LABA: A Laboratory For Jewish Culture At The 14th Street Y Announces The First LABAlive Event Of 2019

LABAlive: a Laboratory for Jewish Culture at the 14th Street Y announces its first 2019 celebration of groundbreaking, genre-breaking, and heartbreaking Jewish art and performance based on the theme of LIFE + DEATH, Saturday, February 2, 2019 at 7:30pm at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E 14th Street, NYC 10003.

The evening features work by LABA Fellows Ari Brand, Maya Ciarrocchi, Yochai Greenfeld, and Alex Weiser, with textual exegesis from LABA Lead Teacher Liel Leibovitz.

Ari Brand

Missing (Performance)

Actor Ari Brand (My Name is Asher Lev, Bad Jews) tells the story of his immigrant father's fame and early death due to AIDs. It's a fascinating exploration of shame, love, and family secrets. Directed by Eugenia Manwelyan.

Maya Ciarrocchi

Site: Yizkor (Installation in 14th Street Y gallery)

This absorbing interdisciplinary installation is comprised of shtetl maps, architectural renderings, and Yizkor (memorial) books. With Site, Ciarrocchi delves into the forgotten spaces of the dead, asking how and why people, cultures, and identities disappear.

https://vimeo.com/306060905

https://labajournal.com/2019/01/people-come/

Yochai Greenfeld

Abbi Gezunt: It Gets Bitter (Performance)

Greenfeld appears as Abbi Gezunt, an Orthodox Jewish mother, telling the story of her son's coming out. In this bittersweet and very funny monologue, Abbi throws serious shade at the observant Jews who sit shiva for living family members who stray from the path.

https://labajournal.com/2019/01/when-one-family-member-comes-out-the-whole-family-goes-on-a-journey/

Alex Weiser

State of the Jews (Performance)

Weiser presents excerpts from State of the Jews, his opera about the last years of the life of Theodore Herzl (1860-1904), the founder of modern political Zionism. With librettist Ben Kaplan, Weiser interweaves the world-historical narrative with the more intimate story of Herzl's conflicted family life.

Liel Leibovitz

LABA Teacher (MC and Lead Teacher)

Leibovitz is a senior writer for Tablet magazine, and hosts of Unorthodox, the popular podcast. He is the author of several books, most recently, A Broken Hallelujah: Rock n' Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen.

Full Season Tickets and detailed information on shows available at www.14streety.org/tickets.

About LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture

LABA uses Jewish classic texts to inspire contemporary culture-makers and thinkers. Each year LABA fellows study text in a non-religious, openminded setting based on a theme-this year's theme is LIFE + DEATH. The art created by LABA fellows aims to transcend cultural and social borders by exploring the universal themes the fellows encounter through their engagement with Jewish thought.

Tickets available now: www.14streety.org/tickets.

For more information: https://labajournal.com/2018/12/life-death-labalive/