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Dance, Israeli, Local, LGBTQ+

Dance Double Bill

Chutzpah! presents two dance World Premieres, created by its artists in residence, with the support of its community partner, the Dance Centre. Fortress, the debut collaborative piece by Chutzpah! resident artists and festival favourites Rebecca Margolick and Livona Ellis, the artists explore their connection to their ever-evolving relationship to femininity, and the balance between their strength and vulnerability. Seeking both discomfort and safety, they draw inspiration from the matriarchs in their lives, building toward a deeper understanding of themselves. Ellis is well known for her work with Ballet BC and Kidd Pivot, and is a respected choreographer, performer, and dance educator in Vancouver. BC-born and -raised Margolick lived in NYC for 15 years, but has recently returned to Vancouver. In addition to dancing with companies such as Sidra Bell Dance NY and Andrea Peña & Artists, Rebecca’s choreographic works and solos have been presented in Canada, the U.S., and internationally. \About Time continues Ne. Sans Opera & Dance’s Artistic Director Idan Cohen’s journey through Philip Glass’ solo piano etudes, performed live by award-winning pianist Leslie Dala, featuring dancers Will Jessup and Benjamin DeFaria. Glass’ music captures an abstraction sense of time, telling a story without words through his minimalistic, crystalline rhythms— timeless yet strikingly relevant. About Time poses poignant questions: How do we confront time? Can we stop it? Rush ahead? Or is it ever possible to reverse it? Chutzpah! Festival programming of Israeli artists is supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and the Ronald S Roadburg Foundation. This dance program is dedicated to Lisa Nemetz through the generosity of the Snider Foundation and this show is sponsored by Emet Davis. Note: For our friends observing Shabbat, we recommend attending the performance of the Dance Double Bill on Saturday, November 9, and the performance of Last Night at the Cabaret Yitish on Sunday, November 10.

Location Scotiabank Dance Centre (The Dance Centre)

subvenue Scotiabank Dance Centre (The Dance Centre)

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Storytelling, Israeli, Theatre, Film

Gimpel the Fool Returns to Poland

A treasure from the Yiddish literature, Nobel prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer's frankness and courage to grapple with good and evil make his very specific world of pre-Holocaust Europe to be both accessible and universal. Israel's award-winning theatre company, Nephesh Theatre, has been performing their stage adaptation of Singer’s Gimpel the Fool, with a rich soundtrack of voices and klezmer music in a surrealistic theatrical presentation around the world for 18 years. The film, by Nephesh Artistic Director Howard Rypp, co-presented by Chutzpah! with the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, follows the show’s journey throughout different towns of Poland, while tracing Singer’s escape from the Holocaust, finally finding refuge in the USA. Following the screening, Howard Rypp and his co-writer Howard Wiseman will discuss the film and take questions from the audience.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

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Comedy, Local

Jacob Samuel: Big Talk

Vancouver’s very own Juno award-winning comedian, Jacob Samuel, returns to Chutzpah! to headline a side-splitting lineup of hometown comedy, hosted by Kyle Berger and featuring Sophia Johnson and Myles Anderson. Known for his clever and insightful comedy, Jacob Samuel is an award-winning Canadian stand-up comic, cartoonist, and writer. He has made appearances on national television networks, including CBC, The Comedy Network, Crave, and CBC Gem. On radio, Jacob can be heard on Sirius XM and CBC's The Debaters. He has been featured multiple times at Montreal’s Just for Laughs and Winnipeg Comedy Festivals. In 2021, Jacob won the Juno Award for “Comedy Album of the Year” for his debut album Horse Power. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Tikva Housing Society. Note: For our friends who observe Shabbat, Jacob will be performing two special shows for filming on November 9 at China Cloud Studio (524 Main St at 7:00pm and 9:30pm, tickets at https://bit.ly/SamuelBigTalk). We encourage you to attend that performance and Cabaret Yitish on November 10.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Music

Kommuna Lux

Chutzpah partners again with Caravan World Rhythms to present a festive evening of world music, bringing Ukrainian klezmer sensations Kommuna Lux to Chutzpah! to kick off the opening weekend, with a rousing, danceable concert event. This award-winning music collective performs in their own unique style, which they call “Odesa Urban Folk," thrilling klezmer music and common gangster folk songs from their hometown. This multicultural port city of Odesa is world-famous for its significant Jewish culture and for being the birthplace of the Urban Chanson genre with streets that are rich with nostalgia and a bohemian Black Sea coastal vibe. These are set to a timeless new level by the vibrant performances of lead singer Bagrat Tsurkan and his band of virtuoso musicians. Kommuna Lux plays joyful songs and melodies from Odesa and all Eastern Europe in spiced up arrangements. Note: The Pearl is a club setting with limited seating. Please contact the Box Office for any accessibility needs. The venue is a 19+ setting. For all-ages music events, we recommend Yamma Ensemble and Mark Rubin.

Location The Pearl

subvenue The Pearl

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Storytelling, Workshop, Community

Lunch & Learn with Wex & Rubin

Join festival artists and old friends Mark Rubin (Jew of Oklahoma) and Michael Wex (Last Night at the Cabaret Yitish) for a brown-bag lunch and learn about their experiences growing up Jewish in rural communities in Oklahoma and Alberta. Both Wex and Rubin are noted for their humour, warmth, and curiousity, and will share stories and insights as they compare notes on their youthful experiences and roots. Bring your lunch and enjoy this conversation with two of North America's most celebrated Jewish raconteurs. Coffee and tea will be provided.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue JCC Studio

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Storytelling, Music

Mark Rubin: Jew of Oklahoma

Oklahoma-born, Texas-reared, and now living in New Orleans, multi-instrumentalist Mark Rubin is an unabashed Southern Jew, known equally for his muscular musicianship and larger-than-life persona, evoking Woody Guthrie and Will Rodgers. Over an accomplished 40+ year career, he has accompanied or produced a virtual who’s-who of American traditional music, while straddling numerous musical genres, including Country, Western Swing, Bluegrass, Cajun, Tex- Mex, Polka, Klezmer, Roma, and more. In his solo show, Jew of Oklahoma, story and song take centre stage, offering Southern Americana from a Jewish, socially conscious point-of-view.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

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Theatre, Yiddish, Music, Comedy

The Last Night at the Cabaret Yitesh

Chutzpah! is proud to present The Last Night at the Cabaret Yitesh (di letste nakht baym yitesh), an uproariously edgy show from the New York Times best-selling author and celebrated Canadian Yiddishist, Michael Wex. Set in spring of 1938, the censor’s office has just advised the performers in Warsaw’s Yiddish-language “Cabaret Yitesh” that tonight’s show will be their last. With visas to leave the country and nothing left to lose, the performers decide to present material that the censors had already forbidden, along with the cabaret’s greatest hits and most famous skits. Join Chutzpah! and our all-star international cast, including Shane Baker, Daniel Kahn, Regina Hopfgartner, Patrick Farrell, and Sasha Lurje, for an evening of cabaret songs from the ’30s, original comedy sketches, and Yiddish adaptations of international hits and vaudeville and drag classics. In Yiddish with English supertitles.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

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Theatre, Performance Art, Multimedia, LGBTQ+, Storytelling, Community

Truth to Power Café

From Adelaide to Zagreb and now in Vancouver for its Canadian premiere, Jeremy Goldstein’s Truth to Power Café is a profound theatrical reflection on loss, hope, and resistance. This internationally acclaimed award-winning performance event is told through memoir, image, film, poetry, music, and true and authentic stories from the people of Vancouver in response to the question: ‘who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’Personal, professional, political - speaking truth to power is a non-violent means of conflict resolution, the origins of which lie in the anti-war movement. Is it to your parents, a sibling, politician, landlord, neighbour, banker, boss, or simply your best friend? It’s time to tell them the truth before it’s too late. Truth to Power Café is inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter and his inner Jewish circle “The Hackney Gang”, who included Jeremy Goldstein’s late father, Mick Goldstein, and poet and actor Henry Woolf. To share your story, visit chutzpahfestival.com for details. A digital option is available.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Storytelling, Workshop, Community, Multimedia

Video Storytelling Workshop

Festival Video Director and accomplished documentarian and educator Flick Harrison has been creating video with Chutzpah since the Great Pandemic of 2020. Would you like to know his secrets? We’ll have fun together... and you might even make some new friends! The shy and the outgoing, the techies and the tech-averse, will get a chance to shine in their own way. Bring a few photos or other visual materials to create a short social media video in your own voice, telling a story or character sketch of a person you know - or someone imaginary! Combining pictures with spoken word, you’ll see how simple it is to get creative with video. Then you can share it (or not!) and watch the likes roll in! Bring your cell phone with video capability or we can provide one of our own. Creating an Instagram or other social media account in advance will be useful. All ages and abilities are welcome!

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue JCC Studio

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Israeli, Sephardic, Music, Community, Family

Yamma Ensemble

Yamma means "toward the sea" in Hebrew. In Arabic it means "mother." Since 2010, the five members of the Yamma Ensemble have made their mark sharing Hebrew and Jewish music with international audiences. With influences including ancient traditions, tribal singing, sacred and secular Jewish chants, the ensemble brings virtuosic Middle Eastern and world instrumentation on unique instruments. On Monday, November 4, Yamma Ensemble will present a special intergenerational concert for school groups and seniors, followed by an optional workshop. Group tickets are available. Contact the Box Office for details and to book.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

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Dance, Israeli, Local, LGBTQ+

Dance Double Bill

Chutzpah! presents two dance World Premieres, created by its artists in residence, with the support of its community partner, the Dance Centre. Fortress, the debut collaborative piece by Chutzpah! resident artists and festival favourites Rebecca Margolick and Livona Ellis, the artists explore their connection to their ever-evolving relationship to femininity, and the balance between their strength and vulnerability. Seeking both discomfort and safety, they draw inspiration from the matriarchs in their lives, building toward a deeper understanding of themselves. Ellis is well known for her work with Ballet BC and Kidd Pivot, and is a respected choreographer, performer, and dance educator in Vancouver. BC-born and -raised Margolick lived in NYC for 15 years, but has recently returned to Vancouver. In addition to dancing with companies such as Sidra Bell Dance NY and Andrea Peña & Artists, Rebecca’s choreographic works and solos have been presented in Canada, the U.S., and internationally. \About Time continues Ne. Sans Opera & Dance’s Artistic Director Idan Cohen’s journey through Philip Glass’ solo piano etudes, performed live by award-winning pianist Leslie Dala, featuring dancers Will Jessup and Benjamin DeFaria. Glass’ music captures an abstraction sense of time, telling a story without words through his minimalistic, crystalline rhythms— timeless yet strikingly relevant. About Time poses poignant questions: How do we confront time? Can we stop it? Rush ahead? Or is it ever possible to reverse it? Chutzpah! Festival programming of Israeli artists is supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and the Ronald S Roadburg Foundation. This dance program is dedicated to Lisa Nemetz through the generosity of the Snider Foundation and this show is sponsored by Emet Davis. Note: For our friends observing Shabbat, we recommend attending the performance of the Dance Double Bill on Saturday, November 9, and the performance of Last Night at the Cabaret Yitish on Sunday, November 10.

Location Scotiabank Dance Centre (The Dance Centre)

subvenue Scotiabank Dance Centre (The Dance Centre)

Event Image
Storytelling, Israeli, Theatre, Film

Gimpel the Fool Returns to Poland

A treasure from the Yiddish literature, Nobel prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer's frankness and courage to grapple with good and evil make his very specific world of pre-Holocaust Europe to be both accessible and universal. Israel's award-winning theatre company, Nephesh Theatre, has been performing their stage adaptation of Singer’s Gimpel the Fool, with a rich soundtrack of voices and klezmer music in a surrealistic theatrical presentation around the world for 18 years. The film, by Nephesh Artistic Director Howard Rypp, co-presented by Chutzpah! with the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, follows the show’s journey throughout different towns of Poland, while tracing Singer’s escape from the Holocaust, finally finding refuge in the USA. Following the screening, Howard Rypp and his co-writer Howard Wiseman will discuss the film and take questions from the audience.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Comedy, Local

Jacob Samuel: Big Talk

Vancouver’s very own Juno award-winning comedian, Jacob Samuel, returns to Chutzpah! to headline a side-splitting lineup of hometown comedy, hosted by Kyle Berger and featuring Sophia Johnson and Myles Anderson. Known for his clever and insightful comedy, Jacob Samuel is an award-winning Canadian stand-up comic, cartoonist, and writer. He has made appearances on national television networks, including CBC, The Comedy Network, Crave, and CBC Gem. On radio, Jacob can be heard on Sirius XM and CBC's The Debaters. He has been featured multiple times at Montreal’s Just for Laughs and Winnipeg Comedy Festivals. In 2021, Jacob won the Juno Award for “Comedy Album of the Year” for his debut album Horse Power. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Tikva Housing Society. Note: For our friends who observe Shabbat, Jacob will be performing two special shows for filming on November 9 at China Cloud Studio (524 Main St at 7:00pm and 9:30pm, tickets at https://bit.ly/SamuelBigTalk). We encourage you to attend that performance and Cabaret Yitish on November 10.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Music

Kommuna Lux

Chutzpah partners again with Caravan World Rhythms to present a festive evening of world music, bringing Ukrainian klezmer sensations Kommuna Lux to Chutzpah! to kick off the opening weekend, with a rousing, danceable concert event. This award-winning music collective performs in their own unique style, which they call “Odesa Urban Folk," thrilling klezmer music and common gangster folk songs from their hometown. This multicultural port city of Odesa is world-famous for its significant Jewish culture and for being the birthplace of the Urban Chanson genre with streets that are rich with nostalgia and a bohemian Black Sea coastal vibe. These are set to a timeless new level by the vibrant performances of lead singer Bagrat Tsurkan and his band of virtuoso musicians. Kommuna Lux plays joyful songs and melodies from Odesa and all Eastern Europe in spiced up arrangements. Note: The Pearl is a club setting with limited seating. Please contact the Box Office for any accessibility needs. The venue is a 19+ setting. For all-ages music events, we recommend Yamma Ensemble and Mark Rubin.

Location The Pearl

subvenue The Pearl

Event Image
Storytelling, Workshop, Community

Lunch & Learn with Wex & Rubin

Join festival artists and old friends Mark Rubin (Jew of Oklahoma) and Michael Wex (Last Night at the Cabaret Yitish) for a brown-bag lunch and learn about their experiences growing up Jewish in rural communities in Oklahoma and Alberta. Both Wex and Rubin are noted for their humour, warmth, and curiousity, and will share stories and insights as they compare notes on their youthful experiences and roots. Bring your lunch and enjoy this conversation with two of North America's most celebrated Jewish raconteurs. Coffee and tea will be provided.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue JCC Studio

Event Image
Storytelling, Music

Mark Rubin: Jew of Oklahoma

Oklahoma-born, Texas-reared, and now living in New Orleans, multi-instrumentalist Mark Rubin is an unabashed Southern Jew, known equally for his muscular musicianship and larger-than-life persona, evoking Woody Guthrie and Will Rodgers. Over an accomplished 40+ year career, he has accompanied or produced a virtual who’s-who of American traditional music, while straddling numerous musical genres, including Country, Western Swing, Bluegrass, Cajun, Tex- Mex, Polka, Klezmer, Roma, and more. In his solo show, Jew of Oklahoma, story and song take centre stage, offering Southern Americana from a Jewish, socially conscious point-of-view.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Theatre, Yiddish, Music, Comedy

The Last Night at the Cabaret Yitesh

Chutzpah! is proud to present The Last Night at the Cabaret Yitesh (di letste nakht baym yitesh), an uproariously edgy show from the New York Times best-selling author and celebrated Canadian Yiddishist, Michael Wex. Set in spring of 1938, the censor’s office has just advised the performers in Warsaw’s Yiddish-language “Cabaret Yitesh” that tonight’s show will be their last. With visas to leave the country and nothing left to lose, the performers decide to present material that the censors had already forbidden, along with the cabaret’s greatest hits and most famous skits. Join Chutzpah! and our all-star international cast, including Shane Baker, Daniel Kahn, Regina Hopfgartner, Patrick Farrell, and Sasha Lurje, for an evening of cabaret songs from the ’30s, original comedy sketches, and Yiddish adaptations of international hits and vaudeville and drag classics. In Yiddish with English supertitles.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Theatre, Performance Art, Multimedia, LGBTQ+, Storytelling, Community

Truth to Power Café

From Adelaide to Zagreb and now in Vancouver for its Canadian premiere, Jeremy Goldstein’s Truth to Power Café is a profound theatrical reflection on loss, hope, and resistance. This internationally acclaimed award-winning performance event is told through memoir, image, film, poetry, music, and true and authentic stories from the people of Vancouver in response to the question: ‘who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’Personal, professional, political - speaking truth to power is a non-violent means of conflict resolution, the origins of which lie in the anti-war movement. Is it to your parents, a sibling, politician, landlord, neighbour, banker, boss, or simply your best friend? It’s time to tell them the truth before it’s too late. Truth to Power Café is inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter and his inner Jewish circle “The Hackney Gang”, who included Jeremy Goldstein’s late father, Mick Goldstein, and poet and actor Henry Woolf. To share your story, visit chutzpahfestival.com for details. A digital option is available.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

Event Image
Storytelling, Workshop, Community, Multimedia

Video Storytelling Workshop

Festival Video Director and accomplished documentarian and educator Flick Harrison has been creating video with Chutzpah since the Great Pandemic of 2020. Would you like to know his secrets? We’ll have fun together... and you might even make some new friends! The shy and the outgoing, the techies and the tech-averse, will get a chance to shine in their own way. Bring a few photos or other visual materials to create a short social media video in your own voice, telling a story or character sketch of a person you know - or someone imaginary! Combining pictures with spoken word, you’ll see how simple it is to get creative with video. Then you can share it (or not!) and watch the likes roll in! Bring your cell phone with video capability or we can provide one of our own. Creating an Instagram or other social media account in advance will be useful. All ages and abilities are welcome!

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue JCC Studio

Event Image
Israeli, Sephardic, Music, Community, Family

Yamma Ensemble

Yamma means "toward the sea" in Hebrew. In Arabic it means "mother." Since 2010, the five members of the Yamma Ensemble have made their mark sharing Hebrew and Jewish music with international audiences. With influences including ancient traditions, tribal singing, sacred and secular Jewish chants, the ensemble brings virtuosic Middle Eastern and world instrumentation on unique instruments. On Monday, November 4, Yamma Ensemble will present a special intergenerational concert for school groups and seniors, followed by an optional workshop. Group tickets are available. Contact the Box Office for details and to book.

Location Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

subvenue Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

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