NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Tulane’s Department of Theatre and Dance (TUTD), in collaboration with Touro Synagogue and the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience, invites the community to embark on a journey through history with two extraordinary events.
On Wednesday, April 10, the Grant Center will host A Conversation with Holocaust Survivor Rose (Raisa) Lefkowitz Rosenkranz at 6:30 p.m. in the Diboll Gallery on Tulane’s Uptown campus. Mrs. Rosenkranz is a holocaust survivor and a miracle baby born in a Siberian slave labor camp. The evening will also feature Golan Moskowitz, Tulane School of Liberal Arts assistant professor of Jewish Studies and Katherine and Henry J. Gaisman Faculty Fellow, and Kenneth Hoffman, executive director of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. This conversation is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.
Mrs. Rosenkranz’s remarkable story serves as inspiration for the upcoming immersive theatre production “Only Miracles,” running from April 13-15 at Touro Synagogue. Written and directed by award-winning theatre artist Dodd Loomis, this interactive, theatrical, and educational experience details the harrowing and heroic experiences of Mrs. Rosenkranz’s parents Ed and Helen Lefkowitz.
ABOUT THE SHOW:
“Only Miracles” is a three-part immersive event taking place throughout the historic Touro Synagogue.
The first section is a theatrical experience rooted in the principles of documentary theater. Two interviews with Holocaust survivors Ed and Helen Lefkowitz conducted in 1995 by the Shoah Visual History Foundation serve as the dominant source material. Audience members will wear headphones in which a voiceover, along with actors, guides them through vignettes that animate Ed and Helen’s unbelievable true stories of survival.
The second portion of the show is a large-scale Digital Museum experience accompanied by live music. Projected interviews with Ed and Helen Lefkowitz will be coupled with large-scale maps and timelines illustrating the major events of WWII and the arduous 10,000-mile journey they endured.
As the audience exits the Digital Museum, they will enter The Reflection Room — the third and final space where trained volunteers will facilitate discussions on the experience. Audience members will have the option of recording their thoughts in video interview spaces conducted by the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Dodd Loomis is a playwright, director, and producer whose work has toured over 35 countries, across 5 continents. Two of his previous plays were also rooted in the principles of Documentary Theatre and toured the globe for over 7 years. Loomis is currently the production manager for TUTD and a professor in the Department of Digital Media Practices. Only Miracles is the final showing for his MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies of the Performing Arts. Loomis is a proud member of Touro Synagogue.
Only Miracles features performances by Carl Briggs, Ally Heller, Audrey Jarnagin, Valeria Lievano, Caroline Sloter, and Zachary Sturza. Sound design and composition by Dylan Hunter, whose recent credits include Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play with TUTD and Roleplay with Goat in the Road Productions. The lighting design is by Emmy Award winner Rachel Levy. Projections are by James Lanius, whose recent credits include Haint Blu with Urban Bush Women and The Great Leap with OKC Rep. Live music is performed by violist Sam Baron and pianist Adam Matasar.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS:
- Saturday, April 13, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8 p.m.
- Sunday, April 14, 1:30, 2, 2:30, 3, 3:30, 4 p.m.
- Monday, April 15, 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8 p.m.
Location: Touro Synagogue, 4238 St Charles Ave.
Tickets: $10 and can be purchased online at https://a.purplepass.com/onlymiracles
Due to the limited audience size, reservations are required.
To reserve media passes, please contact Marketing and Box Office Manager, Mary Guiteras, at mguiteras@tulane.edu or (504) 865-5105.
