Tag Archives: Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan

JUSTICE IN ACTION: EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY PT. 2

Ruth Messinger will lead online panel discussion on educational inequality

Who: Ruth Messinger, Brad Lander, Mark Winston Griffith, Emma Rehac
What: Justice in Action discussion
Where: Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan Zoom link
When: Thursday, May 21, free (donations accepted) with advance registration, 2:00
Why: The JCC’s Justice in Action program continues May 21 at 2:00 with the livestreamed panel discussion “Educational Inequity Pt. 2,” which will examine how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting inequality in the school system, based on race, class, power, and other elements. JCC Social Justice Activist in Residence Ruth Messinger and New York City councilmember Brad Lander will be joined by School Colors podcast host Mark Winston Griffith and IntegrateNYC student director Emma Rehac. Free advance RSVP is required, although donations are accepted; registrants will receive a Zoom link thirty minutes before the session begins.

SIGNIFICANT OTHER BY JOSHUA HARMON: A STAGED READING

Tony nominee Ethan Slater will perform the key role of Jordan in staged benefit reading of Significant Other at the JCC (photo by Joan Marcus)

Arts + Ideas
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at West 76th St.
Thursday, January 31, $25, 7:00
646-505-5708
jccmanhattan.org

I had the privilege of seeing Joshua Harmon’s wonderful Significant Other both off Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre in 2015 as well as on Broadway at the Booth in 2017, completely falling for this tale of four friends searching for love in New York City and beyond. The Roundabout production had an undeserved short run on Broadway, but it’s being brought back for a special one-night-only staged reading on January 31 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, benefiting the institution’s “Out at the J” LGBTQIA programming. SpongeBob SquarePants himself, Tony nominee Ethan Slater, will play Jordan, with Midori Francis as Laura, Latoya Edwards as Vanessa, Cathryn Wake as Kiki, Kathryn Kates as Helene, and Isaac Powell as Zach, Evan, and Roger. (The casting of the actor who will play Will, Conrad, and Tony is TBD.) Rising star Harmon has also written Skintight, Admissions, and Bad Jews, so his career is off to a rousing start. Tickets for the Arts + Ideas event, which is directed by Daniella Caggiano and produced by Rachel Kunstadt, are only twenty-five dollars and go to a great cause, so you can’t go wrong with this special evening, part of the JCC’s Arts + Ideas initiative.

PERSON PLACE THING: GARY SHTEYNGART

Gary Shteyngart will present his latest book at the JCC on December 12 (photo by Brigitte Lacombe)

Who: Gary Shteyngart
What: Arts + Ideas — Conversations
Where: Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St., 646-505-4444
When: Wednesday, December 12, $20, 8:00
Why: Leningrad-born author Gary Shteyngart will be at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on December 12 for the latest “Person Place Thing” event, being held in conjunction with the publication of his most recent book, Lake Success (Random House, September 2018, $28). Shteyngart, whose previous novels include Super Sad True Love Story and Absurdistan, will discuss the book and sign copies; there will also be live klezmer music by Brooklyn-based new traditionalists Tsibele. “Barry Cohen, a man with 2.4 billion dollars of assets under management, staggered into the Port Authority Bus Terminal. He was visibly drunk and bleeding. There was a clean slice above his left brow where the nanny’s fingernail had gouged him and, from his wife, a teardrop scratch below his eye. It was 3:20 a.m.” So begins Lake Success, the first chapter of which is titled “Destination America.”

PERSON PLACE THING: NOAH EMMERICH

Native New Yorker and proud American Noah Emmerich will be at JCC on March 28 for live podcast

Native New Yorker and proud American Noah Emmerich will be at JCC on March 28 for live Person Place Thing podcast

Who: Noah Emmerich, Randy Cohen, Gregorio Uribe Trio
What: Person Place Thing live podcast
Where: Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St., 646-505-4444
When: Wednesday, March 28, $15-$20, 7:30
Why: Five-time Emmy-winning television writer, columnist, and author Randy Cohen will record his next Person Place Thing podcast live March 28 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, sitting down with actor Noah Emmerich. The native New Yorker has appeared in such films as Beautiful Girls, Super 8, and Miracle and such TV series as The Walking Dead, White Collar, and The Americans, where he currently portrays FBI agent Stan Beeman. He has also been onstage at the Kennedy Center, the Cherry Lane, Playwrights Horizons, and other theaters. Preparing for the live show, Cohen blogged, “It is easy to confuse the actor with the role, so to clarify: He is not a troubled, complicated FBI agent. (He may be troubled and complicated; that’s not for me to say.)” Don’t be surprised if the discussion turns to politics, judging from Emmerich’s Twitter feed. The evening will also include live music by the Gregorio Uribe Trio.