Del Mar Times Things to Do |

JFest set to return in May with its first internationally renowned headliner: Mandy Patinkin

Ever since he founded the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival in 1993, Todd Salovey has dreamed of one day recruiting a festival headliner who is not only internationally famed for their talent but also intrinsically defined by their Jewish identity.

This year, Salovey’s dream came true. JFest, which will run May 30 through June 30 at seven venues countywide, will feature a headlining concert by actor-singer Mandy Patinkin, who will perform a solo show titled “Being Alive” on June 4 at the Balboa Theatre.

Patinkin is best known for his long-running roles on the TV shows “Homeland,” “Criminal Minds,” “Chicago Hope” and “The Good Fight,” as well as memorable film roles in “The Princess Bride” and “Yentl.” He’s also known for his 40-year Broadway career that included the Tony Award-winning role of Che in “Evita” and Tony-nominated title role in “Sunday in the Park with George.” During the pandemic, Patinkin became a surprise social media superstar by posting funny, thoughtful and political Instagram videos with his wife, Kathryn Grody. In recent weeks, the couple has published social media posts calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Patinkin has performed in San Diego before at fundraisers for Congregation Beth Israel, where his nephew is one of the rabbis. But this will be his first JFest appearance. Salovey said Patinkin’s concert was made possible by generous local donors and a grant from the Balboa Theatre Grant Fund.

“The response has been fantastic,” Salovey said of ticket sales for Patinkin’s concert. “We believe bringing Mandy Patinkin in as our headliner this year will expose and introduce a lot of people to JFest. He continues to grow and blossom as a performer and social media personality. I just love how much he cares about humanity and how much he cares that what he does has a positive impact.”

This year marks the 31st JFest, which was founded at San Diego Repertory Theatre. San Diego Rep ceased operations in June 2022, right in the middle of that year’s JFest. Salovey said on the night after the theater’s closing was announced, he went onstage during a festival performance and pledged to the audience that JFest would return, though at the time he was not sure how.

Fortunately, thanks to the support of the festival’s new board of directors, widespread community support and a partnership with the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, among other organizations, the festival did return in 2023 and it was a great success. Fifteen events were presented at nine venues, and nine of them sold out, Salovey said.

“We were blown away,” Salovey said of the success. “We were just ecstatic that the festival could come back and could be more successful than we even thought.”

This year’s festival will feature nine events at seven venues, which is a slightly smaller footprint than last year. It will build on the success of popular long-running events like the Klezmer Summit concert, now in its 23rd year, and the 15-year-old Women of Valor program, as well as new events that were introduced last year.

Helping to support the festival this year and in 2025 is a recent two-year, $100,000 grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began last fall, antisemitism has skyrocketed around the world. JFest is a cultural arts organization and not politically oriented, but JFest producing director Becca Myers said there is great comfort to be found during difficult times in embracing the cultural touchstones of one’s life and faith.

One of the women being honored this year in JFest’s Women of Valor program is Vered Libstein, an Israeli nature festival founder who survived the attack by Hamas militants on their kibbutz in Israel on Oct. 7. Her husband, their son, her mother and their nephew were all murdered.

“For me to be reminded of the joy in being Jewish and what it means to look at Jewish culture and arts is incredibly healing and important,” Myers said. “It’s easy to forget about how joyful it can be when we’re surrounded by things that are incredibly painful. Having events that celebrate Jewish art and culture is the most important piece of what it means to me to be Jewish and what it means to heal and move forward.”

Salovey said this year’s festival will celebrate the diversity of San Diego’s Jewish community.

“There’s something about being a Jewish-identified person in San Diego that brings a tremendous amount of community pride and that we’re somehow doing art that also captures something about the Jewish soul,” Salovey said. “We also express something about how broadly diverse the Jewish community is. People identify as Jews in many, many ways.”

As a nod to this region’s large Mexican-Jewish population, JFest and the Old Globe will present Teatro Punto Y Coma’s Spanish-language play “La Obra,” a play within a play about a theater performance that goes awry.

Some of the new programs introduced in 2023 will return this year in fresh ways.

Last year’s popular community concert, which featured professional and non-professional local musicians, poets and dancers from San Diego County, will return this June with a new theme, “Refuah,” which is the Hebrew word for “healing.” Myers produced last year’s community concert and remembers it as one of the highlights of the 2023 festival.

“We came together in a sold-out house in Old Globe’s White Theatre and it was just one of those nights where you could feel the connection and electricity of everyone in the room,” she said. “Everyone put their arms together and it was really like a beautiful moment of community.”

Also returning this year is the Eco-Jewish new play festival at Coastal Roots Farm in Encinitas, which was introduced last summer.

“It’s been retooled this year as ‘Regenerate’ and will include original theater music and dance on the theme of ecology,” Salovey said. “The idea is to create new work that is rooted in inspirational Jewish texts. The idea is we can use Jewish knowledge as the basis to attack some of the most pressing problems and challenges of the world is something that also shares why we should value Judaism. Our focus in a time of negativity is to create work that is pro-Jewish.”

JFest’s 15th Women of Valor program is expanding this year, thanks to the Prebys grant. Originally designed as a a series of theatrical works inspired by the lives and works of six San Diego County Jewish women each year, the Women of Valor program will grow to include two more post-festival Women of Valor events. In August, Women of STEM will be presented. Then, later on a Latinx women version of the play will be produced in collaboration with TuYo Theatre.

Also, coming in September will be the Whole Megillah New Jewish Play Festival.

Tickets for the 31st Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival are now on sale at sdjfest.org. Here’s the schedule:

Nissim Black: The American-Israeli rapper/singer and influencer performs rap, pop and world music. Concert will be preceded by a VIP reception and Q&A with the artist. 7:30 p.m. May 30. Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. $18-$54.

Mandy Patinkin: “Being Alive”: Patinkin will perform his favorite Broadway and classic American songs by Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Harry Chapin and more. 7:30 p.m. June 4. Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown. $40-$140.

Teatro Punto Y Coma: “La Obra”: Ken Jewish Community presents Pepe Stepensky’s Spanish-language play within a play about a theater performance gone wrong. 7:30 p.m. June 10; 9 p.m. June 13. Sheryl & Harvey White Theatre, The Old Globe, Balboa Park. $36.

15th Women of Valor: An original play with words, music and images celebrating six San Diego-area Jewish women: American Jewish Committee regional director Sara Brown; spice expert and entrepreneur Debbie Kornberg; Oct. 7 attack survivor Vered Libstein; Temple Emanu-El Rabbi Devorah Marcus; Kindness Initiative executive director Bev Pamensky; and UCSD Health oncologist Dr. Barbara Parker. The plays are written by Sarah Price, Becca Myers, Todd Salovey and Ali Viterbi. 7:30 p.m. June 18 at Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center; 2 p.m. June 23 at Leichtag Commons, 441 Saxony Road, Encinitas. $25-$54.

“Italian Jews Through the Generations”: UCSD Hillel hosts this evening of food, history, personal narratives and fiction, including an Italian Jewish meal by chef Benedetta Jasmine Guetta, poetry readings by Holocaust survivor Primo Levi and excerpts from Ali Viterbi’s play “In Every Generation.” 6 p.m. June 20. Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center, 9009 La Jolla Scenic Drive North, La Jolla. $72-$118.

Comedy for Koby starring Avi Liberman: Avi Liberman, a Los Angeles comic who has become Israel’s most popular English-speaking stand-up comedian, will perform a fundraising concert for the Koby Mandell Foundation, which supports families who have lost loved ones to acts of terrorism and other tragedies. Also featured will be L.A. comics Bob Zany and Kira Soltanovich. 7:30 p.m. June 24. Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center. $25-$54.

“Refuah Community Concert: This community concert will focus on the theme of “refuah,” the Hebrew word for healing. San Diego-area musicians, dancers, poets and more will perform works to uplift the soul. 7:30 p.m. June 25. Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center. $18-$25.

23rd Klezmer Summit from the Shuk to the Shtetl: Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi klezmer band, with Jamie Papish and Amos Hoffman, present a concert that traces how the strains of Middle Eastern folk music influenced the klezmer musicians of Eastern Europe. Also featured are local musicians Gunnar Biggs, Fred Benedetti, and Tripp Sprague. 7:30 p.m. June 27. First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, 298 W. Arbor Drive, San Diego. $30.

Regenerate! The Eco Performance Fest: This afternoon event will feature new ecology-minded theater, dance and art that celebrates Earth-based Jewish wisdom. 5 p.m. June 30. Coastal Roots Farm, 441 Saxony Road, Encinitas. $18-$36.

[email protected]