Ed Asner – Tovah Feldshuh
With theaters around the world dark and the transition of live entertainment to online platforms, Temple Emanuel Streicker Center will commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) with the PBS/WNET film of Jeff Cohen’s acclaimed drama The Soap Myth. The staged “concert reading,” starring seven-time Emmy Award and five-time Golden Globe Award winner ED ASNER and four-time Tony Award and two-time Emmy Award nominee TOVAH FELDSHUH, is available now to stream for free via WNET’s ALL ARTS platform.
Did the Nazis make soap from corpses of murdered Jews? Fifty years after the end of World War II, impassioned Holocaust survivor Milton Saltzman (Ed Asner) battles Holocaust historians to have the atrocity of “soap” included in their Holocaust memorials and museums. Jeff Cohen’s acclaimed play wrestles with the conflict between survivor memory and historical proof along with the scourge of anti-Semitism masquerading as Holocaust denial. The Soap Myth poses such provocative questions as Who has the right to write history? Who determines the truth? and How does a survivor survive surviving?
In observation of Yom Ha-Shoah and to foster an ongoing sense of community during these isolating times, Temple Emanuel Streicker Center will host a special live-stream panel discussion on Monday, April 20 at 6:30pm (EST). The discussion will be introduced by Temple Emanuel Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson and National Jewish Theater Foundation President Arnold Mittelman. Taking questions from the worldwide virtual audience, the panel will include stars Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh, playwright Jeff Cohen, historian and Project Director for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Michael Berenbaum and the Obama Administration’s Special Envoy for Combatting Anti-Semitism Ira Forman. Moderating the panel discussion will be Richard Salomon, Vice President of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. The panel discussion is free but registration is required via the Temple Emanuel Streicker website.
It is suggested that participants view the film of The Soap Myth prior to the live discussion.
