Calendar

Jun
17
Sat
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders @ Congregation Neveh Shalom
Jun 17 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders

1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am

Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!

Jul
15
Sat
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders @ Congregation Neveh Shalom
Jul 15 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders

1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am

Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!

Aug
4
Fri
3 Days, 5 plays ALL FREE @ Artists Rep’s Alder Stage
Aug 4 @ 7:30 pm – Aug 6 @ 7:30 pm
3 Days, 5 plays ALL FREE @ Artists Rep’s Alder Stage

IMAGE: “Shylock and Jessica” by Maurice Gottlieb (1876). A Maiden of Venice will be performed Aug. 6.

 

Portland Shakespeare Project and Proscenium Journal, in association with Artists Repertory Theatre, present the third annual Proscenium Live Festival of New Work. All performances are free and begin at 7:30pm on Artists Rep’s Alder Stage.

The 2017 festival will offer new plays each night featuring five outstanding playwrights. Full-length plays will be presented on Friday, Aug. 4 and Saturday, Aug. 5; three short plays commissioned by Portland Shakes and Proscenium Journal will be offered on Sunday, Aug. 6.

The Sunday performance will begin with “A Maiden of Venice,” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s most controversial play, told from the point of view of the Shylock’s daughter, Jessica.

The three-night festival features new plays written by award-winning playwrights Steve Rathje, C.S. Whitcomb, Aleks Merilo, Susan Mach and Patrick Wohlmut and are performed in a staged reading format featuring more than a dozen of Portland’s most talented actors on Artists Rep’s Alder Stage.

SCHEDULE

Aug. 4, 7:30pm: Artists Repertory Theatre’s Table|Room|Stage Oregon Play Prize Winner “Signs” by Steve Rathje; Directed by Michael Mendelson.

“Signs” is a surrealistic comedy about love, purpose and the little things that seem to matter so much to us. April reads horoscopes. Lydia writes horoscopes. April reads them devoutly, using them to guide her life choices. Lydia just makes them up, using the money she makes from them to support herself while she completes her novel. When April comes in contact with Lydia, the all-too-familiar force who has been transcribing April’s fate through her horoscopes all along, the story turns upside down.

Steve’s recent play Signs is winner of the $10,000 Oregon New Play Prize and is being developed and produced at Artists Repertory Theatre. ”Signs” was also a finalist for the National Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference.

Aug. 5, 7:30 pm: “Santos” by C.S. Whitcomb; Directed by Michael Mendelson

“Santos” is a new play set in Pasadena, California, circa 1968.  Rafael Santos, in his heart, is Don Quixote, but in the real world is just trying to get cast as a bandito bit player while teaching high school drama and keeping his family together.  A comedy with a side of tango.

Aug. 6, 7:30 pm: Three new plays, commissioned by Portland Shakes and Proscenium Journal.

“A Maiden of Venice” by Aleks Merilo, directed by Josh Rippy: In the walled Jewish Ghetto of Venice, a girl comes of age with only her money-lender father to guide her. When her father lashes back at men who have persecuted him, she is forced to choose between love, faith, and the debts we owe to family. An adaptation of Shakespeare’s most controversial play, it is told from the point of view of the Shylock’s daughter, Jessica.

“Coyote Play” by Susan Mach, Directed by Josh Rippy: “Coyote Play” (working title) is a contemporary re-imagining of the French-Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros,” an absurdist piece which examines the normalization of Fascism.

“Patchwork Dreams” by Patrick Wohlmut, Directed by Brenda Hubbard: Penny is a Patchwork: an automated, obedient servant created from the bodies of deceased people. But when an accident results in the development of consciousness, Penny becomes something much more complex, problematic and potentially terrifying – not just to others, but to herself.

The festival is supported in part by an Ozy Genius Award, awarded to Steve Rathje by Ozy Media, and by Portland Shakespeare Project.

Portland Shakes is a nonprofit theatre company in residence at Artists Repertory Theatre dedicated to educating, enriching and entertaining audiences by producing classical works and contemporary works associated with classical material. Since its founding in 2010 by Michael Mendelson and Karen Rathje, more than 4,500 people have enjoyed the company’s productions of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night and The Turn of the Screw, as well as a many audience enrichment and education events. More information at portlandshakes.org.

Proscenium is the first free literary journal dedicated to publishing plays. Proscenium publications are free of charge and readily accessible online, allowing playwrights to share their work with a large, web-based audience. Proscenium Journal‘s mission is to support emerging playwrights, make new plays easier to discover, and make theatre easily accessible to new and wider audiences. Proscenium Journal: Supporting playwrights. Encouraging discovery. Making theatre accessible. More information at prosceniumjournal.com.

Aug
19
Sat
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders @ Congregation Neveh Shalom
Aug 19 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders

1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am

Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!

Sep
14
Thu
Rivkah & Nica’s Dream Jazz @ The 1905
Sep 14 @ 6:00 pm
Rivkah & Nica's Dream Jazz @ The 1905
Jewish Jazz drummer Rivkah Ross will perform with the all-female Nica’s Dream jazz group.
Rivkah currently sits on the board of Beth Israel’s Jews Next D’or.

Rivkah began to play drums after being inspired by a Sevendust concert in Miami, FL. After a few years of being self-taught and playing in local bands, she attended Broward College in Davie, FL, as a music major and studied jazz drum set and classical percussion. Rivkah played and recorded with a variety of South Florida artists, including Andrew Bayuk, the four-time winner of the American Idol Underground Folk Competition.

In 2008, Rivkah moved to Los Angeles to study drumming at Musicians Institute. While being a student at Musicians Institute, she went on tours around California with Jeff Hershey and the Heartbeats, a 1960’s soul-rock band, and recorded and played with many other local artists. Rivkah opened for Dick Dale, the B-52s, and The New Mastersounds with Jeff Hershey and the Heartbeats. The band went on to complete three European tours, performing multiple dates in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. After touring with the band, Rivkah returned to Los Angeles and continued to play and record with two unique all-female jazz bands, Lady Jazz and the Hard Bop Chicks, as well as other artists. She gained an endorsement through Soultone Cymbals while living in Los Angeles, and performed with Stevie Wonder as part of a drum ensemble on Stevie Wonder’s Annual House of Toys at the Nokia Theater. In 2016, Rivkah relocated to Portland, Oregon, where she continues to perform.

Rivkah loves to teach and is a Certified Facilitator for The Rhythmic Arts Project, a non-profit organization that teaches life skills to students with disabilities using hand drums and specialized curriculum. She has worked with students with disabilities, as well as disadvantaged and chronically ill students, and she has a special interest in working with students who face challenges. Rivkah holds a Master of Education with emphasis in Special Education from Southern New Hampshire University.

Rivkah enjoys being out in nature, spending time with loved ones, writing stories, traveling, dancing, hiking, and inspiring and teaching others, especially girls and women, to play drums. Her favorite drummers are Roy Haynes, Cindy Blackman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, and Sean Reinert.

Sep
16
Sat
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders @ Congregation Neveh Shalom
Sep 16 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders

1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am

Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!

Oct
21
Sat
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders @ Congregation Neveh Shalom
Oct 21 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders

1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am

Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!

Nov
5
Sun
From the Shtetl to the Lower East Side – HUNGRY HEARTS: A Scored and Restored Silent film @ Portland State University - Lincoln Recital Hall
Nov 5 @ 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Event page     |   Download Full Event Flyer

What: A screening of the restored silent film “Hungry Hearts” (1922) preceded by a reception with a choice of three parallel 20-min lectures. Q&A with the composer, David Spear, to follow.
When: Sunday, November 5, 2017 | 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: Lincoln Recital Hall (LH 75) | Pocket Lectures in LH 75, LH 21, and LH 37
Cost: Free and open to the public. RSVP requested, but not required.
Contact: Stacey Johnston | judaicst@pdx.edu | 503-725-8449

Join the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies for the Portland premiere of the recently restored and rescored silent film “Hungry Hearts” (1922), filmed on location on New York’s Lower East Side. Based on the short stories of Anzia Yezierska, one of the first immigrant authors to write about American Jewish women for a mainstream audience, the film focuses on the members of the Levin family who emigrate from Eastern Europe to New York City and captures the hopes and hardships of Jewish immigrants in the New World.

The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis restored Goldwyn’s original print, and with generous support from the Casden Institute, a new score was composed and produced by David Spear in collaboration with his students from the USC Thornton School of Music. The new score for “Hungry Hearts” premiered at the 2007 New York Jewish Film Festival in Lincoln Center.

The event will begin at 5:30pm with a “Feast for the Senses and the Mind.” You are invited to sample hors d’oeuvres alongside three “pocket lectures” (20 minutes each) on various aspects of the film’s cultural and historical context. The film will begin at 7:00pm and will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with the lead composer, David Spear, about the process of scoring a historic silent film and breathing new life into “old art”. (Full Schedule Below)

  • 5:30 pm      Welcome Reception with Food
  • 6:00 pm      Choose your own mini-lecture!
    • LH 75 – Marat Grinberg, Reed College
      • “At the Intersection of Screen and Text: American Jewish Culture Before the War”
    • LH 37 – Joseph Butwin, University of Washington
      • “Exile and Return: Anzia Yezierska Finds her Vocation”
    • LH 21 – Amy Borden, PSU School of Film

      • “Immigration and Nativism in New York’s Nickelodeon’s”
  • 7:00 pm      Hungry Hearts Film Screening
  • 8:45 pm      Q&A with David Spear
    • Soundtrack Producer & 2017 Artist-in-Residence

This is the first half of the 2017 Levy Event, which focuses on the nexus between East European Jewish immigrants to the U.S. and twentieth-century American film and music. For information about the second half of the 2017 Levy Event, visit the event page.

This event is sponsored by the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies thanks to the generous support of Larry Levy and Pamela Lindholm-Levy. Cosponsored by the PSU School of Music + Theater and the Northwest Film Center.

Nov
6
Mon
Cabaret J – From the Lower East Side, to Broadway, Hollywood, and Beyond! @ Portland State University - Lincoln Recital Hall
Nov 6 @ 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Event Page     |     Download Full Event Flyer

What: A cabaret revue drawn from the American popular songbook with Artist-in-Residence David Spear, featuring PSU student and faculty performers. Preceded by lecture on “The Songs Are You: Jewish Songwriters of the Great American Songbook” with composer and musicologist Aaron Fruchtman.
When: Monday, November 6, 2017 | 6:00pm to 9:30pm (performance begins at 7:30pm)
Where: Lincoln Recital Hall (LH 75)
Cost: Free and open to the public. RSVP requested, but not required.
Contact: Stacey Johnston | judaicst@pdx.edu | 503-725-8449

The Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies and the School of Music + Theater present an evening cabaret performance featuring the songs of such Jewish composers as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Kurt  Weill, and Harold Arlen, performed by PSU students and faculty, local professional vocalists, and cantors. The revue will be punctuated by historical, cultural, and musical notes by musical director David Spear, the Judaic Studies Program’s 2017 Artist-in-Residence

Join us before the performance for a guest lecture “The Songs Are You: Jewish Songwriters of the Great American Songbook” with composer and musicologist Aaron Fruchtman.

  • 6:00 pm          Lecture w/ Aaron Fruchtman
    • “The Songs are You: Jewish Songwriters of the Great American Songbook”
  • 7:00 pm            Intermission
    • Free appetizers, Beer/Wine available for cash purchase
  • 7:30 pm             Cabaret Performance
    • Musical direction by David Spear
    • Performances by: Dean Leroy Bynum Jr, Dr. Bonnie Miksch, Sherry Alves, John Gilmore, Cantor Eyal Bitton, Amy Hansen, Pamela South, Anders Tobiason, Danielle Barker, & Maeve Dahlen
  • 9:00 pm             Dessert Reception

    • Desserts, Coffee, and Tea provided

This is the second half of the 2017 Levy Event, which focuses on the nexus between East European Jewish immigrants to the U.S. and twentieth-century American film and music. For information about the first half of the 2017 Levy Event, visit the event page.

This event is sponsored by the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies thanks to the generous support of Larry Levy and Pamela Lindholm-Levy. Cosponsored by the PSU School of Music + Theater.

Nov
18
Sat
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders @ Congregation Neveh Shalom
Nov 18 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders

1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am

Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!