By Curt Schleier
Paul Reiser began our conversation by asking about the family. “I might as well lead with the Jewish,” he said. “We’re talking on the phone. Why be Presbyterian?”
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By Curt Schleier
March 2011 has been tough for the chosen folk: a YouTube video showed House of Christian Dior fashion designer John Galliano ranting against Jews and “ugly apeople”; WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange blamed a Jewish press conspiracy for his problems, and Charlie Sheen declared that his mom is Jewish and therefore he is, too. It turns out he’s not anti-Semitic, but a self-loathing Jew.
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By Curt Schleier
It’s obviously an exaggeration, but an exaggeration rooted in truth. Jews have been active on Broadway far out of proportion to their numbers, onstage as well as behind the scenes. Many of the great Broadway composers, such as Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim and the Gershwin brothers, were Jewish, as were Arthur Miller and Neil Simon, two of the 20th century’s greatest playwrights.
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By Curt Schleier
A show business term for people talented in more than a single discipline, “multi-hyphenate,” clearly defines Michael Feinstein. He is a pianist and singer who performs about 150 live shows annually; a recording artist with five Grammy nominations to his credit, including one for his CD with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; a composer currently working on several Broadway shows; an entrepreneur who runs an eponymous supper club, Feinstein’s, at the Loews Regency Hotel in New York, and the artistic director of music programs at both Lincoln Center in New York City and the spanking new Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Ind.
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By Curt Schleier
Listen to certain sections of the body politic today, and you get the impression that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were part-time — if not full-time — evangelicals.
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