Putumayo’s Hebrew string section
2012-11-14
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Hey, what’s that I hear in the background? It’s nice, it’s perhaps a little worldly, it’s even got a little beat. It’s Hanukkah-like, but it also makes me feel like I’m in an airport gift shop. Which can only mean one thing: Putumayo has putContinue Reading
A tribute to talent lost
2012-11-13
By Gigi Yellen-Kohn , JTNews Correspondent “Cantata for the Children of Terezìn” by Mary Ann Joyce-Walter Ravello Records, $16.99 CD. 50 minutes. Reminiscent of Mahler and Brahms, with a generous dash of shtetl melancholy, this cantata sets seven poems composed by children in the Terezìn concentration camp. The recording wasContinue Reading
Smitten in Seattle
2012-11-12
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews Deb Perelman is dreaming about a pumpkin cheesecake gingersnap pie. “I think I just dream [recipes] up most of the time,” Perelman explained. “They just haunt me.” Perelman, the woman behind the wildly popular Smitten Kitchen food blog, is currently touring theContinue Reading
Israeli singer Rita finds herself a fan club — in Iran
2012-11-12
By Chavie Lieber , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — It’s not every day an Israeli wakes up to an email inbox full of love letters from Iran. Yet they come in droves to the Israeli singer Rita Yahan-Farouz. The 50-year-old Iran native, who performs under the nameContinue Reading
Death: A satire on the stage
2012-10-31
By Peter Klein, Special to JTNews An opera written in a Nazi concentration camp about a murderous ruler who tries to outdo Death himself might sound far-fetched. But that is exactly the story behind “The Emperor of Atlantis,” to be performed by Music of Remembrance November 16 and 18 atContinue Reading
Going for Brokeland, not quite making it
2012-10-10
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNewsContinue Reading
Going for Brokeland, not quite making it
2012-10-10
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Back in his prime, Luther Stallings was the biggest, baddest, blackest Kung Fu champion and action movie star to walk the streets of L.A. With his co-star Valletta Moore by his side, the man was the definition of cool. Even 30 years later, afterContinue Reading
A mystery of biblical proportions
2012-09-10
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNewsContinue Reading
A mystery of biblical proportions
2012-09-10
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews Occasionally, a book comes out that changes history. One of these books is the Aleppo Codex, the Hebrew Bible manuscript that has survived a millennium and several perilous journeys. Another is “The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and theContinue Reading
“˜Possession’ writers scare up Jewish legend
2012-08-29
By Michael Fox, Special to JTNews Something odd happens while Stiles White, co-screenwriter of “The Possession,” is answering my first question: My computer crashes. This would normally not be worthy of comment, although your correspondent’s Mac is new and hiccup-free. White, chuckling, is quick to pin this annoying, albeit minor,Continue Reading
Jewish magician talks Houdini
2012-08-29
By Gwen Davis, Special to JTNews White bunnies, hop away quickly, or Joshua Jay might snatch you up. Unless, of course, you don’t mind popping out of a black felt hat. Jay, 30, a world-renowned magician, author and lecturer, will explore the intersection of magic and Judaism in Seattle onContinue Reading
Manifesto for a revolution
2012-08-23
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews When René Levy agreed to give a talk at his synagogue about “sinat chinam,” or baseless hatred, he never expected that it would turn into a book, which would take him away from his career and around the world. “Baseless Hatred: What ItContinue Reading
How to write life
2012-08-21
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews How long does it take to get a book done right? The first draft is never the one that should see print, of course. But take the evolution of a fairly minor character in Joshua Henkin’s new novel, “The World Without You.” “Some of theContinue Reading
Marvin Hamlisch, acclaimed composer and arranger, dies at 68
2012-08-07
By , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Marvin Hamlisch, the acclaimed composer and arranger of dozens of Broadway plays and films, has died at 68. Hamlisch died Monday in Los Angeles following a brief illness. He perhaps was best known for his work on the long-running BroadwayContinue Reading
Getting chai on “˜Weeds’: the top Jewish references
2012-08-02
By Jason Miller, JTA World News Service WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA)—Fans of the long-running Showtime series “Weeds” know that writer and creator Jenji Kohan is not afraid to pepper the show with Jewish themes. While the show, now in its final season, has changed its flavor over the years andContinue Reading
July-August Arts Events
2012-07-26
By Dikla Tuchman, Arts Editor, JTNews Friday, July 27 at 8 p.m. Michael Feinstein’s “The Good Life” Music Grammy-winning singer and pianist Michael Feinstein, along with his 17-piece big band, return to Seattle to present “The Good Life,” the second volume of his popular Sinatra Project. Hailed as the “AmbassadorContinue Reading
Intiman brings political conflict to the small stage
2012-07-23
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist Seattle’s beleaguered Intiman theater has reopened this summer with a festival, four plays presented in rotation for two months, one of which is John Patrick Shanley’s “Dirty Story.” This article begins with the same warning as any other piece you’ll read about this play:Continue Reading
