Episode #41: NEXT @ The Braid presents Santa Monica Speaks Pt. 1

Join us on a little experiment from our Emerging Artists of NEXT @ The Braid! In this episode, you will hear 3 stories that materialized out of a writing exercise that took place during a recent meeting of the council. The stories are loosely inspired by the theme of NEXT’s upcoming Salon, For Goodness’ Sake which will debut in June. Are you an artist in your 20s/30s with a story to tell?? CLICK HERE to find out how you can submit your story to For Goodness’ Sake by March 6th!

Quick note: the Fellows did not read their own stories so as to anonymize the content.

Don’t miss JWT’s Second Salon of the season: Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century! CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS <–Some dates are already selling out!

The 2019-2020 NEXT @ The Braid Fellows are Leenie Baker, David Chiu, Amanda Horowitz, Charles Volk, Rachel Minkoff, Isaac “Izzy” Salant, Sara True Rosenthal, and Sophie Stern Greenbaum. Daphna Shull serves as NEXT Literary Manager and Ora Yashar serves as NEXT Literary Consultant. NEXT Council Coordinator is Andrew Fromer.

For more information on NEXT @ The Braid, JWT’s Emerging Artists Fellowship, click here.

Episode #41: NEXT @ The Braid presents Santa Monica Speaks Pt. 12020-02-23T21:30:14-08:00

Episode #34: Season 12 Preview with Ronda and Susan

CLICK HERE to buy your 2020 Subscription!

A show exploring mental illness – a collection of outrageous stories of the carnal sort – incredible life-changing moments. These are set to be shared in JWT’s inspiring 12th Salon Season! On today’s episode, JWT Artistic Director Ronda Spinak and JWT Producing Director Susan Morgenstern return to discuss what has them excited for this year’s 3-Salon Season which is sure to be our best season yet! Hear about the excitement shared when a writer reveals a secret for the first time on our stage, what we can look forward to in each Salon and what does it mean for a JWT piece to “marinate.”

Subscriptions are on sale now, click to buy!

Want more info on Salon Theatre? Check out this video.

Episode #34: Season 12 Preview with Ronda and Susan2019-09-18T11:34:06-07:00

Episode #31: The Way Home with NEXT @ The Braid

CLICK HERE to get your tickets to The Way Home

What happens when you bring together the next generation of Jewish theatre artists under one roof? You get an incredible, compelling and uniquely original theatrical production! Hear from the Writers, Producers, Directors and creative Artists that make up this year’s cohort of NEXT @ The Braid Fellows as they get ready to share with you THE WAY HOME – performing June 8-18 all over Los Angeles at a Thrift Store, Fabric Shop or Art Gallery near you!

Wondering which venue is near you? Click here for all days, times and locations!

June 8th – Downtown LA *Come Early for a Special Art Gallery Viewing*
June 9th – Santa Monica *Come Early for an Art Talk with our Artists*
June 11th – Reseda
June 12th – Fairfax/Melrose
June 13th – Venice *Come Early for a tour of this unique Fabric Shop*
June 15th – Santa Monica *Come Early for an Art Talk with our Artists*
June 16th – Studio City *Come Early for 10% Off Shopping…Dad’s Like to Thrift Too!*
June 18th – Silverlake

ABOUT NEXT
Now in its third year, NEXT is a professional development fellowship program from JWT. Each year, a group of emerging artists are selected from a competitive applicant pool. The fellows then select a theme and invite the Los Angeles community to submit stories, poems, plays, musical works and art around that theme. NEXT fellows then collaborate to curate, cast, direct, and produce an original show and companion art exhibit over a nine-month period.

WHO ARE THE NEXT FELLOWS?

JUDITH GOLDSTEIN (Producer & Art Curator) Calling herself a modern day gypsy, Judith has lived in four countries, four states and countless cities- absorbing the culture, art and traditions from every place she’s had the pleasure of experiencing. Judith has worked in food industry as a cook, food writer, and historian. In 2014, she graduated from the University of Gastronomic Sciences with a Master’s in Food Culture and Communications. In addition to her passion for gastronomy, Judith immerses herself in photography, writing, and dance.  Her love and enthusiasm for art and food has always been the anchor that united her dynamic journey and she hopes to bring her passion, world experience and love for the humanities to the NEXT @ The Braid community.

CHANDLER TURK (Literary) is a writer for film, television, and theatre. He is currently the writers’ production assistant for Disney’s upcoming series “High School Musical: The Musical” which will premiere on their new streaming service Disney+ in late 2019. Turk earned his BFA at NYU Tisch’s Department of Dramatic Writing in 2018.  He has previously worked for the Inkwell Theater as the associate producer of Chickenheads (September 2018) and Journey to Alice (January 2018).

AYSHA WAX (Director & Marketing) is a writer, director and comedian. She is fun, witty and unintentionally the loudest person in the room. Aysha loves creating stories that are fun, festive, and feminist. Her webseries Wannabees that was co created by Marian Bruno was sold to Fox Digital in 2014.  Aysha has also had her sketches featured on Buzzfeed, Funnyordie, Wifey TV, and WhoHaHa. Aysha has performed improv and sketch around Los Angeles at iO West, the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, Westside Comedy Theater, The Pach Theater and the Groundlings.  Aysha also spent eight years teaching Hebrew School around Los Angeles, which inspired her one woman show Hebrew School Horror that she toured around LA and NYC. When Aysha is not creating things she moonlights as a dating consultant with her partner Rebecca Leib. Their dating classes are known as “Feeling It” dating. Aysha can help you level up dating wise while enjoying the process and maybe finding a partner in the process. In essence, Aysha is here to make your life a little better and more fun!

ARNON Z. SHORR (Marketing & Director) is an Israeli/American modern-Orthodox Jewish filmmaker who lives and works in Los Angeles. His award-winning shorts and features have screened in festivals around the world. His most recent short film about Jewish pirates, “The Pirate Captain Toledano”, an official selection at 48 film festivals and competitions, is now available on Blu-Ray, DVD and streaming on Amazon.com

KYRA MORLING (Producer & Art Curator) is an actor, writer, and artist recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in theater. She’s split her time between Los Angeles and New York City working at The Hammer Museum, Gagosian Gallery, Royce Hall, Bowery Poetry Club, The Hole, and Marciano Art Foundation. As a performer, she has trained with Atlantic Theater Company, Upright Citizen’s Brigade, Second City, and has been featured in both Hollywood and Edingburgh Fringe. Her heart lies with Project Nongenue, an LA- based theater company in which she was a founding member. Find out more at kyramorling.com.

ORA YASHAR (Literary) is the Showrunner’s Assistant on the Netflix series ATYPICAL, a show which empathetically and humorously explores what it means to be “normal”. Further nourishing her love of storytelling is Ora’s ongoing involvement as a Script Consultant for Sundance’s Episodic Lab. Through a collaboration with Women In Film, Ora wrote an Emmy nominated PSA for the Santa Monica Museum of Art and directed a 2x Telly Award winning PSA for the ALS Association. Her short script ICE CREAM was a 2017 Austin Film Festival Semi-Finalist, Kansas City Film Fest Finalist and a 2018 Screencraft Film Fund Semi-Finalist. In order to say thank you to all those who have come before, Ora enjoys volunteering her time at the Motion Picture and TV Fund which supports the aging entertainment community in living with dignity and purpose. She earned her MFA in Directing from Chapman University.

JULIE LANCTOT (Director & Marketing) a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, has participated in the LA theater community as an actor and assistant director. Most recently, she played Rosaline in Chase What Flies’ production of Love’s Labor’s Lost and Isabella in Method and Madness’ production of Measure for Measure. Julie assistant directed Dangerous Liaisons at Antaeus last Fall and is currently assisting on a staged reading of the Jacobean tragedy Women Beware Women. Now dipping her toes into the world of writing, she is developing an original web series with some of her closest friends. Julie is enjoying the process of becoming a hyphenate and looks forward to continuing her journey with JWT.

DAPHNA SHULL (Literary Manager) is a three-time NEXT Arts Council Fellow, literary manager, and writer, born and raised in Tampa, Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree in media production from Florida State University. After graduating in 2014, she headed west to pursue a career in screenwriting and the arts. Today Daphna works as JWT’s Artistic Associate and as a museum educator for the Zimmer Children’s Museum.

ANDREW FROMER (Council Coordinator), a Los Angeles native, grew up as an active member in the Jewish community through Stephen Wise Temple. He attended Windward School in Mar Vista, where his acting career began in plays and musicals. After completing his BFA in theater at UC Santa Barbara, and an exciting year of living in Israel, Andrew took a dive into filmmaking and has since branched into production by helping prepare for distribution two feature films he has acted in: AMP Creative’s Highway to Havasu (dir. Jeff Janke) and Mockingbird Pictures’ The Sweet Life (dir. Rob Spera). Andrew also edits, directs, and is very excited to be coordinating this year’s iteration of NEXT @ The Braid, JWT’s Emerging Artists Fellowship.

This show is made possible with generous support from the Department of Cultural Affairs of Los Angeles, Erwin Rautenberg Foundation, Y&S Nazarian Initiative, a program of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, and Gail Solo.

Thank you to our Community Organizational Partners for your commitment to Jewish Women’s Theatre and presenting our Salons in your communities.

National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles
Patricia Torkan Art Studio Gallery
Eretz Synagogue Cultural Center
Fabric Planet
Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center

Episode #31: The Way Home with NEXT @ The Braid2019-05-28T09:45:06-07:00

Episode #30: True Colors with Joshua Silverstein and David Chiu

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Our latest Salon, True Colors, features humorous, revealing and inspiring stories from Jews of Color exploring identity, community and being a Jew in modern times. On this episode, Lisa and Maureen chat with two of the many creative minds contributing to this incredible show! Joshua Silverstein is an actor in the show, wrote a piece commissioned by JWT and the Jewish Journal named him “one of the five best Jewish beatboxers in the world.” Lisa and Maureen will also talk with brilliant screenwriter David Chiu on his experiences and challenges rising through the ranks of Hollywood and his passion for activism. Listen in for Royal secrets, Judaism in ancient China and more!

*Join us for True Colors in JUNE, extended by four shows June 25, 26, 29 at 7:30 pm and June 30th at 2:00 pm!*

JOSHUA SILVERSTEIN (Writer/Actor) is an award-winning actor, comic, writer, beatboxer, and educator whose performances and productions throughout the country have prompted admiration from creative greats ranging from Norman Lear to Prince. For more than 20 years, Joshua has provided and facilitated theater, improvisation, and spoken-word workshops and in-school residencies designed to create a safe and open space for students of all ages to experience the freedom of creative expression. Joshua brings passion, play, and persuasion to make words, thinking, and expression infectiously fun. During the school year, Joshua serves as the cohost and co-producer of Emmy Award–winning Downbeat 720, a high school open-mic that has been a staple of Santa Monica for the last 16 years. Joshua also performs for The Late-Late Show with James Corden on the segment “Drop the Mic” and on the weekly stand-alone half-hour TNT series, Drop the Mic.

DAVID CHIU (Writer) is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He and writing partner Patrick Wall wrote an episode for the Amazon Prime series LORE and recently sold a VR project to Dreamscape Immersive for development with Sam Raimi and Walter Parkes. Together, David and Patrick are represented by Authentic Talent & Literary Management. David is a member of Temple Isaiah, whose board of trustees he was nominated to this year. Through his work with the Temple Isaiah Green Team, he has personally advocated for environmental policy at City Hall and in Sacramento. A weekly attendee at his shul’s Torah study minyan as well as Shabbat services, he was honored to receive Temple Isaiah’s 2019 Emerging Leaders Award. Also a member of the Los Angeles Jews of Color group, David is thrilled to help celebrate the Jewish community’s diversity.

Episode #30: True Colors with Joshua Silverstein and David Chiu2019-05-29T21:34:43-07:00

Episode #27: The Giving Life with Jill Black Zalben and Natella Royzman

CThe act of philanthropy is a vitally important lifeline for the communities in which we live. On this episode, Lisa and Maureen sit down and discuss the art of giving with two of our three panelists joining us at the upcoming event The Giving Life: Jewish Women Philanthropists. Jill Black Zalben of the Stanley & Joyce Black Family Foundation and Natella Royzman of the Jewish Community Foundation share their amazing stories about where a passion for giving has taken their lives. On February 24th, Jill and Natella will be joined by our third panelist Ilyse Teller of the Concern Foundation for a panel Q & A, light brunch and short performance.

WHEN: Sunday February 24th, 2019 10:00am – Noon
WHERE: The Braid Performance and Art Space, 2912 Colorado Ave. #102, Santa Monica, CA, 90404

Episode #27: The Giving Life with Jill Black Zalben and Natella Royzman2019-04-01T15:36:31-07:00

Episode #26: Family Secrets by the Bay with Michael Naishtut and Niloo

In this episode, Andrew chats with the other half of our cast who are sharing the tantalizing stories of Family Secrets all the way up in the Bay Area. Listen in and meet Michael Naishtut and Niloo, both with globe-spanning-multilingual performance careers!

Have a listen to hear about the tantalizing revelations that await in our first salon of the year, Family Secrets! Hear another preview piece from the show and dive into the experience of what its like to act in JWT’s signature style Salon Theatre on the road!

Performance in this episode:

An excerpt from
Ham and Cheese Croissants and a Letter to God
Written by Alexander Nemser
Performed by Michael Naishtut

Family Secrets credits:
Material Adapted, Curated, and Produced by Ronda Spinak
Directed by Susan Morgenstern and Lisa Cirincione
Dramaturg Lisa Rosenbaum
Literary Manager Suzanna Kaplan
South Bay Producer Liz Altman
San Francisco/Bay Area Producer Carol Kirsh
Assistant Producer Barbara Koletsky
Associate Producers Rose Ziff and Susie Yuré
Artistic Associate Daphna Shull
Assistant Artistic Director Andrew Fromer

Episode #26: Family Secrets by the Bay with Michael Naishtut and Niloo2019-02-19T19:13:50-08:00

Episode #20: Chutzpah & Salsa Preview with Sonia Nazario

On today’s very special episode, we revisit the incredible hit show Chutzpah and Salsa, true stories about what it means to have a Latin heart and a Jewish soul by writers from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Venezuela & Panama. You will laugh, cry and be inspired by this entirely charming show as it is being REPRISED! This coming October 11th, 13th & 14th, made possible in part by a grant from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission.

Click to here to view the trailer for the show

Today you’ll hear “The Value of One” a riveting true story from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sonia Nazario (see below for bio), performed by Rachael Hip-Flores. Following the recording is an interview with Sonia. Please join us for the performance on October 14th if you’d like to hear Sonia speak in person as she will join the cast and production team for the Q&A following the performance.

Click here to check out Sonia’s website

SONIA NAZARIO is an award-winning journalist whose stories have tackled some of this country’s most intractable problems — hunger, drug addiction, immigration — and have won some of the most prestigious journalism and book awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes. She was also a finalist for a third Pulitzer, in Public Service.

She is best known for “Enrique’s Journey,” her story of a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the U.S. Published as a series in the Los Angeles Times, “Enrique’s Journey” won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2003. It was turned into a book by Random House and became a national bestseller.

Her recent humanitarian efforts to get lawyers for unaccompanied migrant children led to her selection as the 2015 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award recipient by the Advocates for Human Rights. She also was named a 2015 Champion of Children by First Focus and a 2015 Golden Door award winner by HIAS Pennsylvania. In 2016, the American Immigration Council gave her the American Heritage Award. Also in 2016, the Houston Peace & Justice Center honored her with their National Peacemaker Award.

Nazario, who grew up in Kansas and in Argentina, has written extensively from Latin America and about Latinos in the United States. She has been named among the most influential Latinos by Hispanic Business Magazine and a “trendsetter” by Hispanic Magazine. In 2012 Columbia Journalism Review named Nazario among “40 women who changed the media business in the past 40.”

She is a graduate of Williams College and has a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She has honorary doctorates from Mount St. Mary’s College and Whittier College. She began her career at the Wall Street Journal, and later joined the Los Angeles Times.

She is now at work on her second book and is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.

Check out Sonia’s talk on the TED stage: TEDx – Solving Illegal Immigration

Links to recent works:

NYT – Do You Care About the Rule of Law?

LAT – How to Secure the Border

NYT – How the Most Dangerous Place on Earth Got Safer

For more articles or to stay up-to-date on Sonia’s work, follow her Facebook page.

Credits for Chutpah & Salsa:

Adapted, Curated & Produced by Ronda Spinak
Produced by Suzanna Kaplan
Directed by Susan Morgenstern
Dramaturge Lisa Rosenbaum
South Bay Producer Liz Altman
Associate Producers Barbara Koletsky, Susie Yuré, Rose Ziff

Special thanks to Cindy Kendall for performance recording.

In today’s episode you heard:

Opening Remarks
Written by Suzanna Kaplan. Read by Ronda Spinak

Musical Summons of Cast
Violin by Marnina Schon

The Value of One
Written by Sonia Nazario.  Performed by Rachael Hip-Flores.

Click here for more info on Chutzpah & Salsa

Episode #20: Chutzpah & Salsa Preview with Sonia Nazario2019-02-19T19:19:09-08:00

Episode #17: Uncorked with Corky Hale

If you don’t know Corky Hale’s name, you’ve most certainly heard her music.  Liberace, Sinatra, Streisand…just to name a few. And she’s accompanied many, many more! Corky has been performing as a jazz harpist, pianist, singer, flutist…she’s produced, owned a clothing store, auditioned in the nude…as she says, her life is nuts! And she joins us on stage at the The Braid, this Sunday July 29th to chat about her upcoming biography Corky Hale Uncorked, Music, Marriage and Making a Difference. A light brunch will also be served.

On this episode, Lisa and Maureen sit down with Corky and the book’s co-author Arlene Sarner to discuss some of the aspects and backstory of Corky’s life that will appear in the book. Have a listen and enjoy the stories!

VIDEO: Click here to watch Corky on the Tonight Show with Tony Bennett

Episode #17: Uncorked with Corky Hale2019-02-19T19:24:54-08:00