New Yiddish Rep Presents Lea Kalisch in IN LOVE WITH A DREAM

New Yiddish Rep will present Lea Kalisch (www.leakalisch.com) in the premiere of her new solo show, "In Love with a Dream," June 19 to 23 at 9:00 PM at The Playroom Theater, 151 W 46th Street (8th Floor). Kalisch is a dynamic, sexy, multidisciplinary performer originally from Zurich, Switzerland. Her piece is an autobiography in song, rap and comedy: a high-energy reflection on her clash of expectations and real-life experiences.

Ms. Kalisch, a high-energy brunette twenty-something, recounts, from the perspective of "a new artist with an old soul," her ripening in the five years since she left Switzerland in 2014, assuring her mother she would soon be a Broadway star. There is a memorable comedic sung reflection on love and orthodoxy, in which she appears clad in a velvety doublet and shtreimal (a fur hat worn by many married Haredi Jewish men) and explores the creative repercussions of romance with the religious.

The piece is performed in English, but it is sprinkled with Spanish, Yiddish and German (Kalisch speaks seven languages). She sings, dances and raps and even takes a turn at the piano, where she croons a comedic song over a Bach piece. Her musical compositions are dramatic, theatrical and story-driven. She characterizes their musical genre as "blues-pop with a touch of Jewish." She views herself as a collage artist who is "Jewish with all my heart and Latin with my hips." In New Yiddish Rep's "Motzei Shabbes Kabaret" April 13, she workshopped a comedic piece with hand puppets about the marriage of a young orthodox couple.

"In Love with a Dream," was initially created for a private event in Boston. New Yiddish Rep presented a well-received workshop of the piece May 11 at its Cyrus and Rose Feldman Studio Theater, 315 W. 39 Street, 9th floor. Ms. Kalisch has hitherto appeared in New Yiddish Rep's productions of "Awake and Sing" and "God of Vengeance," which were both acted in Yiddish. At HERE, she co-created and performed "Between the Threads (Jewish Women Project)." For Folksbiene, she appeared in a staged reading of "Fernvald." She is lead singer of a folk rock band, Revival, which performs music set to Jewish and biblical texts. In Switzerland, she was a professional ice skater for ten years, always enjoying gala-shows much more than competitions.

On May 25, she will appear in Theater for the New City's Lower East Side Festival of the Arts. On June 8, she will "Rumpelstiltskin" in German and English at Galli Theater in TriBeCa. She will give concerts with Jewish/Yiddish folksongs, some Jewish Broadway and some original songs on October 27 in Zurich at ICZ (Israeli Culture Community Zürich) and November 17-25 at Gasteig, Munich as part of Jewish Culture Days.

"In Love with a Dream" is conceived, written and performed by Lea Kalisch. Music producer is Enat Ventura. Developmental consultation is by David Mandelbaum, Amy Coleman and George Xenos.

Photo Credit: George Xenos