New Jewish Theatre Opens Season with CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FATHER September 30th

The New Jewish Theatre opens its "Bat Mitzvah Season" on Wednesday, September 30 with Herb Gardner's 1994 quasi-autobiographical classic about three generations of a Jewish family living on the lower East Side, "Conversations with My Father." Gardner's play, a beautiful paean to the Jewish immigrant experience and father-son relationships explores the story of Eddie Ross (nee Itzhak Goldberg), a Russian immigrant who, with his family, runs a Canal Street saloon.

Gardner's powerful and funny play is richly atmospheric. It is peopled with a variety of unique individuals who make up the denizens of the saloon, from the old Yiddish Theatre actor to the Irish bookie, and dramatically spans four decades from 1936 to 1976. Eddie's story dramatizes what it's like to melt as well as simmer in American society while it encompasses the universals of relations between fathers and sons. In Eddie's story, Gardner describes a first generation of American Jews who came of age in the Depression and assimilated into the American melting pot by trying to reject their heritage. While laugh-provoking, the play is notable for its shattering emotional range.

Again this season we wear the mantle of the "Wandering Jewish Theatre" while we are out of our home at the Jewish Community Center in Creve Coeur, awaiting with excitement, the completion of our new state-of-the-art Studio Theatre. We will again be presenting most of our productions at Clayton High School at 2 Mark Twain Circle off of Maryland Avenue in Clayton. This production will be in the school's main auditorium.

The play is directed by Sidney Friedman who taught and directed theatre at Washington University from 1966 - 81 and helped to create their Performing Arts Department. Friedman is currently a professor of theatre with Boston University's College of Fine Arts. The stellar cast features Kevin Beyer, Nancy Crouse, Kari Ely*, Bob Harvey, Billy Kelly, Alan Knoll*, Peter Mayer*, Jimmy McEvoy, Terry Meddows, Stephen Peirick, Drew Redington and B Weller.

So join NJT, St. Louis' Premier Small Professional Theatre, as we celebrate our Bat Mitzvah Season of 2009-10. Subscriptions and single tickets are available now and can be purchased by phone, mail or online at www.newjewishtheatre.org. Or call the box office at 314-442-3283.

* denotes member Actors Equity Association