Category: Women’s Performance Community

Beit Hillel Theater Workshop, CBDB Productions, Crossroads Theater Shed, Israel Musicals, Starcatcher, Theater And Theology, Theatre Zion, Women's Performance Community, Year Review

Year In Review: 2022

JET

The Jerusalem community has experienced yet another vibrant year of theater. We have bounced back from the pandemic with resilience and a continued passion for our craft, and it paid off. 2022 was full of exciting productions and other events within our community, including the following highlights.

The year started off strong with Theater and Theology’s production of The Blessing of a Broken Heart. This thought-provoking play took place at the Khan Theatre back in January.

Also in January, Theater in The Rough held their second Shakespeare Monologues performance near the Arnona Promenade.

The next show was After Rome by CBDB Productions. The performances occurred in February at the Khan Theatre and this powerful play left a meaningful impact on its audience.

March was a big month for Jerusalem’s theater community. It began with Whisper Freedom by the Women’s Performance Community. This musical is centered around the struggles of Soviet Jews in the 1970s, and it took place at the IASA Theater.

Theater and Theology also held more performances of The Blessing of a Broken Heart in mid-March. This time, they performed at Beit Mazia. The show continued to have a profound impact on its audience.

Additionally, Starcatcher held performances of Heathers all throughout March. This rock musical took place at Beit Mazia, and the dark yet comedic nature of the show captivated its audience.

Another production that took place in March was The Broadway Cure by LOGON. This original show set in the near post-pandemic future occurred at the Jerusalem Theater.

The final event of March was the Young Playwrights and Performers Winter Theater Festival held by Crossroads Theater Shed. This program gave teens the opportunity to learn about theater and playwriting with the help of mentors. The performances took place at the Khan Theatre.

In April, CBDB Productions produced The Candlesticks at the Khan Theatre. This show was in honor of Yom Hashoah, and there was a special Yom Hashoah ceremony before each performance.

Theatre Zion’s production of Peace Warriors also took place at the Khan Theatre in May. This satirical yet witty play centered around the anti-Israel attitudes at elite college campuses in America.

In June, Israel Musicals produced a workshop of The Four. This new, uplifting musical comedy occurred at the Khan Theatre.

Encore! Educational Theater Company also produced H.M.S. Pinafore in June. This family-friendly Gilbert & Sullivan musical took place at the Masorti High School Auditorium.

Another production that occurred was The Geography of Night by Danny Paller. The performances took place at the end of June and beginning of July.

The summer continued with even more projects and productions. Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: in motion was produced by Theater in the Rough. The performances occurred all throughout August at Bloomfield Park, along with two talks exploring the play.

Crossroads Theater Shed then produced their Young Playwrights and Performers Summer Theater Festival. This event occurred at the end of August at the Khan Theatre.

Lastly, The Magic of Musicals by Encore! held performances in late August and early September at the Khan Theatre. This exciting youth performance featured songs performed in previous Encore productions.

In addition to these performances, we continued with some of the community events we held last year. We had our third annual JET community picnic, and Broadway With a Twist has continued to host their Broadway mic nights.

As for the upcoming year, Encore! just held auditions for their upcoming production of Hello, Dolly! and Beit Hillel Theater Workshop also held auditions for Oliver! The Musical for their annual Hanukkah performance. Starcatcher is also holding auditions for Into The Woods on October 24th-26th. Mikva the Musical will be performing in October and Raise Your Spirits Theatre will be performing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Jerusalem in December. Additionally, Rhinoceros Productions begins performances for their production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf on December 1st. Stay tuned for information about these performances and more!

We are so proud of our community and everything we have accomplished in 2022. Shana Tovah and here’s to everything that 2023 will bring!

Beit Hillel Theater Workshop, Ben Bard Players, CBDB Productions, Crossroads Theater Shed, Encore, Israel Musicals, Raise Your Spirits, Starcatcher, Theater And Theology, Theatre Zion, What's New, Women's Performance Community, Year Review

Theater is Still Here – Year in Review 2021

JET

 

That’s all folks, another year of theater wrapped! Unfortunately, as we all know, Covid-19 is still with us and has caused some performances to be canceled or postponed in 2021-2022, along with one major theatrical space going out of commission. Fortunately theater is still with us, and many of the postponed productions still had live performances. Companies were resilient with keeping their hopes alive to see their productions happen. There have been many innovative ways to keep our community going and there are plenty more productions on the way this coming year in 2022.

First we had the wonderful Shakespeare Monologue Presentations which were done outdoors near the beautiful Tayelet by Theater In the Rough in February 2021 after having to figure out maneuvering within the lockdowns. A dozen performers acted out monologues from Shakespeare’s plays in front of some 30 audience members . It was so successful that Theater in the Rough is planning another round in 2022.  

Although Beit Hillel Theater Workshop had to postpone their usual Chanukah performance, they were able to perform Aida this past May! Six months’ wait didn’t stop them, and performers were welcomed by a very appreciative audience just starting to come see the theater again.

As things started to open up, Raise Your Spirits put on the original show Rebecca! Mother of Two Dynasties over the summer. They even had an encore performance later in the year. 

One way we saw innovation was Beit Hillel Theater Workshop’s Disney Live in Concert. This company decided to do something completely new this past summer and performed a compilation of fun Disney songs for audiences in the Hebrew University Rachel Simon Theater with many children enjoying their favorite sing-alongs.

Back from being postponed in 2020, Theater in the Rough put together a raving performance of Henry IV: In Motion in their usual spot at the Bloomfield Gardens (with masks of course). 

Crossroads Theater Shed, a new company for youth that started right before the Covid lockdowns put up a Young Playwrights and Performers Theater Festival live in the Khan Theatre at the end of August. After doing virtual theater festivals, the young people were ready to get back on stage with their own original works. They had been mentored by playwrights from the USA, finding hybrid virtual opportunities to help them learn. We can expect a second festival for Winter 2022!

Then another show which was postponed for a whole year but recently went up during Chanukah was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Israel Musicals, performed in a new theater space in Pisgat Ze’ev.

Chanukah was a lively time for theater as not only did Israel Musicals perform but Beit Hillel Theater Workshop put on a wonderful performance of The Little Mermaid in their usual Chanukah slot, another Disney classic brought to the Jerusalem stage. 

Ben Bard Players also had their rendition of The Consul, The Tramp and America’s Sweetheart postponed by many months but was able to bring it to a live stage at the Khan Theatre around Chanukah time with a great audience.

And to finish off the year 2021, Encore! Educational Theatre Company brought the classic, Annie, back to the stage. They cast two Annies for the show to make sure “the show would go on” in case of a Covid-19 issue. Maybe the community will start using more understudies in roles? Another innovation?

Before all the live theater started happening again, virtual productions still took place throughout the year. Crossroads Theater Shed’s 2nd Virtual Theater Festival taking place in February, Encore! and WPC releasing their previous works of Ruddigore, Hidden, Count the Stars, and more online for audiences to see while still at home.

We had our 2nd JET Community Picnic in the summer after our last one before Covid-19 in 2019 introducing new production companies and other news for our community with a gathered group of community members old and new. 

Broadway With A Twist was created with the help of JET and has started to take place every month at Biratenu.

We also launched a JET Community survey to share ideas for the future and see what our community needs and wants are. The survey is still open for a few more weeks.

And after all this we already have a great lineup for this coming year! The Blessing of a Broken Heart by Theater and Theology, which just was postponed due to Covid-19 will have dates in the future for live performances, After Rome by CBDB Productions opens in February at the Khan Theatre, Heathers by Starcatcher opens in March at Beit Mazia and Whisper Freedom by WPC opens at the end of February at IASA Theater, a production by Theatre Zion is coming, and more. 

Theatre is still alive and even podcasts have been started to promote shows, specifically by Starcatcher.

We hope that live theater keeps coming back this year in our community and as we can see there is plenty to look forward to including the new and innovative.

Here’s to another great year of theater and a healthy year to all!