‘Pandemish’ is comedic YidLife Crisis’s sendup of that other crisis
Last summer when the comedy duo YidLife Crisis conceived Pandemish they hoped its premiere in the new year would be a joyous victory lap as the world saw COVID’s finish line. In September, Montreal’s Segal Centre for Performing Arts likewise bravely wagered that it could banish the darkness that had enveloped its stage since March […]
BBC director Alvin Rakoff reflects on the journey from Toronto’s Kensington Market to a long career in show business
When Alvin Rakoff, the BBC director who discovered Sean Connery, left his home in Toronto’s Kensington Market in 1952 to seek his fortune in television across the pond, he was told to forget it. “On the boat over, I remember being told quite pointedly that Canadians could never get employed by the BBC,” he said. […]
It’s all in the telling: Saul Rubinek to open Ottawa Holocaust Education Month
Canadian actor, filmmaker, producer and writer Saul Rubinek will open Holocaust Education Month in Ottawa on Nov. 9 by performing excerpts from his new play, All in the Telling. There is much to tell and much to weigh about the telling—and the hearing. “It’s a meaningful title to me because it tells you that it’s […]
The Christie Pits Riot of 1933 can now be experienced through an audio tour
You can relive Toronto’s only race riot by taking an audio tour of the neighbourhood where Jews and Italians fought Nazi supporters with their fists, bricks, lead pipes, baseball bats and broken glass from dusk until dawn on Aug. 16, 1933. The free audio tour The Christie Pits Riot, developed by the immersive theatre company […]
Documentary pays homage to resilience of Montreal’s special-needs choir members through pandemic
Weekly rehearsals and a busy concert schedule provided a group of Montreal adults with disabilities much-needed camaraderie and opportunity to learn and develop their talents. The pandemic brought that to a sudden halt in March 2020. But under its charismatic founder and leader, Cantor Daniel Benlolo, the Shira Choir went virtual. The 35 members quickly […]
Artist Charlotte Salomon comes to life in this new Canadian animated film
Keira Knightley stars in ‘Charlotte’, debuting at TIFF 2021.
Barry Levinson’s new film tells the story of one man’s harrowing journey to survive the Holocaust
Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson’s new film, The Survivor, the wrenching story of a man forced to box at Auschwitz to survive, had its world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13. The soul-searching movie is the true story of Holocaust survivor Hertzko Haft (known as Harry) and is based on the […]
The top 6 Jewish films to watch at TIFF 2021
Two animated Holocaust stories lead the way.
The long theatre intermission is about to end at Montreal’s Segal Centre
After one and a half years in the dark due to the pandemic, the Segal Centre for Performing Arts is presenting an in-person theatre season—with a bark. These extraordinary times call for a reset that is a bit different, a little bolder, said artistic and executive director Lisa Rubin at the virtual 2021-2022 season unveiling. […]
Virtual art show features the work of Jewish queer and transgender artists
Exhibit includes visual art, photography, poetry, music and film.
