Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Charlotte’ and ‘My Father’s Secrets’ Animate the Holocaust

The animated feature film Charlotte chronicles the unfolding of her personal and creative development in Berlin between 1933 and 1939 and her temporary haven in France thereafter. While its emphasis remains on her autobiography, the dangers posed by Nazi antisemitism loom in the background with a few paintings depicting a Nazi rally, her expulsion from the Academy of Arts on racial grounds, Kristallnacht, and her father’s return as a physically broken man from being interned at Sachsenhausen after the Nazi rampage in 1938. [Laurie Baron]

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Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Danny Kaye

Most of Kaye’s films were light-hearted including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Inspector General, White Christmas, On the Riviera, The Court Jester, and the biographical Hans Christian Andersen and The Five Pennies about jazz musician Red Nichols. But he also had a serious side, playing a Holocaust survivor in the TV film Skokie. [SDJW staff]

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Holocaust, Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Shari Lewis

In 1960, the NBC network signed her for The Shari Lewis Show, which stayed on the air through September 1963. Among her many puppet friends were Lamb Chop, a sock with eyes; Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.  [SDJA Staff]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Elmo’s Not Good at Dreidel and Other Tidbits from Sesame Place

“Growing, learning, sharing kindness, and acceptance of others” are the watchwords of Sesame Place.  The Sesame Street theme park’s employees say they practice these values whether in day-to-day activities or at special events like last December’s Chanukah celebration that featured playing dreidel with Elmo. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

A Creative Set for Upcoming ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Production

Actors will move the suitcases and trunks around the stage “rather than having anything coming from off-stage, so we are keeping the wings basically free and open, so the actors have space to enter and exit from,” Schein explained. With a chuckle, Schein said “I’m almost calling the production ‘Fiddler on the Luggage.’ [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘The Zone of Interest’ review: In this unforgettable Holocaust film, life outside of Auschwitz is devastatingly normal

Published by Chicago Tribune A singular affront, in ways more conventionally wrenching movie treatments of the Holocaust such as “Schindler’s List” never were, “The Zone of Interest” withholds as much as it reveals, reorienting the audience’s perspective on the 20th century’s defining atrocity. It is not for everyone, needless to say. Nothing is. But writer-director

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Holocaust, Nordot, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘The Wiz’: A Celebration of Color and Dance 

Before we get into the actors, let’s talk about the sets…  wow!!! Using an LED projection screen as the background, the colorful scenes used a variety of illustration styles. Some backgrounds looked like they came out of the pages of children’s books; others were hyper-realistic. [Sandi Masori]

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San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

San Diego International Jewish Film Festival Celebrates 34th Season with In-Person Lineup, Jan. 31 – Feb. 11 and Virtual, Feb. 11-18

Film enthusiasts can attend in-person screenings at the David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre, while virtual film screenings are available on demand beginning on Feb. 11 and will remain available through Feb 18. [SDIJFF Press Release]

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Press Release, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Natalie Portman: ‘Method acting is a luxury not afforded to women!’

Published by BANG Showbiz English Natalie Portman isn’t able to practice method acting because she is a woman. The 42-year-old actress – who has Alpeh, 12, and six-year-old Amalia with husband Benjamin Millepied – has carved out a successful career in Hollywood since starting out in showbusiness as a child and has even won an

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Jewish Celebrities, Nordot, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Soupy Sales

The national Soupy Sales Show featured non-stop jokes, slapstick, and signature pie-in-the-face routines.  Famous musicians often appeared as guests on the show, which also featured such puppets as  “White Fang,” “Black Tooth,” “Pokie the Lion,” and “Hippy the Hippo.” [SDJW staff report]

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Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Adolph Zukor

He invested in a chain of theaters, leading in 1912 to Zukor establishing the Famous Players Film Company, later through mergers to become Paramount Pictures, with studios on both coasts.  Zukor purchased chains of movie theaters, guaranteeing audiences for the films he produced with such well-known stars as  Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. (SDJW staff report]

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Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Bonnie Franklin

Bonnie Franklin (January 6, 1944-March 1, 2013) was remembered for her role as the single mother Ann Romano in the 1975-1984 television series One Day at a Time. Created by Norman Lear, the series addressed a variety of social issues including premarital sex, sexual harassment, and suicide. [SDJW staff report]

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Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday

Our Shtetl San Diego County: ‘Shabbat Markets’ Scheduled at Lawrence Family JCC

On three upcoming Thursdays — Jan. 25, March 21, May 23 – the “Shabbat market” will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. outside the Lawrence Family JCC in the areas known as the Jerri-Ann & Gary Jacobs Family Harmony Village, Hannah & Mark Glieberman Playground, and the Sharon & David Wax Family Pavilion. [SDJW staff report]

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Israel, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire