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Becky Frohlinger returns home to appear in December MTYP production of “Charlies Brown”
By BERNIE BELLAN Over the years it’s been a pleasure for me to follow the careers of the talented Frohlinger kids: Alex, Joey, and Becky.
While Joey is no longer performing – after having been active in venues such as Rainbow Stage while he was still living in Winnipeg, he’s now gone on to a successful career in software engineering in Seattle.
Meanwhile, Alex, whose name and picture has graced our pages many times over the years, spends most of her days on the road performing in plays and musicals. (Currently, by the way, Alex is in Philadelphia performing, according to younger sister Becky.)
As for Becky, it was only a little more than a year ago that she co-starred in the very successful WJT production of “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” in which she played a young woman who carried on a very long wartime correspondence with a man she had never met, but whom she ultimately married.
Now 28, Becky has been performing one way or another ever since she was a young girl. She tells me that she actually attended Gray Academy from kindergarten through Grade 12, but along the way she earned the opportunity to perform in a variety of productions, including at Rainbow Stage, also appearing with both her siblings in a community production of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Rady JCC under the direction of Cheryl Bordy (whose husband, Hal, was the executive director of the Rady JCC at the time).
Every once in a while Becky is able to combine the pleasure of returning to her childhood home here in Winnipeg at the same time that she has an acting gig here.
“It’s great to be able to sleep in the same bed I had growing up,” she remarks.
This month Becky will be part of an eight-person ensemble in the Manitoba Theatre for Young People’s production of “A Charlie Brown Double Bill.”
The first indoor holiday show at MTYP since 2019, “Charlie Brown” actually combines parts of two different shows in a one and a half hour show. Many readers are probably familiar with the play, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” but even if you haven’t seen that show, anyone who was born prior to 1965 has likely seen what is now considered one of the all-time Christmas classics, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” featuring music by the late, great Vince Guraldi.
Becky will be playing the character of Lucy Van Pelt in the MTYP show. Over the years though, she’s played a great variety of roles, including stints with the aforementioned Rainbow Stage, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, and Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (where she also appeared in a production of “A Way to Heaven.”)
Although “Charlie Brown” is geared toward children age five and up, Becky says it’s a show the whole family would enjoy. The show runs until Dec. 23, so there’s plenty of opportunity to take it in.
When not performing, Becky lives in Toronto where she says she keeps in touch with a circle of friends who all hail from Winnipeg. For a year and a half, in fact, her roommate was another ex-Winnipegger, Meital Kraut, daughter of Karla Berbrayer and Dr. Allan Kraut.
But a performer’s life is a peripatetic one. I asked Becky to give me a rundown of some of her more recent acting jobs – in addition to her performance her in August 2021 in “Dear Jack, Dear Louise.”
Just this past year – in January and February, then again over the summer, Becky performed in two different venues – in Prince George and in Chemainus (which Becky explained to me is a town on Vancouver Island) in a play called “Glory,” which is based on the true story of a Canadian women’s hockey team in the 1930s and 40s.
In that play Becky played the part of a “Jewish girl,” she says. Given that the play is set in a time when anti-Semitism was rampant, Becky notes that the character she played had to deal with an issue that rang home for her. As part of the play characters also had to learn to move like hockey players. Apparently the choreography was so well done that hockey players, including former NHL great Richard Brodeur (known as “King Richard” when he played for the Vancouver Canucks), congratulated the cast members on how well they captured the movements of hockey players.
In between those two gigs, Becky also worked as a dance captain and ensemble for a Kamloops production of “The Wizard of Oz”, where she also served as understudy to the Wicked Witch.
As busy as she is, I asked Becky whether she ever thinks of trying to expand her career beyond the Canadian border? “I feel totally fulfilled here, but of course I will go wherever the work takes me.” she answers.
Of course a performer’s life is filled with uncertainties – not knowing very far in advance where your next job will take you. Becky says she’s very lucky to have been able to return to Winnipeg several times over the past few years to appear in a number of different productions.
As she says, “You can leave Winnipeg, but Winnipeg doesn’t leave you.”
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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.”
