Arts & Culture | Theater

Hypnotic Effect

12/20/2011 | Ted Merwin | Special To The Jewish Week | Theater

He was a Jewish astrologer and hypnotist who purportedly taught Hitler how to control the masses. Erik Jan Hanussen, whose performances of occult magic were the talk of Weimar Berlin, was credited with foretelling the Reichstag fire and the rise of the Nazis. In Ildiko Nemeth’s new play, “Hypnotik: The Seer Will Doctor You Now,” Hanussen (Peter B. Schmitz) returns to life in all his mesmerizing glory. The play opens Dec. 28 at the Theater for the New City in the East Village.

‘Shlemiel’ As ‘Post-Modern Farce’

12/13/2011 | Ted Merwin | Special To The Jewish Week | Theater

A shlemiel is defined, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, as a “habitual bungler, a dolt.” In the hands of the creators of the rousing klezmer musical, “Shlemiel the First,” which is being revived this month by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, we are all shlemiels in our fumbling attempts at knowledge of each other and ourselves. The tuneful, exuberant show began performances this week at the Skirball Center of NYU.

Ghosts Of Chanukahs Past

12/06/2011 | Ted Merwin | Special To The Jewish Week | Theater

Judging by the Jewish penchant for parody, nothing is sacred in Western culture. We’ve seen Yiddish translations of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, Mickey Katz and Allan Sherman spoofs of classical music and popular songs and Mel Brooks send-ups of classic film genres.

Too Much Mandy,Not Enough Patti

11/29/2011 | Ted Merwin | Special To The Jewish Week | Theater

He seems capable of anything, this dashing man with the magical, mellifluous voice. The compulsively watchable Mandy Patinkin, back on Broadway in a concert of show tunes with Patti LuPone, is ever the master entertainer. If only Patinkin’s outsize ego did not practically crowd his costar off the stage. LuPone fans, take note. The much ballyhooed “An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin” is mostly, and most memorably, an evening with the latter.

The Two Faces Of Jakie Rabinowitz

11/22/2011 | Ted Merwin | Special To The Jewish Week | Theater

Nothing captures the dilemma of being a Jew in America as starkly as “The Jazz Singer,” the paradigmatic tale of a cantor’s son caught between the two worlds of immigrant Jewish life and success as a blackface entertainer on Broadway. Most know the story from the three film versions — Al Jolson’s electrifying 1927 “first talkie,” Danny Thomas’ 1952 Academy Award-nominated remake (co-starring Peggy Lee) and Neil Diamond’s flag-waving 1980 pop music version.

Gut Check

11/16/2011 | Ted Merwin | Special To The Jewish Week | Theater

The stomach, scientists say, is a “second brain,” a nervous system where learning, memory and emotion all take place. Liat Ron’s loosely autobiographical one-woman play, “Guts,” is the tale of a self-described “Israeli-American superwoman” named Hellthy who finds the intestinal fortitude to overcome an eating disorder, relationship problems and an excessive need for parental nurturance.