NYC Jewish-y Events, June 29 – July 9

PETER HIMMELMAN AT CITY WINERY
The new CD from singer-songwriter (and Bob Dylan son-in-law) Peter Himmelman, released last year as the Trump era began its divisive run, carries a hopeful, though barely so, title: “There Is No Calamity,” as if he were trying to convince himself. But a quick spin through the song titles tells a different story: “Smoke and Flames, “Fear Is Our Undoing,” “Rich Men Run the World.” And there’s this from “245th Peace Song”: “Scapegoating, killing, hating on the other / Isn’t it time that we finally discover / Everyone you see could be your sister and your brother.” The Minnesota-bred and Los Angeles-based musician is an observant Jew whose signature black porkpie hat seems a hip riff on the black fedora favored by Orthodox men. And it seems that religious imagery is never far from his mind. In a nod to his famous relative’s “Highway 61 Revisited,” about the Binding of Isaac, Himmelman writes in “Sacrificial,” from the new album: “Up on the altar, up on the pyre / Bound to your predilections, attached to your desire / Like a lamb to the slaughter, like Abraham’s first born / Better to bear your burden in silence, than to bear it all with scorn.” And yet, hope ekes out a win in the new record. — Monday, July 2, 8:30 p.m., The Loft at City Winery, 155 Varick St., citywinery.com. $20.

ROTH ON FILM

In case you hadn’t heard, Lincoln Plaza Cinema, the beloved art house that closed in January, is back — resurrected as New Plaza Cinema and screening first-run and indie films at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. In honor of the recent passing of Philip Roth, the summer film series (which kicked off last week with “The Catcher Was a Spy,” with Paul Rudd as real-life major leaguer Moe Berg), continues with “Indignation” (Roth’s tale of a fiery interfaith romance); Ali McGraw and Richard Benjamin in 1969’s “Goodbye, Columbus” (the book that got Roth skewered in the Jewish community); 2016’s “Elegy,” based on Roth’s “The Dying Animal”; and Ewan McGregor’s take, in 2016, on “American Pastoral,” perhaps the great writer’s masterpiece, about Jewish assimilation and the counterculture ’60s. — July 2-3, 5 (various times), Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., jccmanhattan.org/film.

Theater

TEVYE SERVED RAW
Find out what happens to the beloved characters in “Fiddler on the Roof” after the musical ends with “Tevye Served Raw.” Including Sholem Aleichem’s account of what happened (“the Tevye tales they left out of the musical”), along with adaptations of his Tevye stories (“What, Me Worthy?” and “Get Thee Gone”); scenes from his long-unseen Yiddish stage version as well as three of his purely comedic stories that have been newly adapted (“Strange Jews on a Train,” “The Yiddish Sisyphus” and “A Stepmother’s Trash-Talk”). With Yelena Shmulenson, Allen Lewis Rickman and Shane Baker. — Performances begin Thursday, July 5, with opening night on Tuesday July 17, through Aug. 14 (18 performances only), Playroom Theatre, 151 W. 46th St., tevyeservedraw.com and (800) 838-3006. $38.

TOVAH FELDSHUH IS LEONA HELMSLEY

Six-time Tony- and Emmy-nominated star Tovah Feldshuh is Leona Helmsley in a new show featuring highlights from the new Broadway-bound musical “Queen of Mean,” based on The New York Times best-selling biography by Ransdell Pierson. Tovah as Leona sings, and stings, about everything from her meteoric rise from office temp to Queen of the Palace to her real-estate rival Donald Trump. — Thursday, July 5-Saturday, July 7, 5 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show, 54 Below, 254 W. 54th. St., cellar, (646) 476-3551, 54below.com. From $55, plus $25 additional food & beverage minimum.

SKINTIGHT

Joshua Harmon (“Bad Jews,” “Admissions”) is back with “Skintight,” starring Idina Menzel as Jodi Isaac, who turns to her father, a famous fashion designer, for support after her ex-husband’s engagement to a younger woman. Dad, it runs out, is wrapped up in his Greenwich Village townhouse with a 20-something guy who’s probably gay and an adult film star. Billed as a “scorching story of beauty, youth and sex.”— Through Aug. 26, Laura Pels Theater, 111 W. 46th St., roundabouttheatre.org. $119.

GOD BLESS AMERICA: THE MUSIC OF IRVING BERLIN
Jerome Kern once said, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music; he is American music!” Indeed, from “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” to “White Christmas,” and from “Always” to “Easter Parade,” Berlin had his finger on the pulse of the nation. Hot on the heels of Independence Day, Feinstein’s/54 Below honors one of the greatest voices in American musical history in this show of Broadway and nightclub stars to celebrate America through Berlin’s iconic tunes. — Thursday, July 5, 8:45 p.m. doors, 9:30 p.m. show, 54 Below, 254 W. 54th. St., cellar, (646) 476-3551, 54below.com. From $35, plus $25 additional food & beverage minimum.

VITALY: AN EVENING OF WONDERS

Israel-raised magician Vitaly has mystified Penn & Teller and dazzled audiences across the world with innovative, jaw-dropping illusions. Now, New York will get to experience Vitaly Beckman as he makes his NYC debut. (This production is recommended for ages 8 and up.) — Through Sept. 30, The Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St. (between 9th-10th avenues), telecharge.com. $89.

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL
A jukebox musical telling the story of the early life and career of Brooklyn-reared Carole King (Carol Joan Klein) using songs that she wrote, often together with Gerry Goffin, as well as other contemporary songs by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and Phil Spector. With “Supergirl” and “Glee” star Melissa Benoist in the starring role through Aug. — Ongoing, Stephen Sondheim Theatre, 124 W. 43rd St., stephensondheim.theater/tickets/. From $59.

Film

NEW PLAZA CINEMA — ROTH MARATHON
It’s a Philip Roth Tribute Marathon at the reincarnation of Lincoln Plaza Cinema, now called New Plaza Cinema, with film adaptations of four of the great novelist’s works. All films screen at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., newplazacinema.com, jccmanhattan.org.

Indignation:
A Jewish college student (Logan Lerman) falls for a young gentile woman (Sarah Gadon) while clashing with his dean (Tracy Letts) in 1951 Ohio. Directed by James Schamus. Monday, July 2, 4:30 p.m., Thursday, July 5, 7 p.m.

Goodbye, Columbus:

Larry Pearce’s adaption of the romance that blossoms between a bookish guy from humble roots and a free-spirited girl from a wealthy family suburban New Jersey family. Featuring Richard Benjamin and Ali McGraw. Monday, July 2, 7 p.m.

Elegy:
Adapted from Roth’s novel “The Dying Animal,” this elegant tale of obsession explores the relationship between a highly respected professor (Ben Kingsley) and an impossibly gorgeous grad student (Penelope Cruz). Tuesday, July 3, 4:30 p.m., Thursday, July 5, 4:30 p.m.

American Pastoral:
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “American Pastoral” follows a family whose seemingly idyllic existence is shattered by the social and political turmoil of the 1960s. Starring (and directed by) Ewan McGregor, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Connelly. Tuesday, July 3, 7 p.m.

THE CAKEMAKER|

In this tender and moving debut, Ofir Raul Graizer explores the connection formed by a gay German baker, Thomas (Tim Kalkhof), and Anat (Sarah Adler), the Israeli widow of the man whom they both loved, Oren (Roy Miller). — Opens Friday, June 29, The Landmark at 57 West, 657 W. 57th St. (at 12th Avenue), landmarktheatres.com  and at Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., (212) 255-2243, quadcinema.com

 

SPIRAL
With anti-Semitism on the rise throughout Europe, the 500,000 Jews of France are caught in a cycle of fear, hatred and violence; should they pack up for Israel or remain to battle the rising hostility? In director/veteran journalist Laura Fairrie’s new film, “Spiral,” growing acceptability of bigotry is explored, as well as the question as to whether people can learn to live together in an increasingly fractured world of deep political, social and racial divisions. — Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., (212) 255-2243, info@quadcinema.com, quadcinema.com.

Music

ASAF YURIA ‘AFTER-HOURS’
Israeli-born and raised tenor saxophonist Asaf Yuria has performed with some of jazz’s finest musicians, moving to New York in 2007 and becoming an indispensable part of leading bassist Omer Avital’s acclaimed quintet, an achievement signaling Yuria’s arrival on the jazz scene here. — Thursday, July 5, 1-4 a.m., Smalls Live, 183 W. 10th St., basement, smallslive@gmail.com, smallslive.com.

Exhibitions

INSIGHT
Curated by Emily Lambert and designed by The Studio Art program at Stern College for Women, this exhibit features a selection of works by this year’s graduating studio art majors. — Through Aug. 8, Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History, (212) 294-8330/8805, yumuseum.org. RSVP to RSVP@yum.cjh.org.

CHAIM SOUTINE: FLESH
This exhibition features more than 30 paintings of Chaim Soutine depicting hanging fowl, beef carcasses and rayfish. Considered one of the 20th century’s great still-life painters, Soutine created visceral, expressionist paintings of tortured animal carcasses, establishing a parallel between the animal and human, beauty and pain. The New Yorker hailed the exhibition as “potent … timely … elegantly curated.” — Through Sept. 16, Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. (at 92nd Street), (212) 423-3200, thejm.org.

EXILE IS HOME
The personal history of Oded Halahmy, one of New York’s most acclaimed Israeli-American sculptors, has been shaped by exile, migration and travels. Born in Iraq, raised in Israel, educated in London and currently traveling between homes here and in old Jaffa, Halahmy fills his work with images evocative of the cultures he is connected to. “Exile is Home” includes over 100 works representing his work from the mid-1960s to the present. — Through July 1, Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org.

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