Kaufman Center Press Releases
Merkin Concert Hall presents Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Revue (Dec. 14 & 21, 2008)
Kaufman Center proudly presents two performances of the holiday family favorite, Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Revue, at Merkin Concert Hall. Join us for a joyous celebration of the New York Hanukkah experience in this revue of songs and scenes by some of New York’s funniest writers. More than 20 rising New York musical theater writers were commissioned to create short pieces, including a Hanukkah version of A Christmas Carol, a touching story of a mother and daughter making latkes together, a parody of American Idol, the story of “Thomas, the Shammus,” the lonely hearts love song The Only Jew in Juneau, Alaska, and the klezmer-inspired title tune.
This Family Matinee series opener features works by some of New York’s most promising writers and stars. The Poppy Seed Players, Kaufman Center’s resident adult theater troupe, will be joined by the Kaufman Kids, a chorus of children from Lucy Moses School and the Special Music School.
The writers include Poppy Seed Player veterans John O’Neill (Sunshine), Bob Kolsby (Young Moses and David and Goliath), Clay Zambo (Yo, Jonah!) and Sean Hartley (Judy and the Maccabees, Sunshine). Other writers include Sammy Buck and Dan Acquisto (Like You Like It), Kim Oler and Alison Hubbard (Little Women), Sam Davis (Dysfunctional Fables), Peter Yarin and Ben Winters, Michael Scheman and Bernie Anderson and Jonathan Todd Ross, an actor who has appeared several times with The Poppy Seed Players.
The production will be directed by Michael Scheman, with music directed by Justin Hatchimonji. Set design by Jessie Krause, with costumes by Irina Blaou and choreography by Steve Pacek.
The show is for ages four and up.
The Poppy Seed Players are Kaufman Center’s resident theater company. They were formed to create and perform a wide range of musical theater pieces for children and their families focusing on aspects of Jewish culture including Bible stories, holidays, folklore and history. The Kaufman Kids is a special chorus of children that performs with the troupe in some of their performances. The Players conduct in-school residencies, showing children how to create their own musical theater works.
The Poppy Seed Players’ next performance in the Family Matinee series is Queen Esther on Sunday, March 1 at 11:00am. Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman’s interpretation of the Purim story focuses on Esther, eager to fit in as the new Queen of Shushan, and her discovery that there are some tough choices after her youthful dreams come true. This sweet, smart and very funny new show comes from the authors of the off-Broadway hit I Love You Because. On Sunday, March 22nd at 11:00am, join us for Yo, Jonah!, a rollicking, circus-inspired interpretation of the story of Jonah, the man who tried to say no to God. Steve Brennan’s playful, childlike clown Jonah uses a wagon full of toys, including a giant, inflatable whale, to tell the tale, and is joined by a chorus of jubilant children and a scatsinging God.
Listings Information:
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center presents
FAMILY MATINEES
LATKES AND APPLESAUCE: A HANUKKAH REVUE
Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 11am
Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 11am
(3-concert subscription: $45 / Single tickets: $20)
129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
Tickets at 212 501 3330 or http://www.kaufman-center.org
EDITORS: Please refer to the series by its name, FAMILY MATINEES…
and its location, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center
Press Only: Hi-res photos for download at http://kaufman-center.org/press/image-library
About Merkin Concert Hall
Renowned for its acoustics, accessibility and innovative programming, the recently renovated Merkin Concert
Hall is the recipient of multiple awards for adventurous programming, most recently from ASCAP/Chamber
Music America in 2002–03. The Hall is a division of Kaufman Center, which also includes Lucy Moses School (a
community arts school) and Special Music School (a New York City public school for musically gifted children).
A not-for-profit organization founded in 1952, Kaufman Center occupies its own facility, the award-winning
Goodman House, located in Manhattan’s Lincoln Square arts district. The Center is an unsurpassed cultural
resource where people of all ages can experience the joy of artistic creation, expression and appreciation.
Poppy Seed Players performances are made possible in part with support from the Fink Foundation, The Horace
W. Goldsmith Foundation and Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation, with additional support from the
Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation and Herman Goldman Foundation. The Planting New Seeds program allows
Kaufman Center’s Theater Wing to commission new musicals for family audiences. Special thanks to the friends
and supporters of the Kaufman Center’s Theater Wing.
Merkin Concert Hall is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.