‘Anything Goes’ is high jinks on the high seas

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 21, 2012

Can Arnold Schwarzenegger save Washington politics?

By Danielle Berrin
Published on September 27, 2012

What’s so great about Stanley Kubrick?

By Tom Teicholz
Published on September 11, 2012

On Nov. 1, the Los Angeles County of Museum of Art, (LACMA) in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (those wonderful folks who bring us the Oscars), will present the first U.S. retrospective of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, a project developed in partnership with the Kubrick estate, a show that originated at the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt, Germany, but will be seen here in a more expanded form.

Clara Mamet makes her way in the family biz

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 10, 2012

Jeff Goldblum goes to the head of the class

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 10, 2012

‘The Exorcist’ at the Geffen: No green vomit, but plenty of evil

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 27, 2012

Starring in ‘Godot’ ... and Remembering Beckett

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 29, 2012

EG Daily

Published on March 15, 2012

The first time I saw EG I was just starting to train at the Howard Fine Acting Studio. She looked familiar, but I didn’t put it together immediately. Then it clicked — Dottie! From “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure”! After we became friends and had worked together on various scenes for class, it was always hard for me to resist saying, “I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.” It still is.

Segel’s starry-eyed man-child amuses and moves us

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 15, 2012

Allen, Spielberg grab Golden Globe nominations

Published on December 22, 2011

Famed directors Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg led the list of Jewish nominees for Golden Globe Awards.

A woman’s world?

By Danielle Berrin
Published on September 7, 2011

It’s hard to tell, what with the requisite girdles, supervised weigh-ins and protocol panty hose (“not too dark; this isn’t a cabaret”), that the 1960s world depicted in “Pan Am” is supposed to be about the era’s most worldly women.

Acting from the heart

Published on February 15, 2011

USC freshman Shayna Turk, a 2010 graduate and former class president of New Community Jewish High School in West Hills, didn’t expect a nice gesture with a simple purpose to turn into a mitzvah with the power to save and restore young lives. The musical theater summer camp she created seven years ago, Shayna Turk’s Academy of Rising Stars (S.T.A.R.S.), has evolved into a substantial philanthropic enterprise. Her selfless, charitable pursuit garnered her the title of Young Entrepreneur of The Year in June 2010 and a $10,000 college scholarship from the National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation and Visa.

VideoGuide to L.A. - Volume 4 - The Hollywood Dream

By Jay Firestone
Published on October 23, 2008

Dating dramas

By Orit Arfa
Published on July 16, 2008

I don't allow myself to become vulnerable. I don't honestly share my likes and dislikes, my strengths and insecurities. I worry too much about what the guy wants to hear rather than what I truly want to say.

Theater: Tolins draws on his own mentorship ‘Secrets’

By Nick Street
Published on April 3, 2008

"Everything I write is a question of identity," Jonathan Tolins says over tea after a yoga class in Sherman Oaks. "What choices do you have? What roles do you take on?"

Theater: Mark Feuerstein is the “Some Girls” guy

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on February 7, 2008

‘Meadow Soprano’ explores her Jewish spirit in Israel

By Dina Kraft
Published on January 31, 2008

Jamie Sigler, who played the daughter of Mafia kingpin Tony Soprano on the acclaimed HBO show "The Sopranos," grew up in a Jewish home in Jericho, N.Y., going to Hebrew school and having a bat mitzvah. But it was only during her recent visit to Israel that she said she felt a true spiritual and emotional connection to her roots.

There’s no business like shul business

By Sarah Price Brown
Published on October 26, 2006

The retirement of Rabbi Moshe Rothblum after 35 years on the bimah at Adat Ari El.

Grown-up Ringwald gets ‘Sweet’ again—thanks to Fosse

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 14, 2006

Molly Ringwald will play Charity Hope Valentine, a nice but tarnished rent-a-girl who remains optimistic despite a series of humiliating misadventures.
"It's, um, not exactly the kind of thing I'm most associated with."

‘Hybrid’ Actor Crafts ‘Everyman’ Show

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on April 13, 2006

Ameenah Kaplan, who calls herself a "hybrid" -- the product of an African American mother who converted to Judaism and a Jewish father -- is directing, choreographing and co-producing "Everyman for Himself." Appearing weekends at the Unknown Theatre in Hollywood, the show is a hybrid itself, in that it blends music, dance, theater and capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian dance form that incorporates self-defense maneuvers.

Nation & World Briefs

By Tom Tugend
Published on January 19, 2006

World

He’s Got the Look

By Amy Klein
Published on December 22, 2005

When Sam Feuer was a boy, he fell in love with "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" -- and with performing -- since he lived as an outsider in two cultures. Born in America to Israeli parents, the family moved to Israel when Sam was 9.

Tova’s Songs Good for Yiddish’s Image

By Ellen Jaffe-Gill
Published on December 15, 2005

Too Jewish to Play Myself

By Annie Korzen
Published on December 15, 2005

People see me as your "typical Jewish woman," and maybe it's true: I've got curly hair, opinions on every subject and I do not go camping. Plus, even after years of speech classes, I still have an identifiable New York nasality in my voice.

In Search of Himself

By Tom Teicholz
Published on November 3, 2005

The High Holidays are always a good time to reflect, and this year, as I was serially sermonized in ways both inspirational and depressing, I was asked to consider that we can always start anew -- that, as the dorm posters used to say, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

Kids Page

By Abby Gilad
Published on September 15, 2005

Josh Fields, 8, of Thousand Oaks, won the "My Amazing Summer" essay contest.

He wins a gift certificate to the store of his choice.

Young Jews Can Act Out—on Sundays

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on September 1, 2005

After landing the lead in several school plays at Sinai Akiba Academy in Los Angeles, Leora Weinstock, 13, decided she wanted to be a professional actress.

Young Jews Can Act Out—on Sundays

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on September 1, 2005

After landing the lead in several school plays at Sinai Akiba Academy in Los Angeles, Leora Weinstock, 13, decided she wanted to be a professional actress.

Write of Passage

By Colette Freedman
Published on June 2, 2005

One week, I would ambitiously attempt to devour the entire "Box Car Children" series; another I would host a Judy Blume marathon and vigilantly try to sneak the purportedly trashy "Deenie" home in between my "Sheila the Great" and "Blubber."

Nimoy’s New Trek

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 2, 2005

Nimoy said he was eager to participate because he finds current Israeli cinema to be "fresh, well-executed and relevant to the culture," compared to the "primitive" films he viewed in the early 1980s.

At Method Fest, It’s All About the Acting

By Susan Josephs
Published on March 31, 2005

When it comes to film festivals, Calabasas is far off the beaten path for the Sundance crowd. But there's method to the madness of film lovers who beat a path to Calabasas in the first week of April.

The seventh annual Method Fest claims to be the nation's only festival that specifically celebrates actors and their performances. This year's lineup includes significant works with Jewish themes. There are films about the Holocaust, contemporary Jewish families and Israeli-Palestinian issues among the 25 feature films and 47 short films. The festival also features panel discussions, workshops and special events.

A Towering Achievement

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 11, 2004

Jennifer Rosen's height felt all the freakier because Jews are generally more vertically challenged than, say, Swedes.

And the Rabbi as Himself

By Tom Tugend
Published on January 15, 2004

Rabbi David Baron of Temple Shalom of the Arts, the synagoue attended by the big and medium-sized names in the entertainment industry, has a starring role in the new Universal movie, "Along Came Polly."

Well, not exactly starring, but he plays the rabbi officiating at the wedding of Reuben Feffer and Lisa Kramer, portrayed by Ben Stiller and Debra Messing, respectively.

Hello Torah, Please Welcome Art

By Gaby Wenig
Published on October 30, 2003

A newly religious female artist came to Chana Rochel Shusterman and told the Orthodox counselor that she was torn between her artistic drive and her religious sensibilities.

A Personal ‘Uprising’

Published on December 6, 2001

"Uprising," the TV miniseries about the Warsaw Resistance, is being released in theaters Dec. 7, and on DVD and VHS Dec. 18. Some actors shared with The Journal their personal experiences on the set.

Watch Your Language

By Charles Marowitz
Published on June 18, 1998

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, with front-runners such as T.S. Eliot, Christopher Fry and Archibald Macleish, there was a concerted effort to revive language in the American theater. The buzzword was "heightened speech" and, although all of these writers essentially wrote verse, producers tried to steer clear of the word "poetry." They sensed that American theatergoers would recoil from any attempts to have anything as exotic as that foisted upon them. Just as, at around the same period, when they were risking capital on shows like "The Most Happy Fella" and the early works of Gian Carlo Menotti, they avoided the word "opera." Music-drama seemed a safer rubric.

Design for Living

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 23, 1997

In Act Two: Scene II of Noel Coward's "Design for Living," Gilda,the object of everybody's affection, gives a thumbnail critique of anew play by Leo, one of her rotating lovers.