{"id":352481,"date":"2024-04-03T09:37:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T13:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=352481"},"modified":"2024-04-03T09:37:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T13:37:21","slug":"life-and-love-among-newcomers-in-hester-street-at-theater-j","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/04\/03\/life-and-love-among-newcomers-in-hester-street-at-theater-j\/","title":{"rendered":"Life and love among newcomers in ‘Hester Street’ at Theater J"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 300,000 Eastern European Jews immigrated to America in the 1890s, many crowding into New York City\u2019s teeming tenements. Some clung tenaciously to age-old traditions. Others craved a brand-new start, unencumbered by fealty to the past.<\/p>\n

In 1973, filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver held a microscope on the push and pull of assimilation in the \u201cmelting pot\u201d of New York City. Her endearing, low-budget Hester Street<\/em>, based on a Yiddish story by Abraham Cahan, became a beloved classic of Lower East Side lore.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jake Horowitz as Jake and Eden Epstein as Mamie in \u2018Hester Street.\u2019 Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now Hester Street<\/em> has been re-imagined as a stage play by Sharyn Rothstein, directed by Oliver Butler and featuring original music and songs by Joel Waggoner. Its world premiere at Theater J is the largest production in that theater\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Jake (Jake Horowitz), fueled by ambition and anger at a father who \u201cnever had the nerve\u201d to venture beyond his own shtetl, arrived in America hellbent on becoming a Yankee. He saved for his family\u2019s passage but when his wife Gitl (Sara Kapner) finally disembarked in New York with their young son Joey (Katie Angell), Jake is shocked and repulsed by her old-world appearance and manners.<\/p>\n

Jake\u2019s head has been turned by the sensual and resourceful Mamie (Eden Epstein), an immigrant who shares his desire to assimilate and prosper. Jake\u2019s landlady, the formidable and funny Mrs. Kavarsky (Dani Stoller), dispenses practical advice while mitigating the increasing tension between Jake and Gitl. Mr. Bernstein (Michael Perrie Jr.), a pious Jew who fell short of becoming a rabbi, boards in Jake\u2019s front room and works with him in a sweatshop. Less nakedly ambitious than Jake, Bernstein is nevertheless much wiser to the ways of America than his hot-headed friend. When Jake brags that his foreign-born son will someday become President, Bernstein pops his balloon. When the fragile Gitl, surrounded only by Jews in her new neighborhood, asks where they keep all the Gentiles, Bernstein tells her that the tenements are where the Gentiles keep the Jews.<\/p>\n

The drama plays out on a remarkable squared-off rolling set by Wilson Chin that the actors turn by hand. On one side is the tiny bedroom shared by Jake, Gitl, and their son. The other side serves as an adjacent living room, kitchen, and a narrow space for Bernstein and his prayer books. Life and love, mischief and malfeasance play out in these diminutive spaces \u2014 heart-rending facsimiles for the cramped and dingy tenements that dotted New York City at the turn of the century. Only occasionally do the actors step outside the set as they explore their immediate surroundings \u2014 a dance hall, crowded city streets, a park, and finally a rabbi\u2019s study.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sara Kapner as Gitl, Jake Horowitz as Jake, and Michael Perrie Jr. as Bernstein in \u2018Hester Street.\u2019 Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frank Labovitz\u2019s terrific costuming highlights the profound differences between \u201cgreenhorns\u201d and assimilated Jews. While Gitl clings to her shapeless brown and green dresses and refuses to give up her sheitel (a wig worn by observant, married Jewish women), the vain Mamie parades effortlessly in a breathtaking lavender ensemble. Jake dandifies his look with crisply tailored suits, thinking that he will no longer be identified as a Jew. Mrs. Kavarsky finally prevails over Gitl\u2019s hesitations, binding her up in a gut-pinching corset, a dress, and a hat.<\/p>\n

Waggonner\u2019s klezmer and jazz-infused original music plays multiple roles in this production, bridging scenes and standing in for the cacophony of the Lower East Side dance halls and street markets. A talented and versatile trio of performers (Morgan Morse, Jason Cohen, and Lauren Jeanne Thomas) triple as musicians, actors, and singers. A few untitled songs comment on immigrant life, including one that asks \u201cHow long have we got?\u201d Don\u2019t count on America in the long term. Jews have eventually been bullied out of every nation in which they\u2019ve settled, even if it takes centuries.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jake Horowitz as Jake and Sara Kapner as Gitl in \u2018Hester Street.’ Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a great deal of Yiddish spoken, adding texture and authenticity to the production. Subtitles in English are cleverly projected onto what looks like laundry hanging from the tops of tenements. Less successful is the actors\u2019 Yiddish-accented English, which is inconsistent and subtly undermines their otherwise energetic performances.<\/p>\n

Colorful as they are, few characters actually grow in Hester Street<\/em>, making Gitl\u2019s emergence as a woman who takes control of her life nothing short of a miracle.\u00a0 She stands in for every immigrant who has gone through the terrors of separation and the bruising, bumpy process of making do in a new world. Rothstein\u2019s tale takes place over a century ago, but it reminds us that starting all over again is ongoing in our uncertain world.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.<\/p>\n

EXTENDED: <\/strong>Hester Street<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>plays through April 28, 2024,<\/strong> presented by Theater J<\/a>\u00a0at the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater in the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th\u00a0Street NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets ($50\u2013$70, with member and military discounts available)\u00a0online,<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by calling the ticket office at 202-777-3210, or by email (theaterj@theaterj.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The program for Hester Street<\/em> is online\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

COVID Safety:<\/strong>\u00a0Masks are required for Thursday evening and Saturday matinee performances. For more information, visit\u00a0Theater J\u2019s COVID Safety Guidelines.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hester Street
\n<\/em><\/strong>World premiere
\nWritten by Sharyn Rothstein
\nOriginal music and songs by Joel Waggoner
\nBased on the film by Joan Micklin Silver
\nDirected by Oliver Butler
\nProduced in association with Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman<\/p>\n

CAST
\nJoey: Katie Angell
\nRabbi and Others\/Instrumentalist: Jason Cohen
\nMamie: Eden Epstein
\nJake: Jake Horowitz
\nGitl: Sara Kapner
\nJoey Understudy: Alexandra Moore
\nJoe Peltner: Morgan Morse
\nBernstein: Michael Perrie Jr.
\nMrs. Kavarsky and Others: Dani Stoller
\nRabbi\u2019s Wife and Others\/Instrumentalist: Lauren Jeanne Thomas<\/p>\n

CREATIVE TEAM
\nDirector: Oliver Butler
\nAssociate Director & Choreographer: Nikki Mirza
\nScenic Designer: Wilson Chin
\nCostume Designer: Frank Labovitz
\nLighting Designer: Colin K. Bills
\nProjection Designer: Patrick W. Lord
\nSound Designer: Justin Schmitz
\nProps Designer: Jason Dearing
\nCasting: Eisenberg Casting, Daryl Eisenberg, CSA
\nCasting Assistant: Chelsi Kern
\nProduction Stage Manager: Anthony O. Bullock
\nAssistant Stage Manager: Rebecca Talisman
\nAssistant Stage Manager: Delaney Dunster<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO:<\/strong>
\nWhy \u2018Hester Street\u2019 matters: Sharyn Rothstein on her world premiere play with music at Theater J <\/a><\/strong>(interview by Ravelle Brickman, March 31, 20024)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The push and pull of assimilation in the \u201cmelting pot\u201d of New York City retold in a play with music based on the beloved film. By AMY KOTKIN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":352488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,18],"tags":[1115,404],"class_list":{"0":"post-352481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-reviews","9":"tag-oliver-butler","10":"tag-sharyn-rothstein"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nLife and love among newcomers in 'Hester Street' at Theater J - 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