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 888AMC4FUN
AMC NORTHBROOK COURT 14
AMC RIVER EAST 21
1525 LAKE COOK RD, NORTHBROOK COURT, NORTHBROOK 888AMC4FUN
322 EAST ILLINOIS STREET, CHICAGO 888AMC4FUN
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 8474327903
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.