The three cast members of My Name is Asher Lev join for lively conversation about this highly-praised new play based on the best-selling novel by Chaim Potok (author of The Chosen), and perform favorite excerpts.
Set in post-war Brooklyn, My Name is Asher Lev tells the coming- of-age story of a boy prodigy who must be an artist at any cost -- against the will of family, community and tradition. It is the powerful telling of a young artist with a universal theme to follow our passion – against everything.
The New York Times calls My Name is Asher Lev “Excellent and Heartfelt....A primal scene of American drama”; Time Out New York makes it a FOUR STAR/Critic's Pick; David Cote/"NY1 News" praises it as “a touching and soulful portrait of a family, saturated with vivid colors and handsomely framed,” while Huffington Post exclaims “One of the Best Plays of the Year! Thrilling and Suspenseful.” Performances are on sale through May 26th.
Brief Bios
Ari Brand (Asher Lev) has performed on Broadway in The Neil Simon Plays, and Off-Broadway in Black Tie (Primary Stages) and Romeo and Juliet (Delacorte). Other productions include: My Name Is Asher Lev (Long Wharf), The Diary of Anne Frank (Westport Country Playhouse), Arabian Nights (Berkeley Rep, KC Rep) and many more.
Mark Nelson (Aryeh Lev and others) has performed in Timon of Athens (The Public Theater); was Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare Theatre Company, D.C.); The Bridge Project (BAM and world tour); I Am My Own Wife (Carbonell Award); and the title role in Uncle Vanya (Bartlett Sher, director). On Broadway, he has appeared in: The Invention of Love (Lincoln Center); After the Fall, Three Sisters (Roundabout); A Few Good Men. He played Einstein in Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Obie Award).
Ilana Levine (Rivkeh Lev and others) Broadway: Wrong Mountain, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Last Night of Ballyhoo, Jake’s Women. Film: Friends With Kids, Imogene, Don Peyote, Gigantic, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Nanny Diaries, Ira & Abby, Failure To Launch, Kissing Jessica Stein. TV: “Damages,” “Law & Order,” “Rescue Me,” “The Job,” “Tanner on Tanner,” “Cashmere Mafia,” “The Buried Secret of M.Night Shyamalan,” “100 Centre Street,” “Seinfeld,” “NYPD Blue,” “Tanner ’88.” Off Broadway/Regional: The Power of Duff, Soulful Scream of a Chosen Son, Escape From Happiness, Hand to Hand, Machinal, Forgetting Frankie, Shmulnik’s Waltz. For Dominic, Georgia and Caleb.
Adam Feldman covers theater and cabaret music for Time Out New York. He is president of the New York Drama Critics' Circle.