The Lists

THE THEATER LIST

Jonathan Hadary stars in Paddy Chayefsky’s classic 1956 drama, “The Middle of the Night,” about a middle-aged dress manufacturer who falls in love with a younger woman. The off-Broadway production opens Feb. 27 at the Harold Clurman Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. For tickets, $61.25, call Telecharge at (212) 239-6200.

Two brothers reach a new stage in their relationship when one, Abe, barges in on the other, Shlomi, during a nude male photo shoot, in Charles Gershman’s new play, “Shooting Abe.” The play runs on Feb. 22, 27 and March 1, at the Kraine Theater, 85 E. Fourth St. For tickets, $15, call (212) 868-4444 or visit www.frigidnewyork.info.

When the beloved actor Jerry Orbach died in 2004, he gave his eyes to two different people. What if those two New Yorkers met and fell in love? “The Eyes of Orbach,” a new musical comedy, sends up everyone from Dan Smith (the guitar teacher who plastered the city with his ads) to Jonathan Zizmor (the dermatologist who plastered the subway trains with his). It runs Feb. 19, 23 and 27 at the Kraine Theater, 85 E. Fourth St. For tickets, $15, call (212) 868-4444 or visit www.frigidnewyork.info.

Just in time for Purim comes “The Book of Esther,” a two-part feminist dance work by choreographer Ariel Grossman and composer David Homan (who are a married couple). Feb. 27 to March 1 at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre, 400 W. 55th St. For tickets, $25, visit www. artful.ly/store/events/2175.

Jerry Herman’s melodies will be featured in a one-night only concert on Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the downtown campus of Pace University, 3 Spruce St. “An Evening With Jerry Herman” will include his tunes from “Hello, Dolly,” “La Cage aux Folles,” and the 1961 Israel-themed musical, “Milk and Honey.” For tickets, $30-$55, call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://schimmel.pace.edu.

If you missed Dov Seltzer’s “The Megile of Itzik Manger,” last year’s zestful take on the Purim story by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, take heart: the production returns from March 2-16 with Stephen Mo Hanan and Avi Hoffman. For tickets, $35-$40, call the box office at (646) 312-5073 or visit www.nationalyiddishtheatre.org. (Hoffman, best known for “Too Jewish,” will also perform a solo piece, “Reflections of a Lost Poet: The Life and Works of Itzik Manger” on March 10 at 7 p.m.)

Marc Blitzstein’s translation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s iconic “The Threepenny Opera” will be revived by the Atlantic Theater Company this season, with F. Murray Abraham starring as thief-catcher Peachum. It runs March 12 – May 4 at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St. For tickets, $75, call OvationTix at (866) 811-4111 or visit www.atlantictheater.org.

Fyvush Finkel appears at 54 Below, 254 W. 54th St., on March 14 and 15. The bow-tie clad comedian appears with his two sons, concert pianist Elliot and world-renowned xylophonist Ian. Finkel, 91, will revisit highlights of his career from the Yiddish theater to TV. There is a $40-$50 cover charge and a $25 food and beverage minimum. For tickets, call the box office at (646) 476-3551 or visit 54below.com.

“Golem” author H. Leivick’s “Der Nes in Geto” (The Miracle in the Ghetto”) will be presented in a staged reading by the Folksbiene on April 24 at 7 p.m. at Baruch College Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave. The play was written in 1944, just one year after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Tickets are free, but reservations are required. Call (646) 312-5073.

The title of Josh Rivedal’s one-man show, “The Gospel According to Josh: A 28-Year-Old Gentile Bar Mitzvah” pretty much says it all. The play about a non-Jewish fellow who gives up thoughts of suicide and embraces Judaism runs from May 16 – 18 at the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St. Tickets, which are not yet on sale, will be available at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/931930

THE FILM LIST:

March 5: “Particle Fever” directed by Mark Levinson. Two physicist-filmmakers (Levinson and producer David Kaplan) explore the search for the Higgs boson, the “God particle.” Could it be that the meaning of life is incomprehensible? Film Forum (209 W. Houston St.).

March 6-11: The 6th annual ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival. An outstanding event gets bigger and better, with more films and more venues all over the city. Israel contributes Dani Wasserman’s “Do You Believe in Love,” a 50-minute documentary about matchmaking for people with disabilities. JCC in Manhattan (76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue) and other locations.

March 6-16: Rendezvous with French Cinema. This year’s annual showcase of recent French film includes new films from Franco-Jewish filmmakers Axelle Ropert (whose 2009 debut “La Famille Wolberg” may be the best Jewish film you haven’t seen) and Agnes Jaoui. Walter Reade Theater (156 W. 65th St.) and other locations.

March 13-20: The 17th annual New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival. This little-heralded festival always makes significant contributions to the cultural scene, rather like the Sephardim themselves in this town. Heavy on documentaries, the program always has some overlooked but meritorious movies. Center for Jewish History (15 W. 16th St.).

March 19: New Directors/New Films. An important showcase for younger directors, ND/NF is an event that has often introduced new Israeli films and filmmakers. MoMA (11 W. 53rd St.).

March 28: “Noah” directed by Darren Aronofsky. The director of “Black Swan” pits Russell Crowe against the elements, the animals and his offspring — a potentially fascinating tag-team event. Theaters to be announced.

April TBA: “The Immigrant” written and directed by James Gray. One of the most interesting films in last year’s New York Film Festival, an exercise in darkness that explores the Jewish underworld of 1910s New York City. At its center is a troubled and troubling performance by Joaquin Phoenix as a man with severely divided loyalties. Theaters to be announced.

April 16-27: Tribeca Film Festival. An overflowing extravaganza of cinema that has been spreading its wings all over town, its name to the contrary. Always a lot of Jewish-themed films, with a particularly interesting line of new Israeli cinema. Locations all over Manhattan.

April 25: “Walking with the Enemy” directed by Mark Schmidt. Fact-based first feature film about a young Hungarian Jew who poses as an SS officer in the waning days of WWII to rescue his family and others from the trains to Auschwitz. Theaters to be announced.

May 2: “Ida” directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. Surely this is one of the best films of the year, an austere, complex meditation on Jewish-Polish relations set in the gray days of the early ’60s, when Poland was a cold and forbidding place. Brilliantly acted and directed and not to be missed. Theaters to be announced.

THE MUSEUMS/GALLERIES LIST

“Soundtrack” and “Foreign Names”: Guy Ben-Ner at Postmasters Gallery. In “Soundtrack” Ben Ner, his family and friends re-enact Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” in his family’s apartment in Tel Aviv. For “Foreign Names” Ben Ner visited nearly 100 branches of the Aroma café chain to candidly record counter personnel call out names he invented. Through March 8. postmastersart.com

“Scots Jews: Identity, Belonging and the Future” at 92nd Street Y. Photographs of Scotland’s Jewish community by London-based documentary photographer Judah Passow. March 5 – April 27. 92y.org/Exhibits

“Mother” Photos by Elinor Carucci at Houk Gallery. The Israeli-born and educated Carucci documented nine years of motherhood in the photographs in this show and in the accompanying book. March 27 – May 3. houkgallery.com

“Capa in Color” at the International Center of Photography. Photos from the three trips Robert Capa made to Israel between 1948 and 1950 are on display alongside examples of the photojournalist’s other color photographs. Through May 4. icp.org

“Masters of Fire: Copper Age Art from Israel” at Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. The Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Museum have loaned a selection of Copper Age antiquities from the Nahal Mishmar Hoard. Through June 8. isaw.nyu.edu

“Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New” at the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA honors the influential Jewish gallerist and collector with an exhibit highlighting the scope of her vision and aesthetic. Through April 21. moma.org

“Off Label” at JCC Manhattan. Artist Tobi Kahn is curating a show of ceremonial objects re-imagined by Dov Abramson and Ken Goldman. April 4 – June 29. jccmanhattan.org

“Girls Standing on Lawns” at Julie Saul Gallery Snapshots from MoMA inspired the paintings in Maira Kalman’s new series, which will also be published as a book with text by Daniel Handler. April 23 – June 14. saulgallery.com

“I Live. Send Help.” 100 Years of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee at the NY Historical Society. Celebrates the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s centennial through photographs, objects and films. June 6 – Sept. 21. nyhistory.org