Benefit Reading Of The New Musical SACRIFICES to Feature Eddie Korbich, Shoba Narayan, and More

The Israeli Artists Project has joined forces with host Temple Emanu-El Men's Club to present a benefit reading of the new musical "Sacrifices" - a new musical about ancient times - with a host of familiar Broadway performers. In addition to Eddie Korbich (Drowsy Chaperone, Little Mermaid) the cast includes Alan H. Green (Broadway Bounty Hunter, Charlie...Factory, Sister Act), EJ Zimmerman (Les Miserables), Michael Bernardi (Fiddler on the Roof), Shoba Narayan (...Great Comet of 1812, Hamilton tour), Karen Murphy (42nd Street, 9 to 5), Manu Narayan (Bombay Dreams, My Fair Lady) and Cooper Grodin who just returned from playing the Phantom on the Phantom... tour. The performance will be directed by Catie Davis (David Sauvage's EMPATH at Theaterlab; associate director for Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice), on November 12th 2019 at 7pm. Tickets, benefiting the congregation's philanthropic fund, can be found at bit.ly/sacrifices-tix

The show centers on an ancient desert city, with a renowned temple at its heart, that has become rife with corruption and hatred. War looms from the Romans outside and from rebels within, while the oblivious priestly elite continue their sacrificial work. Can one person, a geeky scholar, save the city? What will it take to create a world without bloodshed - what must be sacrificed? The tale of Jerusalem's downfall, and the groundbreaking act of creation that followed the city's destruction, becomes more relevant today with each passing headline.

"Sacrifices" is a musical based on the Talmudic "Tales Of The Destruction," stories about what was happening within Jerusalem's walls during the city's final hours (the most famous of those being the tale of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza). In these writings, early Sages were attempting to explain how such a magnificent, timeless city could be defeated, so that future generations could learn from this story. Now, as every city in the world seems to be overcome with discord, we need to hear the lessons of our Sages. What is the result of baseless hatred? How can we avoid disaster? And what must we - each and every person - take upon ourselves in order to bring love into the world?

Written by a team from three very different cities, this musical brings to the stage a story of something that the Jewish people gave to the world at the moment of their greatest despair. The transition from animal sacrifices to a spirituality of introspection and personal responsibility was a paradigm shift that affected the whole world and all major religions to this day. Eli Kaplan-Wildmann, writing the book from Jerusalem, Yonatan Cnaan, composing from Tel Aviv, and Andrew Zachary Cohen on lyrics in New York City, all bring a variety of perspectives in order to capture this pivotal moment in the Jewish story.

The ensemble includes Shira Averbuch, Aaron Bantum, Adi Kozlovsky and Aaron Ramey. Musical Director is Assaf Gleizner and Stage Manager is Andrew Bacigalupo. Concept - Steven Low. Casting is by Eisenberg/Beans Casting.