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 Harvey Fierstein Gets ‘Kinky’ and Discusses His Jewish Roots
Harvey Fierstein says he had some reservations about adapting the film “Kinky Boots” into a musical. “To do a drag show doesn’t interest me,” he said. “Been there, done that. A show about shoes doesn’t cry out to me. Also, if something [like the original film] is good, why f–k with it? And a musical…
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Culture Marionettes and Puppetmasters Tell of Nazi Atrocities in Poland
The 23-year-old, New York-based Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre has forged more than a few productions that center on Jewish topics — from “Golem” to “The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius” to its newest piece, “King Executioner.” The latter, now playing through April 7 at Theater for the New City, explores how the Nazi-afflicted atrocities…
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Culture Meet Broadway Danny Burstein, the Tony-Nominated Star of ‘Talley’s Folly’
Danny Burstein insists that the joy of being a father most prepared him, paradoxically enough, for playing Matt Friedman, a desolate figure who refuses to bring children into this world, in the revival of Lanford Wilson’s “Talley’s Folly.” “Because the love and happiness you get from children is so great, what Matt went through to…
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Culture Cantor’s Apps Bring Jewish Prayers To the iPhone Crowd
Despite the fact that he stars in and co-produces iPhone and iPad apps featuring “A Cantor’s Seder,” “High Holiday Highlights,” and blessings for the deceased, all of which are available on pocketshul.com, Cantor Emanuel Perlman remains a traditionalist. The earnest 60-year-old Perlman, hazan at Baltimore’s conservative Chizuk Amuno Congregation, says he has little patience for…
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The Schmooze Adina Tal Speaks An International Language
As the audience files into NYU’s Skirball Center the deaf-blind actors are already on stage kneading dough. Throughout “Not by Bread Alone,” they are preparing bread for themselves and theatergoers who at the end of the performance will join the actors on stage and share the bread with them. Interspersed with the preparation—and as the…
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Culture Bartlett Sher Weighs in on Clifford Odets
When boxer Joe Bonaparte (Seth Numrich) realizes his hand is shattered following a brutal match, he howls in pain, despair and also triumphant joy. It’s a stunningly powerful — and complex — moment in “Golden Boy,” now playing on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre, 75 years after a Group Theatre production of the Clifford Odets…
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Culture She’s a Believer
Chatting over a light lunch at Joe Allen, a well-known spot for Broadway regulars, the soft-spoken Kirsten Holly Smith bears no resemblance to the brash, swaggering singer Dusty Springfield, Smith’s alter ego in “Forever Dusty,” playing off-Broadway. Smith’s onstage transformation is stunning as she evokes the fierce determination — and underlying vulnerability — of the…
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Culture Eve Ensler’s Jewish Dialogue
Describing Eve Ensler as a relentless enthusiast and dedicated feminist is accurate, yet doesn’t do her justice. Consider this: She is a Tony-winning playwright, performer, author, filmmaker and activist whose leadership on behalf of women has had a worldwide impact — from the Congo to Bosnia to American prisons. Her best-known piece, “The Vagina Monologues,”…
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