
I wish you all the very best and thank you for helping to make my time at Theater J so wonderful.

Hannah Hessel

The first time I met Shirley was at a meeting about Voices from the Changing Middle East: A Festival about two years ago but it feels like I have always known her. I am thrilled that she is taking over the literary and programming aspects of my job. Her new official title is Director of Literary Affairs and Public Programming.  In addition to being a smart cookie, a hip blogger and a good friend she is a talented directer and a company member with Catalyst Theatre.  As she mentions below she’s been connected to our theater for a while: first through meetings, then readings, workshops like Noor, Brownie Points and The Playdoh Golem, and will finally be joining staff and directing our world premiere of Sam Forman’s The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall. Shirley doesn’t have a headshot, like our actor/bloggers but she’s given me permission to use a photo of her that helps to describe her personality.

Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself:
Where did you grow up? How did you first get involved in theater?
 
I grew up in a suburb of Rochester, New York. We lived on the West Side, which was some mild version of “the wrong side of the tracks” and basically meant that:

1. We were of Italian-American heritage (my mother)

2. Most of the adults around us worked in middle management at Eastman Kodak (my parents, both school teachers, were exceptions to that rule.)

3. A lot of my friends went tanning often and managed to tease their bangs into a pretty impressive “claw” (see various do’s here)
 
In first grade, at our PUBLIC SCHOOL, they announced we would be doing a play called “The Littlest Christmas Tree” (which seems awfully iff-y for a public school now that I think about it, but I suspect that as two half-jewish six-year-olds my twin brother and I combined may have been the most Jewish member of our entire first grade class). Anyway, I declared that I should be the lead because I was the shortest person in the class (next to Lenny Pavia) and I was a better reader anyway. For some reason the teacher listened to me and I got the role. From then on, I was pretty smitten with the whole theater thing.
 
I did a lot of high school and community theater growing up, and then eventually went to college for: musical theater, acting and directing—one at a time and in that order.
 
Tell Us a Little About Us:
What was the first show you saw at Theater J? What have you worked on with Theater J? What do you think is unique about Theater J’s audience?
 
My history with Theater J actually started in 1995 following my sophomore year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I’d heard of Ari Roth but I hadn’t been able to schedule a class with him. That summer I played Luisa in The Fantastiks! Another U of M student, Seth Hitsky, played Matt. Seth would rave about Ari as I drove him to and from our rehearsals at the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village, Michigan. I wondered what the big deal about this Ari guy was anyway. Eventually, Seth and I ended up smooching  in the Motown Room. It wasn’t until a bit later that I realized what an anti-Semite Henry Ford had been, and the whole scene seemed kind of ironic. Seth now makes techno music in Chicago, and I will be working with Ari at Theater J. And the world spins madly on.
 
The first show I actually saw at the J was Rocket to the Moon in the fall of 2001 because of another U of M connection—my dear friend Laura was down from New York acting in the play. I also saw Miklat that year and have vague memories of Grady Weatherford in side curls. He insists that he did not have side curls for that show, so maybe I just want that to be true.
 
The first time I worked with Theater J, I think, was directing a 5 x 5 reading when the inimitable Hannah Hessel was out of town. Before that, I’d sent Ari a note after hearing about the first Voices from a Changing Middle East Festival, volunteering to help in whatever capacity they needed. The muddle of Jewish-Islamic relations is something that has troubled me since I visited Israel in 1999. 9/11, and all that came with it, escalated my feelings, and I was frustrated by the one-step-forward, two steps back “peace process” I’d read about in the news. I’d also just directed Two Rooms at Theater Alliance (a play about the hostage crisis in Lebanon in the late 1980s) and was devastated  that things were only getting worse, not better. Ari said he’d put me to work, so I ended up doing the aforementioned 5×5 readings, and then directing a reading of Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed’s play NOOR, which turned into another reading, then another, and another. Then I directed some readings of some other plays, including The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall, and am thrilled to have the opportunity to direct a full production of that play in spring 2009.
 
The Theater J audiences that I have been exposed to are inquisitive, equal parts supportive and demanding, and strikingly intelligent. I don’t think they come to the theater to take it easy. Theater is perceived as a rigorous mental and emotional exercise, which is the way I like it.
  
Random Stuff:
Favorite Jewish playwright (or play)? 
 
Tony Kushner is one of my favorite playwrights, period. I saw both parts of Angels in America on New Year’s eve at the end of 1993, and I truly believed that history was about to crack open—right then and there. Musically– I am a big fan of William Finn, and also dig the direction in which Jason Robert Brown and Adam Guettel are pushing musical theater. As for newer playwrights—I love what I have read of Jason Grote’s (go see Rorschach’s sharp production of This Storm is What We Call Progress). Also Anne Washburn. Also Mark Schultz.

Becky Peters is a recognizable face around Theater J.  You may recognize her from Pangs of the Messiah or Sleeping Arrangements (she will also be appearing next season in The Accident).  She has also appeared off the stage as a very talented and helpful House Manager and Box Office Associate.  It makes complete sense for her to be joining on full time now as the new Marketing Associate.  She is taking over some of the aspects of my job (webmaster, group sales, and outreach) as well as gaining a few more responsibilities as we grow our marketing department.  Becky coming on full time makes me even sadder about leaving, it would have been great fun to work in the office with her.

Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself:
Where did you grow up? How did you first get involved in theater?
 
I was born in NY but at age 5 we moved to NC where we jumped around a bit — I believe the last count was 22 houses — before landing in Marietta, GA when I started high school.  And nope I am not a military kid…but the daughter of a much sought after computer programmer.  My parents have stayed put since then but I have added quite a few more moves taking me through 4 more states and 8 houses.  Whew — I think I am done for a while. 

As far as theatre…I think I have been performing my whole life. At age 3 I told my parents I was going to be Spiderman when I grew up but that might have been an excuse to climb the walls.  I started dancing at age 5 and my first theatre ‘gig’ was at camp around 10 years old when I played Annie in a few scenes- due to my curly hair.  I have been hooked ever since.  
 
Tell Us a Little About Us:
What was the first show you saw at Theater J? What have you worked on with Theater J? What do you think is unique about Theater J’s audience?

I have had the great pleasure of being able to play on stage with Theater J in both Sleeping Arrangements  and Pangs of the Messiah along with a couple Tea at Two readings.  Additionally,  I was just hired to play Tami in The Accident which is bringing back one of my favorite directors (Sinai Peter who directed Pangs last season) and I just learned that the cast is filled with people who I absolutely love working with so it’s going to be a complete joy!

There are many wonderful things that come to mind about the J audience but two that ring loudly for me are:  their intelligence and wonderful sense of humor.  After every performance of Pangs of the Messiah we had talk backs and it was incredible what I learned by just listening to the compassion, knowledge and enthusiasm that the audience brought to each and every discussion.  
 
Random Stuff:
Favorite Jewish playwright (or play)? Show you are most excited about next year?
 
First let me say that although I have read a lot of plays it’s not a habit of mine to know their heritage so I had to wikipedia this answer and I was completely surprised that some my favorite playwrights are Jewish!  I love it — new things every day!  So the short list that I narrowed it down to are: Motti Lerner(!), Tony Kushner, Donald Marguiles, Arthur Miller, Wendy Wasserstein and Alfred Uhry….and the more I am reading the more I want to add but I will keep you wanting more. 

What I am excited about next year?  Besides The Accident… I have to say there are quite a few that I am intrigued by.  I am a long time Woody Allen fan so The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall already has me hooked and then I am curious about Ari’s adaptation of Seagull (due to my college turn as Masha) and finally Dai is one I have been wanting to see for quite sometime.  So in essence I would blatantly suggest that season tickets are a really good idea (if you don’t have them already)!

I first met Alexander when working on Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day at Rorschach Theater. As he mentions below, that show was also his first time meeting Ari and becoming acquainted with Theater J.  In working with Alexander I found a true friend and compatriot in theater.  I wasn’t the only one to notice Alexander’s skills and passions. In the past few years he has become a regular face on DC stages and even made his directorial debut earlier this year. Theater J is thrilled that he has decided to join us in the next year for three productions: Honey Brown Eyes, The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall and The Seagull on 16th Street. In addition to his presence on stage Alexander will  be  our Artistic Associate-in-Residence, helping out on discussions and writing for the Theater J Blog.

Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself:
Where did you grow up? How did you first get involved in theater?

I was born in Peterborough, England. I moved with my parents to the US in 1993, to Reston, Virginia. I attended middle school and high school in the suburbs of Washington DC and moved to New York City for university.

The first performance I remember being involved in was a production of ‘Robin Hood’. I must have been about 9 or 10 years old and I played the Sheriff of Nottingham. I don’t recall much about the performance other than that I called people ’scum’ a lot and it still stands as my grandmother’s favorite performance.
 
Tell Us a Little About Us:
What was the first show you saw at Theater J? What have you worked on with Theater J? What do you think is unique about Theater J’s audience?

My introduction to working with Theater J was in the form of being a participant in one of the many public readings throughout the year. I forget exactly what the play was (are you noticing a consistent lack of memory?) but for the sake of the story let’s say it was ‘The Odd Couple’. Neil Simon’s Jewish.

I met Ari Roth when working on Rorschach Theatre’s ‘A Bright Room Called Day’ which we performed for some of his students in the lobby of the JCC (otherwise known as The Echo Chamber)

My first full show with Theater J was ‘Pangs of the Messiah’. This was a unique experience in terms of the Theater J audience (although it may have been a unique experience in general) because it inspired deeply involved and passionate post-show discussions. We seemingly inspired empathizers and infuriated others, but most were willing to stay after the show and engage in dialogue rather than make snap judgments and leave the work purely in the theatre. This kind of engagement with the work removes it from the realm of ephemera and lets performers know that we might actually be doing something worthwhile. Most of don’t just want to be entertainers, we hope to inspire and move people to think and change.
 
Random Stuff:
Favorite Jewish playwright (or play)? Show you are most excited about next year?

As far as Jewish playwrights go, I really like Itamar Moses. I loved ‘Bach at Leipzig’ and ‘The Four of Us’ (got the chance to perform in the first with Rep Stage last year, it was absurdly fun). I haven’t read ‘Bent’ by Martin Sherman in a long while, but I remember really liking that play. Wallace Shawn is pretty terrific and I can’t decide whether I’m a fan of Wendy Wasserstein.

Next year I’m excited about all of the productions I’m involved in for different reasons. The common thread I see running through them and the current plays I’m working on is ‘identity’ (more about that soon). Each of the roles I’m taking on are so different and so uniquely challenging. I’m glad to be working with the people involved in the shows, some I’ve worked with before and others who will be a completely new experience.

Hannah here. As Ari mentioned in his post a week or so ago, I am leaving Theater J after 5 long and wonderful years to pursue a MFA in Dramaturgy from Columbia University.  I have a week left at my desk. A week left surrounded by the mementos of the shows I’ve worked on from Wendy Wasserstein’s Welcome to My Rash and Third to my baby, The Dybbuk to the recent David in Shadow and Light. I am excited though to be leaving this desk, this office and this theater in capable and passionate hands.  It’s very sad for me to look at the season listing and know that I won’t be here to help make the next year amazing but I have no doubt that the shows will be amazing.

Over the next couple of days, I will be posting little web-interviews with the three people who will be joining Ari on this blog as I back away. Two of them Shirley Serotsky and Becky Peters will be taking over my jobs and one, Alexander Strain is this year’s Artistic Associate-in-Residence.

Hi Friends,

Spent most of last week in the north of Israel at Kfar Blum, just where the Dan and the Hatzpani River meet up to form the Jordan. My nephew Miko did an outstanding job as a young bar-mitzvah leading the service, bringing Israelis and North American family and friends together. His mom and dad put together an amazing week of unique tour spots up north, including a day long outing with Friends of the Earth Middle East which is engaged in a trilateral effort to clean up the Jordan. Jeep tour of the Upper Golan Heights, touring the artist colony of Ein Hod, the British detention center of Atlit where my mother came as an orphan on Youth Aliyah in 1945, and the Ben Shemen Youth Village where she spent almost two years with her sister.  A beautiful history retold and fascinating stuff.

Also attended a day long conference on the revisionist Zionist and Jewish Militia organizer Hillel Kook, subject of the play THE ACCOMPLICES by Bernard Weinraub which I’ve written about and we’re still considering for production one day. Professionally, had important meetings at the Cameri Theater about PLONTER and with Hillel Mitelpunt and director Sinai Peter on THE ACCIDENT. He’s accepted 90% of the proposed script edits we’ve proposed and we’ve done some great cuts as well, while really learning so much more about the play and exploring the personal politics of the drama… Really enjoying that collaboration, now more than ever. And thrilled that we’ve got such a superb cast to announce for THE ACCIDENT with Jen Mendenhall, Paul Morella, Becky Peters and Jenna Sokolowski joining Michael Tolaydo. Really a great group, and all of them in love with their director, Sinai, who’s so much fun to dig down deep with.

Well, the meter’s running out here in Javea and it’s our anniversary (mine and Kate’s), as well as the end of the Theater J fiscal year. Anyone wanna donate a present? Be well, all…

ar

Got this on my Facebook Inbox.  An ad worth reckoning with.

 J Street ran an ad in The New York Times today calling pro-Israel organizations out on their startling silence in the wake of the Gaza ceasefire, talks with Syria and overtures to Lebanon. Check out the ad here:
http://www.jstreet.org/newyorktimes

Some very moving days and nights here… Leaving for Israel shortly. Meetings with the Cameri later this week, and with THE ACCIDENT team, including playwright Hillel Mitelpunkt, composer Hannah Hakohen, and director Sinai Peter who’s still here in DC now auditioning; we’ll be continuing our conversations next week. I will write a little from overseas, as has been my wont, but i won’t write excessively. it’s summer, for crying out loud.

So i turn our blog over to Hannah Hessel, our outgoing Literary Director in charge of on line communication as well, and she’ll be doing some introductory interviews with new staff as well as our wonderful Associate Artist in Residence for the season, Alexander Strain.

So I leave tonight with wonderful memories from our final show (so beautifully sung; so revealing as to what next steps want to be taken), as well as our great cast party at Hank’s, and last night’s beautiful memorial celebration for Bill Hamlin. It was wonderful to have the radio and theater community congregated in our theater, paying joyful homage to the wonderful gentleman Biil. A nice closure to the season…

Dear Ari:
After reading the Post’s review, I came to “David” expecting to disappointed. Instead I was delighted. The production is a risky, hugely ambitious endeavor, which mostly succeeds. I may be prejudiced, since I am studying the story of David and Saul right now. I wonder if those who only have vague Sunday school memories of the tale can follow the play. The biggest off note was the anachronistic costuming… I guess this was the obligatory bow a playwright must make to the reigning gods of postmodernism.
- Joe Davidson, Silver Spring, MD

Dear Ari,
Just came back from Theater j and wanted to tell you how much we loved the show. We are in the Storahtelling Troupe at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Synagogue and can appreciate the effort, the creativity, the talent, and the midrach that went into this production. I do not understand the critics who didn’t take to it. We thought it was brilliant and wish that it had had a better run. It is Washington’s loss that it didn’t. All the best and keep up the good work.
- Tamar Lieberman