San Diego Repertory Theatre Announces 25th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival

San Diego Repertory Theatre presents The 25th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival,May 27-June 27, 2018. The slate of 10 performances will take place at four different San Diego and North County venues celebrating San Diego's varied and diverse performing arts community. These include San Diego REP/Lyceum Theatres, Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Encinitas Library and Congregation Adat Yeshurin in La Jolla.

Highlights of the festival include An Evening of Comedy with Elon Gold: Pro-Semite, which premiered at the Montreal Comedy Festival; The 17th Annual Klezmer Summit with headliners Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi bringing together stars of the past 17 years: Alexander Gourevitch and Freilechs, singer Elizabeth Schwartz, contrabass virtuoso Bert Turetsky, jazz all-star Gilbert Castellanos and soulful fiddler Myla Wingard; and Perla Batalla in The House of Cohen reveals the timelessness of Leonard Cohen's music. Batalla's signature cross-cultural style conveys her sincere respect and deep love for the music, poetry and most of all her dear friend, Leonard Cohen.

The festival will also feature two staged readings: the world premiere, Losing the Nobel Prize, written and directed by the festival's artistic director, Todd Salovey, based on the book of the same name by Dr. Brian Keating; and The Mudanza, performed by Teatro Punto y Coma, the theatre company of the Mexican Jewish community. There will also be the all-new, Ninth Annual Women of Valor with music, stories and images of six women who have made a significant impact in San Diego.

Music continues to play a prominent role in the festival by featuring pianist and storyteller Jacquelyne Silver with music from Beethoven to Broadway to Ragtime and Jazz; and Andy Statman, one of the world's premier mandolin and clarinet players performing traditional Jewish music, bluegrass and Americana on both instruments. The festival also features the play, In Every Generation by Ali Viterbi, a mystical journey through continents, languages and generations of an Italian-Jewish family and a nation's stories; directed by Ali Viterbi.

"We are excited to have such a diverse and uplifting array of Jewish music, theatre, film and art to share with the community," stated Todd Salovey, Jewish Arts Festival artistic director. "The variety of performances along with the caliber of acclaimed artists offers something for everyone. We welcome all of San Diego to come and enjoy this year's Jewish Arts Festival."

Photo: Perla Batalla
Photo Credit: Guy Webster