The Friend Center For The Arts Announces Events For 2009

The Friend Center for the Arts at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF) offers Several Theatrical Presentations for 2009

The Hub at the JCCSF presents
Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz
Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida Street
Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 22- 24 at 8 pm, and Sunday, January, 25 at 2 pm. Tkts: $18-22
Inspired by Nordic and Yiddish folktales, Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz pushes the boundaries of theatrical expression to explore one man's search for home - and the ways in which individual choices leave an indelible impression on history. Fabrik uses hand-and-rod puppets, masks and original music created and performed by New York City's Wakka Wakka Productions to tell the story of Moritz Rabinowitz, a Polish Jew who immigrated to Norway at the turn of the century in order to escape pogroms and persecution.

The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial
Kanbar Hall, JCCSF, Thurs. Jan. 22 at 8 pm Tkts: $30-50
The JCCSF Friend Center and L.A. Theatre Works present legendary stage and screen actors Ed Asner and John Heard in The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial by Peter Goodchild. Based on original transcripts from the famous 1925 "Monkey Trial," (State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes) this staged radio play's subject remains relevant and controversial today. Scopes, a high school science teacher challenged the newly passed Tennessee legislature's "Butler Act" by teaching evolution instead of creationism. The trial quickly became a national battleground and drew the attention of fundamentalists and the ACLU. Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, H.L. Mencken, John Scopes - these unlikely heroic figures of this 20th century drama participated in a trial that set the stage for an ongoing national debate over the freedom of inquiry and the separation of Church and State. Edward Asner appears as William Jennings Bryan, Arye Gross as Arthur Garfield Hayes, Jerry Hardin as Judge John Raulston, and James Gleason in the role of H.L. Mencken. John Heard plays the pivotal role of Clarence Darrow.

2xMalamud: The Jewbird & The Magic Barrel
Directed by Sheila Balter & Joel Mullennix
Kanbar Hall, Thurs. Feb 12 & Sat. Feb. 14 at 8 pm/Sun. Feb. 16 at 2 pm Tkts: $30-34
In celebration of its 30th Anniversary year, Traveling Jewish Theatre brings Bernard Malamud's most celebrated stories to the stage: The Magic Barrel centers on a hapless rabbinical student's encounter with a mysterious, herring-eating matchmaker, and The Jewbird is Malamud's darkly hilarious fable of assimilation and identity. The Jewbird was originally conceived in collaboration with the Word for Word Performing Arts Company, a program of The Z Space Studio. "The play bristles with life and breathtaking eccentricity." Mercury News

Frank Ferrante in An Evening with Groucho
Kanbar Hall, Sat. Feb. 28 at 5 & 8 pm Tkts: $30-36
Legendary comedian Groucho Marx is brought to life by Teatro ZinZanni audience favorite Frank Ferrante, who was described by The New York Times as "the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx's material." Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera co-author Morrie Ryskind called him "the only actor aside from Groucho who delivered my lines as they were intended." Discovered by Groucho's son Arthur when Frank was a drama student at the University of Southern California, Frank originated the off-Broadway title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue (written by Arthur) portraying the comedian from age 15 to 85. For this role, Frank won 1987's New York's Theatre World Award and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. He reprised the role in London's West End and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Comedy Performance of the Year.' Frank played the Groucho role in the off-Broadway revival of The Cocoanuts and has played Captain Spalding in the several productions of Animal Crackers winning a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his portrayal at Goodspeed Opera House and a Helen Hayes nomination in Washington D.C. at Arena Stage. In Boston in 1988, he played the Huntington Theatre in the record-breaking run of Animal Crackers that landed Frank on the cover of American Theatre magazine. Ferrante originated the title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue written by Groucho's son Arthur in New York, London and on PBS television. He earned New York's Theatre World Award, a NY Outer Critics Circle nomination and London's Laurence Olivier nomination for 'Comedy Performance of the Year.' He will be accompanied on piano by Jim Furmston.

Nigerian Spam Scam Scan
Kanbar Hall, Thurs. March 19 at 8 pm Tkts: $20-24
Actor Dean Cameron responded to a Nigerian e-mail scammer, posing as a lonely millionaire from Florida, and subsequently wove the experience into a hilarious multimedia comedy about a relationship built on misunderstanding, desperation and deception. Victor Isaac co-stars as the bewildered Nigerian con man.
"Writer-actor Cameron's bald-faced recounting of his ongoing Internet shell game with African grifters is doubly hilarious for being true." - Los Angeles Times

CHARLES DARWIN: LIVE AND IN CONCERT
Kanbar Hall, Thurs. March 26 at 8 pm Tkts: $15-25
Charles Darwin is brought to life by noted anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History Richard Milner in a one-man musical filled with witty, original songs, science, and madness. An author of award-winning books on Darwin and evolution, Milner's unique lyrics have delighted audiences from Germany to Australia. He appears as Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, A. R. Wallace, and Stephen Jay Gould, belts out a blues for the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial," and somehow Maurice chevalier and Jimmy Durante also get into the act. Milner recently performed this thought-provoking, and hilarious entertainment aboard a cruise ship in Darwin's beloved Galapagos Islands. Hailed by critics as "the thinking person's musical," this witty blend of song, history and science and madness will delight audiences of all ages.

Photo Christian Slater and Ed Asner


Kanbar Hall, JCCSF, 3200 California Street in San Francisco.
Box Office: 415/292-1233 or www.jccsf.org/arts