Exploring Broadway: Behind-the-Scenes w/Stars of David!

Exploring Broadway: Behind-the-Scenes w/Stars of David

Four Thursdays, September 7, 14, 21, & 28

1-2:15pm (PT), 2-3:15pm (MT), 3-4:15pm (CT), 4-5:15pm (ET)

on Zoom

Let musical theater instructor & Broadway trip leader James Sokol sneak you in the Stage Door to go “backstage” on Broadway!

Meet special guests — each a Jewish-American Broadway theater professional — who bring unique expertise, experiences & insights to the discussion at our exclusive, live, behind-the-scenes visits. Ask your burning questions via the zoom chat.

Photos/video clips (when available) will enrich the experience.

See below for overview of our special guests in this series.

Save! Get “Early Bird” ticket prices; register before Sept 5th!

Praise for our Exploring Broadway series:

“Your special guests are so interesting! I always learn so much from the discussion.” – Joan S.

“Thanks for the delightful and educational classes. They are both interesting and fun; the presenter and the material were terrific.” – Sandi B.

“Thank you so much! I loved the class — learned several things I did not know — and very much looking forward to next week!” – Linda C.

About Micaela Diamond (Sep 7)

Diamond made her professional debut in 2018 in the musical television special of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC as a featured member of the ensemble. She was also the understudy for Sara Bareilles’ character, Mary Magdalene.

Later that year, she made her Broadway debut when originated the role of Babe – the youngest version of Cher – in The Cher Show. For her portrayal of Cher, Diamond was named a 2019 Theatre World Awards honoree and was nominated by Broadway World Theatre Fans’ Choice Awards for the “Best Breakout Broadway Performance of the Decade.”

This season, Diamond returned to Broadway co-starring with Ben Platt in the Tony Award winning revival of Parade. For her portrayal of Lucille Frank, she received nominations for Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critic Circle Awards.

About Ben Cohn (Sep 14)

Musical Director, conductor, orchestrator, arrangers, instrumentalist, Ben Cohn seems to do it all! After making his Broadway debut in the pit of Wicked, Cohn went on to bring the score of Dear Evan Hansen to life as conductor, music director, and keyboard player since the show premiered at Arena Stage, following it through its Broadway opening and subsequent productions. Currently, he’s working on Broadway’s Once Upon a One More Time. Meet Ben and gain not only a behind-the-scene perspective, but also one from (usually) below-the-stage!

About Jarrod Spector (Sep 21)

Singing-actor Jarrod Spector made his Broadway debut at age 10 as Gavroche in the original production of Les Misérables. He went on to play a record-breaking 1500 performances as Frankie Vallie in Jersey Boys on Broadway.

He was nominated for both a Tony Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for his featured performance as Barry Mann in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. During the 2018-19 season, Spector starred as Sonny Bono in The Cher Show.

Spector has been seen on the national tours of Les Misérables and Jersey Boys and in the off-Broadway productions of Hamlet. His regional work includes Roman Holiday and Piece of My Heart.

About Brandon Uranowitz (Sep 28)

With seven Broadway shows under his belt, singing actor Brandon Uranowitz recently won a Tony Award for his featured role in Tom Stoppard’s play, Leopoldstadt. He previously received Tony Award nominations for his performances in Burn This, An American in Paris and Falsettos.

Other Broadway credits include The Band’s Visit, Prince of Broadway, and Baby, It’s You!.

Screen credits include the films Here Today, The Kitchen, and Stage Fright, and television series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and more.

About James Sokol

Opera & Musical Theater instructor James Sokol began his career under the leadership of Beverly Sills at New York City Opera. In the time since, he has worked in fields ranging from opera management to academia to international education reform and more.

For over two decades, Sokol has been creating and leading Cultural Arts Trips around the country and around the world. His annual sold-out The Best of Broadway: Mostly Musicals trips are offered through the National JCC Adult & Senior Alliance and are open to all.

Ticket & Notes:

“Early Bird” Series Ticket: $50 (re: $12.50 per class). Available until 48-hours before the 1st discussion.

Regular Series Ticket: $60 (re: $15 per class). Available until the start of the last discussion.

Tickets: All tickets are 1) are per device, not per person, on Zoom, and 2) are non-refundable & non-exchangeable. Single tickets are not available for this series.

Subject to Change: Due to the ever-shifting nature of the schedules of Broadway performers (e.g. “Hey, you have to come to the theater now for a put-in rehearsal” or “Just got you an audition for this afternoon.”), the special guests on this program are subject to change without notice.

The Fine Print:

Fortunately, we’ve had very few issues, but just to be clear…

Your Zoom “Event Link”: The Zoom event link will be emailed to all registrants automatically upon registration and then again 2-hours prior to each class. To help it land in your “inbox,” before registering, please add the following emails to your contacts:

• JCC Alliance — alliance@marinjcc.org
• Sean Fitzgerald — sfitzgerald@marinjcc.org

Registrants are requested to make sure the email w/link has arrived by the evening of Sep 5th. If the email does not arrive, please see “Troubleshooting” below.

Have a Comcast email? Please refer to this guide: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/spam-filters-and-email-blocking-new-experience.

Troubleshooting: We will do our best to remedy any issues. Registrants who have NOT received the email w/link are asked to check their email “junk” and “spam” folders. If found, please move the email to your inbox. If the email/link is still not there, please contact James (see below) immediately.

Late Troubleshooting: We will try our best – but cannot guarantee – help with Zoom links to guests contacting James less than 30-minutes prior to the event.

Live Only: In agreement with our guides, artists, instructors, special guests, etc., events are not recorded. Make-up sessions are unavailable. Credit/refund is not given for missed events.

Liability: While we will do our best to remedy any issues, The Osher Marin JCC & its Program Partners cannot be held responsible for 1) issues related to Eventbrite or Zoom, 2) ticket buyers not following the instructions above, nor 3) packing, shipping, or deliver services of food/beverages not received in time for tasting events.

Don’t ya just hate “the fine print?!!”

Questions? Email James at jsokol@marinjcc.org.

Exploring Broadway is created by the Osher Marin JCC (San Rafael, CA) and offered by the National JCC Adult & Senior Alliance. See below for a full list of Alliance Partners.

ALL ARE WELCOME to join in our activities! JCC members, non-members, those who live near or far, people of all backgrounds, faiths, ethnicities, hair styles, fashion choices, chocolate preferences, etc. “The more the merrier!”