The Arts

Of all the singers and comedians who leapt to prominence in the early 1960s, none was more successful than Allan Sherman, whose Jewish-inflected song parodies convulsed a nation. But Sherman never succeeded at one of his greatest ambitions, which was to write a popular Broadway musical. Now comes  “The Fig Leaves are Falling,” Sherman’s big Broadway flop, which will be revived this month by a theater company called Unsung Musicals.

In his best-selling book, “The Gifts of the Jews,” Thomas Cahill claims that monotheism, the Western system of justice and the idea of democracy are all Jewish inventions.

Is there a Jewish-American poetry?

Trick question. According to Stephen Paul Miller, all poetry is  Jewish.

The reason? Two words: “Walt Whitman.”

It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that Billy Wilder worshipped Ernst Lubitsch. On the wall in Wilder’s office years after Lubitsch’s death hung a sign that read, “What would Lubitsch do?” Wilder’s best work as a comedy director is indebted to Lubitsch’s visual inventiveness and lightness of touch. The verbal fireworks, however, were Wilder’s own.

Since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, people have celebrated changes of seasons with performances of festive music. In our own multi-faith culture, concerts that mark the beginning of winter typically feature a lot of Christmas carols, a few Chanukah songs, and a batch of tunes about snow. Now come Broadway stars Marc Kudisch and Jeffrey Denman in “Happy Merry Hanu-Mas,” which features a novel approach in which Jewish songs and blessings are interwoven with Christian music.

Two Jews walk into a cabaret. No, that’s not the joke, the jokes will come later, fast and furious.

Contrary to all the rather tedious doomsayers, film is not dead.

It was born in tragedy but has become a celebration. And it’s as dependable a Jewish ritual as Chinese food on the same night, Dec. 24.

David Broza’s “Not Exactly Christmas Eve” Concert at the 92nd Street Y has become a fixture on the calendar, and the Israeli singer-songwriter has a few new wrinkles for its 17th annual occurrence, the 12th to take place at the Y.

A figure of great stature, and sometimes the center of controversy in England, where he has served as chief rabbi and the public face of British Jewry for two decades, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is certain to add to both his stature and the controversy that surrounds him with the publication of his newest book.

Starting with his first words.