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Jewish Community Center at Tri C East |
 Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” and Bernadette Clemens as “Rose Weiss” |
| Best of 2007 recap in The Cleveland Scene Never Bored on the Boards From race-baiting to gay-bashing, there was rarely a dull moment onstage in 2007 by Christine Howey “memorable” |
| excerpts from the Chagrin Valley Times review by Bob Abelman “a perfect production” “Director Fred Sternfeld transforms this story into riveting, engaging and heart-wrenching theatre. He handles the material with amazing sensitivity, grace and artistry” “He seamlessly transitions from reality to memory to fantasy throughout the production. This is masterful work.” “With a truly exceptional set by Ben Needham, extraordinary lighting and sound by Cassandra Goldbach and Stan Kozak, and superb costuming by Aimee Kluiber, Mr. Sternfeld transports the audience to 1940s Brooklyn and war-torn Poland.” “…an astounding cast. Lara Mielcarek … a captivating performance full of complexity and nuance. Bernadette Clemens … is equally brilliant … a master class in acting.” “ Mitchell Fields finds the perfect balance in his depiction of the family patriarch. His Mordechai Weiss is a survivor bearing incredible guilt despite his controlling and stoic facade.”“Ron Cuirle … Natalie Green … Jeanne Task … solid performances in each of these roles are pivotal, for anything less would allow this play to lapse into excesses of sentimentality or melodrama. Each actor makes all the right choices. They are wonderful.” “It is rare indeed for a play to be so compelling, a production to be so extraordinary, and performances to be so thoroughly engaging to be considered perfect. A Shayna Maidel on the Tri-C stage is that uncommon commodity. Perfection is fleeting. This play only runs until November 4 in nearby Highland Hills.” view the entire review here |
 Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” and Ron Cuirle as “Duvid Pechenik” |
| excerpts from the Cleveland Jewish News review by Fran Heller, Contributing Writer”unforgettable” ”I can’t remember when a play last moved me to tears, one so powerful and engrossing that I was completely transported to a different time and place.” “a deeply moving story” ”Director Fred Sternfeld’s sterling production and mesmerizing cast deliver a theatrical experience that shall remain indelible in memory. There may be no such thing as perfection, but Sternfeld and company come mighty close.” ”In the hands of lesser actors, the subject matter could easily become maudlin. That it never does is owing to Sternfeld’s balanced direction and the restrained performances of a marvelous cast.” “Mitchell Fields is outstanding as the imperious and dictatorial Orthodox father Mordechai.” “Bernadette Clemens is excellent as the thoroughly Americanized rebellious Rose.” “Lara Mielcarek delivers a virtuoso performance … this amazing young actress is totally captivating.” “Clemens and Mielcarek capture the evolving relationship between Rose and Lusia beautifully.” ”Aimee Kluiber’s costumes don’t skip a detail, right down to the worn out tips of Rose’s cast-off shoes.” “Cassandra Goldbach … dramatic lighting.” ”The rest of the ensemble is equally first-rate … Jeanne Task … Natalie Green … Ron Cuirle” ”poignant moments” “The wordless closing montage is both heartbreaking and hopeful.” “A Shayna Maidel is a play I won’t soon forget. Nor will you.” View the entire review here |
 Bernadette Clemens as “Rose” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
 Ron Cuirle as “Duvid Pechenik” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
 Bernadette Clemens as “Rose Weiss” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
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CAST OF CHARACTERS Rose Weiss – Bernadette Clemens* Mordechai Weiss – Mitchell B. Fields* Lusia Weiss Pechenik – Lara Mielcarek Duvid Pechenik – Ron Cuirle Hanna – Natalie Green Mama – Jeanne Task *member – Actor’s Equity Association PRODUCTION STAFF |
 Natalie Green as “Hannah,” Jeanne Task as “Mama” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
| excerpts from the Cleveland Scene review By Christine Howey“a fine play, executed with tender skill” “Director Fred Sternfeld wisely allows this wrenching story to play out deliberately and quietly, finding acute moments of pain — particularly when the father calls out the names of family members, and Lusia, reading from a list she has kept, ticks off their often horrendous fates” view the entire review here or on the Cleveland Scene website |
 Mitchell B. Fields as “Mordechai Weiss” and Bernadette Clemens as “Rose Weiss” |
| excerpts from the Cleveland Plain Dealer review by Tony Brown “right-hearted” “Sternfeld and his six actors find humor and pathos in this story of two Polish-Jewish sisters reunited in New York just after World War II” “Both actresses perform small miracles” “A substantial Mitchell Fields carps and commands as the stoic, aging patriarch who can do little but live with his decision to leave Europe when he could, without his wife and first-born” “Ron Cuirle, Natalie Green and Jeanne Task make affecting appearances as the younger daughter’s fever-dream ghosts” “Ben Needham’s detailed set transforms the performing arts center at the Eastern Campus of Cuyahoga Community College into a cozy New York apartment” “the penultimate scene, with the living and the dead dancing around a rejoined, married couple, brings soul-cleansing tears to all eyes” |
 Natalie Green as “Hannah” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
 Mitchell B. Fields as “Mordechai Weiss,” Bernadette Clemens as “Rose Weiss” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
| Excerpts from the Free Times review
Maidel In America “a tidy, solicitous production” “a thematic, humanistic thread” “Though often skirting soap opera, the author refrains from slipping over the line by an innate understanding of the abominable experience and the existential particularities that her characters embody. It’s a dignified reticence to which director Fred Sternfeld pays close attention.” “With no attempt to hype up the measured text, Sternfeld allows the evening to proceed at its own tempo … in perfect sympathy with Lebow’s heartbeat-paced intentions.” “Bernadette Clemens is quite simply a delight … the actress gives an engagingly ‘natural’ performance” “Mitchell Fields adds another of his reliable papas to his resume; Jeanne Task is a quietly sympathetic mama; and Natalie Green is both charming and haunting as Lusia’s doomed girlfriend.” |
 Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik,” Bernadette Clemens as “Rose” and Mitchell B. Fields as “Mordechai Weiss” |
| Excerpts from the Sun Messenger & Solon Herald Sun review By Marjorie PrestonBeautiful Performances in A Shayna Maidel “The play is a fine, tender show and a substantial work, underscoring the importance of family and friends” “a consistently strong level of performance from its talented ensemble.” “Fields ably portrays Mordechai … effortless” “Clemens deftly handles her turn as Rose … first-rate” “Mielcarek displays a striking flexibility in the role.” “Director Fred Sternfeld has assembled a strong cast with consistently intriguing characters” “Set designer Ben Needham created a lovely set with clean lines that allows for smooth flow of action from one area to another.” view the entire review here |
| the story The setting of the play is the stylish Manhattan apartment of Rose Weiss, the time 1946. Although born in Poland, Rose, now in her twenties, came to the United States with her father, Mordechai, at the age of four and is now completely “Americanized.” The plan had been for Rose’s mother and sister to join the others, but the sister fell ill with scarlet fever, the mother stayed on to care for her, and soon the rise of the Nazis cut off their escape. Their ordeal in the concentration camps, which only the sister survived, has brought a burden of guilt to the aging Mordechai and deeply mixed feelings as he awaits the arrival of his elder daughter, Lusia, who has, at last, found her way to America. With her halting English and old world ways Luisa is a striking contrast to Rose, who is somewhat embarrassed by her rediscovered sister’s presence, and fearful that it will threaten her own hard-won independence. Distraught, and concerned that she may never be reunited with Duvid, her young husband, Lusia embraces a series of memories and fantasies which make real the joys and horrors of her life before the war, from which her father and sister were spared. But when Mordechai gives Rose a letter from her mother—a letter left many years earlier with a non-Jewish Polish friend—a “proof” of family is somehow restored, and old barriers and griefs give way to a renewed sense of hope and mutual dependence—and the conviction that a better future may yet arise from the bitter ashes of the troubled past. |
 Bernadette Clemens as “Rose Weiss,” Ron Cuirle as “Duvid Pechenik,” Jeanne Task as “Mama,” Natalie Green as “Hannah,” Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” and Mitchell B. Fields as “Mordechai Weiss” |
| A few comments from our audience…
“This show is phenomenal. Probably the best local performance I’ve seen in the past year. Go. Now. If you haven’t already. Do it. You will NOT regret it. Amazing… ” “Thank you for a BEAUTIFUL production. I was deeply moved and found it to be poignant, wistful, funny and sweet. A wonderful evening in the theater. All the production elements were on target and The Mandel JCC should be very proud to be presenting this production. Thanks again for a great night of theatre” “Congratulations on the wonderful production of A Shayna Maidel. If anything, the strong reviews understated the power of the production” |
| about playwright Barbara Lebow Barbara Lebow moved to Atlanta in 1962 and joined Academy Theatre’s developmental workshop, becoming playwright in residence. Among her plays with first productions there are The Left Hand Singing, The Adventures of Homer McGundy, Cyparis, The Keepers, Trains, A Shayna Maidel, Little Joe Monaghan, Tiny Tim is Dead, and several plays for young audiences. Theaters producing her work include Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage Company, Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. In addition to her own writing, Barbara facilitates play creation with disenfranchised segments of the population including homeless and addicted individuals, youth at risk, developmentally and physically disabled persons, women in prison, and, most recently, residents of the Probation Department’s Los Prietos Boys Camp/Academy in Santa Barbara, CA. Now a playwright in residence at the Professional Artists Lab at UCSB, she has received a grant from the Fund for Santa Barbara, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a TCG/Pew Theatre Artists Residency, an NEA/TCG Residency, an Atlanta Mayor’s Fellowship in the Arts, and a Georgia Governor’s Award in the Arts. |
 Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” and Jeanne Task as “Liba Eisenman Weiss” |
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I directed a production of A Shayna Maidel for Center Stage at the Stroum Jewish Community Center of Greater Seattle in 1990: Here is the link.
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 Mitchell B. Fields as “Mordechai Weiss” and Lara Mielcarek as “Lusia Weiss Pechenik” |
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View a slideshow of complete Production Photos here |
| about the play Shayna Maidel is a Yiddish phrase meaning literally ‘pretty girl.’ It describes inner beauty and is an expression of love and of yearning hope. The word ‘shayna’, besides ‘pretty’, can also be understood as ‘dear’, ‘good’, ‘radiant’, or ‘kind’. A Shayna Maidel was one of the early winners of the JCC’s playwriting contest. Widely produced by America’s leading regional theatres, the play went on to become a long-run Off-Broadway success. It was also adapted into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, “Miss Rose White.” A powerful, haunting and deeply affecting portrait of a family, which conveys the aftermath of the Holocaust through a poignant, imaginatively conceived examination of one divided family’s experience. “…a tribute to the sustaining power of family and to man’s indomitability.” – NY Times. “It’s an emotional powerhouse of almost overwhelming proportions.” – Hartford Journal Inquirer. “…anyone who sees it will not soon forget it.” —Atlanta Constitution. |
