One Woman Show Opens Tonight At JWT's The Braid

Vicki Juditz was a nice Christian girl of German ancestry who loved Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Then she met a nice Jewish boy named Steven. Unlike many of her previous boyfriends, he had a job. He played keyboards. They dated. His parents loved her. She wanted to get married. He said "no." He would only marry a nice Jewish girl. She considered, studied, passed all the tests, and converted to Judaism.

Twenty years later, (and not married to Steven), Juditz reflects about what her decision to convert to Judaism meant and how it transformed her. She learned that Christianity was about belief. Believe in Jesus and you're saved. But Judaism, she learned, was about responsibility - about personally taking action to make this world a better place.

Now Juditz is a non-stop crusader for every worthy cause. She fights against racism; lobbies Congress to fight anti-Semitism; rallies against Steve Bannon, the alt-right and the KKK; and collects diapers and food for refugee families recently granted asylum.

And that's just one week's agenda. In her spare time, she writes. And performs. And the result is Sacred Resistance, Vicki Juditz's one-woman show at the Braid, home of Jewish Women's Theatre (JWT) in Santa Monica, on June 21.

It's a wild ride of hairpin turns as Juditz recalls her perilous quest to become a Jew and all that has happened since. She meets demanding rabbis, funny old Jews who eat at Canters, and single men in sukkahs. She visits Holocaust memorials and pledges to fight for what is right.

In the middle, she travels to Germany to visit relatives in Kaiserslautern. She meets many ordinary people who may or may not have done unspeakable things during Hitler's reign. She learns that in most cases, the Holocaust was carried out by ordinary people. Ordinary people who gave their tacit consent.

But it didn't have to be that way. She learned that 85% of the Jews in Italy were saved because ordinary people hid them. And neither Demark not Bulgaria agreed to deport Jews, causing the Nazis to back down. These profiles in courage exercised the personal responsibility demanded by Jewish law. Now she is one of them.

JWT's artistic director Ronda Spinak is thrilled to welcome Sacred Resistance to The Braid stage. "It is in the tradition of JWT's blockbuster summer hits that include Monica Piper's Not That Jewish, Rain Prior's Fried Chicken and Latkes and Annie Korzen's Annie Korzen Famous Actress. Like their predecessors, Sacred Resistance celebrates life with laughter, tears, and inspiration."

The LA Times writes, "Vicki Juditz is a born storyteller...what sets her writing, and her performance, apart is her sense of humor, and an eye for the incongruous and ridiculous." LA Weeky adds "...Juditz employs empathy and a self-deprecating humor that lay bare the foibles and tragedy of the human condition, causing us to reflect on our own moral choices."

Juditz has performed her original stories at theaters and festivals across the country, including the Sierra, Flying Leap, Timpanogos, Minnesota, Bay Area and National Storytelling festivals as well as the Aspen LAFF Festival, the Jewish Arts Festival of Hong Kong, and the Asolo Theater in Sarasota, Florida.

Los Angeles audiences see her regularly around town in the spoken word series Tasty Words, Spark, Tell It!, Tales by the Sea, Listen to Your Mother, Expressing Motherhood, Off My Head, Story Salon, Library Girl, Strong Words and at Moth StorySLAMs and GrandSLAMs. Her story "Swing Dancing" aired on the Moth Radio Hour and her story "Boca" was featured on KCRW's UnFictional.

She has written, produced and toured with a number of one-woman shows, including "Teshuvah, Return," "Where do Babies Come From?" and "Life after Life." For "Teshuvah, Return" she received a Drama-Logue Award, an L.A. Weekly nomination for Best Female Solo Performer, and an Ovation Award nomination for Best Writing of a World Premiere. For several years she wrote personal essays on environmental issues for the online publication Mad As Hell Club.

On television, she has had comic roles on Coach, Everybody Loves Raymond, My Names is Earl and Yes, Dear and in countless commercials. Now she is at the Braid in a brand-new show. Sacred Resistance opens at the Braid, home of Jewish Women's Theatre, 2912 Colorado Ave., #102, Santa Monica 90404 on June 21. Tickets are $30-$45. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org.

JWT, recently voted "Best Live Theatre on the Westside" by The Argonaut, stages and displays traditional and contemporary works and educational programming that provide a forum for the development, performance and showcasing of Jewish artistic talent. Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary, JWT's salon theatre of original dramatic shows, each written to a specific theme, displays the diverse and eclectic community of writers, artists and creators who celebrate Jewish life, one story at a time. Learn more about JWT at: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org.

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