Home
> Adults > Oceanside > Cultural & Fine Arts > Cultural Events & Lectures
Adult Services Cultural Events & Lectures
For more information, please contact Maddy Levi, Director of Cultural & Fine Arts, at 634-4154
or mlevi@friedbergjcc.org
The Ethnic Musicals: Assimilation and Integration - A Lecture by Marc Courtade The melting pot of America was reflected in the Broadway musicals of the 1960s and 1970s which featured contrasting ethnic groups and wove them into the fabric of the American Musical. Do such shows as Milk & Honey (1961), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), Hallelujah, Baby! (1967), The Wiz (1975) and Pacific Overtures (1976) convey the mood of the modern American experience and hold up over time? By playing musical examples and discussing them, this lecture will examine how these musicals reflect the eras and cultures being represented. The listener will be able to form their own opinions of how successful each set of creators was.
Marc Courtade is Business Manager for Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University, and Producer and Artistic Director of Performance Plus!
This program, which is free and open to the public, is supported in part by Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.
Light refreshments will be served.
Wednesday, September 29 2 p.m.
Fee: $5
Location: Oceanside #58ETH
Four Seasons Lodge: Survival Was Just the Beginning - A Critically Acclaimed Documentary Film In this life-affirming and startling funny documentary, NY Times journalist Andrew Jacobs and filmmaker/cinematographer Albert Maysles document the last season of a Catskills bungalow colony that for 30 years has served as a summer getaway for a group of Holocaust survivors. The film is about their tight friendships and quest for inner-peace despite haunting memories. The spirit and energy of this community is reflected in the raucous poker games, intoxicating laughter, and lively dancing that goes on till dawn. The characters dance, flirt and fight as the fate of their community hangs in the balance.
CRITICS' PICK! "Like a funny visit with your grandpaents, multiplied by a dozen."
- New York Magazine
Advance registration suggested.
Wednesday, October 20 7:30 p.m.
Fee: $10 Members: $8
Location: Oceanside #58FOUR
Milton Berle: Television's First Superstar - A Lecture with Professor Ira Epstein Known as "Mr. Television" or "Uncle Miltie," Milton Berle is best remembered for his role as host of Texaco Star Theater, television's most popular program during its early years. He became television's first superstar and his show attracted many well-known entertainers. His program became a Tuesday night fixture in homes across America and was credited with helping sell millions of first-time TV sets to a nation just getting acquainted with the new medium. This lecture will trace Milton Berle's career and focus upon his pioneering role in television comedy. There will be numerous audiovisual clips as well as a Q&A period.
Ira Epstein served as professor and chairperson of the Communication Skills Department at LaGuardia Community College, C.U.N.Y and as an assistant professor in the School of Education at Brooklyn College, C.U.N.Y. He has lectured at the North American Jewish Choral Festival, JCC of Manhattan, Block and Hexter Vacation Center and numerous other notable venues.
Light refreshments will be served.
Wednesday, October 27 2 p.m.
Fee: $7 Members: $6
Location: Oceanside #58MILT
19th Century Circus: Sex, Violence & Politics - A Lecture with Author David Carlyon In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain described a circus as "the splendidest sight that ever was." But despite this sweetly innocent image from 1883, Twain knew that circus before the Civil War had been raw stuff for rowdy audiences. Touring circus presented performers in skimpy clothes, and performances with a strong hint of sex. Reflecting a participatory age, talking clowns told dirty jokes and political jokes, bantering with raucous audiences. But by the 1880s, rowdiness became considered vulgar, Circus turned into innocent family amusement, and a sentimental symbol. Why did circus change? How did politics change? How did America change?
David Carlyon has a Ph.D. in theater history from Northwestern University and was a clown with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He has been an Equity actor and playwright, graduated from the University of Michigan, served as a military policeman, then graduated from Berkeley Law. His award-winning "Dan Rice: The Most Famous Man You've Never Heard Of," is a biography and cultural history of 19th-century America.
This program, which is free and open to the public, is supported in part by Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.
Light refreshments will be served.
Wednesday, November 3 2 p.m.
Fee: $5
Location: Oceanside #58CIR
Jack Benny: Master of Comic Timing - A Lecture with Professor Ira Epstein The Jack Benny Program aired from 1950 to 1965 and its comedy revolved around the Benny persona and a carefully crafted world of underplayed humor which had been developed over two decades from his successful radio program. Benny was renowned for his masterful delivery and flawless comic timing and (especially) his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "Well!" Benny played the role of the comic penny-pinching miser, insisting on remaining 39 years old on stage despite his actual age, and often playing the violin badly. This lecture will discuss and analyze his comic talents through the use of numerous audiovisual clips. A question and answer period will be provided.
Ira Epstein served as professor and chairperson of the Communication Skills Department at LaGuardia Community College, C.U.N.Y and as an assistant professor in the School of Education at Brooklyn College, C.U.N.Y. He has lectured at the North American Jewish Choral Festival, JCC of Manhattan, Block and Hexter Vacation Center and numerous other notable venues.
