Simi Horwitz is a feature writer and film reviewer based in New York City. In 2022, she received first place for film criticism from the Society for Feature Journalism, and in 2023, a New York Press Club Award for an Entertainment News feature; and three Los Angeles Press Club Awards, including first place for film criticism — all for pieces published in the Forward.
Simi Horwitz
By Simi Horwitz
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Culture ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Turns 50 With an All-Star Celebration
Zalmen Mlotek, artistic director of the National Yiddish Theatre (aka Folksbiene) doesn’t seem too surprised — indeed, he sounds matter-of-fact — that the iconic theater is marking its 100th birthday and still going strong. But, he acknowledges its founders, who opened the theater’s doors on the Lower East Side for Yiddish speaking Eastern European immigrants, would…
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Culture Jewish Drag Kings Reclaim Male Roles for Women
In “Floodlines,” a site-specific theater piece that took Jaclyn Pryor seven years to create, a Jewish funeral cortege travels through the streets of Austin, Texas. Each car sports a small Jewish star. The audience members, who have assumed the role of mourners in the cars, watch various enactments that take place on the streets. Later…
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The Schmooze Genocide Remembrance From New York to Rwanda
To commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda, the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present a staged reading of actor-writer Jay O. Sanders’ play “Unexplored Interior” on May 11. It promises to be a striking event in several ways, not least as a…
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The Schmooze Israeli Films Show Nuance at Tribeca Film Fest
Two films screening at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival show subtle and nuanced perspectives on Israeli life from a woman’s point of view. Talya Lavie’s first feature, “Zero Motivation,” [screening April 17 – 24,]( (http://tribecafilmfestival.org/filmguide/53208b38c07f5df7d20008a9-zero-motivation ‘screening April 17 – 24,’) focuses on a unit of female Israeli soldiers at a desert-based human resource center awash…
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Culture Why Being Barbra Streisand Can Be a Drag
Steven Brinberg does not want to be called Ms. Streisand, Barbra or Babs before he steps onto the stage fully transformed into the singing icon. Until that moment, address him as Steven, please. Indeed, it takes 90 minutes for the metamorphosis to be completed, starting with layers of makeup, followed by dress and wig. The…
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Culture On and Off Broadway, 2013 Was the Year of The Transitional Jew
Jews of all stripes surfaced on stage this past season, starting with appearances in four notable bio-dramas: “Soul Doctor,” the musical about the rock star Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach; Joe Gilford’s “Finks,” loosely based on the experience of his blacklisted parents, Jack and Madeline Lee Gilford; and two solo shows, “I’ll Eat You Last, a Chat…
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Culture It’s Not Easy Being a Jewish Artist in a Muslim Land
Venturing into global conflict zones, some of which are Muslim, can be challenging to Jewish theater artists. Consider this: Two artists were willing to speak with the Forward about their experiences, while eight others who had traveled — or were about to travel —into Muslim hotspots did not want to participate in this story or…
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Culture The Return of ‘The Rise of David Levinsky’
In a tribute to the late Isaiah Sheffer, who created Symphony Space, a flourishing arts center on the upper West Side, Avi Hoffman produced and starred in a staged concert performance of “The Rise of David Levinksy,” at the Symphony’s Thalia Theater, on Monday Oct 21. Based on the 1917 novel by Abraham Cahan, who…
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