Original Millennial Theatrical Show Debuts in Salon Venues Across Los Angeles

The love affair between Jewish people and the stage dates back to Yiddish theatre in the late 19th century. Its comedy, drama, operetta and satire delighted and informed audiences from Eastern Europe, to Paris, to Buenos Aires and New York City. Later, Broadway musicals by Berlin, Gershwin, Bernstein and Sondheim; comedies by Woody Allen and Neil Simon; and dramas by Lillian Hillman, Harold Pinter and Wendy Wasserstein, among countless others, created the foundations upon which American theatre was built.

But will this tradition endure?

"We are doing our part to make sure it will," says Ronda Spinak, Jewish Women's Theatre's (JWT) artistic director. "Thanks to a $150,000 Cutting Edge grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, we were able to create NEXT @ The Braid, a new Arts Council and cohort of theatre-minded and artful millennials, who, after competing for twelve spots as fellows, spent nine months bringing the voices of their generation to the stage in a way that will deeply resonate with their peers and the community at large."

"By working with a variety of theatre professionals, NEXT fellows discovered innovative ways to connect their art to their Judaism," says Spinak. "They learned to adapt material from page to stage, cast, direct and produce an original theatrical event using a unique salon style format that has the ability to grab the audience's interest even in today's world of short attention spans. And now, the fellows and their show are ready for curtain up."

"I think our audiences, particularly the younger newcomers, will embrace the idea of a salon as a different way to consume content," said NEXT fellow Andrew Fromer. "The opportunity to engage is so much more exciting than typical theater experiences where you enter, take your seat, watch the show, then leave and maybe post about it on social media later."

NEXT, like its JWT parent, will be performing The Space Between in salon-style theatre format. Ever since the 16th century, in France and Italy, through the Gertrude Stein-hosted salons of the 1920's, salons have been favored forums for intellectual and literary discussion and dissent. The NEXT program will introduce a new generation to this more personal theatre approach, reviving a long lost tradition that fosters thought, discussion and even argument while building community.

The Space Between explores humorous, heartbreaking and surprising stories that cut to the heart of what divides the NEXT generation from others. It illuminates the yearnings and struggles, successes and failures of reaching out to find common ground with each other and with their more traditional predecessors. It tells personal stories of hook-ups gone humorously bad, bullying and teen-aged rebellion, the heartbreak and redemption of being "always a bridesmaid," finding true love online with an unlikely mate, an enlightening encounter with an Orthodox cousin who breaks some sacred rules, and other original pieces chosen from scores of submissions.

Abbe Meryl Feder, Program Producer for NEXT@ The Braid, realizes how rare this program is, given recent attempts to devalue the arts and decimate budgets from schools, theatres and other cultural organizations. "As arts funding is dwindling in so many parts of the country, to be able to create and learn together with support and funding is incredibly special not just for developing this show, but for cultivating and training an artistic community that can create for tomorrow."

NEXT fellow, actress Sigi Gradwohl also appreciates the NEXT project. "This year has given me the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself: a group who believes in the power of art and its ability to illuminate and transform the human experience, even during the most trying of times," she said. "It's a privilege to surround myself with fellow artists to curate a show that will give strength to and shine light upon diverse voices with the aim of discovering our common ground and shared humanity."

Amirose Eisenbach, a NEXT producing team fellow shares, "JWT's shows make you think and feel, and they help preserve our important shared history. It's exciting to connect to the long tradition of Jewish theater and of telling stories in a new way for our day and age."

The Space Between, an original, salon-style play will premiere on June 14 at The Braid, home of Jewish Women's Theatre, 2912 Colorado Ave., #102, Santa Monica, CA 90404. It will also travel to several venues across the Los Angeles until June 25. Tickets are $10 and include a dessert buffet and Q&A with writers, cast and producers. Visit: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org for tickets and additional information about the NEXT fellows and program.

The NEXT cast includes: Michael Hansen, ZOE LILLIAN, JESSE MACHT, DONNABELLA MORTEL, Kyla Schoer.

The NEXT fellows are:

LISA CIRINCIONE (Member, Directing Team) is an actress and producer whose stage and screen credits include work in the US, the UK, and Italy. She produced and stars in Porcupine, which had its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival and has played on screens around the globe. She was recently cast in Francis Ford Coppola's upcoming film and shot an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

AMIROSE EISENBACH (Member, Producing Team) is a writer and producer with over a decade of entertainment experience, having worked at Warner Bros., Fox Interactive Media, and most recently AMC Theatres editorial. While at AMC, she launched their independent film division, including a weekly Women in Film segment. She now has her own event and film company, Radiant J Productions.

VANESSA ESPINO (Member, Literary Team) graduated from Cal State Fullerton with an emphasis in playwriting and was a KCACTF regional finalist for her original play Odilia, which was remounted for the Hollywood Fringe Festival and won the Hollywood Fringe Scholarship and Inkwell Playwrights Promise award. She has written several other well received plays.

ANDREW FROMER (Member, Filmography and Distribution (social media) Team) A Los Angeles native, Fromer received a BFA in theater from UC Santa Barbara then lived Israel and dived into filmmaking. He has acted in AMP Creative's Highway to and Mockingbird Pictures' The Sweet Life. Andrew also edits, directs, and hosts his own podcast on the entertainment industry, SideKickBack Radio.

Sigi Gradwohl (Member, Producing Team) is a Swiss-Israeli-American triple citizen and member of Theatre of NOTE. Favorite theater credits include her critically acclaimed role of Daphna in Bad Jews (co-executive producer), The Diary of Anne Frank (winner, Best Leading Actress) and Askance (winner, Scenie Award). TV: Girl Meets World and Jessie (Disney), among others.

CHELSEA LONDON LLOYD (Member, Filmography and Distribution (social media) Team) is a USC graduate pursuing a comedic acting career. Recent credits include a pilot for Adult Swim, Lifetime film, and a national billboard campaign for WAG. She is a graduate of the TENT Jewish Comedy program and Sinai Scholars. In addition, her sassy, self-deprecating humor has made her a standout in viral videos on BuzzFeed and Funny or Die.

GINA LORING (Member, Literary Team) a poet/singer/songwriter, has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry, BET's Lyric Cafe, TVOne's Verses and Flow. As guest artist of the American Embassy, she has performed in Kuwait, Russia, West Africa, and Tunisia, among others. A college professor by day, she holds a BA from Spelman College and an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles.

Abigail Marks (Member, Directing Team) A Los Angeles native, Marks holds an MFA from the Academy for Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theatre and a BA from George Washington University. A company member at the Antaeus Theatre, she was most recently seen in Cloud 9 and was nominated for an Ovation Award and won a Backstage Award for her work in Top Girls.

Rachel Berney Needleman (Member, Directing Team) is a director, performer, and producer of classical and new works. She directed Gigi Bermingham in Cabaret Noel, as well as workshops and readings of new plays for the Blank and Skylight theatres and Theatricum Botanicum. She is also an affiliate member of Antaeus Theatre Company, where she directed several Tennessee Williams' one-acts.

CHRISTIAN PRENTICE (Member, Literary Team) is both a performer and a theatre patron, who has worked at Theatre @ Boston Court, the Sierra Madre Playhouse, Son of Semele, the Echo Theatre Company, Circle X, and Interact Theatre Company. Before moving to Los Angeles, he worked professionally in Cleveland, where he earned his BA in theatre from Kent State University.

VICKI SCHAIRER (Member. Filmography and Distribution Team (social media) Team) has directed a number of short films and is currently in development for a handful of new projects. She works as a television producer with credits on shows for Amazon Prime, TLC, the History Channel, and Fullscreen. She worked as a theatre director, production manager, and arts administrator in the greater Boston area prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2014.

DAPHNA SHULL (Member Literary Team) was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, and 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. Currently, Daphna works as a teacher's assistant at Pressman Academy in Los Angeles and runs an after-school screenwriting class their for 3rd and 4th graders.

The team is also supported by JWT millennial staff and leadership:

ABBE MERYL FEDER, Producer, is thrilled to have taken a leadership role with JWT after performing as an actress in several productions. Upon graduation from college, Abbe trained at American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Some credits include [film]: Sex Ed, Brahmin Bulls; and [TV] Las Vegas, Pushing Daisies, and CSI:NY. She also served as director of operations at IKAR for five years.

MICHELLE ALTMAN, Braid Manager, is a BFA graduate of Drake University who has been directing, producing, writing, and performing in Chicago, where she worked with ShPIel, New Lincoln, New Millennium Theatre Company, and the Home for Wayward Artists. She was also co-founder and artistic director of Chicago's Vanguardian Theatre Collective.

ALLYSON HIMELSTEIN, JWT Board Liaison, is the Career Services Advisor at USC's Price School. Prior to returning to her home in Los Angeles, she worked in recruitment, higher education and hospitality in New York and New Hampshire. She has a BA in Jewish Studies from Emory University and a Master's in Clinical Social Work from Fordham University. Last year, she wrote her first piece for Jewish Women's Theatre and was hooked ever since.

JWT aims to leave no Jewish story untold, while celebrating the truths that connect us all. At JWT's home, The Braid Performance and Art Space in Santa Monica's Bergamot Arts District, in intimate salons throughout Southern California, and on tour throughout the country, JWT stages and displays contemporary works that provide a forum and creative community hub for the development, performance and showcasing of diverse Jewish talent.

The Space Between will premiere on June 14 at The Braid, home of Jewish Women's Theatre, 2912 Colorado Ave., #102, Santa Monica, CA 90404. It will also travel to three venues across Los Angeles until June 25. Tickets are $10 and include a dessert buffet and Q&A with writers, cast and producers. Visit: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org for tickets and additional information.