Virtual Lectures
What Makes Sondheim Great, Act 2 with Gail Leondar-Wright
A Five-Week Course
Thursdays, 3:00 pm, Via Zoom
May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Free for virtual members, $10 each or $45 for 5-week course for non-virtual members
Join other musical lovers for this fast-paced course, full of things to look at, watch, listen to, and think about. The late Stephen Sondheim is commonly thought to be the most important musical theater composer and lyricist of the past fifty years, and the single most influential force in bringing the Broadway musical into the modern era. This lively and interactive course will explore how Sondheim has elevated the genre, ushering in the musical’s modern era.
We’ll focus on West Side Story, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Merrily We Roll Along, and Into the Woods.
Virtual members and ticket buyers will have access to recordings of What Makes Sondheim Great? Act 1.
Gail Leondar-Wright spends her time studying and teaching about the works of Stephen Sondheim. She facilitates a national “Sondheim Study Group,” and gives periodic webinars comparing the works of Sondheim to that of other composers and lyricists. She hold a Masters in Performance Studies from NYU and a BA in Drama from UC Berkeley.
The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World with author Jonathan Freedland
Monday, May 13, 3:30 pm, Via Zoom
Free for virtual members, $10 for non-virtual members
The gripping and heroic story of Rudolf Vrba, who escaped the death camp in order to tell the world about its horrors.
Jonathan Freedland is a columnist for The Guardian in London. He presents BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View, as well as two podcasts, Politics Weekly America for The Guardian and Unholy, alongside the Israeli journalist Yonit Levi. He is a past winner of an Orwell Prize for journalism and has written 12 books including nine thrillers, mostly as Sam Bourne. The Escape Artist is a 2023 National Jewish Book Award Winner for Biography and Holocaust.
Jews Across the Americas: A Sourcebook, 1492 – Present with authors Adriana Brodsky & Laura Arnold Leibman
Tuesday, May 28, 3:30 pm, Via Zoom
Free for virtual members, $10 for non-virtual members
Jews Across the Americas is a groundbreaking sourcebook capturing the historical diversity and cultural breadth of American Jews across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States. Featuring primary documents as well as scholarly interpretations, Jews Across the Americas builds upon new developments in Jewish Studies, engaging with transnationalism, race, sexuality, and gender, and highlighting the lived experiences of those often left out of Jewish history.
Adriana M. Brodsky is professor of Latin American and Jewish History at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She is the author of Sephardi, Jewish, Argentine, and co-editor of The New Jewish Argentina. She is currently the co-President of the Latin American Jewish Studies Association.
Laura Arnold Leibman is professor of English and Humanities at Reed College. Her numerous books have won four National Jewish Book Awards and a Jordan Schnitzer Book Award. She is the academic director of the multimedia television series American Passages, which won a Hugo Award.
Dan Bendor presents Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby
Thursday, June 27, 7:30 pm, Via Zoom
Free for virtual members, $10 for non-virtual members
A relevant and timely discussion about Israel, using Noa Tishby’s important book as the foundation. Israel is now, more than ever, a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion, how many people actually understand the history and know the facts?