The Braid Hilarious New Salon Show, AHA MOMENT

Refusing to let COVID deprive audiences of wonderful theatre, the new salon season of The Braid (formerly Jewish Women's Theatre) will kick off its 13th (bat mitzvah) year with an all-new, powerful, and hilarious Zoom show about the time you "just knew" that life was about to change, for better or maybe for worse.

AHA Moment is sure to relieve pandemic blues as it brings personal stories that reveal how unexpected happenings can spin our lives in surprising directions and teach us new things about ourselves and the world. The new show with its unpredictable pieces will run for four performances only, from Saturday, January 9, to Monday, January 18.

"We didn't want coronavirus to prevent us from bringing much-needed fresh and enriching new theatre to our loyal audiences or to all the new guests we have met since we began Zooming performances earlier this year," explains Ronda Spinak, The Braid's artistic director. "The totally unexpected upside of this awful year is that digital theatre has allowed us to reach new people all over the world, and we are so gratified to learn that they love our unique salon theatre and heartwarming stories."

Zoom audiences at AHA Moment will see stories about some of life's unforeseen flash events that change how we think and feel. They will meet a Jewish family comprised of a Chinese woman who converted to Judaism when she married, and her daughter with whom she finally shares a shocking secret.

A new college graduate who is looking for a way to earn enough money to move out of his parents' home tells how he learns it may be possible for him to survive as a "typewriter poet." And there is a deeply touching story about the family of a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor who takes her to visit The Remains of the Auschwitz of her youth.

They will hear from a woman who, after the L.A. riots, decides to buy a gun, but how experiencing loading and firing it has an unexpected impact on the way she thinks. And there's a hilarious tale about a recently divorced woman who decides to try new things and finds there are really weird possibilities out there she never expected to encounter.

And of course there is a touching COVID story about what a new college graduate learns when she is forced to return home because of the pandemic. Further, The Braid's producing director, Susan Morgenstern, shares how she met her husband at a bar and how one steamy night possibly ruined a beautiful friendship.

Lisa Cirincione will direct AHA Moment, and the cast will feature L.A. favorites: author and comic Judy Carter and master storyteller of The Moth Vicki Juditz, among others.

All these stories and much more-music, poetry, and song-are part of The Braid's unique theatrical art form: salon theatre, which sits at the intersection of storytelling and theatre. The award-winning company revives and reinvents the tradition of Jewish theatre that thrived in Europe as a way to explore counterculture unacceptable to those in power. It now strives to debunk harmful and dangerous stereotypes of the Jewish people while celebrating the diversity within Jewish culture and offering a platform to show how unity is far better than division.

Subscriptions to The Braid's 13th season, including 4 shows plus bonuses, are $125. Single tickets for AHA Moment range from $10 to $25 and will include a post-performance Q and A with writers, actors, and producers. VIP tickets that include a pre-performance discussion with the artistic director and special guests are available for $36. To purchase and obtain dates, times, and additional information, visit: www.the-braid.org.

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