JYM Plays a Love Song

JYM Theatre Company (Vic) follows its sell-out season of Avenue Q with its inaugural play season. Staging Marvin Chernoff's play, Chaim’s Love Song from September 1- to 9, 2012, JYM is excited to be tackling a new style of show and also taking on the challenge of producing two shows in the one year.

Says producer and company founder Shlom Eshel, “over the last ten years JYM has grown from strength to strength. I have a dedicated team and many supporters...it was the right time to expand.”

Chaim's Love Song is a poignant, heart-warming comedy about laughter and tragedy, the power of memory and our search for love and meaning. When an elderly Jewish man meets a young Gentile woman sitting on his park bench, an unlikely friendship blooms from awkward beginnings. The show is overflowing with Jewish humour and philosophy, wrapped around the spirit of survival at the heart of our community.

Barry Friedlander, who plays Chaim, told Stage Whispers, “Chaim is how I would like to think I am - funny (in a satirical way), thoughtful and, beneath the surface, really thinks about everything that’s going on around him. I, of course, don’t come even   close because I’m just human.

“The professionalism of JYM is amazing. The facilities you have at your command are as good (in some cases better) than most professional groups I’ve worked with. The way you operate is on a par with my experiences at Red Stitch & that’s really saying something.

“I don’t think of amateur/ professional in terms of difference because in I put the same effort into both. I think it may be a little vanity (always looking for a compliment). The cast in Chaim is as professional in attitude as any I’ve worked with.”

JYM provides a connection to the Jewish community for many of its members and provides a unique opportunity for individuals who, for religious reasons (e.g. inability to perform on the Sabbath), may not be able to participate in mainstream companies. Shlom Eshel notes that she is “excited to be staging a show with such strong Jewish themes”. JYM’s past productions include highly acclaimed seasons of Avenue Q, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Beeand The Witches of Eastwick.

Chaim's Love Song runs from September 1 to September 9 at the Phoenix Theatre, Elwood.

To book tickets log onto www.jymtheatre.com