Jewish Federation of Greater San Gabriel Valley Presents New Musical ‘Montaigne’

The J*Fed Players Community Theater Ensemble, under the umbrella of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys’ Cultural Arts Program, present their ninth production, Montaigne, a new musical by Joseph Charney.

We are pleased to present this debut production. Its author, composer, and lyricist Joseph Charney is an accomplished musician, lawyer, and playwright, to name but a few of his many talents.

A new and unusual student appears on a high school campus just weeks before prom and graduation, changing the lives of all who meet him — and his own. The boy, Montaigne, continuously makes observations of his fellow students, writing his thoughts about each and every one of them in his journal. As he records his reflections regarding his fellow students, Montaigne gains insights into his own complex relationship with his parents while taking the other students on a voyage of their own discovery of who they are and what they can be. On the surface, Montaigne is a glimpse into modern high school life and a teenager’s quest to understand his roots. But at a deeper level, it is about how we communicate with each other – face-to-face or through our machines – and the power of words, when honest, direct, and richly expressive from the heart, which help us discover who we are. The music touches every emotion, and enthusiastically punctuates the journey through this delightful musical.

Montaigne will run in August at the First Church of the Nazarene (3700 Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena, CA). Performance dates are Saturday, August 1 at 8 p.m., Thursday, August 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, August 8 at 8 p.m. Ticket prices are: $20 General and $10 Students; they are available on our website at: www.jewishsgpv.org/forms.

For questions, please contact Cantor Judy Sofer at jsofer@jewishsgpv.org or (626) 445-0810.

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