The Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival
SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE PRESENTS
THE 29TH ANNUAL LIPINSKY FAMILY JEWISH ARTS FESTIVAL
JFEST 2022
Events from May – July
Free and paid, online and in-person
Tickets on sale now
Celebrate Jewish heritage, culture, art and ideas this summer at the 29th Annual Lipinsky Family Jewish Arts Festival.
Free and paid events take place in person at San Diego Rep downtown and at venues in North County, plus there are several online events.
Explore the JFest schedule below.
The Blessing of a Broken Heart
Niki Jacobs’ A Ballad of Resilience
The Room Where It Happens
In Every Generation
The Dancing Room (Selections)
Nissim Black in Concert
21st Annual Klezmer Summit
13th Annual Women of Valor
The Art of Shtisel
Joel Grey’s Favorite Plays
Angelina Reaux Sings love, liebe, l’amour The Love Songs of Kurt Weill
The Whole Megillah
Hershey Felder's Sing-Along
Hershey Felder’s Musicians of Venice – Jewish Artists in a Venetian World
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The Blessing of a Broken Heartby Todd Salovey, based on the memoir by Sherri Mandell Directed by Yael Valier
Mon May 23, 7:30pm , then available to steam until May 30
Online event and post show discussion
$15
Book now
Yael Valier’s beautifully staged The Blessing of a Broken Heart performed in Jerusalem in May 2022 was captured in film. The moving story of a young American mother who relocates her family from Maryland to the rural outskirts of Jerusalem in search of meaning and adventure - only to be immersed in the storm of a 3000 year old struggle. When a shocking tragedy hits the heart of her family, she embarks on a profound journey of discovery, growing faith and spiritual transcendence that becomes an inspiring story of healing and rebirth. Todd Salovey’s Edgerton Award-winning script premiered at San Diego REP in 2008. This Israeli production in English is followed by a discussion with Sherri Mandell, Todd Salovey, and director Yael Valier.
“Watching [this] play was a profound experience for me.” Sara Yoheved Rigler, Jerusalem author and columnist.
Niki Jacobs’ A Ballad of ResilienceTue May 24, 7:30pm
In person event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
$30 premiere seating, $18 standard
Book now
Songstress Niki Jacobs and her ensemble visit JFEST from Netherlands where she has become one of the world’s leading interpreters of Yiddish music. Seth Rogovy of The Forward writes, “A Yiddish performance so versatile, it spans from ‘Mauthausen’ to Elvis Presley.” This performance features The Ballad of Mauthausen, one of the most gorgeous pieces ever written about the Second World War. It is a collaboration between the Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis, who was a survivor of Kamp Mauthausen, and Mikis Theodorakis, the famous Greek composer banned for his activism against social injustice. Commemorating 75+ years of liberation from the Nazi regime Niki Jacobs re-addresses this musical piece, using a beautiful Yiddish translation to not only emphasize and give voice to those who perished or fled Eastern-Europe before, during and after the Second World War, but to also show that the Yiddish language is still alive.
Co-sponsored by YAAANA.
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The Room Where It HappensWith San Diego Jewish Academy
Produced and curated by Rebecca Myers and Kayla Swartzberg
Wed May 25, 7pm
In person event at San Diego Jewish Academy, 11860 Carmel Creek Road, San Diego 921320
$10
Book now
The 4th Annual Room Where It Happens puts the spotlight on the next generation of artists. Talented teens from across San Diego perform music, dance, theatre and spoken word.
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In Every GenerationBy Ali Viterbi
Directed by Todd Salovey and Emily Moler
May 26 - Jun 19 Performance times vary
In person event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
Tickets from $25
Book now
One family. One holiday. Four millennia. The Levi-Katz family celebrates Passover again and again—1416 BCE, 1954, 2019 and 2050 to be exact. Why is this night different from all others? Written by San Diegan Ali Viterbi, In Every Generation has already won several awards, including the National Jewish Playwriting Contest and two Kennedy Center Awards. The highly-anticipated world premiere of this enthralling and touching family saga is not to be missed.
The Dancing Room (Selections)Yehuda Hyman
Sun May 29, 6pm
In person event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
Free event (prior to 7pm performance of In Every Generation)
No tickets required, just turn up
Choreographer Yehuda Hyman’s solo show, The Mad Dancers was performed in the first JFest. His latest piece, The Dancing Room is a theatre tale about the award-winning playwright/performer’s dancer's life: from the first rhythmic steps his Polish and Russian immigrant parents taught him, to his teenage obsession with the legendary Nijinsky, to the winding road that led to his initiation into the ecstasy of Hasidic dance. In this 20 minute excerpt directed by Michael Leibenluft, Yehuda mixes memoir, humor and pathos in search of levitation of the feet - and the heart. Followed by a Q&A.
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Nissim Black in ConcertMon May 30, 7pm - Memorial Day Weekend
In person event at Leichtag Commons, Encinitas
$50 inc. pre-show reception with Nissim Black
$30 premiere seating, $18 standard
Book now
Experience inimitable hip hop artist Nissim Black performing outdoors overlooking the ocean at sunset on Memorial Day weekend. Nissim Black has been a gangsta rapper, a gang member and a faith seeker. His current incarnation is here to stay: an African American Hasidic Jew who brings his sharp, hook-filled hip hop to audiences worldwide. His music pays tribute to both his urban past and Orthodox present through big beats, African hooks and memorable melodies that show off his silky smooth vocals. His recent releases Mothaland Bounce and Fly Away have garnered more than 7 million views on YouTube. Listen to Nissim Black on Spotify.
Sponsored by The Hive at Leichtag Commons, Congregation Adat Yeshurun & Congregation Beth Jacob.
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21st Annual Klezmer Summit To Ukraine With Love: Songs of Hope
Tue Jun 7, 7:30pm
In person event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
$25 premiere, $18 standard
Book now
Now in its 21st year, JFEST’s Klezmer Summit is a musical celebration featuring an international all-star line-up celebrating Jewish, jazz and cross-cultural music of hope. Beloved long-time hosts Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi are joined by vocalist Elizabeth Schwartz, guitarist Fred Benedetti, bassist Gunnar Biggs, saxophonist/flautist Tripp Sprague and Irving Flores on piano. Yale Strom, the multiple gifted violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, educator, photographer and playwright is considered a pioneer among klezmer revivalists. Featured soloist Peter Sprague is “one of the emergent great guitarists" (LA Times).
This Summit features San Diego’s jazz giant, Gilbert Castellanos and his trio performing jazz standards by Jewish composers. With nearly 100 recording and film credits, Guadalajara-born San Diego-based musician Gilbert Castellanos has earned international recognition as a composer, curator, educator, arranger and top-call jazz trumpeter. Castellanos has spent over 30 years touring the globe and recording both as a solo artist and with the most renowned names in the industry – Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Wynton Marsalis.
San Diego dance company LITVAKdance opens the concert with an excerpt from their new work, Light, composed by Yale Strom and choreographed by Sadie Weinberg.
The concert offers a tribute to the communities of Ukraine with Efim Chorny (vocals) and Susan Ghergus (piano) from Chisinau, Moldova and jazz singer Petra Ernyei and Adam Tvrny (guitar) from Prague, Czech Republic.
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13th Annual Women of Valor
Written by Sarah Price Keating, Rebecca Myers, Todd Salovey and Ali Viterbi
Directed by Ali Viterbi
Thu Jun 9, 7:30pm - in person event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
Sun Jun 12, 2pm - in person event at Leichtag Commons, Encinitas
$25 Premier, $18 Standard
Book now Thu Jun 9 Book now Sun Jun 12
Performed by some of San Diego’s finest local actors, Women of Valor seeks to answer the immortal question from Proverbs: A woman of valor, who shall find? Enjoy six new short works that honor six San Diego Jewish women who are jewels of our community: Phyllis Epstein, Ellen Fox, Rabbi Susan Freeman, Betzy Lynch, Perla Myers and Edith Palkowitz. Through theatre, music and visuals we celebrate their accomplishments, passions and challenges.
Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, and Jewish Family Service Center for Jewish Care. Co-sponsored by the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Temple Solel, and Jewish Community Foundation San Diego. Proceeds from this year’s program will benefit: Hebrew Free Loans of San Diego, Joint Distribution Campaign’s Emergency fund for Ukraine, Jewish Gift Closet – San Diego Gmach.
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The Art of Shtisel
Michael Aloni and Ori Elon in conversation with host Todd Salovey
Sun Jun 19, 12pm
Online event
$18
Book now
Audiences worldwide binge-watched the award-winning Israeli series Shtisel on Netflix. With incredible acting and writing, Shtisel provides an intimate glimpse into unapologetically Jewish lives in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Series star Michael Aloni plays artist-seeking-soulmate Akiva Shtisel, and is one of Israel’s most sought after actors and television personalities.Michael joins Shtisel co-creator and award winning writer Ori Elon for a live-stream conversation with JFest artistic director, Todd Salovey.
Co-sponsored by Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative.
Joel Grey’s Favorite Plays
Joel Grey in conversation with Todd Salovey
Sun Jun 19, 6pm
Online event
$18
Book now
Joel Grey’s Academy and Tony-Award winning performance as the Emcee in Cabaret, the Broadway musical and movie with Liza Minnelli, is one of the most iconic in musical theater history. His remarkable production of Fiddler on the Roof won Drama Desk and Outer Critics awards as Best Revival of a Musical, and re-discovered the intimacy and emotion of the beloved Jewish story. In this exclusive conversation with JFest Artistic Director Todd Salovey, Joel Grey will share his unique perspective on 3 of his favorite plays: Fiddler on the Roof, Paul Osborn’s On Borrowed Time, and of course, Cabaret.
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Angelina Reaux Sings love, liebe, l’amour
The Love Songs of Kurt Weill
Produced in partnership with San Diego Opera
Thu Jun 23, 7:30pm and Sun Jun 26, 2pm
In person event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
$50 premiere, $36 standard
Book now Thu Jun 23 | Book now Sun Jun 26
Angelina Reaux is a lyric soprano who performs opera, theatre and cabaret to glowing reviews across the US. She has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, mastered works by composers ranging from Gershwin to Puccini - but there is one artist that she is associated with more than any other - Kurt Weill. In this concert, Reaux celebrates the love songs of Weill in German, French, and English, accompanied by Scott Dunn, pianist.
"Réaux is America's most dramatic singer. She can sing with a disarming sweetness, gentle longing, passionate regret, deep anguish, white-hot rage, engaging wit, high hopes, worldly-wise cynicism, the voice of experience - often in the course of a single soing." The Boston Globe
“Réaux brings a better voice to Weill than anyone has ever heard and a degree of identification with the material no one has matched since Lotte Lenya herself.” The New York Times
The Whole Megillah
Jewish New Play Festival
June 14, 20, 22 and 26
Times vary
In person events at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres, and available online
The Whole Megillah is JFest’s 2nd annual festival of new Jewish plays. Throughout June, be the first to experience staged readings of four brand new works from four female writers. Each distinct work explores different facets of the contemporary Jewish experience, and is coupled with panel discussions featuring renowned Jewish artists and speakers. Join us to be part of developing the next wave of outstanding theatre from Jewish writers. The Whole Megillah is produced by Rebecca Myers.
World to Come
By Ali Viterbi
Jun 14, 7pm
In person and online
A coming-of-age story set in the SeaBreeze Hebrew Home for the Aging, The World To Come asks how do we as a society care for our elders? And at the end of the world, what comes next?
Committed
Written and performed by Lisa Robins
Jun 20, 7pm
In person and online
Committed, written and performed by Lisa Robins, reveals her complex journey to understand and find meaning in her brother’s suicide. This healing “Ritual for Robbie” has no rules, unearthing questions of faith, art, mental illness, and personal responsibility while using dark humor to explore the meaning of life.
These and Those
By Ruth Geye
Jun 22, 6pm
Online only
October 27th, 2018. Six college students pile into a small basement apartment for Shabbat lunch, but they can’t keep the outside world from showing up uninvited.
Shanghai
By Linda Alper
Jun 26, 6pm
Online only
Shanghai follows Eva Broder, an adolescent girl from Berlin who grows to maturity in one of the most colorful, crowded and unruly cities on the planet. Eva discovers how her life is interwoven with that of others and what kind of responsibilities she has the courage to embrace.
Hershey Felder’s Sing-Along
Featuring music by Jewish and Jewish-American composers
Jul 11, 7:30pm
In person fundraising event at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lyceum Theatres
$180 donation, including post-show wine and dessert reception
Book now
This special event supports JFEST and San Diego Rep. Join Hershey’s well known audience sing-along of tunes by great 20th-century Jewish American songwriters, including George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers and others. Virtuoso Felder has dazzled audiences with live shows and live-streams of beloved composers – Beethoven, Chopin, Bernstein, Gershwin, Berlin and so many more. He returns to JFEST for a musical trip through 100 years of the yiddishe bochers who had a large hand in creating America’s songbook.
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Hershey Felder’s Music in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice
Musical film premiere
July 12 - 19
$50
Book now
Venice, Italy, 1516. The first Ghetto in the world is created. The origin of the Venice Jewish Ghetto, is not what one might think. In this world premiere program, Hershey Felder is joined by internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled, singer, writer, and Tony nominated director, Eleanor Reissa as well as renowned Italian quartet, Klezmerata Fiorentina. Filmed throughout one of the still-vibrant post war Jewish communities in Venice, Italy, Hershey Felder explores how music has reflected Jews’ changing roles in society.
Support JFest
Jest is committed to celebrating the diversity and vibrancy of the Jewish community. Thanks to an incredible $50,000 matching offer, you can double your impact by making a new or increased JFest gift by May 15. Click here to support JFest today.
