Top Picks:
ASK FOR CHAOS
The sweet-toned guitarist Gilad Hekselman (who claimed the No. 1 spot in the Rising Star Category last year in DownBeat) can add a Middle Eastern caravan rhythm to jazz standards, to wonderfully exotic and propulsive effect. In his latest release, “Ask for Chaos,” Hekselman juxtaposes two trios (gHex, with Rick Rosato on bass and Jonathan Pinson on drums, and ZuperOctave, with pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Kush Abadey) with starkly contrasting sounds. (This new gig is with gHex.) “The album title is not necessarily a description of the music,” Hekselman explains in a press release, “but the environment in which the music was made. In these bands we don’t look for one way to do something; we always look for new ways. We like the instability and chaotic feeling of that.” — Monday-Tuesday, Aug. 20-21, 7:30-10 p.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.
MR. GAGA AND GALLIM DANCE
The Brooklyn-based modern dance troupe Gallim is known for its ambitious multidisciplinary works. Making its SummerStage debut, the company, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, is led by former Batsheva member Andrea Miller. The performance will be preceded by an outdoor screening of “Mr. Gaga,” Tomer Heymann’s documentary about former Batsheva leader Ohad Naharin and his idiosyncratic movement language Gaga. A pre-show Gaga workshop will also take place before the screening. — Wednesday, Aug. 22, 8-10 p.m., SummerStage, 71st Street and East Drive, Central Park, cityparksfoundation.org. RSVP for the workshop at rsvp@cityparksfoundation.org.
CRACKED
In Rosemary Zibart’s new play, an Israeli-American woman returns to Israel to sit shiva for her father and learns that his Romanian caretaker has run off with his money, possibly after stealing his heart. Nina struggles to figure out what went wrong as she battles with the caretaker over family possessions and with her brother over politics, cracking the Israeli myths of family, country and national identity wide open. — Three performances only: Saturday, Aug. 18, 1:30 p.m.; Monday, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 22, 5 p.m., The Theatre At The 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St.(212) 780-0800, broadwayboundfestival.com.
Theater
SHALOM/SHOLEM THE YIDDISH MARK TWAIN
Screenwriter and actor Bob Spiotto offers a smorgasbord of stories featuring Sholem Aleichem’s precarious balance of humor, horror and pathos, as well as words of wisdom from Tevye, the milkman. — Wednesday, Aug. 22, 6:30 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.
MY LIFE ON A DIET
Renée Taylor, the Emmy-winning writer and actress best known for her role as Fran Fine’s (“The Nanny”) food-obsessed mother, tells about her highs and lows, both in life and on the scale, as well as weight loss tips from Hollywood legends. — Through Sunday, Aug. 19, Theatre at St. Clement’s, 423 W. 46th St., (212) 239-6200, MyLifeOnADietPlay.com.
FIDDLER IN YIDDISH
Directed by Oscar- and Tony Award-winner Joel Grey, a rich Yiddish translation by the late Shraga Friedman adds new depth and dimension to the iconic musical, and it has gotten raves. Presented by National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. — Extended through Oct. 25, Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (866) 811-4111, mjhnyc.org.
VITALY: AN EVENING OF WONDERS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhzPmpzu7zc
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Israel-raised magician Vitaly Beckman has wowed audiences with innovative illusions, and he is now making his NYC debut. Recommended for ages 8 and up. — Through Sept. 30, Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St. (9th-10th avenues), telecharge.com. $89.
Music
DAVID BROMBERG
The great rootsy guitarist, like other Tribemates Bob Dylan, Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, was deeply touched by the blues, especially Rev. Gary Davis. Expect uplift and downhome-ness. — Aug. 19, 8 p.m., City Winery, 155 Varick St., (212) 608-0555, citywinery.com.
NOA FORT QUARTET
The Israeli pianist, vocalist and composer’s album “No World Between Us” was released last January and garnered fine notices. All About Jazz called it an “album of comforting originality on all fronts,” noting that “her voice, in addition to its well-rounded intonation and emotional integrity, finds equal partnership in lyrics brimming with timeless themes.”— Monday, Aug. 27, 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St., (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com.
DIDA PELLED
The New York-based Israeli guitarist and vocalist uncovers folk music’s forgotten treasures; she explores the songs and stories behind influential yet underground female artists who wrote music that was ahead of its time, from 1950s singer-songwriter Connie Converse and self-taught American blues guitarist Elizabeth Cotten to Molly Drake, Vashti Bunyan and Norma Tanega. — Thursday, Aug. 23, 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth St., Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com.
ARI FOLMAN-COHEN
The eclectic bassist Ari Folman-Cohen creates a solo bass experience that mixes improvisation and compositions, creating trance-inducing, dreamy soundscapes. — Saturday, Aug. 25, 6 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth St., Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com.
Film
GOODBYE, COLUMBUS
Based on Philip Roth’s first novella, this 1969 film tells the story of Neil Klugman (Richard Benjamin), a young librarian in Newark, who has eyes for Brenda Patimkin (Ali MacGraw), a beautiful Radcliffe student who lives in the suburbs. An iconic tale of Jewish assimilation. Part of the Philip Roth Tribute Marathon. — Friday, Aug. 17, 3 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444, jccmanhattan.org.
MOON IN THE 12TH HOUSE
Nominated for six Israeli Academy Awards, this film follows a pair of estranged young sisters. Lenny stayed at their childhood home to take care of their debilitated father while Mira left for a new life in Tel Aviv. Now reunited, they must come to terms with the circumstances that tore them apart. — Wednesday, Aug. 22, 6:30 p.m., Temple Shaaray Tefila, 250 E. 79th St., (212) 535-8008, shaaraytefilanyc.org/FilmSeries.
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THE OSLO DIARIES
This new documentary by Israeli directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan revisits the pivotal peace talks in the 1990s, with a non-traditional approach. It includes re-enactments of the meetings in Oslo, with actors impersonating the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. Excerpts from books and diaries later written by the principal participants, also read by actors, are prominently featured, as well as interviews given by chief Palestinian negotiator Abu Ala, and Yitzchak Rabin’s second-in-command, Shimon Peres, who gave his last interviews to the filmmakers before his death in 2016. — Cinema Village, 22 E. 12th St., (212) 924-3363, cinemavillage.com.
Exhibitions
MEMORY UNEARTHED (LAST CHANCE)
In 1940, when photographer Henryk Ross, who died in 1991, was confined to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland, he was put to work by the Nazi regime as a bureaucratic photographer. “Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross” presents more than 200 of his photographs, supplemented by artifacts and testimony and presented in the context of Lodz Ghetto history. — This long-running show closes Aug. 19, Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.
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