‘7 Stories deals with insane and the inane
By Cynthia Citron BEVERLY HILLS, California — A tall man in a tightly-buttoned suit and a bowler hat, carrying a large black umbrella, stands on a ledge on the seventh floor of an apartment building....
View ArticlePlay illuminates autism and Asperger’s Syndrome
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES –He is a 23-year-old college graduate preparing to go to law school. He is verbose, awkward, and intensely focused. The sort of young man who will offer a 20-minute...
View ArticleAvenue Q: not a street for kids
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — It’s really a puzzlement trying to figure out who the producers of Avenue Q had in mind for an audience for their puppet show, since the production is too...
View Article‘Two thumbs up’ for Roger Ebert
By Cynthia Citron ENCINO, California — To anyone who only knew film critic Roger Ebert from his television persona, arguing with his long-time colleague Gene Siskel, you might characterize Ebert as...
View ArticleBilly Wilder, Raymond Chandler subjects of new play
By Cynthia Citron BURBANK, California — In 1943 two highly unlikely collaborators quarreled their way through a movie script that earned the anxious concern of the Breen Office (administrator of the...
View ArticlePlay promotes the joy of flamenco
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES– How do you get an overweight, out-of-shape Jewish lady “of a certain age” to join a flamenco class? You nag. You noodge. You kvetch. You promise her ice cream. Or you...
View ArticlePoint of Trotsky comedy even eludes its playwright
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES– Peter Lefcourt’s The Assassination of Leon Trotsky: A Comedy is alleged to be in a similar vein as Michael Frayn’s ever-popular play Noises Off. The most significant...
View Article‘Arab-Israeli Cookbook’ director turns to Italian comedy
By Cynthia Citron WEST HOLLYWOOD, California — Director Louis Fantasia detects elements of Romeo and Juliet and even the Hatfields and McCoys within the play he’s staging for Classical Theatre Lab‘s...
View ArticleDocumentary tells of Czech kindertransport organizer
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — The most inspiring and heartbreaking story since Schindler’s List is Nicky’s Family, another authentic Holocaust saga that will make you weep. In my view, there is...
View ArticleMovie shows how oblivious Himmler was to evil
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES –As a young man, he was convinced that nobody liked him. But by the time he was in his early 20s Heinrich Himmler had become the Chief Sycophant of the most popular man in...
View ArticleSDJW critics loved ‘Ida’ before the Oscars
SAN DIEGO (SDJW)– The Polish film Ida that won an Academy Award on Sunday, Feb. 22, as the best foreign language film was the subject of two different reviews by San Diego Jewish World, one by Laurie...
View ArticleDirector Simon Levy brings S. African story to life
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES –Hi everybody! I’m back!You might have noticed that my column of theater reviews hasn’t appeared for a few months. It’s because I’ve had a couple of serious falls: one...
View ArticleSDJW thanks its November writers
SAN DIEGO — San Diego Jewish World thanks and would like to acknowledge those writers whose works appeared on this news publication during the month of November. They were: David Amos Kenneth Bandler...
View ArticleOutfoxing Wall Street in ‘The Big Short’
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — Many years ago, as I tried to keep up with each of my kids as they breezed through “the new math” and learned to multiply fractions, I realized with dismay that if I had...
View ArticleSDJW thanks 43 whose works appeared in January
SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — San Diego Jewish World expresses its appreciation to the 43 writers and photographers whose works appeared during January 2016. These individuals included: David Amos Eitan Arom...
View ArticleMemory vs. ecology in ‘Dream Catcher’
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — Once again the amazing and consistently fabulous Fountain Theater has mounted a play that, like most of their others, is a must see! This one is called Dream Catcher and...
View ArticleHolocaust survivor takes last stand in new drama
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — Franz Altman is making his Last Stand. Which is to be expected, because when a man is 90 years old there probably aren’t too many Stands left for him to take. Or the...
View Article‘Look at Us Now, Mother’ explores a Jewish childhood
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — In the children’s nursery song the cheese stands alone. Hi-ho the derry-o, the cheese stands alone. In the Jewish home it is the mother who often stands alone,...
View ArticleSDJW thanks its February 2016 contributors
SAN DIEGO — This publication would like to thank and express appreciation to the writers and photographers whose works appeared during February 2016 in San Diego Jewish World. They include: Judy Lash...
View ArticleLove in the age of religious diversity
By Cynthia Citron STUDIO CITY, California–He is a non-observant Jew, she is an ardent Catholic, and they meet cute. He sees her through the front window of an art gallery in Soho and jumps out of his...
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