New York Premiere Of OBSERVANT To Host Post-Show Discussions

The creative team behind the new play OBSERVANT by Pamela Weiler Grayson is excited to announce the post-show discussion lineup for the timely new play. Post-show discussions will follow five of the performances with playwright Grayson, director Shellen Lubin, and several cast members joining the discussions.

The limited engagement runs for nine performances between September 12 – 28 at The Chain Theater in midtown Manhattan. The performance on Thursday, September 19 at 7pm is already sold-out. OBSERVANT headlines Emerging Artists Theater’s Bi-annual Spark Theater Festival NYC.

Post show discussion lineup:

Monday, September 16 at 7pm – Cantor Rachel Goldman from Congregation Beth Yeshurun ​​of Houston, TX, the largest Conservative synagogue in the country.

Wednesday, September 18 at 2pm – Cantor Mo Glazman, Senior Cantor, Temple Emanu-El, the first Reform Jewish Congregation in New York City and the largest synagogue in the world.

Thursday, September 19 at 7pm – Scott Richman, NY/NJ Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Tuesday, September 24 at 7pm – Magda Teter, Professor and Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies at Fordham University and President of the American Academy for Jewish Research.

Thursday, September 26 at 7pm – Rabbi Bob Kaplan, Executive Director, The Center for Shared Society, and Commissioner, NYC Commission for Human Rights, and Mohammad Razvi, Executive Director and Founder of Council of Peoples Organization (COPO), Brooklyn, NY

About OBSERVANT

In OBSERVANT, three generations of women confront their relationships to their Jewish identities-and to each other. Comedy and tragedy entwine, like a braided challah, when a mass shooting in their community tests the bonds of faith and family.

One of the themes that runs throughout the play is how to come to terms with and try to improve a violent and chaotic world, when we can’t even seem to get along with our own families or communities, or reconcile our own internal conflicts. The Jewish custom of “Tikkun Olam,” which translates into “repair the world” or “mend the world,” reflects this deeply-held desire to make the world a better place, even while we struggle with hatred and extreme tribalism. A very timely theme in our current global and national climate.

The cast features Yair Ben-Dor (Prayer for the French Republic/MTC), Fady Demian (The Terminal List: Dark Wolf/Amazon), Arielle Flax (The Shidduch Crisis/Independent Film), Rebecca Hoodwin (Fiddler on the Roof/National Tour with Harvey Fierstein), Arielle Beth Klein (Drama Desk-nominated Death of a Salesman/New Yiddish Rep), and Melissa Wolff (Harsh and Exciting/Hunger & Thirst Theater Company).

The creative and Production Team includes scenic design by Colleen Shea, lighting design by David Castaneda (Irena’s Vow/Broadway), sound design by Grady Gund, costume coordinator Sophia Dorio, production stage management by Aryn Geier, stage management/assistant director Aksel Tang. Produced by Red Lyric Productions in Association with Adam Weinstock and Emerging Artists Theater.

OBSERVANT runs September 12 – 28. Performances are Thursday, September 12 at 7pm, Saturday, September 14 at 7pm, Monday, September 16 at 7pm, Wednesday, September 18 at 2pm, Thursday, September 19 at 7pm (sold-out), Sunday , September 22 at 2pm, Tuesday, September 24 at 7pm, Thursday, September 26 at 7pm, and Saturday, September 28 at 7pm. Running time: 110 minutes.

Tickets are $40 for general admission, ($45 at door) and are available at www.tickettailor.com/events/sparktheatrefestival/1320824. The Chain Theater is located at 312 W 36th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10018.

OBSERVANT is a proud recipient of a 2024 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and was also a Semi-Finalist in the Jewish Plays Project’s 12th National Jewish Playwriting Competition. The play previously had a First Mondays reading at Naked Angels in December 2022, and a staged reading at Emerging Artists Theater’s Fall Spark Theater Festival in November 2023.

BIOGRAPHIES

Cantor Rachel Goldman guest on Monday, September 16 at 7pm

Cantor Rachel Goldman currently serves as Senior Cantor at the largest conservative synagogue in the United States, Congregation Beth Yeshurun ​​in Houston, TX. Cantor Goldman is praised for her crystalline, angelic soprano voice and has sung at venues such as The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and the Hobby Center in Houston. Cantor Goldman is a proud member of the Shul Sisters: A New Cantorial Trio, together with Cantors Rachel Brook and Laurie Akers. Cantor Goldman travels the country as both a concert soloist and musical collaborator. She is currently planning to release her first studio album in the beginning of 2025.

Cantor Mo Glazman guest on Wednesday, September 18 at 2pm

Acclaimed by New York Jewish life as a “Wonderful tenor and star attraction,” Cantor Mo Glazman has performed throughout the world. He has concertized at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Saint James Theater, Studio 54 and the National Opera Center. He is the senior cantor of Congregation Emanu-El NYC, the largest synagogue in the world.

Scott Richman guest on Thursday, September 19 at 7pm

Scott Richman serves as the Director for ADL’s largest regional office covering New York and New Jersey. He oversees fundraising, program initiatives and leadership development designed to fight anti-Semitism and combat hate in all its forms. He is an experienced advocate dedicated to developing community partnerships and initiatives that provide justice, equality and fair treatment for all.

Magda Teter guest on Tuesday, September 24 at 7pm

Magda Teter is Professor of History and the Shvidler Chair of Judaic Studies at Fordham University. She is the author and co-editor of several books, most recently, Blood Libel: On the Trail of An Antisemitic Myth (2020) and Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism (2023), and articles in English, Hebrew , Italian, and Polish. Her essays have also appeared in the New York Review of Books, Public Seminar, the JTA, and others. Teter’s research has been supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, HF Guggenheim Foundation, Radcliffe Institute, the Cullman Center at the NYPL, the NEH, and others. She is currently President of the American Academy of Jewish Research.

Rabbi Bob Kaplan guest on Thursday, September 26 at 7pm

Rabbi Bob Kaplan is currently the founding Executive Director of The Center for a Shared Society division of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC). The Center seeks to honor the dignity of others in order to harness diversity as a value, engage diverse leaders from across New York City’s government, business, faith and not-for-profit sectors to help diverse communities thrive, prosper and create a better quality of life, making a consistently changing New York City with a complex NEW DIVERSITY. Bob Kaplan serves as a Commissioner of The New York City Commission on Human Rights. He was a grief counselor for the American Red Cross at the respite center located at Ground Zero. He likewise has served as the Associate Executive Director of Hillel of New York.

Mohammad Razvi guest on Thursday, September 26 at 7pm

Mohammad Razvi is the Executive Director and founder of Council of Peoples Organization (COPO), based in Brooklyn, New York. The attacks on 9/11 changed him in ways he did not expect, and gave him an unforeseen calling. Within 5 months after 9/11, the aspiring entrepreneur with his wife and children transformed himself into a social entrepreneur and formed the Council of Pakistan Organization (COPO), which later changed to Council of People’s Organization. The fledgling non-profit started in a 1,000-sqft storefront, which quickly attracted South Asian immigrants with low incomes and limited access to city services such as immigration, healthcare and affordable housing. COPO became a liaison and continues to assist low-income immigrant families to reach their full potential as residents of New York City by providing them access to equitable social services. COPO empowers marginalized communities to advocate for their needs and is now the largest Muslim Arab South Asian not-for-profit in NYC.

Pamela Weiler Grayson (Playwright) award-winning plays and musicals have been seen on stages throughout the country, including Primary Stages, The Group Rep/Lonny Chapman Theatre, Cincinnati Lab Theatre, and Emerging Artists Theater. Urban Momfare (composer/lyricist/co-book writer) won a Best Musical award at the New York International Fringe Festival, garnered four stars and a Critics Pick from Time Out. The Sustain, co-written with Alice Jankell and composer Aaron Drescher, and developed in Theater Now New York’s International Musical Writers Lab, was a semifinalist at the 2021 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Music Theater Conference. Observant is the recipient of a 2024 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and a semifinalist in the Jewish Plays Project’s 12th National Jewish Playwriting Contest. Dramatists Guild member. Education: Brown University, Fordham Law School, New York Theater Workshop, and The BMI Musical Theater Workshop. www.pamelaweilergrayson.com

Shellen Lubin (Director) works professionally as a director/playwright, playwright, actor, songwriter/singer, voice teacher & coach, and arts activist and advocate. As a director/playwright, she most recently directed intensives for Theater Breaking Through Barriers and Cosmic Orchid Productions, and When Zaydeh Danced On Eldridge Street (Rael/Lubin/Gandolfo) at the Museum of Jewish Heritage; Between Pretty Places with songs by Lubin at Here Arts Center (NY) and at Pacific Resident Theater (CA); eleven yearly Bistro Awards. Her plays and musicals have been produced and workshopped at Manhattan Class Company, Public Theater, Hubbard Hall, West Coast Ensemble, American Jewish Theater, et al., and two songs featured in Milos Forman’s first American film, Taking Off. SDC, AEA, DG www.shellenlubin.com

Emerging Artists Theater’s Spark Theater Festival NYC (formerly the New Works Series) began in 2006 and focuses on new works, new talents, and new voices. The bi-annual festival that runs in the Fall and Spring, showcases 50+ new dance pieces, plays, solo-shows, cabaret, and musicals. www.emergingartiststheatre.org

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