Tuesday Evening, November 12, 2019, at 5:00 & 8:30Isaac Stern Auditorium / Ronald O. Perelman Stage

CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE

presents

Our Future is Central:A Musical Celebration

byJeremy Desmon

with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Cantor Daniel Mutlu, and Cantor Julia Cadrain

Rabbi Nicole Auerbach, Marcia Caban, Jeremy Fielding, Rabbi Ari Lorge, Abigail Pogrebin, Danielle Rodnizki, Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal, Rabbi Daniel Ross, Rabbi Lisa Rubin, Rabbi Peter Rubinstein, Rabbi Mo Salth, and Livia Thompson

FeaturingFarah Alvin, Mike Crane, Jordan Gelber, and Lauren Molina

and The Central Synagogue Congregational Choir, Teen Choir,

and Students of the LCLJ

Musical Director Costume Design Projection Design Lighting Design Sound Design David Strickland Claudia Brown Caite Hevner Brian Aldous Keenan Hurley

Hair and Makeup Design Stage Manager Production ManagerNikiya Mathis Ben Freedman Kris Bergbom

Directed byMichelle Tattenbaum

Executive ProducerCarol Ostrow

PLEASE SWITCH OFF YOUR CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES.

Our Future is Central featuring…

The Central Synagogue BandRandy Andos

Ivan BarenboimCaleb BurhansAaron Heick

Benny KoonyevskyDavid RomanoScott Wendholt

The Central Synagogue Quartet

Misa Iwama Tami Petty

Neil NetherlyDavid Vanderwal

Production Team Kris Bergbom, AV / Production Manager

Ben Freedman, Stage ManagerMariah Pepper Berkowitz, Assistant Stage Manager

Moni Bell, Vanessa Guadiana, and Sharon Litwinoff, Production Assistants

Claudia Brown, Costume DesignTaelen Robertson, Wardrobe Master

Nikiya Mathis, Hair and Makeup Design

Brian Aldous, Lighting DesignAdam Macks, Lighting Assistant

Caite Hevner, Projection Design

Brian Pacelli, Projection AssistantMB Productions, Projection Tech Support

David Strickland, Music DirectorMisa Iwama, Assistant Music Director

Keenan Hurley, Sound Design

Paul Howells, FOH Sound Engineer

Jesse Lauter, Webcast and Broadcast ManagementMB Productions, Camera Support

Lese Center for Living Judaism (LCLJ) Student PerformanceMerissa Hochberg, LCLJ Director

Cantor Ellen Dreskin, Eran Sabo, and Jenna McMillan, LCLJ Song LeadersMirit Sands and Amanda Phillips, LCLJ Assistant DirectorsBecca Greenspan, Eve Morin, Rina Bergman, Julia Laibstain,

Stella Berfas, and Ben Feshbach, LCLJ Educators

Pamela Goldstein, Front-of-House Management/DevelopmentJessica Barist Cohen, Marketing and Communications Director

Yohanna Castellanos and Jackie Simon, Marketing and Communications ManagersCarrie Connor, Lori Dubin, Anna Kosatka, and Danielle Tomczak, Administrative Assistants

Amy Goldberger and Anne Mininberg, Archivists Central Synagogue would also like to thank the Tech and Administrative Staff of Carnegie Hall,

especially: Michael Domue, Tabitha Glista, Jill Marshall, the Carnegie Box Office team, and the crew of Local One IATSE.

Central Synagogue expresses heartfelt appreciation to the members of our Lay Leadership Group: Jennifer Chanowitz

Cindy EdelsonAmy Goldberger

Marni GutkinJenny Kane

Michele KlausnerEmily Lawi

Peter MenschSteve MolitzLori Moore

Carol OstrowDebbie PalmerSusan Picker

Whitney PollackJesse Rothschild

Amy RubenBeth Rustin

Richard SchechnerMarcela Sigmon

Nicki TannerBlake Vogel

Katy WilliamsonLinda Zaro

THE ArtistsRabbi Angela War-nick Buchdahl made her Carnegie Hall debut twenty years ago singing backup vocals for Debbie Friedman. Rabbi Buchdahl grew up

playing small parts as the token Asian in Jewish productions, but now fre-quently finds herself playing the female lead in otherwise all-male casts, partic-ularly at interfaith gatherings. Since 2006, she has regularly appeared on Friday nights in the longest-running off-Broadway production of Shabbat! Off-off-Broadway appearances include an ongoing role as “The Tiger Mom,” which opened in Scarsdale before relo-cating to New York City; “Hot Break-fast,” an eight-minute cooking show that is on each school-day morning; and “Me Time,” a situational comedy frequently subject to cancellation. Rabbi Buchdahl and her husband Jacob are proud parents of Gabriel, Eli, and Rose. Rabbi Buchdahl is thrilled to be back at Carnegie Hall for what she considers the role of a lifetime.

Hailed by the New York Times as “pow-erful…[and] attrac-tive,” Cantor Daniel Mutlu is universally known as the baldest cantor on earth. Though many have

tried to imitate his sleek aerodynamics, their efforts have ended in stubble and frustration. Meanwhile, the decades saved not fussing over his hair have afforded Cantor Mutlu the time to focus on what really matters: traveling the globe in search of the perfect kovah

(cantor’s hat)—because it’s cold up there at the top. In the upcoming Sony Pictures Classics movie, The Song of Names, Cantor Mutlu will appear with a lustrous red beard that took makeup artists four hours to paste on. He enjoys polluting the minds of future genera-tions of cantors as a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. When Cantor Mutlu is not on the bimah or in the classroom, you can find him with his wife, Nina, jug-gling their three children up and down the streets of the Upper West Side.

Cantor Julia Cadrain just accepted the role of “mother-of-two” with the birth of her second daughter in August, and therefore did not have time to make her bio funny.

She joined Central’s clergy team in 2012 after being ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. Since her ordination, she has been honored to return to the college as a guest worship leader and teacher. She loves serving Central Synagogue’s con-gregation in numerous and varied capacities. Some highlights include co-producing two records, Sounds of Shabbat and Sounds of Healing, over-seeing Central’s Adult Bnei Mitzvah program, and conducting the teen choir. Throughout it all, she has the privilege of ushering Central’s families through peak life cycle moments. Cantor Cad-rain is also a certified vinyasa yoga instructor, and member of a clergy cohort with the Institute for Jewish Spir-ituality. She is passionate about explor-ing the interplay between Judaism,

mindfulness, and yoga, creating new and innovative practices with integrated Jewish content. Cantor Cadrain grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, and studied classical vocal performance at the New England Conservatory in Bos-ton. She lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with her wife Elana and their two chil-dren, Maya and Acadia.

Rabbi Nicole Auer-bach made her debut at Central Synagogue a little over five years ago. Following her breakout perfor-mance as a rabbinic intern, she originated

the role of Director of Congregational Engagement, in which she creates opportunities for adults to deepen their relationships with one another, with Central, and with Jewish tradition. Prior credits include Central’s Saturday morning Mishkan service (off-off-Broadway and Live Stream), the Civil Rights Trip to the South (lead), and CORE Groups (director). She relies on the love and support of her husband, Josh, and daughters, Catherine and Vivian. Having cheered her on first as a lawyer and now as a rabbi, they can’t wait to see her play Carnegie Hall.

Marcia Caban is proud to make the trains run at Central Synagogue. She joined Central as Executive Director in 2016 (equating to 21 Dog Years). She feels

grateful to be a part of such a special community and to partner with the clergy, board, and professional staff to help Central achieve its vision and aspi-rations. She spent 25 years as an execu-tive at American Express where she never was asked to sing in Yiddish but also held a variety of positions in their

merchant and travel businesses. She cannot, however, get congregants upgrades under the Amex Fine Hotels program. She lives with her husband Noel, an artist, in Cobble Hill Brook-lyn—and they lived there before it was—well—Cobble Hill.

Jeremy Fielding is the current President of Central Synagogue. Hailing from a Reform Jewish upbringing in Britain, he joined the congre-gation in 1998, during

the summer of the fire (and, in fact, never saw the old sanctuary). His two children, Josh and Maya, went to Nurs-ery and Religious Schools at Central, were Bnei Mitzvah’d and Confirmed there, and attended URJ Summer Camp. Jeremy and his fiancée Stef will be mar-ried by Central clergy in January 2020. In his other day job, Jeremy is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Kekst CNC, a global strategic communications firm. Jeremy is excited and proud to be mak-ing his Carnegie Hall and Broadway debut in this performance, and is mildly amused that, while his daughter Maya is the true actor in the family, he will have a solo role before she does. But she will ultimately lap him.

Rabbi Ari Lorge is in his seventh year at Central Synagogue. That is 3.9% of Cen-tral’s 180 years (if you round up). He feels tremendous gratitude to be a part of that

3.9%. He grew up in Skokie, Illinois, and graduated from the great University of Wisconsin at Madison. When not officiating lifecycle events, preparing Bnei Mitzvah students, or caring for congregants, he has overseen our volun-teer initiatives, the early stages of our

CORE groups work, 20s/30s outreach, the Confirmation Program, and taught numerous classes for adults and chil-dren. He has also led congregational trips to Madrid and Toledo, London, Frankfurt and the Shum cities, Rome, Berlin, Prague, New Orleans, Washing-ton D.C., and Israel three times. He is grateful to Carnegie for lifting the ban on his appearance on their stage after the infamous electric kazoo incident. And, in all earnestness, he would be nothing without his amazing wife, Alexis, and newborn son, Emet.

Abigail Pogrebin is a recovering Central President and a pas-sionate defender of the controversial Shechiyanu sway. She is the author of My Jewish Year: 18 Holi-

days; One Wondering Jew, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Jewish Book Award; and the author of Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish, which was adapted for the Off-Broadway stage. Abby was an Emmy-nominated producer for Mike Wallace at 60 Minutes, and she moder-ates conversations at The JCC in Man-hattan and The Streicker Center. Tablet Magazine’s iTunes podcast, “Parsha in Progress” features the Torah Odd Cou-ple — Abby (Reform) and Rabbi Dov Linzer (Orthodox) talking Torah. (It’s a mitzvah to subscribe!) Abby is mar-ried to a Skokie native and they love their Central Confirmation alumni — Ben and Molly Shapiro.

Danielle Rodnizki has dreamed of standing on the Carnegie Hall stage ever since she saw Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart in 1999. Long having put down her violin,

Danielle is a guitar-playing fifth-year cantorial student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. She has been songleading and facilitating worship for almost 15 years, when not cooing at the cutest dogs she can find. Danielle is passionate about crafting intentional and innovative worship, and she is thrilled to continue exploring this area in her current role as the Cantorial Intern at Central Synagogue. Danielle believes that something holy happens when people gather together and sing, and she is excited to be doing just that with the Central community during her Carnegie debut tonight! Danielle is deeply grateful to her parents, Irene and Jorge, and her brother, Jordan, for their loving support.

Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal has been the Director of Youth and Family at Central for the past five years. She loves working with all the children and families, from the

time they are in Central Tots through Nursery School and LCLJ and into their teen years. She especially loves celebrat-ing holidays with Central’s youngest members and traveling the world with teens and families to Israel, Spain, and Italy. She grew up in New York City and attended many a Bnei Mitzvah at Central in her youth (not quite 180 years ago). She graduated from Yale and Jewish Theological Seminary and has served in congregations in El Paso and Los Angeles. Rabbi Rosenthal is shocked to find herself performing at Carnegie Hall. She thanks her husband Adam and their children Simon, Leo (May Family Nursery School Class of 2017), and Maddie (May Family Nurs-ery School Class of 2019) for not mak-ing too much fun of her performance.

Rabbi Dan Ross is the newest, tallest mem-ber of Central Syna-gogue’s clergy team. After only four months on the bimah, he’s amazed to find himself making his

Carnegie Hall debut. Though he’s still learning how to do his job—some com-bination of lifecycle officiation, pastoral care, teaching, and 20s/30s program-ming—he feels unbelievably blessed to serve this community. Prior to Central, he enjoyed a highly caffeinated year as the Senior Jewish Educator at Yale Hil-lel. A proverbial wandering Jew, Rabbi Ross has lived up and down the East Coast, though he calls Philadelphia home. After graduating from UPenn, he appeared in an acclaimed production of Teach For America as “seventh grade social studies teacher #2.” He followed that up with a sell-out performance as “health care consultant” with the Advi-sory Board Company. He would like to thank his wife, Rabbi Jade Sank Ross, who is truly his better half, and their ridiculously adorable dog, Rashi.

Rabbi Lisa Rubin joined Central Syna-gogue in 2010 and is the founding Director of the Center for Exploring Judaism. Known on social media as the “Con-

version Queen,” she has officiated 300 conversions and offers infant swim-ming lessons at the mikveh. Before coming to Central, Rabbi Rubin served Temple Beth-El of Great Neck and led annual trips to Israel for Catholic and Jewish teens, which planted the seeds for her eventual full-time, interfaith work. Her first career was in marketing for the co-branded youth business of Disney and McDonald’s, which planted the seeds for absolutely nothing. She

was ultimately ordained at the New York Campus of Hebrew Union Col-lege-Jewish Institute of Religion and has dedicated her career to welcoming people into Judaism. When she isn’t at the mikveh (rare), Rabbi Rubin lives in Westchester with her husband, Howard Neuthaler, and their three children—all of whom are too young to know or care she debuts tonight at Carnegie Hall.

Rabbi Peter J. Rubin-stein is Rabbi Emeri-tus of Central Syna-gogue, where he served as the Senior Rabbi for 23 years. Since 2014, he has been Director of Jew-

ish Community at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at the 92nd Street Y. Rabbi Rubinstein is the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Auburn Theo-logical Seminary in New York City and is on the Board of the New York Region of the American Jewish Committee and Co-Chair of its Rabbinic Round Table. He is presently the director of the Be Wise Fellowship in Jewish Entrepre-neurialism at the Hebrew Union Col-lege-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York City. Rabbi Rubin-stein is a founder of the Rabbinic Coun-cil of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and was co-president of the US Board of the Tony Blair Faith Founda-tion. Rabbi Rubinstein graduated from Amherst College and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Amherst College in 2017. He was ordained by HUC-JIR in New York City, where he also received a Master of Hebrew Letters degree with honors. He received a Doctor of Divinity in 1994. As founder of the Just-Off-Key-Choral Group of Central Synagogue, Rabbi Rubinstein was specifically forbidden to sing at this performance but will inflict it on his wife Kerry and dog Tali, @talirubinsteinthedog.

Rabbi Maurice Salth started to be called Mo when he attended URJ’s Eisner Camp when he was 13; the nickname stuck. His parent’s devotion to their hometown shul,

Sinai Reform Temple in Bay Shore, NY, along with his Eisner experience, planted the seed for his eventual decision to become a rabbi. He spent more than 10 years before rabbinical school employed in the fields of youth development, community service, and leadership training, working in the White House starting up AmeriCorps and later at Up With People. At Central, Mo serves as one of the bimah clergy. He feels privileged to be a part of this sacred community. When he is not onstage at Carnegie Hall and at Central, Mo treasures his time with his wife Hilary and son Caleb. Special thanks to his parents Ellen and Irv (z”l) for helping him get all the way from West Islip to Carnegie Hall!

Livia D. Thompson was the senior director of Central Synagogue from 1993-2016, having the honor to work with Senior Rabbis Rubinstein and

Buchdahl. She was intimately involved in the rebuilding of the Sanctuary following the fire of 1998. Prior to coming to Central, she worked as an attorney for 10 years. She is now an NFP consultant, working with Jewish organizations and synagogues. Livia enjoys the flexibility this gives her to volunteer, be politically active, travel, and visit with family and friends. Livia and her husband Tom are proud Brooklynites, and raised their three daughters there.

David Strickland (Musical Director) is delighted to have been Central Synagogue’s Music Director for over 1/18th of Central Synagogue’s 180 years! He’s served as Music Director/Arranger for the American Conference of Cantors Convention; Shetl Stories, Columbia University’s Miller Theater; Broadway Baritones and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; and for Matt Bogart’s “Sky Above Manhattan” and the National Symphony Orchestra of London. As a composer, he and lyricist/author Abigail Pogrebin are creating a song cycle celebrating the Jewish holidays. He composed and performed the score for Deepak Chopra’s audio book A Path to Love, narrated by Chopra. For his opera Phoenix Park (Librettist Ilsa Gilbert), Strickland received awards from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, BMI, The Dramatists Guild, Inc. and from the Andrew Mellon and Aaron Copland Funds. A member of the adjunct faculty of Hebrew Union College, he’s beyond thrilled to be a part of this incredible evening, sharing the stage with his amazing and gifted friends!

Farah Alvin: Broad-way credits include It Shoulda Been You, Nine, The Look of Love, Saturday Night Fever, and Grease! among others. Off-Broadway credits

include Window Treatment (cast album), Goldstein, The Last Smoker In America (cast album), The Marvelous Wonder-ettes (Drama Desk Nomination, cast album), I Love You Because (cast album), and more. Lots of regional theater, including Papermill Playhouse, Good-speed Opera House, Signature Theatre (Helen Hayes Award), Cape Playhouse, Geva Theater, Berkshire Theatre Group, and Alabama Shakespeare. She has per-

formed as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Indianapolis, Cleveland, Detroit, and the National Symphonies of the United States and Canada. In New York: Many Broadway Close Up con-certs at the Kaufman Center, many Broadway by the Year and Broadway Unplugged at the Town Hall, many 54 Sings…concerts at 54 Below. She is also occasionally a funny voice on your radio. Proud member of Actor’s Equity for 25 years. Please find Farah under her name on social media for more.

Michael Crane: The-ater: Gloria, This Day Forward (Vineyard), Little Women, The Body Of An American (Primary Stages), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, King

Lear and Richard III (Public Theater), Taking Care Of Baby (MTC), Doris To Darlene (Playwrights Horizons), The Mag-7 (Naked Angels), The Young Left (Cherry Lane), The Tenant (Woodshed Collective,) Noises Off (Two River The-ater), Father Comes Home From The Wars (A.R.T.), Hamlet (Pioneer The-atre), Hell Meets Henry Halfway (Pig Iron Theatre Co.), Long Wharf, William-stown, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Weston Playhouse. TV/Film: “People of Earth,” “Succession,” “The Good Fight,” “Barry,” “Damages,” “White Collar,” “Winter’s Tale,” “Law & Order,” “Kings,” “Winter’s Tale.” MFA: NYU.

Jordan Gelber: Broad-way: Sunday in the Park with George, Buddy in Elf the Musical, All My Sons, Avenue Q (original cast, special Outer Critics Circle Award).

Off-Broadway: John Guare’s Nan-tucket Sleigh Ride (LCT), Mike Leigh’s 2000 Years, Avenue Q, The Joke, Birth

and After Birth. TV: recurring on “Ele-mentary,” “Mr. Robot,” “Mind-hunter,” “FBI,” “The Blacklist,” “Insa-tiable,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Nurse Jackie,” “The Good Wife,” “Rescue Me,” “Ugly Betty,” first three “Law & Order” series (recurring on SVU), “The Sopranos,” and many more. Film: The Kitchen, Bleed For This, star of Dark Horse, . . .Pelham 1 2 3, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, Everyday People (IFP/Gotham Award nominee for Breakthrough Acting), Riding in Cars With Boys, Changing Lanes. BA, Stanford University; MFA, NYU Tisch Graduate Acting (2000 Laura Pels Award). www.JordanGelber.com

Lauren Molina is an actress, singer, song-writer, and musician. She is a co-creator and performer with the acclaimed come-dy-pop band The Skivvies. Her Broad-

way credits include Johanna in the actor-musician revival of Sweeney Todd and Regina in Rock of Ages. She won a Helen Hayes award for her portrayal of Cunegunde in Candide, directed by Mary Zimmerman at the Shakespeare Theatre in DC, and received an IRNE nomination for the same role at the Huntington Theatre. She originated the role of Bella Rose in Desperate Mea-sures Off-Broadway and received nom-inations for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle for Best Sup-porting Actress. She also originated Megan in Nobody Loves You at Second Stage. In 2019, she and her Skivvies partner Nick Cearley co-conceived a new actor-musician revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, also play-ing Lucy and Linus, at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Other favorite roles include Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (Cleveland Playhouse),

Squeaky Fromme in Assassins (Yale Rep), Countess in A Little Night Music (Huntington Theatre), Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Bucks County Playhouse), Eileen in Wonder-ful Town (Goodman Theatre), and Her in Marry Me A Little (Off-Broadway). Lauren received her BFA from the Uni-versity of Michigan in musical theatre.

Carol Ostrow (Executive Producer) is the Producing Director of The Flea Theater, the award-winning off-off-Broadway institution located in its new three theater performing arts complex in Tribeca. She has produced plays by leading playwrights including Thomas Bradshaw, Will Eno, A.R. Gurney, Hamish Linklater, Itamar Moses, NSangou Njikam, Adam Rapp, Roger Rosenblatt, Todd Solondz, Elizabeth Swados, and Mac Wellman. Ostrow holds a BA from Vassar and a MFA from the Yale Drama School. She was Producing Director of the Classic Stage Company as well as the founder of Vassar’s Powerhouse Theater. She has been an adjunct professor of theater at Vassar College, Chatham College, and McGill University. Carol is a trustee of Vassar and a member of the Board of Advisors to the Yale Drama School. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Psoriasis Foundation, the Sag Harbor Partnership, and is a proud former board member of Central Synagogue.

Michelle Tattenbaum (Director): Michelle directed the world premiere of Nobody Loves You at the Old Globe (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle nomination: Best Director) and the New York premiere at Second Stage. She has directed three world premieres (Love/Stories, Student Body, and Ms. Estrada) at the Flea, where she is an Associate Artist. International: Urinetown at Fredericia Teater in Denmark. New Media: fiction podcasts

for kids (including the Peabody Award Winning podcast The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel) and the web series Babyprov. Regional: ACT of CT, O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference, Hangar Theatre, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Williamstown, Goodspeed and Shakespeare Theatre of NJ. Tattenbaum worked for Manhattan Theatre Club for three years, developing new work. Member: SDC. Two-time Drama League Directing Fellow. Michelle also led the Friday night Reform minyan at the Slifka Center at Yale while in college and taught religious school at Rodeph Sholom and Shaarei Tefila. www.michelletattenbaum.com

Jeremy Desmon (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright, bookwriter and lyricist whose stories have played around the world. His rock-musical adaptation of the film, Pump Up The Volume, debuts at Pittsburgh Playhouse in April, 2020. Other credits include The Girl In The Frame, The Oliver Experiment, and One Hit Wonder, a jukebox musical in development at ABC Television. In addition, Jeremy was recently commissioned to write an original Broadway musical for Simon & Schuster’s iconic sleuth, Nancy Drew. Jeremy has written touring arena shows for some of the world’s most recognizable characters. These include monkeys (Universal’s Curious George Live!), talking mice (Disney Live’s Mickey’s Music Festival!), singing ponies (Hasbro’s My Little Pony Live!) and real, live clowns (multiple editions of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus). Jeremy is an alum of Stanford University and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is a former Jonathan Larson Fellow with the Dramatists Guild.

Claudia Brown (Costume Design) has designed costumes for The Flea Theater, En Garde Arts, The Alley

Theater, Playwrights Horizons, MCC Theater, and Soho Rep. She has designed costumes for Syncing Ink by Nsangou Njikam, Dawn and Southern Promises by Thomas Bradshaw, Oh, The Humanity by Will Eno, Family Furniture and What I Did Last Summer by A.R. Gurney, Crowbar, Bad Penny, and Sincerity Forever by Mac Wellman, and Basetrack and Wilderness for En Garde Arts. Her film credits include River’s Edge, Trust, The Ballad of Little Jo, Smoke, Copycat, and Starting Out in the Evening. Ms. Brown has also designed costumes for the Hartford Ballet, Arizona Ballet, and Lava Dance.

Caite Hevner (Projection Design) Broadway: In Transit, Derren Brown: Secret, Harry Connick Jr., A Celebration of Cole Porter (coming this December.) New York: Bella Bella (Manhattan Theatre Club), Collective Rage (MCC), DISCORD (Primary Stages), Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout Underground), Parade and The Scarlet Pimpernel (Manhattan Concert Productions/Lincoln Center), My Mother Has 4 Noses (Duke on 42nd Street), Baghdaddy (St. Luke’s), Triassic Parq (Soho Playhouse), Tail! Spin! (Lynn Redgrave Theater), The Elephant in Every Room I Enter, (New York Theater Workshop Next Door). Opera: Le Nozze di Figaro (North Carolina Opera), Il Postino, (Opera Saratoga), La Scala di Seta and Il Cambiale di Matrimonio (The Juilliard School). Regional: Alley, Arena, Alliance, Baltimore Center Stage, Barrington Stage, Cleveland Play House, Dallas Theater Center, Everyman, Goodman, Guthrie, Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage, Long Wharf, Maltz Jupiter, McCarter, MUNY, Pasadena Playhouse, Playmaker’s Rep, Seattle 5th Avenue, Studio Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown, Woolly Mammoth. www.caitedesign.com

Brian Aldous (Lighting Design) has been lighting for plays, dance, concerts, and museums for over 25 years. His recent work in NYC includes Mac Wellman’s The Invention of Tragedy at the Flea and Risa Puno’s The Privilege of Escape for Creative Time. Other work in recent years includes What I Did Last Summer at Signature Theatre, Philharmonic 360 at the Park Avenue Armory, the Performance Mix dance festival at the University Settlement, and the installation of Dreamhouse for composer Lamont Young and artist Marion Zazeela at the Pompidou Centre in Metz. He is the resident lighting designer for Symphony Space, teaches lighting design at The City College of New York, and is proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

Keenan Hurley (Sound Design) writes plays and makes sound. He sound designed and performed in Sibyl Kempson’s Sasquatch Rituals (The Kitchen), co-sound designed Erin Markey’s Singlet with Jeff Aaron Bryant (The Bushwick Starr), designed Hype Man, Bad Penny, The Fez, and The Sandalwood Box at The Flea, and with Caborca has sound designed shows in New York and in Cuba. Assistant credits include: I Used to Love You (The Joyce, Martha Graham/Annie-B Parson), Right Passage (Panorama Music Festival), and Seven Spots On the Sun (Rattlestick).

Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Makeup Design) is an actress herself, also specializing in hair and makeup consultations and collaborations with costume designers, actors, and producers. Her hair/wig designs for “Blacktresses” have appeared on shows such as “Luke Cage,” “Jessica Jones,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Charmed” and in productions at The Public Theatre, Signature Theatre, MCC, Soho Rep, Women’s Project, Ars Nova, Ensemble

Studio Theatre, Classical Theater of Harlem, National Black Theater, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre, Longwharf Theatre, Berkshire Theatre, Theatre Works, NYU Tisch Grad Acting, and AMDA. @our_black_tresses

Ben Freedman (Stage Manager) Broadway: Torch Song, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Angels in America, On Your Feet, Lobby Hero. National Tours: Disney’s The Lion King, Elf the Musical. Other credits include work with Second

Stage, Tectonic Theater Project, The TEAM, New World Stages, MTC, Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Pittsburgh CLO & Goodspeed Musicals. Graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Akiba Hebrew Academy in Philadelphia, and Kellman Academy in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Proud member of Actors’ Equity and Congregation Beth El, in southern New Jersey.

Kris Bergbom, AV and Production Manager

Central Synagogue expresses heartfelt appreciation to the following generous members who provided leadership support of this evening’s musical celebration.

Katherine Farley and Jerry Speyer

Amy and Richard Ruben

Laurie and Stephen Vogel

Lori and David Moore

Nicki and Harold Tanner

The Michaels Family, in memory of Howard L. Michaels

Richard Ravitch

OUR FUTURE IS CENTRAL EVENT SPONSORS

The 180-year history of Central Synagogue — and counting! — is a story of courage, boldness, and vision. The courage to emigrate to a strange, new land and soon build an enormous house of worship; the boldness to hold fast to our beliefs, yet adapt them to our ever-changing times; and the vision to recognize the importance of our place in the greater community. These three ideas encapsulate guiding principles that help tell our history (and our future). They are: Chutzpah, Reform, and Looking Beyond Our Walls.

HISTORY OF CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE

Chapter #1: Chutzpah (1839-1870)In the early 1800s, a large number of Jewish German-speaking families risked their lives to flee famine and rising anti-Semitism, many settling in New York’s Lower East Side, then known as Kleindeutschland (Little Ger-many). Small congregations formed, a few dozen families at a time, most with-out their own rabbis or Torah scrolls, giving these immigrants a chance to worship and find community in their new home.

During these days, our two parent con-gregations formed: Shaar Hashomayim (1839) and Ahawath Chesed (1846). Slowly their numbers grew as these hard-working men and women made their way into the middle class and out of the overcrowded conditions of the Lower East Side. In 1870, defying the odds, Ahawath Chesed brazenly built a grand synagogue on 55th Street and Lexington Avenue, where it was soon joined by Shaar Hashomayim. This new synagogue far exceeded their needs at the time and audaciously looked into the future. The bet paid off.

Chapter #2: Reform (1870-1926)Just as it is today, Central Synagogue has been at the heart of the debate over “modern Judaism” since the Reform Movement came to America. In the late 1800s, our prayer books began shed-ding many of their older, “Orthodox” ways, and our services adapted with the times, ultimately jettisoning the German language in favor of English.

In 1885, Central found itself at the center of the firestorm over what it truly meant to be Jewish in America. Our new rabbi, Dr. Alexander Kohut, engaged in a highly public debate with prominent scholar, Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, over how to honor ancient practices yet modernize in accordance with the realities of their time. And, as great changes swept through the Jewish community, important members of the Central community such as Rebekah Kohut and Julia Richman made their mark on the next generations of New York City’s Jews.

Chapter #3: Looking Beyond Our Walls (1926-today) As Central Synagogue matured, we found ourselves taking a leadership role in our community, looking beyond our walls more than ever before. Rabbi Jonah Wise, who led Central for thirty years starting in 1926, was a leading force in raising money and awareness for the plight of European Jews under Hitler’s rising Third Reich. In the early 1930s, he founded “The Message of Israel,” a weekly radio program that brought the tenets of Judaism into the homes of millions of Americans and helped combat growing anti-Semitism on the airwaves.

When New York City hit its darkest hours in the 1970s, and many Jews packed up for the suburbs, members of Central took leading roles saving the city from financial ruin. Richard Ravitch, Lew Rudin, Robert Tisch, and

many other prominent Jews doubled down on New York, helping it nar-rowly avoid a disastrous bankruptcy and assisting in its incredible rise in the following decades.

When the tragic fire of August 28, 1998 ravaged Central Synagogue, we renewed our commitment to our historical building and our founders. We recreated our house of worship as the building originally looked, with changes to brighten and modernize the structure so that it might stay strong for centuries to come.

Today, Central Synagogue is thriving with 2,600 families and nearly 700 students in our religious school. Our vibrant and musical Friday night Shab-

bat services are regularly attended by hundreds. Through our live stream and the Jewish Broadcasting Service, we reach an extensive virtual audience, representing 108 countries around the world. Led by Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Central continues to inno-vate worship and create transformative Jewish experiences through a practice of Reform Judaism that is constantly questioned and renewed.

As we look to where Central is head-ing, and re-examine who we are in this modern world, it helps to look back and see how our guiding principles have made us who we are over the past 180 years. L’Chaim… and here’s to 180 more!