JEWISH NEWS THE CHICAGO March 13-19, 2015/22 Adar 5775 www.chicagojewishnews.com One Dollar JAN’S STAND Rep. Jan Schakowsky Is feeling panicked in Jewish genes? Israel gets ready to elect a prime minister Rabbi Tucker on a day to unplug New theater for Windy City 7 Chicago Jewish News - March 13-19, 2015 Arts & Entertainment Beginning days New troupe tries to inspire, amuse Chicago viewers By Pauline Dubkin Yearwood Managing Editor Amy Rubenstein she said in a recent phone interview, “has been in my life as long as I can remember.” She lived in Israel for a year, working in several Englishspeaking theater companies, then moved back to Chicago and worked as an actor for a year. Eventually she moved to Los Angeles and, in need of a day job to supplement her acting, started a small real estate company. “Real estate was booming,” she says. “It took over my life.” She married and had children, now ages six and four. “Life got in the way” of her theatrical career, she says. Four years ago, she and her husband, Milan Rubenstein, decided to move back to Chicago to be closer to family. That’s when Amy Rubenstein started thinking about what she could do to broaden the age and lifestyle range of Chicago theatrical audiences. Nearly a year ago she bought property at 3014 Irving Park Road in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood and set about developing the Windy City Playhouse along with her husband and brother, Josh Rubenstein, the three partners in the enterprise. The first show of the new Equity theater’s first season, Deborah Zoe Laufer’s “End Days,” often described as a “post-911 comedy,” opens March 19 for a run through April 26. The season of four plays also includes “Stick Fly,” local playwright Lydia Diamond’s witty family-reunion drama; Peter Ackerman’s funny tale of three couples, “Things You Shouldn’t “About as much fun as you will have in a movie this year, but eat first or you’ll go out of your mind.” –The Jewish Week “A delightful tale of Jewish life in America.” –Judy Gelman Myers, New Jewish Cinema ★★★★★! –Eater.com “A grand time! Infectious and appealing. A doc with intelligence, verve and style.” –Film Journal International Cohen Media Group Presents A documentary by ERIK GREENBERG ANJOU Featuring Ziggy Gruber TONY ROBERTS Jerry Stiller Freddie Roman DeliManMovie.com ON PAG E 1 2 EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENTS STARTS MARCH 13 RENAISSANCE PLACE CINEMA AMC SHOWPLACE VILLAGE CROSSING 18 7000 CARPENTER ROAD, SKOKIE 888AMC4FUN AMC NORTHBROOK COURT 14 AMC RIVER EAST 21 1525 LAKE COOK RD, NORTHBROOK COURT, NORTHBROOK 888AMC4FUN 322 EAST ILLINOIS STREET, CHICAGO 888AMC4FUN TICKETS FROM JUST $29! “THE BEST MUSICAL OF THE 20TH CENTURY.” TIME MAGAZINE “THIS DEFINES DREAM CASTING.” BROADWAY.COM Rodgers and Hammerstein’s STARRING STEVEN PASQUALE and LAURA OSNES All-star cast directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford and conducted by David Chase APRIL 10 - MAY 3 New Lyric Opera production generously made possible by The Negaunee Foundation, an Anonymous Donor, Robert S. and Susan E. Morrison, Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Reyes, Liz Stiffel, Mrs. Herbert A. Vance and Mr. and Mrs. William C. Vance, and Jim and Vicki Mills/Jon and Lois Mills. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CAROUSEL. Music by RICHARD RODGERS. Books and Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II. Based on Ferenc Molnár’s Play “Liliom”. As adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer. Original Dances by Agnes de Mille. Fyvush Finkel CohenMedia.net PORT CLINTON SQUARE, 1850 2ND ST, HIGHLAND PARK 8474327903 S E E W I N DY Larry King And a cast of deli mavens far and wide! JARROD EMICK DENYCE GRAVES MATTHEW HYDZIK JENN GAMBATESE When former Chicago actor Amy Rubenstein returned with her family to her hometown from Los Angeles four years ago, she noticed a striking fact about theater audiences in our city: There was a generation missing. “We would go out to theater and find our peers weren’t there,” Rubenstein says. “I didn’t see people there in an age range of 25 to 65. We were really missing the next generation of theatergoers.” She started thinking about doing something to rectify the problem. Rubenstein grew up in Deerfield, attended Solomon Schechter schools in Northbrook and Skokie and graduated from Brandeis University, where she studied theater, an enterprise that, The story of the men behind the food behind the tradition. LYRICOPERA.ORG | 312.827.5600 LONG LIVE PASSION 12 Chicago Jewish News - March 13-19, 2015 Community Calendar Windy CONTINUED F RO M PAG E 7 Saturday Say Past Midnight”; and “Chapter Two,” Neil Simon’s popular romantic comedy about finding love the second time around. “We tried to figure out how we could connect with” audiences, Rubenstein says. “We wanted to make the productions themselves very accessible and contemporary in tone, things people can relate to. We didn’t want them to be depressing. I think sometimes people get scared away (from theater) because they don’t want to get depressed. “We don’t want to be light and fluffy,” she adds. “When we say entertaining it doesn’t mean we don’t want to have depth to our work. We’re trying to be the gateway theater for people who may not go to theater, people who aren’t necessarily thinking theater is what they want to do on a Saturday night. They are going to come see a show and enjoy it and next weekend maybe they’ll branch out to other theaters.” At the new playhouse, “we’ve created a space that is a theater but also functions as a lounge. The seats are big swivel chairs and there is table service – the food and drinks come to you,” Rubenstein says. As for the play itself, the award-winning “End Days” follows a Jewish family that starts to fall apart after the Sept. 11 tragedy. The husband, who worked at the World Trade Center, loses his job and goes into a depression. The mother has some private conversations with Jesus (who appears as a character in the play, along with Stephen Hawking and several other notables) and becomes a fanatical born-again Christian convinced the end of the world is coming, naturally confusing the couple’s teenage daughter. The day is saved by the new boy-next-door, who, although not Jewish, is planning his bar mitzvah and appears as “the light in the show, a happy, optimistic kid who helps everyone turn things around,” Rubenstein says. Meanwhile, the new space recently had its inaugural outing – not for a play but a fund-raiser for Chicago Jewish Day School, which the Rubensteins’ children attend. But the purpose was actually twofold, Rubenstein says: “I’m trying to engage the (Jewish) community in theater as well.” “End Days” opens March 19 and continues through April 26 at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 Irving Park Road, Chicago. For times, ticket prices and other information visit windycityplayhouse.com or call (312) 374-3196. March 14 Congregation Kol Emeth presents Athol Fugard’s “Blood Knot.” 8 p.m., also 8 p.m. Sunday, March 21 and 28, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 15, 22 and 29. 5130 W. Touhy Ave., Skokie. $25, $22 members, $10 students. oldworldtheatre@gmail.co m or (312) 857-8487. Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie shows film “R’Elimelech and the Classic Legacy of Brotherhood” written and produced by Rabbi Hanoch Teller. 8:30 p.m., 4059 Dempster, Skokie. $5 door, $3 advance. Reservations, SkokieChabad.org or (847) 677-1770. Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership presents Deidre Berger, director of AJC’s Berlin office, speaking on “The Upsurge of Anti-Semitism and the Future of Jewish Life in Europe.” 7 p.m., 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. $18, $8 students. Spertus.edu or (312) 322-1773. Monday March 16 Skokie Public Library presents author Karen L. Kaplan speaking on her new memoir, “Descendants of Rajgrod-Learning to Forgive.” 7 p.m., 5215 Oakton, Skokie. (847) 673-7774 Wednesday Sunday March 18 March 15 JCC Chicago presents JJAMZ Family Concert featuring singer and songwriter Mr. Dave. 10-11 a.m., Mayer Kaplan JCC, 5050 Church, Skokie. $5. gojcc.org/jjamz or (847) 763-3603. Congregation Beth Shalom hosts H.U.G.S. Chocolate Seder for families with special needs. 1-2:30 p.m., 3433 Walters Ave., Northbrook. ecastellano@bethshalomnb. org or (847) 498-4100. Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center shows film, “The Death of Captain Pilecki” followed by discussion with actor Marek Probosz. 1:30-4 p.m., 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. Free for museum members and with museum admission. Reservations required, ilholocaustmuseum.org/eve nts. Bookends and Beginnings presents author Dina Elenbogen’s launch reading of “Drawn from Water: an American Poet, an Ethiopian Family, an Israeli Story.” 3 p.m., 1712 Sherman Ave., Evanston. (847) 475-6845 or dinaelenbogen.com. Ida Crown Jewish Academy hosts Dr. Edward A. Crown Scholarship Dinner. 5:30-8 p.m., Skokie Holiday Inn, 5300 W. Touhy, Skokie. $100 alumni under age 30; $200 general public. dzwelling@icja.com or (773) 973-1450 Ext. 111. Highland Park Hadassah holds lunch and multimedia program with educator and lecturer Helene Turner speaking on “What a Metamorphosis: China from 1980s to Today.” Noon, Chicago North Shore Chapter Hadassah Office, 60 Revere Drive, Suite 800, Northbrook. $18. RSVP, (847) 926-8982. CJE SeniorLife presents Weinberg Community for Senior Living’s 3rd annual Taste of Passover. 4:30-6:30 p.m. ,1551 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield. Registration, Michelle.Bernstein@cje.net or (847) 236-7852. Chicago Chai Tech Professional Networking Chapter holds meeting and roundtable discussion on plans for 2015 and 2016. 6:30-9 p.m., Merrill Corporation, 311 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 1800, Chicago . RSVP required, bruce.malter@merrillcorp.com. Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation Sisterhood hosts Passover Women’s Seder led by Rebbetzin Julie Weill. 7:30 p.m., 4500 W. Dempster, Skokie. $12 Sisterhood members with reservations, $15 non-members and door. Reservations, (847) 675-4141. SPOTLIGHT United States Holocaust Memorial Museum presents “Just Following Orders? How Ordinary People Became Perpetrators,” with Museum historian Edna Friedberg interviewing Christopher Browning, author and professor of history emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Noon on Thursday, March 19 at Mesirow FinanChristopher Browning cial, James C. Tyree Auditorium, 353 N. Clark St., Chicago. Presentation is free. Registration required at ushmm.org/events/browning-chicago-march19. For more information, midwest@ushmm.org or (847) 433-8099. her book “Pioneers & Partisans: Soviet Jewish Youth Confront the Nazi Genocide.” 6:30-8 p.m., 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. Free for museum members and with museum admission. Reservations required, ilholocaustmuseum.org/events. Jewish Council on Urban Affairs hosts 2015 annual Passover Seder. 6:30-8:30 p.m., Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, 6601 S. Kedzie, Chicago. $25. ($5 chartered bus ticket from Spertus, 610 S. Michigan, Chicago; leaves 5:30 p.m.) info@jcua.org or (312) 6630960. Chicago YIVO Society presents Columbia University lecturer in Yiddish, Agi Leguto, speaking on “Possessed by the Past: Dybbuks, Postmemory and Identity in Modern Jewish Culture.” 7 p.m., Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave., Evanston. (312) 408-9410. Friday March 20 Congregation Beth Shalom presents “Shabbat with a Twist” for families with children up to Pre-K. 11-11:45 a.m., 3433 Walters Ave., Northbrook. (847) 4984100. Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation holds Prospective Member Music and Pizza Evening. 6 p.m., 4500 W. Dempster, Skokie. RSVP, (847) 675-4141. Thursday March 19 Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center presents Anika Walke discussing Sunday March 22 Congregation B’nai Tikvah presents Emory University Professor Deborah Lipstadt speaking at its annual JUF event. 10:30 a.m., 1558 Wilmot Road, Deerfield. (847) 945-0470. Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center presents staged reading of “In Their Voices” by actors from Writers Theatre. 1:303 p.m., 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. Free for museum members and with museum admission. Reservations required, ilholocaustmuseum.org/events. Congregation Beth Judea presents 9th annual Passover Wine Tasting with opportunity to order wine at discount. 3-5 p.m., Route 83 and Hilltop Road, Long Grove. $10. lneiman@bethjudea.org or (847) 634-0777. StandWithUs Chicago presents “Orchestra of Exiles” followed by Q&A with director Josh Aronson. 4 p.m., Northbrook Court AMC, 1525 Lake Cook Road, Northbrook. $15 advance; $20 door. PeggyS@standwithus.com. Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation presents Amy Stoken, Chicago regional director of the American Jewish Committee, speaking on “The Rising Tide of AntiSemitism.” 6:30 p.m., 4500 W. Dempster, Skokie. Reservations, (847) 675-4141. Continuum Theater hosts 2015 Midwest Jewish Play Writing Contest with actors reading from three new plays and audience voting for their favorite. 7 p.m., Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, Chicago. $10. continuumtheater.org or (800) 838-3006 ext. 1.