Sid Caesar once dominated American television so completely that it was hard to imagine Saturday nights without him. In the early 1950s, his live sketch-comedy program “Your Show of Shows” drew tens of millions of viewers. That show and its other iterations — “The Admiral Broadway Revue,” “Caesar’s Hour” and “Sid Caesar Invites You” — […]
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“I want to change the way I wear my shoes,” Brooklyn-based Yiddishist and musician Ira Khonen Temple sings on the first track on their debut album, “Strange Tongue/Mistame Loshn.” “But I don’t wanna change the way I say ‘hello,’” Temple continues. “I wanna say it in my fruity voice and hear the birds around rejoice.” […]
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Shortly after Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, Seth Rudetsky, a well-known New York City theater fixture and a host on Sirius XM’s On Broadway station, received an email from an American living in Israel who expressed confusion at the relative silence of the theater community concerning the plight of the hostages. At first, Rudetsky […]
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What’s a Jew to do on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Sure, you could take advantage of New York City’s empty streets, appreciate a day off from work if you have one, and hang out with your family. You could also partake in a time-honored Jewish Christmas tradition: Chinese food and a movie. But if […]
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Jewish author, actor and playwright Alice Eve Cohen was a newly minted Princeton University graduate in 1977 when her mother very suddenly died. “We were just beginning to become close … after having a very stormy relationship for a number of years,” Cohen said. “To lose her in that moment, where everything seemed possible for […]
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Call me a softie, but I love a traditional Christmas Eve. If you don’t find me eating Chinese food and watching a movie, I might be catching Gotham Comedy Club’s “A Very Jewish Christmas!” show or comedian Joel Chasnoff’s “Christmas for the Jews.” Or I may just stay home, light a fire and listen to […]
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It’s the winter holiday season and half-Jewish heartthrob Timothée Chalamet, following his 2024 portrayal of legendary folk musician Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” is once again playing a movie role based on a Jewish celebrity. This time, Chalamet, who is named for his Jewish grandfather, is swapping a guitar for a ping pong paddle […]
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When writing a review for a play you haven’t seen, you have to wait until the end of the show to start writing your piece. But when you attend violinist Itzhak Perlman’s 80th birthday klezmer concert — featuring musicians from acclaimed klezmer bands like The Klezmer Conservatory Band and The Klezmatics — your review can anticipate several […]
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There are some people who only want the warm embrace of their loved ones for Hanukkah. As for the rest of us — well, thank goodness for Hanukkah presents! Whether your family are one-and-done types of Hanukkah gift-givers or you’re the kind of mishpacha to give presents each and every night, we’ve rounded up a […]
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A rare, 14th-century handwritten Hebrew Bible from Spain will hit the auction block at Sotheby’s New York this month. The medieval work, adorned with calligraphic art, is a Tanakh, or Five Books of Moses plus the Book of Prophets and Writings. It is estimated to fetch between $1.5 and $2.5 million when it is up […]
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