Performing Arts

Multiple Tony n’ Tina roles

Marc Gelmon as the priest in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding. Gelmon has played several roles in the production, which will be at Legion #179, on Commercial Drive, May 22-23. (photo from Marc Gelmon)

The priest is drunk and sleeping it off at our table. The bride is slow dancing with her former boyfriend and the caterer is highly recommending that I eat my bun by dipping it in the chicken sauce. The nun keeps chatting me up and, by now, I’m thinking she has a crush on me.

Welcome to Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding (TNT), an interactive, comical dinner theatre production starring, among others, Jewish community member Marc Gelmon. The night I attended in April, he was playing the caterer and emcee.

In one scene, he ran around the large, decorated hall wrapped in an Italian flag. In another, he joked about the 10 things you will never hear from an Italian husband. The almost 100 audience members laughed or groaned in appreciation.

Gelmon has played several different characters in TNT, first with Hoarse Raven Theatre Etc. from about 1995 to 2005 and, in the last year, with Hammer Up Productions. You never know, but he might be playing the priest when you arrive on May 22 or 23 at 6:30 p.m., upstairs at Legion #179 on Commercial Drive.

“For the show’s purpose and for my fun of pretend, I take each role seriously and immerse myself as much as I can into that world and character,” Gelmon told the Independent. “In doing so, I have had many audience members ask if I’m really a priest!”

In real life, Gelmon works in the health sector, including having been a mental health worker. He says that TNT does wonders for both his and his audience’s mental health.

“It’s just a great way to escape for a few hours amongst the mishigas [craziness] that goes on,” he said. “There’s always somewhere to look and someone saying or doing something ridiculous. The cast and production team are all really great people who want nothing more than to ensure the audience has a good time.”

photo - Marc Gelmon as the emcee in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding — Marc Gelmon as the emcee in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding. *(photo from Marc Gelmon)*

Gelmon has had many adventures with TNT, including one time where the Vancouver Police showed up to break up a pretend altercation between Tina’s ex-boyfriend and the groom and groomsmen.

“I can recall when we’d have the final fight scene and, at that time, we ran outside the restaurant, and around to where there were these big windows, so audience members could see us outside against the windows in this fight. I’m aware of at least two times when the VPD happened to be in the vicinity and ran after us to stop the ‘fight.’ We also had an audience member decide to strip during the end of the show.”

Incidents like this are rare, though, Gelmon insisted.

“My experiences with both shows have been really wonderful. Michael Fera and Tanja Dixon-Warren were the first ones to bring Tony n’ Tina’s to Vancouver and they gave me the room to grow and develop as a performer, as well as becoming lifelong friends. I hold them in the highest esteem, as they have been a source of love and support for decades.

“Director and producer Jeff Laurin has taken this production and infused it with his love, care and devotion,” Gelmon continued. “Plus, our stage manager, Chellé Tanner, and the loving and funny cast have really made this second time around so good for my soul!”

Gelmon said he has been influenced by watching actors on SNL and SCTV. His favourite comics today include Gary Gulman, Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman and Gianmarco Soresi.

“These are my favourite comics because they’re all really smart, make me laugh, especially Gary Gulman, and they all talk about their Jewish experiences, and I love that,” said Gelmon, whose big break was performing in the children’s play Puss in Boots at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in 1994, where he played a lord and the king’s assistant.

“I was absolutely terrified, as this was my first actual play and I had two parts in it,” he said. “All I can tell you is that I loved it. I loved the costumes, makeup, being on stage, and camaraderie. That gave me a bit of confidence that I was really lacking, when I saw an advert in the Georgia Straight for Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.”

Gelmon also loves the stories of Yiddish theatre and how many people in the early days of music, theatre and TV were often Jewish.

“I always feel that I have a Jewish sensibility to life and that always adds to my performance, even when playing a Catholic priest!” he said.

Over the years, Gelmon has been part of a few different community events.

“I think I’m most proud of participating in the Hanukkah convoy, which I first heard about over Facebook a few years ago,” he said. “I am not someone who people know I’m Jewish unless I tell them, so this was a great feeling of pride to drive, alongside many other cars, with these big electric menorahs on the tops of our cars, driving through downtown.

“The first time I did this, the folks at Chabad let me keep the menorah on my car for the remainder of the holiday. At that time, I was working at an elementary school and the teachers loved it, and a couple asked me to come and talk about Hanukkah to their classes. Also, someone left a note on my car. At first, I was worried, but then I read it and smiled. Whoever wrote the note described being thankful for seeing other people’s traditions and it made them feel good to see the menorah on the roof of my car.”

TNT runs for close to four hours, so you might want to bring a cushion if you have a sensitive tush like mine. If you have mobility issues, you can sit on the legion’s stairlift all the way to the festivities. Dress up and put on your dancing shoes because you are going to a wedding!

For tickets, go to linktr.ee/Tntweddingshowvancouver.

Cassandra Freeman is a Vancouver storyteller and improviser.

Musical with heart and soul

Left to right: Josh Epstein, Lisa Horner, Steffanie Davis and Madeleine Suddaby in the Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Kimberly Akimbo, now at the Stanley until May 3. (photo by Moonrider Productions for Arts Club)

High school is a time of often-volatile highs and lows, joys and sorrows. Now, imagine you are 16 years old but look 72 because you have a disease that ages you faster than normal – a disease that limits your life expectancy to your teens. How do you cope with the stresses of having to pack a lifetime into a few short years while dealing with an über-dysfunctional family?

This is the premise of the quirky Tony Award-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo (best musical, 2023) now at the Stanley Theatre to May 3, presented by the Arts Club. This is not your traditional big-cast musical with toe-tapping songs you sing on the way out of the theatre. With a cast of only nine, Kimberly Akimbo is a layered and nuanced look at who and what we are as humans. Although it takes time to get into the story, the reward comes at the end.

Kimberly Levaco’s family has just moved to small-town New Jersey and she is starting in a new school. The curtain rises on Skater’s Planet, where four Breakfast Club-type misfits (with assorted gender identification and unrequited love issues) are planning ways to raise money to buy school choir costumes. Tuba-playing, nerdy Seth (Jason Sakaki) works behind the counter and is obsessed with anagrams. Enter new-kid-on-the-block Kimberly (Lisa Horner) and cue the teenage politics and romantic possibilities.

Kimberly’s blue-collar family is made up of alcoholic father Buddy (Jewish community member Josh Epstein); narcissist, hypochondriac mother Pattie (Steffanie Davis); and bombastic in-your-face Aunt Debra (Madeleine Suddaby), an ex-con on parole who devises a mail fraud scheme into which she ropes her niece and her niece’s chums.

Horner, who’s in her 50s, has the daunting task of playing Kimberly, an angst-ridden teen in an adult in body – though, when with her family, Kimberly is the only adult in the room. Horner does a terrific job in this role reversal, and she can sing too! At the end of the day, the characters, as flawed as they are – and they are flawed – are likeable, as they grapple with their trials and tribulations. The message: life is finite, so seize the day.

While the songs are not that memorable, Suddaby and Davis can really belt them out. Epstein pleases with two solos and demonstrates some nifty moves in the skating scenes, as do the rest of the cast – kudos to choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt.

On the design end, the curtain opens on a stark set featuring steel girders and battered school lockers, yet transitions easily from the skating rink to the Levaco home to the school library to the colourful Sweet 16 party and ultimate road trip, the latter backed by large-scale projections. Jewish community member Itai Erdal’s lighting design runs the spectrum to complement each of the changes. To complete the 1990s atmosphere, costumer Stephanie Kong has the teens decked out in grunge and the adults in Value Village-type garb.

Epstein shared his feelings on the show in an email interview.

JI: What drew you to audition?

JE: It’s really an acting role that just happens to live inside a musical, which is my sweet spot. I’ve also loved David Lindsay-Abaire’s writing forever. He has this stream-of-consciousness, offbeat style that I’m really drawn to.

JI: How would you describe your role?

JE: I see him as a deeply loving dad who just doesn’t have the tools or capacity to show up the way he should. He’s overwhelmed, a bit lost in his own fear and vices, and trying to hold onto joy while knowing time isn’t on his side.

JI: What is the message for audiences?

JE: We’re all on a clock, whether we think about it or not, and this show gently forces you to face that. It’s about how beautiful life becomes when you really understand how limited and rare it is.

JI: As far as musicals go, and you have been in many, how would you rank this one in terms of the music, lyrics and choreography?

JE: It’s incredibly smart. Everything has to be precise for it to land and, when it does, it’s kind of genius. The writing, music and movement all support these beautifully strange, nuanced characters in a way you don’t see very often.

JI: What is the energy like with your fellow cast members?

JE: We genuinely love each other and it shows. We’re having a blast even when the material gets dark. There’s a real sense of trust and play, which you need for a show this zany and heartfelt.

JI: Why should people come and see the production?

JE: It’s one of those weird, wonderful shows that only works because it’s so specific and honest, it’ll surprise you, make you laugh, and hit you harder than you expect. Plus, it’s a Tony-winning piece that doesn’t feel like anything else out there, brought to life by an incredible local cast.

For tickets, go to artsclub.com or call 604-687-1644.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Bema presents Perseverance

Co-stars Evan Roberts, left, Jerry Callaghan, centre, and Carl Powell in rehearsal for Bema Productions’ presentation of Perseverance, April 22 to May 3. (photo by Becca Elliot)

photo - Jerry Callaghan and Andrea Eggenberger — Jerry Callaghan and Andrea Eggenberger *(photo by Becca Elliot)*

Bema Productions in Victoria presents Perseverance, by L.E. McCullough, from April 22 to May 3. The play is adapted from the 2019 memoir One Holocaust Survivor’s Journey from Poland to America, written by Melvin Goldman and his daughter, Lee Goldman Kikel. It brings to the stage a timely story of healing and renewal.

Few visitors to the G&S Jewelry Store in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighbourhood during the 1960s and 1970s were aware that the cheerful proprietor, Melvin (né Mieczyslaw) Goldman, had spent his teens enduring the horrors of Auschwitz before arriving in postwar America as a penniless refugee intent on reclaiming his life and reshaping his family’s destiny. The play depicts Goldman’s irrepressible spirituality and unflagging love for humanity as he worked to replace darkness with light, one piece of handcrafted jewelry at a time.

photo - Angela Henry and Jerry Callaghan (photo by Becca Elliot) — Angela Henry and Jerry Callaghan *(photo by Becca Elliot)*

Bema Productions’ mounting of Perseverance stars Jerry Callaghan, Andrea Eggenberger, Carl Powell, Angela Henry and Evan Roberts. All performances take place in Bema’s Black Box Theatre at Congregation Emanu-El. For tickets ($25), go to ticketowl.io/bemaproductions.

– Courtesy Bema Productions

An urgent play to see

Synthia Yusuf stars in Kat Sandler’s Wildwoman, which runs March 26 to April 4 at Gateway Theatre, a co-production with Alberta Theatre Projects. (photo by David Cooper)

“Wildwoman is a story that celebrates women who refuse to be silenced and reminds us that theatre can be funny, wild, fearless and alive. With such an amazing cast and design team, we are thrilled to bring this sumptuous theatrical production to life on our stage,” said Barbara Tomasic, executive artistic director of Gateway Theatre, where Toronto Jewish community member Kat Sandler’s play can be seen March 26 to April 4. (Sandler also wrote Yaga, which Crave is making into a series.)

Wildwoman reimagines 16th-century French history, specifically the story that helped shape the legend of Beauty and the Beast. It centres on Catherine de Medici, the new wife of King Henry II of France, who is played at Gateway by Synthia Yusuf. Eager to be on the king’s council, Catherine quickly learns that her political aspirations matter far less than her ability to produce an heir. Surrounded by scheming courtiers, a powerful royal mistress and a male-dominant court obsessed with legacy and control, Catherine feels trapped inside this patriarchal world. That is, until she meets Pete, a wildman kept in the dungeon as one of the king’s caged oddities, who awakens her wild side.

“When I first read this play, it was like my body was filled with bees; I felt inspired, furious and delighted,” said Jamie King, director of the local co-production with Alberta Theatre Projects. “The play looks at power, at fertility, at legacy, all unflinching and full of humour. It’s inspiring to find new plays that are able to speak about both our human history and contemporary issues with such insight and still make it feel alive and fun. This is an urgent play that needs to be seen.”

Tickets start at $37, with a pay-what-you-will option. Go to gatewaytheatre.com or call 604-270-1812.

– Courtesy Gateway Theatre

Dialing up the perfect thriller

Tyrell Crews and Emily Dallas in Dial M For Murder, mounted by Theatre Calgary in 2025. Crews and Dallas reprise their roles in the Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary co-production now playing at the Stanley until March 8. (photo by Trudie Lee for Theatre Calgary)

What do a latch key, a handbag, a compromising letter, two blackmail notes and an unexpected telephone call have in common? They are the primary clues in what is supposed to be the perfect murder – you know, the one you get away with. This is the premise for the Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary co-production of Dial M for Murder, now playing at the Stanley.

Frederick Knott’s 1952 play was adapted for cinema early on, with the 1954 thriller starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland directed by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. About six ago, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher updated the story to add a contemporary and surprising twist. While the 1950s London setting has been preserved, giving it that quintessential British vibe, the cheating wife’s lover is now a woman – definitely a taboo to audiences of that era. Hatcher has also injected comedic moments and witty bon mots into the script, in contrast to the more noirish original.

This is not a murder mystery where the sleuthing detective ultimately exposes the culprit. In this iteration, we know from the beginning what the plan is, how it is to be executed and by whom – the only question is whether the perpetrator will get away with it.

It all starts when Tony Wendice (Tyrell Crews) discovers that his heiress wife, Margot (Emily Dallas), is having an affair with murder mystery writer Maxine Hadley (Olivia Hutt). Since he married Margot for her money, not love, he has no qualms about doing away with her to inherit her fortune. However, he does not want to do the dirty deed himself, so he blackmails a distant acquaintance from his past, Lesgate (Stafford Perry), to carry out the hit. Unfortunately, the plan backfires. Enter Chief Inspector Hubbard (Shekhar Paleja) of Scotland Yard, who, with Maxine’s assistance, attempts to recreate the murder scene to ferret out the mastermind behind the plot. But will they succeed?

Tony is front and centre of the narrative. At the beginning, he is in full control of the situation, callously planning the murder with painstaking attention to the details. He takes the art of manipulation to new heights. As his plan starts to unravel, we see the layers of his confidence peel away.

Crews commands the role of Tony and Perry ably portrays Lesgate’s nervousness and angst in confronting Margot with the news that he is about to kill her. Dallas, who portrays Margot in a rather subdued fashion initially, is sublime in her portrayal of the hunted housewife, taking the audience on a melodramatic roller-coaster ride of emotions. Flamboyant Hutt infuses the character of Maxine with intelligence, charm and sleek sophistication, and comes across as the smartest person in the room.

It is a testament to the abilities of these actors that such a small cast can pull off the highs and lows of this psychological thriller. They are assisted in this feat by a talented design team, including Jewish community members Itai Erdal, whose pinpoint lighting directs the audience’s attention to significant clues during scene breaks, and Anton Lipovetsky, whose sound design increases the suspense.

Then there is set designer Anton deGroot’s revolving turntable stage. All the action takes place in the Wendices’ sparsely furnished drawing room, which slowly and imperceptibly moves back and forth, providing the audience with different perspectives of the action and emphasizing the fluidity of the story. Even the walls and windows move, providing additional layers to the puzzle.

Jolane Houle’s costumes capture the essence of the stylish 1950s, elegant frocks for the ladies and tailored suits for the gents, all with colour palettes ranging from brown to blue to green that change with Erdal’s lighting. The ladies are perfectly coiffed and made-up à la that glamorous era. Jillian Keily directs her crew well.

This dialogue-dense production requires the audience to pay attention and focus on the various subtle clues that are dropped to determine if indeed Tony gets away with his deception and betrayal. It’s a cat and mouse game at its finest.

Dial M for Murder runs to March 8. For tickets, go to artsclub.com or call 604 687-1644.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Broadway’s Jewish storylines

David Benkof, the Broadway Maven, spoke on Jan. 11 as part of Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s 2025-26 Voices of Jewish Music series. (photo from David Benkof)

David Benkof, the Broadway Maven, visited Victoria recently, to give a talk titled Spotlight on Jewish Broadway, on Jan. 11. He began with a clip from the musical Spamalot, which, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, asserts that a potential show may have the finest sets, the loveliest costumes and the best shoes, yet it “won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews.”

“The joke is that Jews wrote Broadway, Jews perform Broadway, Jews produce Broadway – and that’s true. It’s historically true, it’s statistically true, and it’s been said so many times that it barely counts as an insight anymore,” Benkof said.

Although seemingly innumerable Jews – Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Barbra Streisand, to name a mere few – may be associated with Broadway, Benkof encouraged the audience to consider the meaning of “Jewish Broadway” as something beyond the names of those who created and performed in well-known shows. Rather, he asked those attending in person and on Zoom to think in terms of Jewish-related themes: assimilation, reinvention, insecurity, exile, visibility and ambivalence.

“I want to go a step further,” he said, “and argue that Broadway isn’t primarily Jewish because of the people involved, but because of the very sensibility of the art form. Broadway is Jewish because its plots, themes and character arcs reflect the Jewish experience in North America.”

With clips from Hairspray, Hello, Dolly, A Chorus Line and Chicago, Benkof demonstrated that, while characters and plots were not overtly Jewish, or Jewish at all, there are invariably elements – such as restlessness, striving and defensiveness – that make them feel deeply Jewish.

“It grows out of histories of conditional welcome, where excellence becomes a survival strategy and visibility is both opportunity and danger,” said Benkof. “Broadway characters don’t assume that the room loves them. They hustle to make the room need them. That’s why Broadway feels Jewish even when Jews are nowhere in sight.”

Hairspray, for example, makes no claim that the characters are Jewish. It is method, not identity, according to Benkof, that makes it Jewish. The lead character does not want to tear down the system; she seeks to join it, he pointed out.

“The belief that assimilation is both a strategy and an ethical good is deeply Jewish in a North American context,” Benkof said.

“The combination of idealism, anxiety, and faith that the system can be nudged towards justice if you appeal to its conscience is not universal,” he argued. “It’s a Jewish sensibility operating inside a story that never needs to say the word Jewish out loud, which makes Hairspray slightly subversive, like quite a bit of postwar Jewish art.”

By the end of his Victoria lecture, audience members were able to find Jewish themes in musicals that, on the surface, seem far removed from the Jewish experience: The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, even The Book of Mormon (think reinvention).

In the example of The Sound of Music, audience members found that its themes of escape, persecution and fear were elements that could be perceived as related to the Jewish experience.

Congratulating the audience, Benkof said, “We could have said, Richard Rodgers was Jewish and, therefore, The Sound of Music is Jewish. That is true and boring. What we have been able to do here today is think about how you won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jewishness, as opposed to just Jews.”

Benkof also discussed a Canadian connection to Jewish Broadway, Come from Away, a musical about the care of thousands of travelers, who, after Sept. 11, 2001, had their flights diverted to Gander, Nfld.

In 2024, Benkof made a trip to Gander to see a performance of the show, written by Canadians David Hein and Irene Sankoff.

“I got to go and meet some of the people who had done it,” he said. “They welcomed people into their home and their community, and that, I think, is a very Jewish theme.”

Benkof’s website, broadwaymaven.com, offers five to 15 classes every month. In January, for example, the online educational community had classes on the musicals of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, on Pal Joey, and a 50th anniversary roundtable on Pacific Overtures by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman. Upcoming events include classes on Sweeney Todd, Evita, Kiss Me, Kate and Cats, among others. Benkof also posts weekly about Broadway on Substack: substack.com/@thebroadwaymaven.

Benkof’s talk was the third lecture in Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s 2025-26 Voices of Jewish Music series, part of the Vancouver Island shul’s annual Building Bridges program. The next in the series will be from Naomi Cohn Zentner, an ethno-musicologist at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, on Feb. 8. Her talk – Music and War: An Optimistic View – will examine how Israeli musicians have responded to recent historic events and explore music’s role in processing grief, inspiring resilience and connecting community in times of crisis. Visit kolotmayimreformtemple.com.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Dylan Akira Adler part of JFL festival

Jewpanese comedian Dylan Akira Adler performs Feb. 18-19 at Revue Stage. (photo from Jewpanese Project)

“Soy vey” and “mazel tofu” are just two of the word mashups created by Jewpanese comedian Dylan Akira Adler, who is coming to Vancouver’s Just for Laughs with his show Haus of Dy-Lan, Feb. 18-19 at Revue Stage. He will likely open for Atsuko Okatsuka’s Feb. 21 performances at Queen Elizabeth Theatre as well, also part of JFL, which runs Feb. 12-22.

Born in 1996, Dylan grew up in a predominantly white San Francisco neighbourhood, where both he and his identical twin brother thought they were Asian Buddhists, until his mom explained they were also Jewish, like their dad.

Adler’s obaachan (Japanese grandmother) didn’t experience incarceration during the Second World War, but her uncle’s family was sent to Heart Mountain in Wyoming. At 14, Adler’s ojiichan (Japanese grandfather) had signed up to be a kamikaze pilot, but the war ended a month before he was old enough to enlist.

Adler’s mom was born in Tokyo, but, because of the air pollution, the family moved to California, where they grew carnations. Meanwhile, his dad was born in Los Angeles into a Polish and Ukrainian Jewish family that fled the 1800s pogroms. His parents met at University of California, Berkeley, “where Jews and Asians procreate to make kids who put on one-man shows about being biracial,” as Adler jokes.

Adler was interviewed for the Jewpanese Project in October 2022. At the time, he was a writer on James Corden’s show, where he also had his late-night stand-up debut. Since then, he has been touring as the opening act for Okatsuka, as well as with his own show. The Canadian tour of Haus of Dy-Lan includes stops in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. I caught up with Adler this month, in anticipation of his Vancouver visit.

CT: On Dec. 1, 2025, I dropped a 68-page report on the Jewpanese American experience, one finding of which was: “The two most common ways for Jewpanese couples to meet were through either academic settings or chance encounters, often with the help of mutual friends.” How does it feel to now have one of your most popular jokes backed by research?

DAA: It makes me feel very good and scholarly…. I just know a lot of other Asian and Jewish couples who met at UC Berkeley because my parents are friends with them. They’re like my secondary aunts and uncles and their half-Asian and -Jewish kids are like our cousins.

CT: How does your Jewpanese identity inform your comedy? And how has it evolved over time?

DAA: My Jewpanese identity definitely informs my comedy. I love talking about the difference between spending time with my mom’s family and my dad’s family. But I also love to subvert expectations. My mom and her family don’t behave like a typical “Japanese” family because they are very loud and crazy.

CT: In your 2022 interview with me, you mentioned that you had yet to go to your ancestral homelands (Japan, Poland and Ukraine) and that you hadn’t been out of the United States at that point. Where are you now on that journey?

DAA: I’d never been out of the country until 2025 and, that year, I went to 20 different countries. It completely changed my life. I’ve officially caught the travel bug. This year, in April, I’m going to go to Japan with my family and meet relatives I’ve never met before. I’m truly so excited. We’re going to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. I don’t have plans to go to Eastern Europe yet, but would absolutely love to.

CT: Tell me more about Haus of Dy-Lan. Who is this show for? What should we expect?

DAA: I will be performing parts of my solo show Haus of Dy-lan along with some newer material during this tour. There will absolutely be material about being half-Japanese and -Jewish. I love talking about my racial identity because some people are already trying to figure it out when I walk onstage, so it addresses that curiosity. In the audience, you can expect there will be Asians, mixed-race baddies, queers and some straight women who forced their boyfriend to come to the show.

CT: Atsuko Okatsuka, who is an incredibly hilarious Japanese-Taiwanese-American comedian, is a major mentor in your comedic career right now. What Jewish influence do you also have guiding you in your journey?

DAA: Atsuko is the absolute best. She is so brilliant and kind and I truly am so grateful to have her as a friend and mentor and even surrogate mother. When it comes to Jewish influences, I’ve always admired Joan Rivers, Chelsea Perretti and Rachel Bloom, to name a few.

CT: Do you remember when you shared with me that you made contact with your Jewish ancestors, while on a healing psychedelic trip on bufo (toad venom)? Have you been in contact with them since? How is that work coming along?

DAA: I was actually just thinking about that this morning. It’s true, in 2022, I did a toad venom psychedelic trip, and I woke up in a village in Eastern Europe and felt my ancestors’ inherited trauma but also their light and resilience. I haven’t done it since, and I am still on a healing journey for myself. But I’ve always been very interested in ancestors and how we are profoundly affected by people who we may have never met in our lifetime. I want to continue that work and figure out a way to incorporate it into a creative project in some way.

For tickets to one of Adler’s JFL shows and/or for Okatsuka’s performances and those of other Jewish community members, go to jflvancouver.com.

Carmel Tanaka is the creator of the Jewpanese Project, an international community initiative at the intersection of being Jewish and Japanese. Check out the archives of oral history interviews and a research report on the Jewpanese American experience at carmeltanaka.ca/jewpanese-project-archives. She is still collecting interviews from Jewpanese Canadians.

Annie will warm your heart

Azaleah Korn plays the title role in Gateway Theatre’s production of Annie, which runs to Jan. 3. Neko is one of three dogs that plays Sandy. (photo by David Cooper)

If you want a warm and fuzzy holiday treat, see Gateway Theatre’s production of Annie. Set in Depression-era New York City, Orphan Annie and Sandy, a rescued dog, embark on a search for Annie’s real parents only to be caught up in a world full of mystery, lovable waifs, a kind-hearted billionaire bachelor, dastardly villains and a nasty headmistress who hates children. Even President Franklin Roosevelt makes an appearance, getting the FBI and Elliot Ness involved in Annie’s quest. All of this plays out against a backdrop of great songs and fancy footwork.

Azaleah Korn (highlighted in the JI last issue, jewishindependent.ca/see-annie-at-gateway) plays the plucky, wide-eyed, optimistic, red-headed 12-year-old Annie with panache and has a voice mature beyond her years. Her rendition of “Tomorrow” brought tears to my eyes.

You could not pick a better actor than dashing Charlie Gallant to play billionaire Daddy Warbucks. He exudes charm and sophistication but with a sense of vulnerability. Sarah Cantuba, as Warbucks’ personal secretary, Grace, and ultimate love interest (surprise, surprise), plays the role with calm confidence.

Jennifer Copping as Miss Hannigan, the orphanage’s flask-swigging, whistle-blowing matron, plays it big and in your face. Josh Graetz does a marvelous job as her brother, Rooster, as he conspires with her and his moll, floozy Lily St. Regis (Manuela Palmieri) to win the reward offered for information leading to Annie’s parents. Their “Easy Street” number is a showstopper.

The six supporting orphans span the spectrum from sweetly shy to tough as nails. Special mention goes to Elle Hanson, who plays the youngest, Molly, a mischievous little imp if ever there was one.

Even with a 19-person cast, most of the supporting actors have to take on multiple roles and do so admirably.

And, of course, the dogs. Three different dogs will play Sandy over the course of the run, all cute as heck. Opening night showcased Neko, who had the audience oohing and aahing every time he scampered on stage.

Ryan Cormack’s set starts out in the bleak orphans’ bunk room and transitions seamlessly (thanks to the nimble work of the cast) into the orphanage office, the streets of NYC, the Roxy theatre and the Fifth Avenue mansion of Warbucks. Each transition is accompanied by a lighting change courtesy of designer Sophie Tang, from the dark opening scene to the bright and festive final Christmas scene, a metaphor for the optimism that grounds the production and grows as the story unfolds. Nicol Spinola’s choreography is the icing on the cake.

The six-piece orchestra, under Sean Bayntun’s leadership, provides the upbeat and lively sound that drives this production, although sometimes the volume drowns out the actors’ words. Donnie Tejani’s costumes are bang on for the era: simple dresses, pinafores and pantaloons for the orphans, three-piece suits and fedoras for the gents, fancy frocks for the ladies and Shantytown chic for the hobos.

Although there were a few hiccups on opening night, they should work themselves out. Perhaps the best measure of the show’s success is the response of the audience, who leapt to their feet even before the closing notes of the finale.

Director Josh Epstein (also highlighted in the Dec. 5 JI ) is to be congratulated for bringing all the elements together in this heartwarming story of love.

Running until Jan. 3, tickets for Annie can be purchased at gatewaytheatre.com or by calling 604-270-1812.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

See Annie at Gateway

Azaleah Korn, who plays the title role in Gateway Theatre’s production of the musical Annie, takes guidance from director Josh Epstein. (photo from Gateway Theatre)

Vancouver Jewish community member Azaleah Korn plays the title character in Gateway Theatre’s production of Annie, which opens Dec. 11 and runs through Jan. 3. The production is directed by another Jewish community member: Josh Epstein.

“When I found out I got the role of Annie, I cried and screamed and cried some more,” Korn told the Independent. “I was shocked, excited, crazy happy and a little nervous all at once! Being able to play the role of Annie is a huge honour and fills me with so much joy, excitement and inspiration.”

For the few readers unfamiliar with the Tony Award-winning musical, which has had several movie adaptations, Annie is set in New York City in the 1930s. It centres around Annie, an orphan who is eternally positive despite her harsh circumstances. Her luck – and that of her companion, the stray dog, Sandy – changes when she is invited to spend the holidays with billionaire Oliver Warbucks.

“I love singing all the songs in this play and I truly love diving deep into this complex human and figuring out how and why she does what she does and thinks what she thinks,” said Korn, who is a Grade 8 student at Eric Hamber Secondary School.

photo - Azaleah Korn stars in Gateway Theatre’s Annie, which runs Dec. 11-Jan. 3. The role of Sandy is played by three dogs; pictured here is Poco — Azaleah Korn stars in Gateway Theatre’s Annie, which runs Dec. 11-Jan. 3. The role of Sandy is played by three dogs; pictured here is Poco. *(photo by David Cooper)*

“Playing Annie is challenging for me because it’s not a character that I innately identify with,” Korn said. “Her hope and upbeat attitude, even in her awful situation, isn’t my gut reaction. But playing her has inspired me to find the hope or silver lining in otherwise sad situations. The most fun part of being Annie is exploring the world through her eyes.”

At age 13, Korn has the training and experience to play such an iconic role and make it her own.

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t performing; whether it be for my parents, friends, family and/or my stuffed animals!!” she said. “I started training in musical theatre, dance and vocals at the age of 5. Funnily enough, my very first vocal performance, at the age of 5, were songs from Annie: ‘Maybe’ and ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed.’”

Korn played Tomika in School of Rock at Theatre Under the Stars in 2024 and Brigitta in the Sound of Music at Delta Youth Theatre in 2023. She competes vocally and, this past year, won first place in the musical theatre genre at Kiwanis Music Festival. For the last three years, she has been dancing competitively, with the Happening Dance Studio. A couple of years ago, she won a nationwide songwriting contest. She would like to study musical theatre in New York and perform on Broadway.

“I prepare for my roles by learning the backstory of the show and my character. I really try to bring ‘me’ to the character I am playing, so, although I watch the musical or movie, I try not to copy or emulate exactly what I see. It is really important for me to bring my own authentic self to the character, so it feels and looks real,” she explained.

“To memorize my lines, I visualize the scene over and over. This technique helps me feel the beat of the scene and then the lines come more naturally.

“To calm my nerves,” she said, “I think, ‘what would Beyoncé do?’ I channel my inner courage and remember that musical theatre is my biggest passion and love. Reminding myself of my love for being on stage helps ease the nerves.”

Self-care is part of it, too. With Annie, for example, there are shows six days a week, and a matinée and evening performance on Saturdays.

“To have enough energy for the shows, I try to relax – when I’m not at school or rehearsing!” said Korn. “I like to zone out by watching TV or reading a book and keeping my talking to a minimum (which can be hard for me at times!), so I don’t wear my voice out. Luckily, my mum cooks me healthy meals so I have the energy to dance, sing and act my heart out on the stage. I warm up my body and voice. Cheryl Porter’s vocal warm-ups are amongst my favourite and have helped me keep my vocal cords safe throughout my singing years and daily shows.”

It was Korn’s mom who saw that Gateway Theatre was casting for Annie.

“She submitted me for the role of Annie and/or the orphans,” said Korn. “I practised the vocals for the audition with my vocal coach, Frederik Robert. My mum was my reader for the scene I had to practise. I guess she did an OK job! Mentally, I told myself to just go in there with all my confidence and courage and play the role and sing the best I could. And, like my mum always reminds me, ‘have fun!’”

This will be Korn’s first time working with Gateway Theatre. She is grateful to Epstein, choreographer Nicol Spinola, music director Sean Bayntum and the whole Gateway team for the “incredible opportunity.” Her parents have provided “endless support,” she said, also highlighting her vocal coach, Robert, and dance teacher, Kim Stevenson, “for pushing me and believing in me!”

Judaism is a fundamental aspect of Korn’s life.

“My grandfather, David Solomon Korn (he is named after two kings, he likes to remind us), is a Holocaust survivor. He and his brother Yaakov, aged 6 and 7, survived the Nazis as they came through Europe, including Brno, Czechoslovakia, where my grandfather was born. Tragically, his parents died at the hands of the Nazis, leaving my grandfather and his brother orphans. He recently wrote his memoir, in a book called At Great Risk, with the assistance of the Azrieli Foundation. My grandmother, Yona, was born in Afula, Israel. My grandparents met in Montreal and, after marrying, lived in Haifa before immigrating to Canada. It is a story of survival, determination and hope.

“Playing the role of Annie causes me to pause often to reflect upon the injustices inflicted upon my grandfather, who himself was orphaned at a young age, and the resilience of the Jewish people,” Korn continued. “My Jewish identity is strong and it is an important part of who I am today.”

It is easy to see why Epstein told the Independent that everyone who sees Annie will “walk away drawn in to our Annie, rising star Azaleah Korn – she’s got a mix of undeniable star power and acting chops.”

Epstein is a multifaceted talent himself, being an actor, producer, director and writer. The almost-46-year-old is a theatre veteran. For him, directing at Gateway Theatre is special.

“I spent my Hanukkahs doing the seasonal show at the Gateway as a kid – five winters,” he said. “It was a training ground for me, and this is all full circle.”

He directed Gateway’s 2024 production of Oliver! (He was part of Gateway’s 1992 production of the musical, playing young pickpocket Charley Bates.)

“Coming off Oliver! last year was a real awakening for me,” Epstein told the JI. “I didn’t expect how joyful it would be to dust off a classic and rediscover how well these classics hold up when you approach them with imagination and depth. The Gateway encouraged us to dream big and take risks. Barb Tomasic (executive artistic director) is an extraordinary leader, and that attitude trickles through the entire company.

“On opening night, she asked me about returning, I was a quick yes. She had a list, I had a list, and Annie was at the top of both.”

When asked his favourite thing about Annie so far, Epstein said, “We’ve found fresh takes on every character.” As noted, he highlighted Korn. He also said, “I think audiences will see a Warbucks they’ve never seen before. Charlie Gallant brings something impulsive, surprising and emotionally alive. It reinvigorates the role and opens up the whole story.”

He added, “But, who am I kidding, the dog will undoubtedly get the most attention. Everyone loves Sandy.”

Sandy is played by three dogs: Neko, Mylo and Poco. While there is the saying, “never work with kids or animals,” Epstein said, “It’s a myth. We had 70 kids audition. Seventy. Vancouver is full of incredible training programs … so the talent pool was unbelievable and our orphans are exceptional. The challenge is harnessing all that energy and potential inside a big, fast-moving machine.”

It’s been six to 10 months of planning, said Epstein, between “sets, costumes, props, auditions and logistics. Then, three intense weeks of rehearsal into tech. In that window, we have to teach all the music, choreograph huge numbers, stage transitions, build quick changes, run fight direction, intimacy work, dialect coaching, work with three dogs and a dog trainer, squeeze in costume fittings and lift calls, and prep special promo events. When you break it down, the number of actual hours we get for scene work is shockingly small, so my job is to move quickly while still hitting all the moments we want to savour.”

There is nothing like live theatre.

“Look,” said Epstein, “more and more, most of us are at home scrolling, streaming, consuming things alone. Theatre is one of the last places where you sit in a room with hundreds of strangers and feel something together. For this price, with this level of talent and this much energy poured into it, there’s nothing else quite like it.

“At its core, Annie is a story about chosen family, about finding the people who show you that love isn’t just something you give, but something you have to allow yourself to receive – Warbucks learns that, Annie teaches it – and I hope you leave the theatre optimistic about finding that kind of connection with your own chosen family, whoever they may be.”

For tickets to Annie, go to gatewaytheatre.com.

West Van Story at the York

The cast of Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto: West Van Story, left to right: Tom Pickett, Ben Brown, Ivy Charles and Meaghan Chenosky. (photo by Emily Cooper Photography)

If you want a ticket to East Van Panto: West Van Story, you’d better move fast. At press time, the show had just opened and most performances at the York Theatre were already sold out.

Theatre Replacement’s romp for all ages is inspired by Romeo and Juliet this year. The annual event is popular for many reasons, including a consistently stellar creative team and talented actors, its local flavour and political bent.

In East Van Panto: West Van Story, written by Marcus Youssef with Pedro Chamale, a tsunami strands West Van influencer Holly and her curling team in East Van, where she falls for Joes – a member of their sworn rivals. Adding to her troubles is her mega-developer “motherfather,” Boberta Rainy. The question is will Holly “follow her heart – and Joes – into a new world of love, dance battles and civic resistance? Or will Boberta’s towers and renovictions crush everything in their path?”

“It’s really fun to be part of a show that takes being silly so seriously,” technical director Daniel O’Shea told the Independent in a recent interview.

O’Shea has been involved with the Panto for a few years now.

“The creative team will come up with such wacky characters and gags, and then we have to earnestly sit around the table and figure them out,” he said. “My first year with Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto, we had to have the king of the skunks shoot a ‘Stink Canon 9000’ into the audience – who wouldn’t enjoy coming up with that?! Also, because the Panto is a new satire every year, getting to be part of a show that speaks to the current community concerns from a local perspective always feels like a breath of fresh air.”

O’Shea first worked with Theatre Replacement on a show called MINE, which, he said, “was a performance that took place half on stage and half in Minecraft. I was colleagues with a number of the devisors on the show and we needed to build some systems for controlling the projection integrating the video input from multiple gaming computers and building in game cues. As part of that show, we built a tech booth in Minecraft and I had little avatar who would run around and hit in game buttons to teleport people or spawn creatures; it was quite fun. I guess I mention it because the pleasure in working with Theatre Replacement is that I’ll often be solving unorthodox problems or working in novel ways.”

The biggest challenge of working on the Panto, he said, is its size.

“We want East Van Panto to feel like a big show, with clever sets and big costumes and arresting moments, and we often succeed, but all of that has to fit into quite a small container,” he explained. “The York Theatre is a wonderful home and we love being there, but we are often pushing the limit of what we can fit onto the stage. It often requires extremely thoughtful planning and clever technical solutions to achieve this big story book mise en scène in a converted movie theatre. We are grateful to our partners at the Cultch and the tech team there that help to pull it off each year.”

photo - Daniel O’Shea — Daniel O’Shea *(photo from Theatre Replacement)*

O’Shea has a bachelor of fine art from Simon Fraser University, where he majored in theatre performance and film production.

“I’ve always had a love of both film and stage since I was a kid, fostered by my parents taking us out to shows, and a somewhat onerous VHS mail arrangement through which we received dozens of old back catalogue titles. Though they present quite differently now, both film and theatre share so much DNA, going to back to early cinema. That particular artist-alchemy of narrative, imagination, character, emotion, etc., that both seek has always been something I’ve been drawn to create.”

He gave a shout out to his high school, Burnaby North, and to Alison Schamberger and Phil Byrne, who ran the theatre and media arts program. “They were both instrumental to instilling the sense that creating in both fields was possible, valuable and worthy,” he said.

Career-wise, O’Shea has focused on lighting and projection design, filmmaking and technical direction. He has done some performing, but not for about 10 years now. Nonetheless, his acting experience continues to help his work, in that it allows him to have a fuller sense of the world a show creates.

“It’s possible to get overly engrossed in the issues that feel pertinent to one’s role, like the efficiency of technical rehearsal or the familiarity of ‘how things are done’ and miss the chance to allow for creative risk-taking and imagination,” he said. “Having that performance background helps remind me that achieving the desired audience experience during a show is the goal rather than whether your plan going into tech looks like what’s on stage opening night.”

O’Shea is also a founding member of A Wake of Vultures, with Nancy Tam and Conor Wylie.

“It’s a vehicle for us to make work that is true to our artistic core,” said O’Shea. “The three of us work as freelance designers/ artists in the broader community and convene together when someone has a juicy idea.

“Working as a freelancer, you are often given creative agency, I mean it’s clearly part of what you are there for, but it’s often within the constraints of the production or the shows’ genre/esthetics. If it’s a play about a character journey, then the design has to serve that. When we work together in A Wake of Vultures, we really get to dream wildly as designers/conceptual thinkers and follow our process…. That freedom to dream and build ways of affecting the audience before serving other elements of the show is deeply enjoyable.”

Currently, A Wake of Vultures is working on a piece called SweatCry, “which will be some sort of structured social experience investigating ecstasy, purgation and dance,” said O’Shea. “I’m also going on tour with Jade Circle, a show on which I did the projection design, made by Jasmine Chen, which is a beautiful show tracing the cascading chain of mother-daughter relationship and stories buried within our own families.”

O’Shea described his own connection to Judaism and Jewish community as “cultural and fostered through the deep networks that I’ve grown up a part of and, yet, it feels most represented by the Groucho Marx line, ‘I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member’ – a belonging and exclusion at the same time. That, or Moses’ line about being a ‘stranger in a strange land.’ There is a tension in being a tribe of the estranged that has meaning to me, both in the way that it seats one in relationship to the world and in how it asks of you to make kinship with ‘the stranger.’

“I think it is also the reason why I have such a love of ritual,” he concluded. “Whether it’s in a show or a meal of special ceremony, the sense that formal choices, of how to do things, can have deep symbolic and historical ties, and be a thread that links people across time really moves me … both of these facets of my Jewish identity shape my life and work.”

For tickets to East Van Panto: West Van Story, which is directed by Chelsea Haberlin, with music by Veda Hille, go to thecultch.com. There are shows through Jan. 4.