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.”
Local News
Winnipeg-born Elliot Lazar to star as Paul Simon in “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” at Centennial Concert Hall
By BERNIE BELLAN Elliot Lazar’s career has long been chronicled in the pages of The Jewish Post & News. Do a search for his name in our “Search Archives” button and you will find a multitude of stories about Elliot from the time he was five years old.
A talented singer, musician, and musical arranger, also a graduate of Gray Academy, the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, and the Boston Conservatory, Elliot has appeared many times in Winnipeg, including most recently last summer in Rainbow Stage’s production of “Rent.”
He’s been constantly busy – as a review of some of his past acting credits reveals. Last season alone, in addition to his performing in “Rent,” Elliot also appeared in the National Tour of “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “The Band’s Visit” (Huntington/Speakeasy Stage).
We’re excited to announce that Elliot will be appearing in Winnipeg for one night only, May 21, starring as Paul Simon in “The Simon & Garfunkel Story.”
Here’s Elliot’s own story about his growing up in Winnipeg:
“I grew up in Garden City, attended Gray Academy (K-12) and majored in vocal performance at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music. I lived in Winnipeg until I was 22, so I’m pretty connected with the arts scene there still. The venue we’re playing, the Centennial Concert Hall, I was last seen in Guys and Dolls in concert with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Rainbow Stage (2019), and before that I sang with the Manitoba Opera Chorus in 3 productions there. My last performance in Winnipeg was in Rent with Rainbow Stage this past summer. Other local performing arts companies I have a history with there are Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Winnipeg Studio Theatre, Dry Cold Productions, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Manitoba Underground Opera, Little Opera Company, and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. I grew up going to see shows at the Concert Hall, so it’s a wonderful full circle moment for me.”
About “The Simon & Garfunkel Story”:
Nostalgia-inducing unforgettable hits! The internationally-acclaimed hit theater show The Simon & Garfunkel Story (www.thesimonandgarfunkelstory.com) returns to the road in 2024 with a North American tour to more than 25 cities. Kicking off in Richmond, Kentucky on January 28, 2024, the immersive concert-style tribute show will recreate the magic and authenticity of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on stage and chronicles the amazing journey shared by the iconic, GRAMMY-award winning folk-rock duo. It tells the story from their humble beginnings as Tom & Jerry, to their incredible success as one of the best-selling music groups of the ‘60s, and to their dramatic split in 1970. The Simon & Garfunkel Story culminates with the pair’s famous “The Concert in Central Park” reunion in 1981 which had more than half a million fans in attendance. Tickets are on sale now.
The show features a set list of nearly 30 songs and uses state-of-the-art video projection, photos and original film footage. A full live band will perform all of the hits including “Mrs. Robinson,” “Cecilia,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Homeward Bound” and many more complete with the unmistakably perfect harmonies that will transport audiences down memory lane.
With more than 100 million album sales since 1965, Simon & Garfunkel’s unforgettable songs and poetic lyrics poignantly captured the times made them one of the most successful folk-rock duos of all time. Over the years, they won 10 GRAMMY Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1977, the Brit Awards honored their “Bridge Over Troubled Water” album with Best International Album. In 2003, Simon & Garfunkel were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the following year saw their “The Sound of Silence” awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.
Local News
Ida and the late Saul Alpern have donated 2 ambulances and a scooter to Magen David Adom in past 4 years
By BERNIE BELLAN Saul Alpern passed away in 2022, but before he died he and his wife Ida had decided to make Magen David Adom a major recipient of their generosity.
As Myron Love noted in an October 2020 article the Alperns had been contributing small amounts to the Canadian Magen David Adom for some time, but it was in that year they decided to donate $160,000 for the purchase of a Mobile Intensive Care Unit for Israel’s Magen David Adom.
As Myron wrote in that 2020 article, an MICUA (which is larger than an ambulance, is staffed by paramedics, and responds only to the most medically serious cases) was donated “to the people of Israel in memory of Saul Alpern’s parents and siblings who perished in the Holocaust.
“It is an expression of my love for my family and my love of Israel,” Saul Alpern said at the time.
In early 2022 the Alperns donated yet another $170,000 for the purchase of a second MICU for Magen David Adom.
Saul Alpern passed away in November 2022, but Ida Alpern has now continued the legacy of giving to Canadian Magen David Adom that she and Saul had begun several years before. Just recently Ida contributed $39,000 toward the purchase of an emergency medical scooter. According to the CMDA website, “the scooter, which is driven by a paramedic, can get through traffic faster than the Standard Ambulance or MICU and provide pre-hospital care. It contains life-saving equipment, including a defibrillator, an oxygen tank, and other essential medical equipment.”
I asked Ida whether she wanted to say anything about the motivation for her and her late husband’s support for CMDA. She wrote, “Having survived the Holocaust, and being a Zionist, Saul felt that supporting Israel was of the utmost importance.”
On May 7, CMDA will be honouring Ida and Saul z”l Alpern at a dinner and show at the Centro Caboto Centre. Another highlight that evening will be the announcement of the purchase of an ambulance for CMDA by another Winnipegger, Ruth Ann Borenstein. That ambulance will be in honour of Ruth’s late parents, Gertrude and Harry Mitchell. The evening will also commemorate the late Yoram East (aka Hamizrachi), who was a well-known figure both in Israel and here in Winnipeg.
For more information about the May 7 event or to purchase tickets phone 587-435-5808 or email sfraiman@cmdai.org
Local News
Simkin Centre looking for volunteers
We received the following email from Heather Blackman, Simkin Centre Director of Volunteers & Resident Experience:
Happy Spring Everyone! Hope you all are well. We have a number of upcoming volunteer opportunities that I wanted to share with you. Please take a look at what we have listed here and let me know if you are available for any of the following. I can be reached at heather.blackman@simkincentre.ca or 204-589-9008.
Save the date! The Simkin Stroll is on June 25th this year and we need tons of volunteers to assist. This is our annual fundraiser and there is something for everyone to help with from walking with Residents in the Stroll to manning booths and tables, event set up and take down and much more. Volunteers will be needed from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on this day. Come and help for the full event or for any period within that timeframe that works for you.
Resident Store – This tuck shop style cart will be up for business shortly. Residents will be assisting to stock and run the store for 2 hours 2- 3 times per week in the afternoons. Volunteer support is needed to assist residents with restocking items and monetary transactions.
Passover Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to assist with plating Seder plates for Residents (date to be determined for plating)
Volunteers are needed to assist Residents to and from Passover Services and Come and Go Teas.
Times volunteers are needed for services/teas:
April 22cnd – First Seder 1:30-3:30 p.m.
April 23rd – Passover Service Day 1 – 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
April 23rd – Second Seder – 1:30-3:30 p.m.
April 24th – Passover Service – Day 2 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
April 29th – Passover Service – 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
April 29th- Passover Tea – 1:30-3:30 p.m.
April 30th – Passover Service – 9:30 -11:30 a.m.
April 30th – Passover Tea – 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Admin/Paperwork Volunteers – Volunteers are needed to assist with filing and other administrative duties. A monthly volunteering job is also available to input information on programming into Recreation activity calendars. Support would be provided for this.
Adult Day Program – A volunteer is needed to assist with the Mondays Adult Day Program Group. A regular ongoing weekly commitment on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Assist with Recreation programming and lunch supervision for our Adult Day Program participants that come in from the community for the day.
Biking Volunteers – Take our residents out for a spin on one of our specialty mobility bicycles. Training is provided and volunteers will be needed throughout the Spring, Summer and early Fall.
With summer coming there is also opportunity to assist with outings and other outdoor programming! Please let me know if you are interested!
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