THE BEN HECHT SHOW
Ben Hecht tells you everything you need to know about show business,
Jews and anti-Semites.
With jokes.
SAT. JAN. 23 – 7:30 PM
SUN. JAN. 24 – 2:00 PM
at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center
122 E. Culver St. in Phoenix
www.azjhs.org
The Ben Hecht Show, a theatrical production written and performed by James Sherman, will be presented at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E Culver St in Phoenix, on January 23 and 24. The 80 minute show, set in 1943, chronicles the views and musings of the iconic Ben Hecht, the versatile journalist, playwright, novelist and Oscar-winning screenwriter.
James Sherman’s name is familiar to theatre-goers in the Valley as a talented playwright who scripted such plays as “Beau Jest,” “Jest a Second,” “The God of Isaac,” Romance in D,” “Door to Door” and many others. All of these plays and others of his were produced by the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, and currently the Hale Centre Theatre in Gilbert is producing “Beau Jest” for its second time. Sherman will participate in a post-show discussion there after the Jan. 22 performance.
“I’ve known Jim since 1991, when AJTC chose to produce “Beau Jest,” and we’ve been friends ever since,” says Janet Arnold, former Producer at AJTC and current Board Member of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. “When AzJHS told me they’d like to do some more cultural programming, I had just learned about Jim’s latest adventure and knew it would be a perfect match.” Arnold will be producing the show for the Arizona Jewish Historical Society.
The Ben Hecht Show deals with Hecht’s illustrious career as a Chicago journalist in the 20s and as a NY playwright and Hollywood screenwriter in the 30s and 40s, but is most concerned with Hecht’s growing awareness of anti-Semitism and his support of Zionism in the 1940s. After having considered himself only an “American” for most of his life, Hecht was suddenly spurred to activism as a Jew by the situation in Europe.
Sherman, who resides in Chicago, was an actor even before he became a playwright, with a theatre degree from Illinois State University and an MFA from Brandeis University. He began his professional career as a writer and performer with The Second City in Chicago. Since 1985, he has had thirteen plays premier at the Tony Award-winning Victor Gardens Theater in Chicago.
Sherman currently teaches Playwriting and Improvisation at Columbia College of Chicago and DePaul University. He has performed The Ben Hecht Show to rave reviews in both Chicago and Los Angeles.
Performances are at 7:30 pm on Saturday, January 23 and 2 pm on Sunday, January 24 at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E Culver St. in Phoenix. Tickets are available for $20 for members of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society, $25 for the general public. A special Sponsor package is available for Saturday night at $180, which includes 2 reserved seats and a post-show wine and cheese reception with Mr. Sherman. Tickets can be purchased at azjhs.org or by calling 602-241-7870.
Beau Jest, one of Sherman’s earliest and most beloved comedies, is playing at the Hale Centre Theatre at 50 W Page Ave. in Gilbert from Dec. 31-Feb. 13. There are performances on New Year’s Eve at both 6 pm and 9:30 pm. Tickets are available at haletheatrearizona.com or at 480-497-1181.
The Arizona Jewish Historical Society, located in the restored building of Phoenix’s first synagogue, was established to preserve the rich heritage of Arizona’s Jewish communities and promote awareness of our state’s diverse history. AzJHS educates the public on Jewish contributions to both Arizona and American life. The Ben Hecht Show is being presented in part through a generous grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix.
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Tu B’Shevat Celebration – Jewish New Year of the Trees
Sun., Jan. 24 – 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Valley of the Sun JCC – 12701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale 85254
Celebrate with a special seder and tasting, planting, arts and crafts, story time and Israeli music. Also, learn how to grow your own family garden! Free. Everyone welcome. A collaboration among PARDES, PJ Library and VOSJCC. For more information and to RSVP, contact 480.483.7121 ext. 1275 or youth@vosjcc.org.
Celebrate the “new year” for trees. Enjoy fresh & dried fruits, & juices grown on trees from the Land of Israel; includes dairy dinner (tuna salad, chips, challah rolls) & dessert. No charge; however reservations are required by Jan. 20.
Join other Schmooze Singles for happy hour and complimentary appetizers followed by a stroll with good company through the art galleries of Old Town Scottsdale during the Scottsdale Artwalk. Please RSVP to info@azschmooze.com by Monday, January 25th. Tell your friends!
More information can be found on the Facebook event page or Meetup event page.
Appetizers are being generously sponsored by the Dana Cheryl Beitscher Charitable Foundation.
Adults Night Out-Wine Tasting with Congregation Merkaz Ha Iyr
Join Merkaz Ha Iyr for wine tasting and conversation on Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 6 p.m. at a congregant’s home. Everyone welcome. Additional details are available by calling Jill at: 602-320-1791. Merkaz Ha Iyr is a reform style, progressive shul that is inclusive and welcoming to all, and members come from all over the Valley.
The 11th Annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival will be held on Jan. 30 and 31 and Feb. 1 at Beth Emeth Congregation, 13702 W Meeker Road, Sun City West. The festival has a musical theme this year. There will be moments of recollection, gratitude, joy and warmth.
The three films to be shown are “The Outrageous Sophie Tucker,” “Orchestra of Exiles” and “Flory’s Flame.”
Tickets for each film are $10 if purchased at the door. Tickets bought in advance are $9 per film or three films for $25.
“The Outrageous Sophie Tucker”
Saturday, Jan. 30, 6:30 pm
Jazz singer and comedian Sophie Tucker, the self-proclaimed “Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” was one of the best-known entertainers of the 20th century. She was also a Jewish immigrant and a runaway mother before she became a superstar. This gripping documentary follows her 60-year career from vaudeville to Broadway, and to radio, movies and television.
A brief commentary on each film will precede its screening, and complimentary refreshments will be served after each screening.
For additional information, call 623 584-7210.
The author of the internationally bestselling memoir, My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past will speak in Scottsdale on Jan. 30 at 7:30 pm in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
When Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, randomly picked up a library book from the shelf, her whole life – her whole sense of self – changed forever. Recognizing photos of her mother and grandmother in the book, she discovered a horrifying fact they had kept from her: her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant so chillingly depicted by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List – a man known and despised the world over.
Although she was placed in an orphanage and then adopted at a young age, as a child Jennifer Teege had some contact with her biological mother and grandmother. Yet neither revealed their family legacy. At age 38, Teege began to learn the scope of her grandfather’s crimes – he was known as the Nazi “butcher of Plaszów concentration camp”. She realized that if her grandfather had met her – a black woman – he would have killed her.
Teege’s Arizona visit is sponsored by Generations After, a program of the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors’ Association, and the Martin Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University where she will also speak on Jan. 28.
Her Valley appearance will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 N 56th St., Scottsdale.
Seating is limited. Tickets are available at phoenixhsa.org or by calling 480-792-6736. General tickets are $10; tickets for students and members of Generations After, PHSA and CBI are $7.
There is no charge for Holocaust survivors, but reservations are required.
Teege’s Arizona presentations will be conducted on stage in conversation with Dr. Bjorn Krondorfer, director of NAU’s Martin Springer Institute and son of a German World War II soldier, and Janice Friebaum, chair of Generations After and daughter of a Holocaust survivor.