Local News
Josh Assor, theatrical man for all seasons, adds film production to his growing resumé
By MYRON LOVE
Over the years, our Jewish community has produced quite a number of individuals who have found success in the performing arts both here at home and elsewhere. Among them is Josh Assor.
The son of Hanania and Leslie Assor has done it all when it comes to musical theatre. A performer since he was a kid, he has in recent years been living in New York City and focusing exclusively on choreography in all its facets. Now though, having been back in Winnipeg since March due to the Covid-19 situation, he has had the opportunity to gain experience in a new area of entertainment – film and television production.
Assor is currently working for Winnipeg-based Eagle Vision, one of Canada’s top film and television production companies. “We have just finished filming the fourth season of ‘Burden of Truth’, he reports. “I am also working behind the scenes on a second Eagle Vision film.”
(“Burden of Truth” is filmed in Selkirk and Winnipeg and stars Kristin Kreuk as a big-city lawyer who returns to her home town to take on a case that changes her life and career. The series deals with the prejudices that Aboriginal people face within the larger community.)
“This job came up out of the blue,” Josh says. “It was a perfect opportunity to delve into a new area of my craft. I have been with Eagle Vision for six months and am having a great time.”
Josh was attracted to theatre and acting from a very young age. He actually began with some television roles followed by stage work. Some of the shows that he appeared in at Rainbow Stage were “Peter Pan”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Deam Coat” and “The Little Mermaid”.
Along the way, the young performer began taking dancing lessons. “I started training rather later in life in dance”, he recalls. I enrolled in Ken Peter Dance Express when I was 15. Originally, I was most interested in hip hop. I then followed with tap and, a couple of years later. I began studying all forms of dance, including jazz, ballet and musical theatre. By the time I was 17, I had decided to seriously pursue a career in the theatre.”
Josh attended Gray Academy to the end of Grade 9, then moved to Grant Park High School for Grades 10-12, attracted by the school’s well-known performing arts program.
The budding performer left Winnipeg after graduation for Los Angeles where he had scored a scholarship to study at the prestigious EDGE Performing Arts Center. He then moved to Toronto –when he was 19 – to begin the next phase of his career.
“I signed with an agent in Toronto,” Josh says. “Toronto is where most of the auditions take place. I did some television but mostly worked on the stage.”
His first major role was in a production of “West Side Story” at the Stratford Festival in 2008,” he recounts.
While he may have been based in Toronto over a period of three years, Josh notes, he spent a year in Montreal and the rest of the time in touring productions, which continued after his move to New York in 2010. Among his credits was the role of Neleus in the first national tour of “Mary Poppins” (and in which he also appeared on Broadway for the first time), “The Wizard of Oz” and Disney’s first National Tour of “Newsies” (in which he was the assistant dance captain).
“After more than two years in ‘Newsies’,” Josh notes, “I was ready for a change of pace. From day one – to become a choreographer was always my goal. I am happiest when I can be at my most creative. I felt that I had had a good run as a performer. I accomplished what I had wanted. It was time to focus on my development as a choreographer.”
Back in New York, his goal was to become a member of the faculty of the world-renowned Broadway Dance Centre. He started as a substitute teacher, became a guest instructor and, for the past three years, he has been a member of the faculty, focusing on musical theatre.
“People come from all over the world to study with us,” Josh says.
In addition to his teaching, Josh has continued to work professionally as a choreographer. Choreographic credits include New York Fashion Week, Audi, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Modos Furniture as well as regional productions of Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Newsies and the world premiere of “Medicine the Musical”, which ran in New York City, off-Broadway. He was the associate choreographer for the Saturday Night Fever National Tour as well as the Canadian Premiere of “Newsies” at Drayton Entrainment.
The show that he was scheduled to choreograph, which unfortunately was cancelled due to Covid, was “The Sound Of Music”, and which was scheduled to play both the Royal MTC as well as The Citadel Theater. “We are still hopeful to bring this show to life next season,” he reports.
Josh appreciates that he has been able to realize what he is passionate about in his life’s work. He adds that he is hoping to be able to get back to New York sometime in the next few months.
“Right now, I am living day by day,” he observes, “and playing it by ear.”
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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
