This Week In NYC

YOM HASHOAH FILMS

To mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, JCC Manhattan’s film program Cinematters presents two award-winning movies, followed by Q&As with the directors and cast members. In the Oscar-nominated documentary short “Joe’s Violin,” a donated violin forges an improbable friendship between 91-year-old survivor Joe Feingold and 12-year-old Bronx student Brianna Perez. (A Q&A with Feingold and director Kahane Cooperman follows the screening.) “Fever at Dawn,” an inspiring story based on the eponymous novel, chronicles the attempts of a survivor diagnosed with a terminal lung disease to find love and settle down, even though he doesn’t have long to live. — Monday, April 24, “Joe’s Violin,” 6 p.m.; “Fever at Dawn,” 7 p.m. JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444. jccmanhattan.org. 

WOMEN, THEATER AND THE HOLOCAUST
Remember the Women Institute presents an evening of readings focused on women’s resistance during the Holocaust. David Meyers’ “We Will Not Be Silent” tells the true story of Sophie Scholl, a German college student who led the only major act of German civil disobedience during the war. Cynthia L. Cooper’s one-act play “At the Train Station in Munich” unfolds the inner monologue of a woman attempting to escape the attention of possible Nazi threats. “In Her Words: Stories of Survival and Resistance” will be performed by Ursinus College students, and Untitled Theater Company #61 and Mad Jenny Theatre perform songs and sketches from a Terezin cabaret. The evening also serves as the book launch for the third edition of Remember the Women Institute’s “Women, Theatre, and the Holocaust Resource Handbook,” edited by Rochelle G. Saidel and Karen Shulman. A panel discussion and reception follow the readings. — Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., April 26, Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

SURVIVAL IN SHANGHAI

Shanghai, one of two visa-free regions during World War II, absorbed some 25,000 Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, taking in more European Jewish refugees than any city. Many of them came to see China as a dearly beloved second home. This Chinese-made documentary follows the refugees’ escape from Europe and documents their assimilation in this exotic, faraway city. The screening will be followed by a panel of Shanghai-based survivors who will recount their stories. — Wednesday, April 26, 6:30 p.m., Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center, One E. 65th St., (212) 507-9580, emanuelskirballnyc.org. Free.

Theater

WITNESS THEATRE

In this unique intergenerational project, high school students re-enact critical moments from the lives of local Holocaust survivors. This performance represents the culmination of months of collaboration between the students and survivors, as mutual respect, friendship and trust have evolved. — Thursday, April 27, 6:30 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org. Free.

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR
Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, this multimedia production illuminates the controversial story of the 1894 treason conviction of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus that had a decades-long reverberation in the political landscape of France and the rest of the world. Featuring Max von Essen (Tony nominee for “An American in Paris”) as Dreyfus and Mark Evans (Irish Rep’s “Finian’s Rainbow”) as his devoted brother Mathieu Dreyfus. — Thursday, April 27-Sunday, May 7, BAM Fisher / Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org.

OLD NEW YEAR
Written by Boris Zilberman and directed by Bryna Wasserman, “Old New Year” traces the interconnecting stories of several tenants in the same NYC apartment building. The play was developed by Lost & Found Project, a contemporary docu-theater troupe that mines the experiences of young Russian Jews based here. Performances take place in a Harlem loft to amplify the site-sense archeology of the play. — April 26-May 13, 345 E. 104th St., nytf.org. $35. (See story on page 3.)

OSLO

One of 2016’s best-reviewed plays, J. T. Rogers’ “Oslo” moves to Broadway. A complex tale of political intrigue and back-door negotiations, this darkly funny play centers on the months of talks between Israel and Palestine that led to the historic 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Directed by Tony-award winning Barlett Sher (“Fiddler On The Roof”). — Through June 18, Lincoln Center Theatre, 150 W. 65th St, (212) 375-3708. For the schedule and tickets visit lct.org

HELLO, DOLLY!

The Broadway hit that became an even more famous Barbra Streisand movie is now returning to its Broadway roots. The widowed, brassy matchmaker Dolly Levi travels to Yonkers to find a match for the miserly “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. She convinces his niece, his niece’s intended and Horace’s two clerks to travel with them to New York City to find the match, and … (we won’t spoil the ending for you). Played on film by the legendary Barbra Streisand, this Broadway revival features the no-less-legendary Bette Midler as Dolly. Directed by four-time Tony Award-winner Jerry Zaks. – Shubert Theatre, 225 W. 44th St., (212) 239-6200, hellodollyonbroadway.com. $59-$189.

NOT THAT JEWISH

Written by and starring the Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe nominated writer, actress and comedian Monica Piper, this has been lauded as a hilarious and heartfelt autobiographical tale of a Jew-“ish” woman’s life. — Through April 30, New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., (212) 239-6200, notthatjewish.com. From $49.

Music

SHLOMO ARTZI

With a career spanning four decades and over 1.5 million albums sold, the 68-year-old iconic Israeli singer-songwriter makes a rare, one-night-only NY appearance to mark Yom Ha’Atzmaut. The concert benefits ORT, an international Jewish education and vocational training NGO. — Wednesday, April 26, 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, (212) 465-6741, theateratmsg.com. $189-$400 (See story on page 3).

WHEN WE REMEMBERED ZION

Drawing from repertories of Jewish song from the Holocaust gathered from the cabarets, camps, ghettos and films, the 2016 Grammy-nominated New Budapest Orpheum Society commemorates Yom HaShoah in song. The NBOS honors composers Hermann Leopoldi, Friedrich Hollander, Imré Kálmán, Hans Eisler/Bertolt Brecht and Erich Korngold, whose musical contributions trace a path to the European Jewish past. Preceded by a talk by Philip V. Bohlman, a University of Chicago Jewish history professor. — Monday, April 24, 6:30 p.m., YIVO Institute, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 246-6080, yivo.org. $15.

ARI HOENIG NONET

Veteran drummer and composer Ari Hoenig plays a flexible, broad-minded brand of jazz, incorporating influences from hardcore punk and metal, hip-hop, acid jazz and electronica. With Joel Frahm and Will Vinson [sax,] Justin Mullens [French horn,] Ryan Keberle [trombone,] Darren Barrett [trumpet,] Glen Zaleski [piano] and the Israeli born bassist Noam Wiesenberg and saxophonist Or Bareket. – Monday, April 24, 10:30 p.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.

Film

NORMAN

Richard Gere stars as Norman Oppenheimer, a New York political middle man, in the new Joseph Cedar tale of money and power, “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.” When a low-level Israeli minister befriended by Oppenheimer becomes prime minister, a quid pro quo creates a big-time headache for the fixer. — Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston St. (betw. First and Second avenues), landmarktheatres.com., and Lincoln Plaza Cinema, 1886 Broadway, lincolnplazacinema.com.

PAST LIFE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWNzqNviOg4

Their father survived World War II, but the unsettling truth about how will change their family forever. In director Avi Nesher’s new film, two Israeli sisters delve into the dark mystery of their father’s former life in Poland during WWII (inspired by a true story). This advance preview screening will be followed by a discussion with producer David Milch. — Sunday, April 30, 2 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org. $15/$12 Members.

BEN-GURION, EPILOGUE

In the great depths of a film archive, six hours of interviews with one of modern history’s greatest leaders, David Ben-Gurion, were discovered. They are set in 1968, when he was 82, five years before his death. Israel’s founding president lived in the desert, removed from all political discourse, which allowed him a hindsighted perspective on the Zionist enterprise. Ben-Gurion’s introspective soul -searching is the focus of this film, and his clear voice provides a surprising vision for crucial decisions Israel needs to make today. — Sunday, April 30, 11 a.m., JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444, jccmanhattan.org. $5.

Talk

WALKING BACKWARDS
Lee Sharkey will read from her new poetry collection “Walking Backwards,” which Edward Hirsch has called a “deep book of remembrance — a collection of parables, an ongoing conversation with the dead, a tablet of fire.” Conversing with poets and artists whose voices arise from the Holocaust and evoking recent events, the poems examine resistance to violence and repression through history. After the reading, Lee will be joined by multidisciplinary poet and artist Maya Pindyck for a conversation about engaging Jewish history and memory in creative work. — Monday, April 24, 7:30 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

GROWING UP JEWISH
Scholars Sam Kassow, Miriam Udel, Naomi Seidman, and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will discuss the lives of Jewish children before WWII. Talks will include general overviews as well as discussions of Socialist Literature for Jewish Children in the US and USSR, and Max Weinreich’s work on psychology and Jewish adolescence. – Sunday, April 30, 2 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W.16 St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

NAOMI RAGEN
The best-selling novelist will discuss her body of work from her earliest books, which focus on the lives of charedi women, through her more recent novels, which look at everything from terrorism to murder through a Jewish lens. Her latest novel, “The Devil in Jerusalem,” is a mystery featuring Det. Bina Tzedeck. –  Tuesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m., Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center, One E. 65th St. (212) 507-9580, emanuelskirballnyc.org. Free.

Exhibitions

LOST SYNAGOGUES OF EUROPE

The Museum at Eldridge Street presents an exhibition of vintage postcards of Central and Eastern European synagogues from Prague-based collector Frantisek Bányai. The postcards depict a range of Jewish architecture, culture and community that were all but destroyed during WWII. — Through June 8, Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge St., (212) 219-0302, eldridgestreet.org.

SHABBAT: INSIDE AND OUT
With the cessation of the workday routine on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, relationships and the spirit are revitalized as families share precious time at festive meals. The objects on display highlight two aspects of this holy day: the private/domestic and the communal/ceremonial. — Through May 11, Yeshiva University Museum, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8330, info@yum.cjh.org. Members and children under 5 free/$6 seniors and students/$8 adults.

To publish events, submit them to jewishweekcalendar@gmail.com two weeks or more in advance, or post them online at JWCalendar.com. In the print edition, we cannot guarantee inclusion due to space limitations. Since scheduling changes may occur, we recommend contacting the venue before heading out to an event.