Before ‘The Warriors’ was a cult movie — or a Lin-Manuel Miranda album — it had radical Jewish roots
Sol Yurick, the son of immigrant communists, wrote the novel that was adapted by the ‘Hamilton’ creator
Lin Manuel Miranda
The Latest
-
Film & TV -
Culture Do the Madrigals from Disney’s ‘Encanto’ descend from Sephardic Jews?
While I was watching “Encanto,” I wondered if its magical Madrigals, the family at the heart of the Oscar-nominated Disney animated film, were Jewish. They’re close-knit to the point of being smothering. They’re successful yet grappling with generations of pain. And their powers come from a candle that has miraculously burned for 50 years —…
-
Culture 2022’s Oscar nominees are full of Jewish connections
This week’s parsha concerns God’s instructions to the Israelites in the wilderness on the design of priestly temple garments, how to properly light the menorah and how to build the golden altar of incense. So perhaps it’s fitting that the Moses-y desert parable “Dune” is now nominated for the Oscar gold in costume design, cinematography…
-
Culture 22 absolutely on-the-mark pop culture predictions for 2022
2021 was a year of new beginnings — not just for our newly reopened society, but also for the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to mutate into increasingly scary-sounding novel Greek letter variants. And so, we end 2021 on a note of uncertainty. In a year like this, when Taylor Swift surprised us with a 10-minute…
-
The Schmooze On Stephen Sondheim’s birthday, 856 words to make you fall in love with one of the greatest artists of all time
Today is the birthday of Stephen Sondheim, perhaps the musical theater’s greatest composer and lyricist who has ever lived. Sondheim is responsible for the lyrics of the Broadway musicals “Gypsy” and “West Side Story,” and the music and lyrics of “Sweeney Todd,” “Into The Woods,” “Sunday In The Park With George,” “A Funny Thing Happened…
-
Culture Lin-Manuel Miranda Almost Did ‘My Name Is Asher Lev’ Instead Of ‘Hamilton’
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a household name. He made Alexander Hamilton one, too. Might he have done the same for a young ultra-Orthodox painter named Asher Lev? During a November 19 Reddit Ask Me Anything, Miranda said that he once owned the theatrical rights to Chaim Potok’s novel “My Name is Asher Lev” (1972), which follows…
-
The Schmooze Lin Manuel Miranda On ‘Billy On The Street’ Is Pure, Unadulterated Joy
On Thursdays in the winter, all we want is half-a-dozen golden retriever puppies, a bowl of warm drinking chocolate, and human rights and a social safety net for all. But until those things can arrive, this video of “Hamilton” creator and “Moana” composer Lin Manuel Miranda joining Jewish comic Billy Eichner to hug random New…
-
The Schmooze Lin Manuel Miranda’s Directing Debut Will Be Movie Musical By ‘Rent’ Creator
The world’s best loved polymath will add one more skill to his impressive resume: Directing. “Hamilton” creator Lin Manuel Miranda is set to make his directing debut, helming a movie version of Jonathan Larson’s musical, “Tick, Tick…Boom!” Deadline reports. And as if the marriage of Larson, the brilliant Jewish composer-lyricist of “Rent” and Miranda wasn’t…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Your complete guide to Trump’s Jewish advisers and pro-Israel cabinet
- 2
Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
- 3
Fast Forward Trump AG nominee Matt Gaetz has left a trail of antisemitic comments
- 4
Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward More than 55 Jewish groups come out against terrorism bill that could threaten nonprofits
-
Fast Forward Why the Senate’s Israel vote matters, as Democrats divide on the Jewish state
-
Fast Forward Jessica Tisch, Jewish public servant, appointed as commissioner of NYPD
-
Fast Forward ‘A sense of wariness’ for many Jews when they see keffiyehs in public
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
