NYC Jewish-y Events, October 26 – November 5

Editor’s Picks: 

THE OTHER JOSH COHEN
The night before Valentine’s Day, Josh Cohen — a broke and broken-hearted lovable loser — comes home to find his New York apartment has been broken into and wiped clean, except for one Neil Diamond CD. But as it turns out, for Josh losing everything is just the beginning. Now hitting Off-Broadway, this smart and sassy romantic musical, which The New York Times hailed as “superb and sweetly funny,” is all about rolling with the punches, integrity, kindness and discount chocolates. — Opens Friday, Oct. 26, Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St., telecharge.com.

OTHER ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL

In light of the recent passing of Israel’s controversial nation-state law, the 12th edition of the festival puts special emphasis on the lives of Arabs and other minority populations; timely women’s topics are on tap as well. Highlights include opening night’s “The Cousin,” Tzahi Grad’s comedy about a well-intentioned Arab handyman facing baseless accusations and the Israeli family man who believes him (Thursday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan); “Working Woman,” Michal Aviad’s drama about a hard-working, talented and ambitious woman who faces increasing sexual harassment at work (Saturday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC). The closing film is the U.S. premiere of Iris Zaki’s “Unsettling,” in which a filmmaker enters the West Bank settlement of Tekoa and sits down with the locals. (Tuesday, Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse Cinema; Thursday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan). The festival also offers social events, panel discussions, Q&As and concerts. — Thursday, Nov. 1-Thursday, Nov. 8, various locations, otherisrael.org.

TRIO MILLIONAIRES 

Israeli-American, Brooklyn-based guitarist and composer Yoav Eshed leads a trio (with Ben Tiberio on bass and Eviatar Slivnik on drums) that rearranges beloved Israeli children’s songs into a storytelling jazz format. The trio has received numerous prizes in Israel for its jazzy takes on the iconic children’s album, “The 16th Sheep,” one of Israel’s dearest cultural staples. — Friday, Nov. 2, 10 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St., (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com

Theater

THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA
Some of the country’s finest actors — including Ayad Akhtar, Jennifer Ehle, Jon Hamm, André Holland, Elizabeth Marvel, Maggie Siff, Michael Stuhlbarg, John Turturro and others — read “The Plot Against America,” Philip Roth’s timely and timeless masterwork of counter-factual history in which the isolationist Charles Lindburgh defeats FDR. — Sunday, Oct. 28, 1 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org.

WORDS ON THE STREET
An infant is abducted and the Seven Deadly Sins play out in their power struggle. Meanwhile, pandemonium reigns in a dystopian world, plagued by greed and insecurity. Based on a series of poems by Anna Rabinowitz, this music-theater piece tackles humanity’s ongoing struggle with sin and moral corruption; it’s not for the faint of heart. — Friday, Oct. 26 – Nov. 4, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave, (866) 811-4111, baruch.cuny.edu/bpac.

MENTALIST LIOR SUCHARD

Israeli mentalist Lior Suchard might guess anything from your banking PIN to the name of the very first person you kissed. He may also telekinetically bend some dinnerware. Seeing is believing. — Thursday, Nov.1 , 7 p.m., Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center, 1 E. 65th St., (212) 507-9580, emanuelstreickernyc.org.

GLORIA: A LIFE
Five decades after Gloria Steinem began raising her voice for equality and championing those of others, her vision is as urgent as ever. The first act of this new show chronicles Steinem’s story, the second revolves around the making of the play about her and the third is a Talking Circle where audience members discuss the play’s themes. — Through January 2019, The Daryl Roth Theatre, 101 E. 15th St., (800) 745-3000, gloriatheplay.com.

THE OPEN GATE
Theater for the New City brings back David Willinger’s musical adaptation of I.B. Singer’s novel, “The Manor,” about a wealthy Jewish businessman and his four daughters. — Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com.

MY PARSIFAL CONDUCTOR

The infamous anti-Semitic composer Richard Wagner and his ever-faithful wife Cosima find themselves in a moral, political and musical pickle when King Ludwig II of Bavaria insists that Wagner’s final masterpiece, “Parsifal,” be conducted by Hermann Levi, the son of a rabbi. Written by Emmy-winning Allan Leicht and starring Eddie Korbich and Claire Brownwell. — Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA, 10 W. 64th St., theatermania.com.

HITLER’S TASTERS
Michelle Kholos Brooks’ new play follows a group of unfortunate German women who were forced to taste the Fuhrer’s food, as they wait to see if they will survive to eat another meal. — Through Oct. 27, IRT Theater, 154 Christopher St., newlighttheaterproject.com.

FIDDLER IN YIDDISH
Directed by Oscar- and Tony Award-winner Joel Grey, a rich Yiddish translation by the late Shraga Friedman adds new depth and dimension to the iconic musical, and it has gotten raves. Presented by National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. — Extended through Dec. 30, Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (866) 811-4111, mjhnyc.org.

HARVEY FIERSTEIN’S TORCH SONG

Condensed to 2 ½ hours, Harvey Fierstein’s original four-hour, semi-autobiographical 1982 “Torch Song” follows the ups and downs of Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish gay drag queen and torch singer. This Broadway revival, directed by Moisés Kaufman and starring Michael Urie as Arnold and Tony-winner Mercedes Ruehl as his mom, had a hit run Off Broadway at Second Stage Theater. — In previews (opens Thursday, Nov. 1), Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44 St. (212) 239-6200, torchsongbroadway.com.

Music

MICHAËL ATTIAS TRIO
The avant-garde Israeli-American saxophonist/composer/bandleader and his trio come together to play some new and old pieces. — Friday, Oct. 26, 8:30 and 10 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St., (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com.

ALON NEAR
Israeli-American bass player Alon Near has played with multi-Grammy Award-winner Billy Childs and his quartet, DownBeat award-winning saxophonist Eli Degibri and acclaimed pianist Johnny O’Neal. He leads his own trio in Smalls’ after-hours session. — Sunday, Oct. 28, 1-4 a.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.

YOTAM SILBERSTEIN QUARTET

Since his 2005 move to New York, guitarist and Tel Aviv native Yotam Silberstein has released three albums and collaborated with the likes of bassist Avishai Cohen, James Moody and Roy Hargrove. About Jazz summed up Silberstein’s 2009 release, “Next Page,” as an “unadorned hollow-body guitar work [that] freely invites comparison to releases from the heyday of Blue Note Records.”— Friday-Saturday, Nov. 2-3, 7:30 p.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.

EHUD ASHERIE TRIO
With a “sprightly dancing style on the keyboard” (Jazz Notes), New York-based, Israeli-born jazz pianist Ehud Asherie plays a straightforward, classy jazz repertoire which All About Jazz magazine described as “a wonder and more than a joy to hear”; The New Yorker described him as “A passionate craftsman joyfully at ease with pre-swing idioms.” — Sunday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.

Film

QUEER JEWISH (& ISRAELI) SHORT FILMS
From the U.S. to Israel, this program brings together six short films that examine what it is to be queer and Jewish, and how religion serves as a stepping stone for some and a stumbling block for others. Part of the 30th Annual New York LGBT Film Festival. — Monday, Oct. 29, 3:15 p.m., Cinepolis – Theater 9, 260 W. 23rd St., newfest.org.

Talk

FIRST PERSON: JAMIE BERNSTEIN
Leonard Bernstein’s eldest daughter, Jamie Bernstein, shares a rare and intimate look at her father on the centennial of his birth in her new memoir, “Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein.” Join her and Broadway performer Alexandra Silber (“Fiddler on the Roof”) for a conversation and a selection of the Maestro’s most famous songs. A book signing and reception follow. — Sunday, Oct. 28, 2 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (800) 838-3006,  cjh.org.

THE ORDER OF THE DAY
In his Prix Goncourt-winning book newly translated into English, author Éric Vuillard reconstructs and looks anew at the extraordinary sequence of events and individual acts that led to the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany). — Monday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.

BOOKBURN
“BOOKBURN” is a multimedia installation in which the viewer is placed in the center of a book burning. George Peck and Hugo Perez, creators of the exhibit, discuss what it means to witness and to be a witness, the genesis of their art and the feelings and moral message they are hoping to impart to viewers. — Tuesday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.

LAKE SUCCESS: A NOVEL

Shteyngart: Skirball Cultural Center

“Lake Success,” Gary Shteyngart’s new novel, is a poignant tale of familial longing and an unsentimental ode to what really makes America great. Shteyngart, author of “Super Sad Love Story” and arguably the leading Russian émigré writer, will be in conversation with Suketu Mehta. — Thursday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

LITERARY JOURNEY TO JEWISH IDENTITY
Stephen B. Shepard, author of “A Literary Journey to Jewish Identity: Re-Reading Bellow, Roth, Malamud, Ozick, and Other Great Jewish Writers”, talks with Rabbi Scott Perlo about what it means to be a Jewish-American writer and how postwar Jewish American writers shaped his Jewish identity. — Thursday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org.

Exhibitions

NOSOTROS 2.0
Latin American artistry is rich with Sephardi and Crypto-Jewish allusions and symbols. “Nosotros: Connecting the Latino and Jewish Communities,” now in its second edition, is a group show composed of pieces by Latino artists celebrating the shared history and culture of Jewish and Latino communities. — Opens Thursday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

CHAGALL, LISSITZKY, MALEVICH
Kicking off the fall season and exploring a little-known chapter in the history of modernity and the Russian avant-garde, The Jewish Museum’s new exhibit focuses on the People’s Art School (1918-1922), founded by Marc Chagall in his native city of Vitebsk (present-day Belarus). In the extraordinary years following the Russian October Revolution of 1917, Vitebsk, a small city with a significant Jewish population, became an incubator of avant-garde art. Through nearly 160 works and documents loaned by museums in Vitebsk and Minsk and major American and European collections, the exhibition presents the work of three iconic figures — Marc Chagall, El Lissitzky and Kazimir Malevich — as well as works by lesser-known students and teachers of the Vitebsk school. — The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. (at 92nd Street), (212) 423-3200, thejm.org.

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