On Sunday, March 6 at 2:30 p.m., the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present Sosua: Dare to Dance Together, a moving play based on monologues and songs written by NYC Dominican and Jewish teens. This performance highlights their connections to one another while interweaving the history of Jewish refugees escaping the Holocaust and finding sanctuary in the Dominican Republic. Following the performance, Elizabeth Swados, the creator and composer of the play, will discuss the work.
Tickets are $15, $12 students and seniors, and $10 for members. Tickets are available online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at 646.437.4202.
About the PlayThe performance is the culmination of 10 months of collaborative work between 10 Jewish and 10 Dominican teens and Swados, who composed and directed the play last year. The 2011 version of the play will welcome new cast members who will help create new monologues and songs with this year's director, Matthew Robert Gehring, who will be working closely with Swados.
The performers' process of working together and learning about history is as important as the finished result. Original cast member Jordan Hoepelman said, "Now I know more about how the Jewish people suffered, and that the Dominicans saved them," he says. "It's been the greatest project I've ever done. I'm learning new things, making great friends, and working with a great director."
Victoria Neznansky, chief program officer at the Washington Heights Y, came up with the idea for the play after seeing Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic, the popular exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2008. It was then that she realized the potential of the story to create a greater connection between the Dominican and Jewish communities.
Neznansky said, "This project will bring a sense of meaningful community ties and spirit that are needed to make a more vibrant and cohesive community."
Swados is also inspired by her work on Sosua, "They're wonderful kids with a real sense of responsibility and understanding of the horrors of what the world can do and how to heal it," she says. "In small groups like this, you can discuss the healing process. It gives me hope."
About Sosua
About the Creative Team
Elizabeth Swados is best known for her Broadway and international smash hit Runaways. She has composed, written, and directed for over 30 years. Some of her works include the Obie Award winning Trilogy at La Mama, Alice at the Palace with Meryl Streep at the New York Shakespeare Theater Festival and Groundhog, which was optioned by Milos Forman for a film. Her work has been performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Carnegie Hall, and locations all over the world. She has received five Tony nominations, three Obie Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Ford Grant, Helen Hayes Award, and others.
Matthew Robert Gehring is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he studied at the Experimental Theater Wing. He writes, performs, and directs and is part of the sketch comedy troupe Tenured Faculty.
This production is made possible through the support of the Community Connections Committee, part of the New York Jewry Task Force of UJA-Federation's Commission on the Jewish People.
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