Andrea Most to Chat 'THEATRICAL LIBERALISM' Book at TFANA, 5/4

Andrea Most, author of Theatrical Liberalism: Jews and Popular Entertainment in America, will discuss her book at a free event on Monday, May 4, at 7:00pm at Theatre for a New Audience, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place.

Ms. Most's talk, open and free to the public, is the third event of Theatre for a New Audience's 2015 Open Books program, evenings of lively, engaging conversation with the authors of some of American theatre's most acclaimed new books.

Moderator Jonathan Kalb (two-time winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism) and Ms. Most will discuss how Jews used theatre and other media to assimilate in America. Their discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A and a meet-and-greet with the author. Books will be available for purchase and to be signed.

Complimentary food and drink will be served. Reservations are encouraged, and can be made at www.tfana.org/openbooks.

In Theatrical Liberalism, Andrea Most illustrates how American Jews used the theatre and other media to navigate their encounters with modern culture, politics, religion, and identity, negotiating a position for themselves within and alongside Protestant American liberalism by reimagining key aspects of traditional Judaism as theatrical. Discussing works as diverse as the Hebrew Bible, The Jazz Singer, and Death of a Salesman, Most situates American popular culture in the multiple religious traditions that informed the worldviews of its practitioners. With extensive scholarship and compelling evidence, Ms. Most shows how the Jewish worldview that permeates American culture has reached far beyond the Jews who created it.

Andrea Most is a Professor of American Literature and Jewish Studies in the Department of English at the University of Toronto. Her first book Making Americans: Jews and the Broadway Musical won the 2005 Kurt Weill Prize for distinguished scholarship on music theatre. Her second book, Theatrical Liberalism: Jews and Popular Entertainment in America was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Culture.

Founded in 1979 by Jeffrey Horowitz, Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) is a modern classic theatre. It produces Shakespeare alongside other major authors from the world repertoire, such as Harley Granville Barker, Edward Bond, Adrienne Kennedy and Wallace Shawn. It has played off- and on Broadway and toured nationally and internationally. The Theatre's productions have been honored with Tony, Obie, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Lortel and Audelco awards and nominations and reach an audience diverse in age, economics and cultural backgrounds. TFANA created and runs the largest in-depth program in the New York City Public Schools to introduce students to Shakespeare, and has served more than 127,000 students since the program began in 1984.

Theatre for a New Audience's Humanities programs are supported in part by a permanent endowment established at the Theatre by a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence, with leading matching gifts provided by Robert H. Arnow, Perry and Marty Granoff, John J. Kerr and Nora Wren Kerr, and Theodore C. Rogers. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support for the Theatre's Humanities, Education, and Outreach programs also comes from The Elayne P. Bernstein Education Fund.

The Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place in Brooklyn, is easily accessible by public transit: Subway: Take the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, or R trains to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center; the C to Lafayette Avenue; or the G to Fulton Street. Check the MTA website for service changes. Bus: The B25, B26, B38, B41, B45, B52, B63, and B67 buses all stop within a few blocks of the Polonsky Shakespeare Center. LIRR: The Long Island Rail Road stops at Atlantic Terminal, two blocks away from the Polonsky Shakespeare Center. For more information & to RSVP, visit www.tfana.org/openbooks or email humanities@tfana.org or call 646-553-3881.