THE GOLEM'S GIFT Will Make World Premiere at Northwest Children's Theater
Benny Zelkowicz and Ezra Weiss created the fable about a clay man determined to repair the world.
Northwest Children's Theater (NWCT) has announced the world premiere of The Golem's Gift, an original musical years in the making and now brought to the stage by the support of the community. The production runs October 3–11, 2026 on The Schnitzer Stage at The Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts, opening NWCT's 2026/27 season.
With book and lyrics by Benny Zelkowicz and an original score by Portland-based composer Ezra Weiss, The Golem's Gift is an original fable inspired by Jewish folklore about a man made of clay who is determined to repair the world.
NWCT has spent years developing The Golem's Gift with Zelkowicz and Weiss, with the initial commission in 2020 and the first staged reading in 2022. The project was NWCT's first play to ever receive a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant when it was awarded in January 2025. The NEA withdrew that funding a couple months later as part of the agency's widespread grant cancellations. Rather than let the production stall, community members stepped in. Tens of thousands of dollars have since been raised through individual contributions, bringing NWCT close to replacing the original grant. A $5,000 matching gift has been pledged to help close the remaining gap.
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