Category Archives: Jake Ehrenreich

When Jake Ehrenreich was growing up in Brownsville in the 1960s, he wanted nothing more than to be an American. But his Yiddish-speaking parents, who failed to understand the game of baseball or make sense of rock music, made it difficult for him to feel part of the mainstream culture. In his new one-man show, “A Jew Grows in Brooklyn,” directed by Jon Huberth, Ehrenreich explores how his family history, dominated by the shadow of the Holocaust, shaped the man he turned out to be.

Ehrenreich, 55, has appeared on Broadway in “Dancin”, “Barnum” and “They’re Playing Our Song.” He has also performed Yiddish music in two Off-Broadway productions, “Songs of Paradise” and “The Golden Land.

His father’s Hasidic family had been one of the wealthiest in Poland, but during the war both he and his wife ended up in a work camp in Siberia, where one of their daughters was born. After spending time in a displaced persons camp, the family came to America, where they tried to give their children a life free from the taint of victimhood.

But it was not to be. Ehrenreich and his two sisters grew up feeling, as he put it, that existence was “tenuous” and that the “world could end at any moment.” Yet he also shares many wonderful memories of his youth, from playing stoop ball to attending Shea Stadium to vacationing in the Catskills, where Ehrenreich began performing in a band at the tender age of 12. Indeed, Ehrenreich tells much of his life story through music; he is backed by four instrumentalists, playing songs ranging from “Brooklyn Roads” to “Doo Wah Diddy.” One striking moment in the show occurs when Ehrenreich recalls learning that almost all of his favorite composers were Jewish like him.

“I don’t want to bring people too far into the black hole of the Holocaust,” Ehrenreich said, noting that his show is mostly upbeat and optimistic. “If people in the audience laugh,” he concluded, “it means that they trust me not just to take them to a more serious place, but to bring them out and make them joyous and grateful when they leave.”

For Ehrenreich, his show is ultimately a “celebration.” He quotes Billy Crystal, who quipped that performing a show about his life was like “a visit with my family every night.”

Jake Ehrenreich’s A TREASURY OF CHRISTMAS SONGS – With Jazz Artist Roger Kellaway – December 9th, 12th, & 16th Only!

13 Tuesday Nov 2018

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Jake Ehrenreich’s
A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs
Pays Tribute to Jewish Songwriters of the Christmas Classics
Performances on December 9th, 12th, and 16th Only!

Jake Ehrenreich & Roger Kellaway celebrate the contributions of Jewish Composers to Christmas!

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

November 13, 2018

BOCA RATON/WEST PALM BEACH/AVENTURA, FL: Broadway, film, and television star, recording artist, author, and playwright are just a few of the titles to which Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Famer Jake Ehrenreich can lay claim. The popular entertainer, whose one-man-show A Jew Grows In Brooklyn has been a perennial hit with South Florida audiences, will be joined by Grammy Award-winner / Oscar nominee Roger Kellaway in a brand new show A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs that features many great Christmas songs written by Jewish composers. The show is based on Ehrenreich’s newest CD of the same name.

“The idea for this project has been with me for over decade,” Ehrenreich explained recently. “As a child of Holocaust survivors growing up in Brooklyn, the idea that I would have a secret love affair with Christmas music was as incongruous as… well the very notion that Jewish songwriters would create so many of the classics. But, as life is often stranger than fiction, I did, and they did.”

Featuring behind the scenes stories and rare video appearances by Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), Charles Strouse (Annie, Bye Bye Birdie), and Alan and Marilyn Bergman (“The Way We Were”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”) among others, Ehrenreich and Kellaway will be accompanied by world class jazz musicians Roni Ben Hur on Guitar, and Floridian David Winograd on Bass.

Ehrenreich and Kellaway’s exciting new interpretations have garnered universal praise since their CD’s release in December 2017.  It was selected as Downbeat Magazine’s Top Holiday Pick and is now in consideration for a Grammy Award nomination.  Among the classics Ehrenreich and Kellaway will perform in A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs are “Christmas Time is Here,” “Let it Snow,” “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland, “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” and “Silver Bells”.

Jake Ehrenreich and Roger Kellaway’s A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs will be performed in three prestigious local venues between December 9th and December 16th:  The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center (December 9), The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (December 12), and the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center (December 16).   Performance times and ticketing information are listed below. These dates are part of a tour which includes the world-famous Birdland Jazz club in New York City.

For more information about A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs and/or Jake Ehrenreich, please visit www.jewishchristmassongs.com/ or contact Carol Kassie (carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244).

www.jewishchristmassongs.com
Jake Ehrenreich on Facebook! 

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A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs
With Jake Ehrenreich and Roger Kellaway

Sunday, December 9th at 3 pm
Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center
Black Box Theatre
201 Plaza Real, 2nd Floor
Boca Raton, FL  33432
Tickets $36 – $48
Ticket Link:  http://miznerparkculturalcenter.com/events/jewish-christmas-songs/

Wednesday, December 12th at 7:30 pm
Rinker Playhouse at
The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Call:  561-832-7469
Tickets: $35
Ticket Link:    www.kravis.org/jewishchristmas

Sunday, December 16th at 3 pm & 7 pm
Aventura Arts & Cultural Center
3385 NE 188th Street
Aventura, FL  33180
Tickets:  $45 – $55; $75 VIP tickets include premium seating and an autographed CD
Ticket Link:  https://www.aventuracenter.org/events/detail/jake-ehrenreichs-2018

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JAKE EHRENREICH is a vocalist, musician, author and playwright. He is currently featured in the film The Last Laugh alongside Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. A Brooklyn born child of survivors, he is best known as star and creator of the award-winning show A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, which broke box office records at the historic Lambs Theater in the heart of Broadway. Jake has appeared on Broadway in Dancin’, Barnum, and They’re Playing Our Song, and toured internationally as Ringo in Beatlemania. A veteran NY vocalist and musician, Jake has performed and recorded with such diverse artists as Richie Havens, Tito Puente, Greg Allman, and Whitney Houston. His writings appear in Summer Haven, The Catskills, The Holocaust and the Literary Imagination alongside Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, and A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, The Curious Reflections of a First Generation American is now a best-selling book by HCI (the Chicken Soup for the Soul publishers). Jake received a Special Congressional Citation and was inducted into the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame in 2016. His new TV variety talk show, The Jake Ehrenreich Show premieres in November 2018 on JBS TV.

ROGER KELLAWAY is a Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominated Pianist/Composer and has recorded more than two hundred and fifty albums. He’s worked with everyone from Duke Ellington to Elvis, and Barbra Streisand to Quincy Jones and Yo-Yo Ma. He has written and conducted twenty-nine film scores including the Clint Eastwood film INVICTUS and Barbra Streisand’s A Star Is Born, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Kellaway composed and performed Remembering You, the closing theme for All in the Family. In 2005, Roger conducted the world premiere of Sir Paul McCartney’s “Nova” and has toured as musical director with Tony Bennett, Van Morrison, and Bobby Darin.

Praise for A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs:

“Swings like a young Tony Bennett. Add Roger Kellaway and it’s enough to make nuns and orthodox rabbis put away their rulers.  Fun stuff throughout.”
Chris Spector ~ Midwest Record 

“Jake Ehrenreich is a classy Jazz singer who projects pure tones…”
  Frank-John Hadley ~ Downbeat Magazine – December 2018

“Jake is so much more than just a vocalist…the pacing is perfection;
every little nuance is full of joy.”
Dick Metcalfe – Contemporary Fusion Reviews

“You will wish Christmas came more than once a year. It’s just wonderful!”
Alan & Marilyn Bergman~ Legendary Grammy/Oscar winning songwriters

“I can’t think of a better Christmas present! Jake & Roger’s rendition truly
brings the song to life.”
Johnny Mandel ~ Legendary Grammy/Oscar winning songwriter (composer of “A Christmas Love Song”)

 

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Jake Ehrenreich (A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0) To Appear at the Miami Jewish Film Festival January 21st & 23rd

10 Tuesday Jan 2017

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Jake Ehrenreich (A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0)
To Appear at the Miami Jewish Film Festival
January 21st & 23rd
last-laugh-posterEhrenreich to discuss his participation in The Last Laugh – Ferne Pearlstein’s look at Humor and the Holocaust and the ever-shifting line separating good taste from bad in comedy.

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com/561-445-9244

January 10, 2017
MIAMI, FL:  Jake Ehrenreich will open in A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center on February 2nd. But prior to that opening, he’ll visit the Miami Jewish Film festival as a special guest speaker to discuss his participation in the recent film, The Last Laugh, cinematographer Ferne Pearlstein’s fascinating look at the importance of laughter under even the most dire of circumstances.  In the film, Ehrenreich joins an ‘A’ list roster of comedians and actors, as well as several Holocaust survivors as they debate the fine line between appropriate and inappropriate humor, and whether the Holocaust and the Nazis should indeed be permissible subject for laughter.

Jake Ehrenreich

Jake Ehrenreich

Ehrenreich’s participation is a natural fit.  His show A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, and the newly revised and revamped version A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 reflect his own deeply personal feelings and experiences as the child of Holocaust survivors.  In fact, after the enormous success of the original show, and after countless interviews and related projects including films, books and personal appearances, Jake is now globally recognized as an academic expert on the Catskills, Comedy, and The Holocaust. On November 15th, 2016 he was awarded the civilian Certificate of Special Recognition from the United States Congress “in recognition of outstanding and invaluable service to the community.”

Ehrenreich will be joined on stage at the film’s screenings by Ferne Pearlstein and the movie’s producer Robert Edwards to introduce the film, and to participate in question and answer sessions after each showing.

The Last Laugh premiered at this year’s prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, and has been screened at over 50 festivals world-wide, including the Jerusalem Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival, and the Vermont International Film Festival.  It has been called ‘compelling’ and ‘thought-provoking’, and Oliver Lyttelton of The Playlist said “…it ends up feeling like as definitive a film on comedy and the Holocaust as you could ever want.”  Some of the film’s other participants include Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Gilbert Gottfried, Joan Rivers, and Judy Gold.

last-laugh-photo-1

The Last Laugh participants Renee Firestone, Judy Gold, Gilbert Gottfried, Alan Zweibel, Ferne Pearlstein, Jake Ehrenreich, Elly Gross, and Klara Firestone

The Last Laugh screenings will take place at 8 pm on Saturday, January 21st at O Cinema in Miami Shores, and at 8:30 pm on Monday, January 23rd at the Regal Cinema in South Beach.

For more information about The Last Laugh, and/or to purchase tickets for either screening, visit: http://miamijewishfilmfestival.org/films/2017/the_last_laugh.

Ferne Pearlstein & Mel Brooks in The Last Laugh

Ferne Pearlstein & Mel Brooks in The Last Laugh

A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 will run from February 2 – 26 at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, and at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts March 10-12.  Tickets for A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 range from $39 – $69 and can be purchased by phone at 877-238-5596 (Mizner Park Production) and 954-344-5990 (Coral Springs Center for the Arts production) or on line at www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com.  Group rates are available.

juniors_logo_onlyDuring the show’s run at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 will partner with the newly opened Junior’s Restaurant & Cheesecake, offering the popular restaurant’s customers exclusively priced tickets to the show.

For more information about A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0  and/or Jake Ehrenreich, please visit www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com or contact Carol Kassie (carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244).

A recent press release about A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 can be found on line at: http://wp.me/p1S9OR-19m

Photographs and graphics are available at:
http://www.jakeehrenreich.com/press-shots.html

This press release can be viewed on line at:

A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0
By Jake Ehrenreich
February 2 – 26, 2017
Performances:
Thurs:  3PM and 7:30 PM
Fri: 8 PM
Sat 3 PM and 8 PM
Sun 2 PM and 5:30 PM
Tickets:  $39 – $65
Phone:  877-238-5596
Group Sales are available.
To Order Tickets on Line: www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com  or http://www.smarttix.com
Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center
201 Plaza Real
Boca Raton, FL 33432
(Opposite Lord & Taylor)

Coral Springs Center for the Arts
March 10 – 12, 2017
Performances:
Fri: 8 PM,
Sat: 3 PM & 8 PM,
Sun: 2 PM & 5 PM
Tickets:  $39 – $70
Phone:  954-344-5990
Group Sales are available.
To Order Tickets on Line: www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com or
http://www.coralspringscenterforthearts.com
Coral Springs Center for the Arts
2885 Coral Springs Drive
Coral Springs, FL  33065
facebook-buttonLike Jake on Facebook! 

Jake Ehrenreich’s A JEW GROWS IN BROOKLYN 2.O Debuts at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center Feb 2 – 26

16 Friday Dec 2016

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348x348carolkassieDebuts at The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center
February 2 – 26
and
The Coral Springs Center for the Arts
March 10-12

“You don’t have to be Jewish or Brooklynish…
Ehrenreich’s showmanship is dazzling!”
~ The New York Times

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com

December 16, 2016

jake-rockBOCA RATON, FL:  Jake Ehrenreich, playwright, author and academically recognized expert on Comedy, Catskills and the Holocaust, will present a completely updated version of his beloved autobiographical comedy musical A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, when A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 opens at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center in Boca Raton for a limited four week run from February 2 – 26. This production will be followed by an additional five performances at the Coral Springs Performing Arts Center from March 10-12.

Filled with new insights gained from his years of interviews, films, writing, and performing since the original 2006/2007 record breaking show debuted at the historic Lambs Theatre in the heart of Broadway, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 creator and star Jake Ehrenreich brings a renewed and expanded knowledge of how Comedy, the Holocaust, and the Catskills affected his life, and the lives of so many others.

This new incarnation of the show, co-directed by Jon Huberth and Lisa Ehrenreich, further explores how Ehrenreich, who grew up in Brooklyn in the 1960’s-70’s, struggled with his family’s survivor history, and later with both his sisters and mother’s early Alzheimer’s disease – “and how we all must handle our individual challenges in life.” The production makes use of extensive multi-media, music and comedy to entertainingly convey its uplifting message. Ehrenreich’s extraordinary tour de force performance, filled with laughter, tears and first class musicianship, resonates with audiences of all ages.
_mg_2460-at-piano-w-tie“I wanted to tell a very serious story – but make it accessible with as much joy and laughter and music as possible”. Ehrenreich has explained.

Jake Ehrenreich, 60, is an award-winning actor, playwright, musician and author. He has appeared on Broadway in Dancin’, Barnum and They’re Playing Our Song and toured internationally as Ringo in Beatlemania. He has performed and recorded with such diverse artists as Richie Havens, Greg Allman, Whitney Houston, Tito Puente, Jay Leno, and the Smothers Brothers.

A full-length book, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn: The Curious Reflections of a First Generation American was Published by HCI – (Chicken Soup for the Soul), in 2010. Ehrenreich has recorded a CD Yiddish Unplugged, and is currently taping a TV variety show debuting in 2017.

book-2Jake Ehrenreich’s unique historical writings are included in the 2016 academic anthology Summer Haven, The Catskills, the Holocaust and the Literary Imagination, along with those of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer and Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman. His expertise is also featured in the Shoah documentary Making Light In Terezin, and he currently appears with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Louis CK, and Sarah Silverman in The Last Laugh, a film exploring Comedy and the Holocaust. Jake Ehrenreich will be a special guest speaker at an upcoming screening of the film at the Miami Jewish Film Festival on January 21 and 23.

Earlier this year, in recognition of his numerous accomplishments, Ehrenreich was inducted into the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame; The City of New York and the Borough of Brooklyn created a special proclamation declaring A Jew Grows in Brooklyn Day; and the famous Carnegie Deli offered the ultimate honor by creating a namesake sandwich!

juniors_logo_onlyDuring the show’s run at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 will partner with the newly opened Junior’s Restaurant & Cheesecake, offering the popular restaurant’s customers exclusively priced tickets to the show.

A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0  will run from February 2 – 26 at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, and at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts March 10-12.  Tickets for A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0 range from $39 – $69 and can be purchased by phone at 877-238-5596 (Mizner Park Production) and 954-344-5990 (Coral Springs Center for the Arts production) or on line at www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com.  Group rates are available.

For more information about A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0  and/or Jake Ehrenreich, please visit www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com or contact Carol Kassie (carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244).

Photographs and graphics are available at:
http://www.jakeehrenreich.com/press-shots.html

Click Here to Visit Jake Ehrenreich on Facebook!

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A Jew Grows in Brooklyn 2.0
By Jake Ehrenreich
February 2 – 26, 2017
Performances:
Thurs:  3PM and 7:30 PM
Fri: 8 PM
Sat 3 PM and 8 PM
Sun 2 PM and 5:30 PM
Tickets:  $39 – $65
Phone:  877-238-5596
Group Sales are available.
To Order Tickets on Line: www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com  or http://www.smarttix.com/
Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center
201 Plaza Real
Boca Raton, FL 33432
(Opposite Lord & Taylor)

Coral Springs Center for the Arts
March 10 – 12, 2017
Performances:
Fri: 8 PM,
Sat: 3 PM & 8 PM,
Sun: 2 PM & 5 PM
Tickets:  $39 – $70
Phone:  954-344-5990
Group Sales are available.
To Order Tickets on Line: www.ajewgrowsinbrooklyn.com
or www.coralspringscenterforthearts.com
Coral Springs Center for the Arts
2885 Coral Springs Drive
Coral Springs, FL  33065

Praise for Jake Ehrenreich and A Jew Grows in Brooklyn:

The New York Times compared Ehrenreich to Billy Crystal and Bill Murray,  and raved: A Jew Grows in Brooklyn is “funny – beautiful – affectionate…touching joy and sorrow experiences lie behind and beneath every anecdote and joke.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer called the show “A universally uplifting treasure – in the same elevated company as Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays, and Chaz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale.”

The Los Angeles Times weighed in on the entertainment as well as the cultural importance of the show: “Ehrenreich is an engaging and thoughtful raconteur who weaves philosophy into personal history – his insight into the legacy of the classic Borscht Belt entertainers is elegant in its simplicity.”

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