Vox Tablet

Famous People’s Reflections on Being Jewish, Now Rendered on Stage, in Song

Interviews with Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Kushner, Leonard Nimoy, and others provide material for an affecting new show

November 14, 2013
Clockwise from top left: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Leonard Nimoy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Kushner, Aaron Sorkin, and Fran Drescher.(Photoillustration Tablet Magazine; original photoes Mark Wilson/Getty Images, Jemal Countess/Getty Images, Christopher Polk/Getty Images, Amanda Edwards/Getty Images, Jason Merritt/Getty Images, and Shutterstock.)
Clockwise from top left: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Leonard Nimoy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Kushner, Aaron Sorkin, and Fran Drescher.(Photoillustration Tablet Magazine; original photoes Mark Wilson/Getty Images, Jemal Countess/Getty Images, Christopher Polk/Getty Images, Amanda Edwards/Getty Images, Jason Merritt/Getty Images, and Shutterstock.)


When producer Aaron Harnick approached Abigail Pogrebin about adapting her book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish to the stage, her first reaction was, “What have you been drinking?” Eventually she came around, and now Stars of David: Story to Song is making its off-Broadway debut. The show is a mix of songs—written by 17 song-writing teams, including Marvin Hamlisch, Sheldon Harnick, Gaby Alter, and Marilyn and Alan Bergman—and monologues, all based on Pogrebin’s interviews with high-profile Jews like Aaron Sorkin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Dustin Hoffman.

Michele Siegel talks to creators of the show about how, and why, they transformed a collection of stories and reflections on Jewish identity into musical theater.

Vox Tablet is Tablet Magazine’s weekly podcast, hosted by Sara Ivry and produced by Julie Subrin. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.

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