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Wonder of Wonders – It’s Fiddler Sing-a-Long Time Again!

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*** FIDDLER UPDATES  (skip to main article)
We’re pleased to announce an all-star line-up of Fiddler Hosts for 2015!
Also, as in year’s past, we’ll have food trucks out at select locations. Here’s the per-location rundown of what’s shaking in the shtetl:

Ahrya Fine Arts
Dr. Ron Wolfson – author, professor – BUY TIX
BONUS! – Dr. Wolfson will be signing a copies of his new book, The Best Boy in the United States of America: A Memoir of Blessings and Kisses.

Claremont 5
Cantor Paul Buch – BUY TIX

NoHo 7
Craig Taubman – entertainer, community organizer – BUY TIX
FOOD TRUCK – The Deli Doctor (truck food welcome inside the theater)

Playhouse
Gary Wexler – blogger, public speaker – BUY TIX
FOOD TRUCK – Hungry Nomad (truck food welcome inside the theater)

Royal
Naomi Ackerman – actress, social activist – BUY TIX
BONUS! – Naomi will be joined by BARBARA ISENBERG who will be signing copies of her book TRADITION!: The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, the World’s Most Beloved Musical.
FOOD TRUCK – The Hurricane Kitchen (truck food welcome inside the theater)

Town Center 5
Cantors Herschel Fox & Phil Baron – BUY TIX

See below to find out more about our hosts.

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Wonder_of_Wonders_edit_2Will the matchmaker make you “the perfect match?” There’s only one way to find out … join us this year for our 8th annual FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Christmas Eve SING-A-LONG!

(Scroll down to watch the event trailer.  For tickets, visit Laemmle.com/Fiddler).

This year, the popular Fiddler program has been extended to more venues to accommodate demand including, for the first time, the recently reopened AHRYA FINE ARTS in Beverly Hills.

In addition to exuberant movie and song, the evening will feature TRIVIA with PRIZES being awarded to Fiddler buffs with the quickest recall.  Dressing in COSTUME is not required, but highly encouraged!  Will the best costume will garner a prize?  That will be up to the emcee.

Craig_pix_01_edit_lr_crop_4_p
CRAIG TAUBMAN will be hosting at the NoHo 7
Ron_Wolfson_pix_02_crop_p
RON WOLFSON will be hosting at the Fine Arts

Speaking of which, we’re very excited to announce two new, dynamic hosts for this year.  Acclaimed Jewish singer-songwriter and founder of the Pico Union Project CRAIG TAUBMAN will be bringing his signature blend of charisma and high-powered energy to the NOHO 7.  Over in the city side, professor, author, and community mensch Dr. RON WOLFSON will be headlining at the stunning AHYRA FINE ARTS in Beverly Hills. Wolfson is most recently the author of The Best Boy in the United States of America: A Memoir of Blessings and Kisses offered by Jewish Light Publishing. You can’t go wrong with either of these incredible gentlemen!

Our own Greg Laemmle is enthusiastic as ever about the Fiddler experience, declaring that “Christmas Eve isn’t just Chinese food anymore!”  Furthermore, “we welcome all those in the community who are looking for an alternative Christmas Eve experience.”

He continues, “This is your once-a-year chance to be the star of the shtetl. Join voices with friends and neighbors and sing your heart out alongside Fiddler’s screen legends. And it’s okay if you haven’t memorized all the songs. We provide the lyrics.”

Song highlights include the iconic “TRADITION”, “IF I WERE A RICH MAN”,  “TO LIFE”, “SUNRISE SUNSET”, “DO YOU LOVE ME?” and “ANATEVKA”, among many, many more.

Don’t miss the buggy! Those who wish to attend the program are advised to purchase tickets in advance as the program has traditionally sold to capacity.

See you in the shtetl…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnuyNaOEBt4&feature=youtu.be

Fiddler Hosts – 2015

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Dr. Ron Wolfson at the Ahrya Fine Arts (Beverly Hills)
Renowned educator and author DR. RON WOLFSON will be our host at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Wolfson is a Fingerhut Professor of Education at the American Jewish University and, most recently, author of The Best Boy in the United States of America: A Memoir of Blessings and Kisses offered by Jewish Lights Publishing. A pioneer in the field of Jewish family education, Dr. Wolfson is a frequent scholar-in-residence for synagogues and communities and a co-founder of Synagogue 3000. He is also the author of the well-known Art of Jewish Living book series.

Craig_pix_01_edit_lr_crop_4_pCraig Taubman at the NoHo 7 (North Hollywood)
Beloved Jewish singer/songwriter and community builder CRAIG TAUBMAN will be our host at the NoHo 7 venue in North Hollywood. Taubman is renowned for original compositions and live performances that speak to the Jewish American experience. He is the originator of events such as Friday Night Live, The Big Jewish Tent, and A Sacred Noise, among others. Most recently, he founded the Pico Union Project, an interfaith community center near L.A.’s downtown that celebrates diversity and unity within the framework of art, music, and worship.

Herschel Fox_prCantor Herschel Fox
at the Town Center 5 (Encino)
For over three decades, HERSCHEL FOX (top) has shared his knowledge, talent, and Yiddishkeit with Temple Valley Beth Shalom (Encino) and the greater L.A Jewish community. Born in Europe and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, among Holocaust survivors, he became a cantor at the age of 13.  In his early career, he performed in Yiddish theater, opening for Molly Picon, Fiddler’s “Yente the Matchmaker” for many years. Fox teaches classes in Yiddish language, culture and song, prayer and the art of the cantor.

Phil Baron_prCantor Phil Baron
at the Town Center 5 (Encino)
Also of VBS (Valley Beth Shalom), cantor PHIL BARON (left) is the son of a violinist and the grandson of a Vilna rabbi. Before becoming a cantor, he took a successful detour into children’s entertainment, where he had over 300 original songs recorded – nearly 200 of these by the Walt Disney Co. He co-created two television series for Jewish children, Bubbe’s Boarding House, and the multiple award-winning series Alef…Bet…Blast-off! As a vocalist he has been featured with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New Orleans Philharmonic.

Gary Wexler_prGary Wexler at the Playhouse 7 (Pasadena)
GARY WEXLER is a USC Adjunct Professor in the Masters program at the Annenberg School of Communication, teaching both Nonprofit Marketing, as well as Advertising and Copywriting. Wexler’s first career was as a Clio-winning copywriter for ad agencies such as Chiat-Day, DDB-Needham and others with clients ranging from Apple to Coca Cola. He since made the switch to the non-profit world, working with over 1000 nonprofits, including the foundations of Steven Spielberg, the Ford Foundation, United Ways and Jewish Federations. Today, he is an active blogger, consultant, seminar leader, and public speaker.

Naomi Ackerman_prNaomi Ackerman at the Royal (West L.A.)
An actress, social activist, and special education teacher, NAOMI ACKERMAN’s credits include theater, musicals, films, television as well as being an accomplished street performer and professional clown. She was a founding member of View Points an Arab Jewish dialogue theater produced by the Shimon Peres Center for Peace. In addition, she wrote, directed and performed the acclaimed one woman show Flowers Aren’t Enough. In 2011 she founded The Advot Project, transforming the lives of incarcerated girls in the L.A. probations system through drama instruction. This garnered her KCET’s Local Hero Award in 2014.

Paul Buch_prCantor Paul Buch at the Claremont 5 (Claremont)
Cantor PAUL BUCH has served Temple Beth Israel in Claremont since 2003. He came to the cantorate after a 25 year career in TV and film production in Los Angeles, New York, and Portland. In addition to his cantorial duties, Buch is President of the Claremont Interfaith Council and serves on the Faith-Based Roundtable of the Pomona Unified School District. He is also Chair of the City of Claremont’s Human Relations Committee and serves on an advisory committee at the Claremont School of Theology. This will be his third consecutive year as our Fiddler host in Claremont!

 

Update: The Monica Film Center is Coming Soon… For Realsies!

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The much-anticipated and oft-delayed Laemmle Monica Film Center is nearing completion. We aim to reopen this December!

Now, there’s still work to do and inspections to perform so we can’t announce a specific date just yet. Rest assured, once a date is finalized, we’ll announce it here (http://dbv.2db.mwp.accessdomain.com). Check back regularly or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates.

Greg Laemmle is planning a live video walkthrough of the theater via Periscope. Download the app now and follow @laemmle and @greglaemmle to make sure you don’t miss it.

We appreciate your patience and promise it’ll be worth the wait. We submit these photos as proof of said worth. Enjoy!

View from 2nd Street.
View from 2nd Street.
View from roof-top deck. Restaurant/bar coming Summer 2016!
View from roof-top deck. Restaurant/bar coming Summer 2016!

The Monica 4-plex closed last year for a major overhaul. It will reopen as the MONICA FILM CENTER with six auditoriums, two restaurants, and an ocean view. We’re now hiring.

Behold! Our new Culture Vulture trailer.

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Have you partaken in one of our weekly screenings of opera, ballet, theater and fine art exhibitions or would you like to know more? For a taste, check out this new trailer we’ll be running on all Laemmle screens starting Friday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWn3qxF2XFM

You can enjoy one of these screenings every Monday evening at 7:30 and every Tuesday afternoon in far-flung corners of Los Angeles County: from the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, the Town Center 5 in Encino, to the Claremont 5 in, uh, Claremont and early next year we’ll likely add the long-awaited, hotly-anticipated Monica Film Center to that list. We’ll announce the early 2016 program soon but for now here’s where you can always find our Culture Vulture slate and what we’ve got coming up as 2015 draws to a close: www.laemmle.com/culturevulture. (Hot tip: those December 21 and 22 screenings of HAMLET star one of the most exciting actors of his generation, Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch. Get your tickets while they last.)

Throwback Thursday: FIGHT CLUB at 7:30pm on 11/12 in NoHo. Early bird tickets are only $5!

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This week’s Throwback Thursday selection is David Fincher’s FIGHT CLUB starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, and Meatloaf!

*Purchase tickets before Thursday and pay only $5! Regular price is $11.

Follow @laemmle on Twitter to participate in our FIGHT CLUB etiquette poll!

fightclub

FIGHT CLUB screens at 7:30PM on 11/12 at the Laemmle NoHo 7 and is part of our THROWBACK THURSDAY series in partnership with Eat|See|Hear. For upcoming screenings, visit: www.laemmle.com/tbt.

Upcoming #TBT screenings include BATTLE ROYALE, ROCKY IV, GREMLINS, and more. Click here for the schedule.

Throwback Thursday: THE PINK PANTHER at 7:30pm on 11/5 in NoHo. Early bird tickets are only $5!

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Sure, everyone will go see Daniel Craig as a white-hot man of action in SPECTRE, but you’re different. You’re going to revisit one of the great schlemiels of cinema, a white-hot man of action to himself alone, Peter Sellers’ timeless fool, Inspector Jacques Clouseau in THE PINK PANTHER (1963).

*Purchase tickets before Thursday and pay only $5! Regular price is $11.

Bring your appetite because Woody’s Grill Truck is will be on hand with sliders, mac and cheese, and my personal favorite, chicken crack nachos!

THE PINK PANTHER screens at 7:30PM on 11/5 at the Laemmle NoHo 7 and is part of our THROWBACK THURSDAY series in partnership with Eat|See|Hear. For upcoming screenings, visit: www.laemmle.com/tbt.

Click here to purchase tickets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwA_ar7_qUw

Udo Bayer, 1944-2015

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Print
Legendary founder of Universal Studios, “Uncle” Carl Laemmle

Laemmle Theatres was founded in 1938 by Max and Karl Laemmle, first cousins of iconic Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle. Like everyone else, however, they called and considered him  “Uncle Carl.”  We were reminded of our origins this week after receiving an obituary in the mail.  Written by Roland Ray and published in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung it was written upon the passing of UDO BAYER, the former deputy head of the Carl-Laemmle-Gymnasium, a high school in Laupheim, Germany.  Having been moved by Bayer’s story, we thought we’d share it with you.  Reprinted below.

 

9/28/15

Obituary: The CLG owes its name to Udo Bayer

Mourning Udo Bayer: The former deputy head of the Carl-Laemmle High School, an internationally recognized Laemmle specialist, died last Friday after a long illness. He was 71 years old.

In Hollywood a legend, a household name to film fans worldwide, but largely forgotten and misunderstood at home: after 1945, this was the fate of Laupheim-born cinema pioneer Carl Laemmle. In his native city, many covered up much that had to do with the Jewish community, which had been forcibly extinguished during the “Third Reich,” with the veil of silence. It wasn’t the only such case.

Udo Bayer’s endeavor was to keep the memory alive and to uphold Laupheim’s Jewish heritage. When the teacher’s son from Hechingen came to Laupheim in 1969, the young high school graduated its first class. A name wasn’t given to the school until 1994. The fact that the name Carl Laemmle was chosen is to be attributed to Udo Bayer. The friendship with Laemmle’s grandniece Ruth Regis, who visited Laupheim in 1988, had given him access to the life and work of the Universal founder. “I pushed his name through,” he later said. His ultimately successful recommendation to the city council was founded on three pillars: that Laemmle attended the local grammar school; that he generously supported Laupheim after the First World War; and that, after Hitler came to power, through Laemmle’s guarantees more than 300 German Jews were allowed to enter the United States, and he thus saved them from the deadly grip of the Nazis.

Bayer, who held a doctorate in semiotics (a specialty area of linguistics) and who was the deputy headmaster at CLG from 1989 until his retirement in 2008, where he taught history, social studies, German, philosophy, ethics and literature, published his research on several Jewish citizens of Laupheim. The focus of his research, however, was Carl Laemmle. For decades he meticulously put mosaic pieces together, combed archives, interviewed eyewitnesses, sparing no travel. He established ties of friendship to members of the Laemmle family. They, and especially Laemmle’s niece Carla, opened to him their private coffers and many doors. He also found information in the archives of Universal Studios, to which certainly not everyone is allowed admission, and on the Internet.

Bayer published the sum of his findings in the biography Carl Laemmle and Universal: A Transatlantic Biography in 2013, which he had assembled with scientific thoroughness from the sources — a standard work that embedded Laemmle’s life in the political and economic events of the time on both sides of the Atlantic. In an SZ interview the author, who also had a profound knowledge of film history, confessed: “This biography is the result of affection.” He had a high opinion of Laemmle’s human qualities.

A few months ago, as an addition to the Laemmle biography, Bayer published a wonderful coffee table book which tells Laemmle’s life in 160 annotated photos and documents. He could still complete a manuscript with short portraits of Jewish Laupheimers, and the Society for History and Remembrance, whose founding member he was, will probably take care of its publication.

Udo Bayer played a major role in establishing a Museum of the History of Christians and Jews. He contributed a wealth of documents, objects and photos — without him the Laemmle tract in its present form wouldn’t exist. He aso served as an adviser to the Museum and as an expert guide through the exhibition. Instead of vainly guarding his knowledge, as others do, he — all educator — had others participate willingly. Whoever visited the man with the dry, sometimes black humor at home in Baustetten, made acquaintance with his passion for painting and his hand-reared parrots.

With Udo Bayer, a part of Laupheim’s culture of remembrance is gone. His example remains.

Win tickets to a Halloween screening of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Walt Disney Concert Hall

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UPDATE: Winners have been drawn and emailed. Details below!

It’s “Horror in the Hall” this Halloween as the silent classic, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, is accompanied live by Clark Wilson on the Walt Disney Concert Hall’s monster organ.

jekyllParamount’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by John S. Robertson and produced by Famous Players-Lasky, was the first of three film treatments of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novella produced in 1920. It starred John Barrymore as the fatally split personalities, and featured Martha Mansfield and Nita Naldi as their love interests, roles based on a stage treatment, not the original story.

Four winners (selected at random) will each receive a pair of tickets to DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. As a bonus, winners will also receive two tickets to Laemmle’s very own pre-Halloween double feature of THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) & ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) on Friday, 10/30 at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Good luck!

Enter below!

Halloween at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Ticket Giveaway

Special thanks to the LA Phil for making these tickets available to our customers! If you don’t win, please consider purchasing tickets here.

“Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem” ~ Join Aimee Ginsburg Bikel and Leonard Maltin to Celebrate the Legendary Actor-Singer-Author-Activist

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Portraits of two beloved icons — Sholom Aleichem and Theodore Bikel — are woven together in the enchanting new documentary Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem. The two men had much in common: wit, wisdom and talent, all shot through with deep humanity and Yiddishkeit. The film combines Bikel’s charismatic storytelling and masterful performances with a broader exploration of Aleichem’s remarkable life and work.

We will screen Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem Monday, 10/19 at 7:30 PM and Tuesday, 10/20 at 1 PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts/Beverly Hills, Town Center 5/Encino, Playhouse 7/Pasadena and Claremont 5. Film critic Leonard Maltin and Mr. Bikel’s widow, Aimee Ginsburg Bikel, will introduce and participate in a Q&A after the Monday screening in Beverly Hills. Mrs. Bikel will also participate in a Q&A after the 1 PM screening of the film on Tuesday, October 20th in Encino.

Mrs. Bikel wrote the following about her husband: “Nothing gave Theodore Bikel more pleasure than telling stories and singing songs that connected deeply to his own roots. “I sing the songs of all nations,” he would say, “and all of humanity are my brothers and sisters, we are like flowers in a garden. So,” he would add, “I sing my songs not because they are better, but because they are mine. And if I don’t tend to them, they will wither, and die.”

“On July 21 Theo Bikel passed away, leaving us with an enormous vacuum. Theo was a giant and there will be no one who can walk in his shoes. Actor, singer, author, activist for peace and human rights, he did everything with a deep joy and a commitment to making our world a better place.
“Theo considered this film his crowning achievement, and spent this past year appearing in person at the many film festivals that screened it. The audiences, cheering and clapping, loved it. Theo, who made the film at 88, improved with the years, his voice and performance deepening and softening; his humor and humanity shining bright.
“This will be the first public screening and Theo would have wanted to appear in person. Please come with your friends and family and share with us in the legacy of the one and only and forever Theodore Bikel.”

Mr. Maltin wrote the following, which he titled “Celebrating Theodore Bikel.”

“The challenge in discussing Theodore Bikel is where to start? He led so many lives—as an actor, folksinger, Civil Rights activist, union leader, and more. He is the only person I could think of who could say he worked with Humphrey Bogart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Frank Zappa! (He played a band manager in 200 Motels, but gently refused Zappa’s request to dress as a nun for one scene.) He was the original Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music on Broadway, a best-selling recording artist, and a busy character actor who earned an Oscar nomination playing a Southern sheriff in The Defiant Ones. Those are just a handful of his many credits.

“His lifelong connection to the celebrated author Sholom Aleichem predates his casting as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. (He logged more than 2,000 performances, and acknowledged that the play’s universal appeal is based in part on its ability to make the author’s work palatable to a non-Jewish audience. He described it as “Sholom Aleichem lite.”)

“As for his facility with languages, Theo explained that his father spoke only Yiddish at home and prided himself on his library of Sholom Aleichem books, which they were forced to leave behind when his family fled from Vienna to Palestine in 1938. The postscript is quite amazing: his grandmother, who stayed behind, hounded the Nazis who guarded confiscated property—so much so that they eventually let her reclaim the books, which turned up on the Bikels’ doorstep in Palestine, to the utter amazement of Theo and his parents.

“His mother spoke German at home, his father spoke Yiddish, he was given Hebrew lessons as a child, and learned French while visiting a family retreat during the summer. English was his fifth language—the fifth of many. (When he played linguist Zoltan Karpathy in My Fair Lady and George Cukor asked him to draw on his skill with dialects, Bikel reminded Cukor that of the two of them, he was not the one with Hungarian roots.)

“My wife remembers attending protest rallies at Washington Square Park in the 1960s when Theo’s folk songs roused the young people. When Alice and I moved to Los Angeles and went to our first Rosh Hashanah service, we found ourselves sitting in front of Theo and had the thrill of hearing his sonorous voice in prayer all night long.

“He continued performing, and making a difference, to the very end of his life. In 2013 he was invited to appear before the Austrian Parliament to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Krystallnacht—the dreadful night that synagogues were burned to the ground throughout Germany and Austria. He recognized that today’s Austria is not run by, or populated by, the same people who were responsible for those atrocities, and while he could never forget, he was willing to move on.

“Many of his achievements are covered in the documentary Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem.  No one film could include every facet of Theo’s remarkable life…but this one provides a welcome overview. And, like Theo himself, it is consistently entertaining.”

https://vimeo.com/114923514