Clarification: In the press materials and reviews for "The Boychick Affair -- the Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick," Amy Lord should be listed as the 'Co-Creator' of "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral" and the person who 'Co-Engineered' its successful theatrical run.
Valley student living a dream in funny Off Broadway show
Myra Yellin Outwater
Published: 21 November 2009
On weekdays, 15-year-old Storm Hurwitz is a student at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts, working hard toward his goal of becoming a professional actor.
When the weekend rolls around he takes a bus into New York City, where he transforms into a 13-year-old boy surrounded by a zany family on his bar mitzvah day.
Storm is on the path to his future. He's the star of Off-Broadway's "The Boychick Affair," a funny interactive production now at the Midtown Theatre.
"I love doing this show. There is also a lot of improvising with the audience, and now the cast is like a family," says Storm. "I plan to do this for as long as I can. It's not work, its fun. And I am lucky that my father lives in New York so I can stay with him each weekend."
"The Boychick Affair" is a like a Jewish version of ''Tony and Tina's Wedding,'' a production in which audience members participate as if they were guests -- interacting with the family, giving speeches, attending the reception.
Actress and playwright Amy Lord wrote ''The Boychick Affair'' while preparing for her own son's bar mitzvah. ''I had already started on this but my son's bar mitzvah just added the cream,'' explains the mother of six, ages 2-15.
"My Harry's bar mitzvah was a nightmare. The hors d'oeuvres were still frozen when they were served. My son arrived late for the service. The food ran out and, if that wasn't enough, during the candle-lighting ceremony, my husband's arm caught on fire. And then the staff started to remove the plates while our guests were still eating and the man we hired to do tattoos for all Harry's friends left and Harry was the only one who didn't get a tattoo. I hope that this doesn't make him a candidate for therapy forever."
"The Boychick Affair" premiered Jan. 27, 2008, in Los Angeles. It then broke records in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton before opening in New York early last summer in the Times Square Art Center, a small Off Broadway venue. It recently moved to the larger Midtown Theatre, a former comedy club between Sixth and Seventh Avenues on West 46th Street. Lord says the show has been optioned for a film.
Lord has been in a Philadelphia production of "Tony and Tina's Wedding" and starred in "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral," which she co-wrote and which became the fifth-longest running show Off Broadway. She also wrote and starred in "Club Disco," an interactive show set in a '70s disco in Bensonhurst, N.Y., which ran three years in Los Angeles.
Storm had never auditioned before in New York and did not have an agent when he sent his resume to Lord after hearing that they were casting for the lead role of Harry Boychik.
He says he has wanted to be an actor since the third grade. He takes a bus to the performing arts high school in Bethlehem from his home in New Hope.
"I heard of [the charter school] in the eighth grade," says Hurwitz. " I fell in love with the energy in the school and auditioned, and was accepted into the vocal music program. Partway through freshmen year, I realized that my true love was not music, but the theater."
When he saw the Broadway show "Spring Awakening" in seventh grade, he decided that one day he would perform in the show's national tour.
Lord saw his potential.
"I definitely took a chance on Storm but he's very talented," says Lord. "He's the youngest Harry we have had, but he has an innocence and youth that brings a new take on Harry, and there's something very sweet about that."
Storm began as the understudy for Harry.
"I spent the next few weeks sitting backstage and watching the show. I never had a chance to go on but I really learned the role. And when he [Harry] decided to leave, I was offered the role. I do two special raps during the show and they are such fun," says Hurwitz, whose father is Jewish.
In the show, Harry is a typical Jewish boy who is going through all the stresses, joys and mishaps of his bar mitzvah day, when he officially becomes a man. All the ceremony is there, including the Torah readings, and after the ceremony there's a party.
The audience are the guests, they watch the bar mitzvah, mingle with guests at the reception, dance the hora and eat the catered dinner.
Instead of the usual bar mitzvah speech, Storm/Harry shares his feeling in rap songs. Interestingly, Storm's father is Jewish, but Storm has not had a bar mitzvah and has only ever attended one.
Lord plays Harry's mom, Cheryl, who is trying to keep it all together.
'Shakespeare, it's not, but it is fun,'' says Lord.
Mazel Tov, Harry!
Riki Altman
Published: 17 October 2009
The Boychick Affair, writer Amy Lord’s interactive show about a bar mitzvah boy, his socially impaired family and friends, and an event that comes together with the help of a pregnant lesbian rabbi and DJ from Craigslist, promises to be more fun than a hump-happy puppy at your cousin’s bris. Based loosely on her own kid’s coming-of-age celebration (“My poor son will be in therapy the rest of his life because of this show,” Lord lamented.), this silly spectacle stars the writer as the MILF-y mom. Yes, you’ll be part of the action, drinking, eating, and dancing with the guests, Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding-style, but come casual and leave the gifts at home.
The “Hava Nagila”-ing will take place at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, 5550 NW 40th Street, beginning promptly at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, which include a buffet dinner, are $45 at the cashier’s cage. Call 954-977-6700 for more information, or visit seminolecoconutcreekcasino.com.
When everything is 'Affair' game
Nathan Burstein
Published: 27 August 2009
Harry Boychick has been celebrating his bar mitzva twice a week for the past two years - and it's still a disaster every time.
The chaotic festivities, which feature shrieking relatives, an inane rabbi and a hip-hop version of "Ve'ahavta," arrived in Times Square last month as The Boychick Affair, a two-hour piece of "experiential theater." By turns entertaining, over-the-top and purposely mortifying, the show is the creation of writer-producer Amy Lord, a Brooklyn native who also serves as director and - if that weren't enough - plays the bar-mitzva boy's mother, Cheryl.
Staged at the Times Square Arts Center, the production's "experiential" element will be familiar to fans of Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding, the long-running off-Broadway production that features shrill, volatile Italians, much like Boychick's shrill, volatile Jews. A veteran of that earlier show, Lord has filled her new production with caricatures - though they're recognizable ones - from your typical Jewish rite of passage, accompanied by Yentl jokes, constant talk of food and an endless stream of inappropriate comments by family members.
In addition to the comically gawky Harry, there's also Grandma Betty, obsessed with showing everyone just how well her looks have held up; Cousin Brendan, a lecherous 20-something rather dubiously claiming to be a med student; and Grandpa Stan, never at a loss for ways to publicly embarrass his daughter's ex, the bar mitzva boy's father.
As viewers may start to suspect, the show drew much of its inspiration from a real-life fiasco - namely the bar mitzva of Lord's real son (also named Harry), a gathering she describes as a "nightmare." From the frozen hors d'oeuvres to her husband's shirtsleeves - which caught fire during a candle-lighting ceremony - the event foreshadowed the raucousness of The Boychick Affair, although one hopes the real celebration didn't involve choreographed dance numbers or the 13-year-old star splitting his pants.
Beginning in the theater lobby outside the "sanctuary," the show literally leads viewers through the high points of the bar mitzva, moving them inside for the very brief service and then to another space for the party and buffet. As with Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding, guests shouldn't be surprised to find themselves sitting next to a "relative" during the ceremony or dancing the "Macarena" with one during the party. The festivities may make you perversely nostalgic about being 13; regardless, a trip to the buffet is included in the price of the ticket - food at Sunday performances is kosher - with wine and mixed drinks extra at the bar.
Although not what you'd wish for your own family event, audience members appeared to be enjoying themselves at one of Harry Boychick's recent bar mitzvas, happily competing in the limbo and listening good naturedly to the rantings of the various relatives. "Even modern Orthodox people" have taken pleasure in the show, Lord says, despite sections she describes as "pushing the envelope." (The fodder for comedy - and shouting - includes revelations of infidelity and a rather unsurprising announcement about a cousin's sexual orientation.)
WHILE The Boychick Affair doesn't offer an especially flattering look at bar mitzvas, enough attention is paid to ritual - both by the characters and in the "program" for the service - that non-Jewish viewers might leave with a sense of what's involved in the tradition. For the playwright, who calls the characters both "an amalgamation" of her own family and the product of "my very weird brain," the show's boisterousness is a reflection of a certain kind of familial love - one that's often loud but also unabashedly honest and expressive.
She inherited it, of course, from her relatives.
"My grandfather," she says, "used to come to my high school and hand out cards that said 'Harry's Taxi Service.' So now it's my turn to embarrass my kids."
She'll be doing so in Times Square into September, with hopes to extend the show through October and possibly bring it back to New York for a longer run. "I would love to come back here," she says, speaking of the city she left nearly two decades ago for LA. "I want to come home, but somebody needs to find my husband a job here."
In the meantime, she's looking forward to winter productions of The Boychick Affair in Florida - where it already enjoyed a successful run - and in Las Vegas. For 18 months beginning in 2007, Harry Boychick also celebrated his bar mitzva in LA, where agents are looking at a possible film version. (If her original Harry isn't available, she says, she'd settle for Zac Efron - "Disney it up a little," she suggests.)
With her son's real-life bar mitzva and dozens of Harry Boychicks behind her, she's an expert on the subject, offering some helpful pointers based on painful experience. "Make sure the hors d'oeuvres are cooked," she says, deadpan. "Hire a DJ who actually has music on his computer. Make sure you have extra plates."
Have the loudmouth characters from her show made her more sensitive to self-conscious members of her own family? Don't be so sure.
"My daughter is having a bat mitzva in January," she says with a laugh, "and she's pretty nervous about what I'm going to do."
Good Fun!
By Frank Schec
6 August 2009
OY, how time passes! Seems it was only yesterday we were attending "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral." Now her great-grandson's getting bar-mitzvahed.
In case you didn't get the invitation, it was last weekend -- and every weekend through September. And the best part about "The Boychick Affair -- The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick" is you don't have to bring a gift, other than the $72 admission charge. But for that you also get a nice chicken dinner (glatt kosher Chinese on Sundays).
This is, of course, the latest interactive theater show, apparently designed for people who don't have enough real-life functions to attend. I will say that Harry's bar mitzvah was more fun than my own -- sorry, Mom and Dad -- although the fact that this time I didn't have to learn a haphtara probably had a lot to do with it.
Written and directed by Amy Lord -- who engineered Grandma Sylvia's funeral and stars here as Harry's "MILF of the Year Award"-winning mother -- "Boychick" is a predictably boisterous affair, one that guarantees you'll be up and dancing everything from the Macarena to "Hava Nagila."
The cast includes a hip-hop-loving bar mitzvah boy, who greets his guests with a hearty "Wassup!"; a very pregnant lesbian rabbi from Brooklyn; and Harry's father, who proudly announces, "I got the DJ on Craigslist."
And then there's Harry's lascivious grandmother, his hippie uncle, a cousin who hits on every woman in attendance, and a pair of adopted African cousins. The entertainment is provided by two sexy dancers wearing hot pants with "Shalom" emblazoned across their tushes.
As they engage in comic renditions of such familiar rituals as the candle-lighting ceremony, the increasingly inebriated family members -- played with hilarious conviction by the hardworking ensemble -- eventually begin squabbling and unleashing dark family secrets.
It's all good fun, assuming you're in the right mood. Patronizing the cash bar is probably a good idea./p>
Let's be grateful we missed Harry's bris.
THE BOYCHICK AFFAIR -- THE BAR MITZVAH OF HARRY BOYCHICK Times Square Arts Center, 669 Eighth Ave.; 212-586-7829. Through Sept. 27.
The Boychick Affair:
an experience like no other on Broadway!
Reviewed by Leonard Jacobs
Published: 24 July 2009
The “fourth wall” in theater describes the invisible barrier between the actors and the audience. In “The Boychick Affair — The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick,” writer Amy Lord takes the fourth wall and drives a truck through it.
“The Boychick Affair” is the latest offering from Lord, who starred in the interactive play “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” before creating “Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral” in 1994. This time, Grandma Sylvia’s great-grandson Harry is becoming a bar mitzvah. After a successful two-year run in Los Angeles and a stint in Florida, Lord has brought her madcap creation to New York and everyone — well, almost everyone, according to the program — is invited.
Going to see “The Producers” is fun. Going to “The Boychick Affair” is an experience like no other on Broadway.
Creator Lord directs the production and also stars as Harry’s mother, Cheryl Boychick. Lord plays the role perfectly and you quickly start sympathizing with this woman struggling with a shyster ex-husband and a gangsta-wannabe son. Playing the title character is 21-year-old Greg Mikuak, who originated the role in Los Angeles and is also assistant director and producer. Mikurak’s interpretation of a 13-year-old is spot on, and at times you can’t help thinking, “I’m glad he’s not my son.”
I’ve seen my share of bar mitzvah mishaps, but nothing like what goes wrong for poor Harry and his family. There’s a certain amount of schadenfreude as you watch the ceremony unfold. Surrounded by Harry’s family, you experience their snide comments, shouts of outrage, and participate in every l’chaim (Manischewitz is served). The cast takes great strides to make you feel part of the Boychick clan — even as you quickly realize this is not a family you want to be part of.
You start off waiting around a small lobby with the rest of the audience, wondering when they’ll let you in. The entire cast then comes frantically racing down the stairs and starts mingling, thanking you for coming and asking you where you’re from.
They also ask if you’ve seen Harry, the bar mitzvah boy, who seems to be missing. After a few minutes, everybody is led upstairs to the synagogue and the family members continue to mingle in the pews (yes, you’re sitting in pews). As Harry’s grandfather and uncle sit down behind me, and Grandpa Stan tells me of his prized Gremlin, which he drove from Florida to Las Vegas to pick up his son Brendan from medical school and then drove to New York. He’s balking about the price of parking when Rabbi Jules calls the congregation to attention.
After a, um, creative interpretation of Harry’s Torah reading, the guests are shepherded out again, this time to the banquet hall for the party. Family members once again sit among the audience and you hear their creative backstories in between their cues in the larger production.
This is the stereotypical loud Jewish family that’s into everybody else’s business. There’s aging hippie Uncle Sheldon; his wife Aunt Rita (who has to sit on a special chair for her back); their adopted Ethiopian children Nechema and Bobby; and Harry’s divorced parents, Cheryl and Aaron, who are vying for their son’s affections. And then there’s Tito, the Mexican guy who for some reason keeps hanging around the family. And what would be a bar mitzvah without a rabbi? In this case, it’s Rabbi Jules Feinman of Cong. Beit Shalom, temporarily located next to the Wonder Wheel, behind Nathan’s, next to The Cyclone in Coney Island. And did I mention that Jules is a pregnant lesbian?
Yes, many of these characters are stereotypes and we’ve seen them in various incarnations in film and television. If the production were in a more traditional format, it would probably fall flat, but the beauty of the interactive format is that you begin to relate to the characters, empathize with them, and care about them.
“You have all the characters go beyond what’s real,” Lord told The Jewish Standard. “There’s always somebody there somebody can relate to.”
Lord’s inspiration came from her own son Harry’s bar mitzvah a few years ago. The caterer ran out of plates and had to drag them out of people’s hands to quickly wash and reuse them; hors d’oeuvres were cold; young guests began gnawing on the challah before the bracha; her husband’s arm caught on fire from the birthday candles; and as for Harry? Well, somebody thought he should have some schnapps for his big day.
“It was a nightmare,” Lord said. But those misfortunes planted the seeds for the folly of Harry Boychick’s big day. “Art imitates life,” she added.
For someone who has never experienced an interactive show before, it can be a little unnerving at first. From the moment the cast walks into the lobby until the very end, they never break character. They are, of course, following a script, but there’s also a good chunk of improvisation as they mingle among the guests. Eventually, you begin to lose your grounding in your own reality and you enter theirs — and that’s when the fun really begins. You’ll get up and dance with Aunt Rita, say l’chaim with Grandpa Stan, and find yourself wanting to punch Aaron Boychick when he comes asking to borrow money.
With a cast of more than a dozen, this show is worth seeing twice just for the experience of interacting with each cast member. They spread themselves out during the ceremony and party so that every person at the show has a different experience — including the cast.
“They get to experience different audiences and that’s how the show grows,” Lord said. “We depend on the audience, which makes it even harder. For audiences that are a little mellow, it’s up to the cast to keep the energy up.”
Tickets are $69 and include a buffet meal, which is glatt kosher on Sundays. The show is scheduled to run at the Times Square Arts Center through Sept. 6. For information, visit www.boychickaffair.com.
The Boychick Affair--The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick
VENUE
Times Square Arts Center
CAST
Greg Mikurak, Amy Lord, Herb Walsh, Janice Markham, Benny Solmor, Lauren Kairalla, Barbara Pergament, Ina Marie Smith, Nicholas Troilo, Jeff Campanella, Adam Hocherman, Gloria Jung, Joseph Long, Constance Reese, Bryana Servedio, Sabrina Cohen, Lisa Perla, Katherine Mesa, Andre Montal
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY
Amy Lord
CHOREOGRAPHER
Benny Solmor
nytheatre.com review
Nicole Bournas-Ney • July 18, 2009
Just weeks ago the American Theatre Wing announced that they were eliminating the Tony Award for Best Theatrical Event because there really wasn't any difference between these productions and plays or musicals. Well, with all due respect to the Tony committee, I must beg to differ. The Boychick Affair is truly a theatrical event—comparing it with a traditional play or musical would just be, well, silly. Boychick is a mock bar mitzvah that sprawls through three theatre spaces and features a haftorah recited rap-style and plot twists that easily could have been ripped from a Days of Our Lives script. This piece of interactive theatre is about not creating your usual kind of production, but rather a total experience for the bar mitzvah "guests."
What The Boychick Affair seeks to accomplish is quite simple—that those attending the celebration have a zany, good time and feel like they are at an actual bar mitzvah in some way. After all, besides the fact that it is a coming-of-age ritual, the point behind a real life bar mitzvah is to be a celebration. Underneath an undeniably and deliciously ludicrous facade—the incessantly show-tune-belting cousin, the weed-smoking Hippie uncle, and the Bible-thumping, icon-toting stepmother with a Southern accent seemingly directly out of Auntie Mame—there is a sense of authenticity in The Boychick Affair. Anyone who has attended a bar mitzvah would recognize the proud grandfather who won't stop chewing your ear off, the weepy speech by the mother who invariably mentions the bris, the inevitable off-key rendition of "Sunrise, Sunset," and being dragged out of your seat to dance the Macarena.
The exceptionally game cast members are all funny, but there are three standouts. Greg Mikurak, who assistant directed the event, also plays bar mitzvah boy Harry Boychick, the center of all the to-do and basically everybody's straight man. Mikurak does a beautiful job providing an emotional center to the evening. Janice Markham as the pregnant lesbian Rabbi Feinman who runs a congregation located under Coney Island's Wonder Wheel, is stellar, providing hilarity through her complete earnestness in the face of utter madness.
And finally there is Amy Lord. After having been the very first leading lady in that mother ship of environmental theatre, Tina and Tony's Wedding, she wrote, directed, and plays mother of the bar mitzvah boy, Cheryl Boychick, in this production. Cheryl is, in a way, the most realistic of all the characters, playing the tense, overprotective Jewish mama to a T.
When a fire that starts during the traditional candle lighting ceremony has been put out, when we've all had a Hispanic nosh, and when the cheesy dancing Shalom Girls have finished gyrating, The Boychick Affair is exactly what it should be—very much like going to a real-life bar mitzvah, only with marquee lights and Broadway flair. That is to say, it's kitschy, awkward, and one heck of a fun evening.
The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick at the Times Square Arts Center
Reviewed by Leonard Jacobs
For BACKSTAGE
The specter of Grandma Sylvia—whom theatergoers will recall as the matriarch of a dizzy, dysfunctional family that celebrated her funeral Off-Broadway during the 1990s—looms large over The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick, the newest addition to the interactive-theater genre.
Unlike Grandma Sylvia's Funeral, The Boychick Affair doesn't immediately tell you what it's about, so let me help. As the subtitle suggests, it's the bar mitzvah of Harry S. Boychick (Greg Mikuak), Sylvia's great-grandson. And what an affair it is! There are leggy hip-hop dancers swiveling their hips by the bima, and enough rap to make the Torah sound gangsta. Meanwhile, there are Harry's divorced parents, Cheryl (Amy Lord) and Aaron (Herbert A. Walsh), acrimoniously sniping at one another. Aaron, who says he's a Broadway producer, is what Sylvia would call a no-goodnik. He hasn't enough cash to pay for the affair and must be continually bailed out by family friend Tito Sanchez (André Montal). He also gives out business cards reading "I Am Theatre" and says he owns the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre—no, that's not a misspelling.
Adding to the lunacy are characters out of a soap opera, like Soraii Teitelbaum (Ina Marie Smith), a cousin dreaming of starring in Broadway musicals who sings—often on key, though not always—practically without interruption. Or Rabbi Jules Feinman (Janice Markham), who seems to be approximately 14 months pregnant. Or another cousin, Brendan Grossman (Jeff Campanella), whose libido operates on permanent overdrive and who spends much of his evening teasing women while wearing a pink bathrobe.
A flotilla of minor characters is capable of interrupting the show as well, whether it's during the ceremony, when Harry is to read from the Torah (but never does), or at the reception. For example, there's Aunt Rita (Gloria Jung), whose scoliosis requires her to sit in a special chair, and her husband, Sheldon (Adam Hockerman), who wouldn't be unwelcome at a Grateful Dead concert and was generous enough to offer me a, er, toke-n of his esteem. (I said thanks but no thanks.) Nehema (Constance Reese) and Bobby (Joseph Long) are Rita and Sheldon's children, adopted from Africa. At one point Nehema paid homage to her heritage by performing an African dance up the aisle of the makeshift shul where the ceremony occurs. At another point Bobby, wearing a shirt fit for a bicycle messenger and spandex for effect, was so flamboyant he could have turned Harry's bar mitzvah into a drag ball from the House of Xtravaganza.
One of the best aspects of interactive theater—and evident in how Lord, who wrote The Boychick Affair, directs it—is how it sets up lunatic characters and lets them rip. There is a structure, of course, in that it's Harry's bar mitzvah, and certainly Harry gets his due. But it's how Mikuak and the other actors react to all the guests and never break character that makes The Boychick Affair such a hoot. In a summertime starved for comedy, this show is a brucha—a blessing.
Presented by Boychick Affair LLC at the Times Square Arts Center, 669 Eighth Ave., NYC. July 18–Sept. 6. Sat., 6:30 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (800) 838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com. Casting by Sarah Harris.
The Boychick Affair is Out There!
Valley Scene Magazine
By Tony Reverditto
You are cordially invited to invite yourself, your friends and your family to attend "The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry S. Boychick". Filled with mayhem in the tradition of "Tony n' Tina's Wedding", from the absurd ceremony to the frolicking dinner reception, comes a Bar Mitzvah like no other. This politically correct, yet incorrect Interactive, Improvisational-Prod-uction tries to tackle the issues of several dysfunctional characters. You could pretty much pick the overt, pushy cast of characters out of the crowd, and whether you like it or not, they literally pull you into the act and into dances. If that isn't enough, they go on to accost those in attendance at the dinner seating as well. Some of banter was amusing with the characters as they continually interrupt the meal and impose their problems on you. At times, I had the very bizarre feeling that we had crashed a Bar Mitzvah, because we didn't know any of these people!
Gregory Mikurak does an excellent job and was a ray of sunshine as the central character Harry. I was surprised how convincing he was at playing a thirteen year old coming of age, considering he is pushing twenty (a hot commodity in Hollywood terms). I am not going to give away the storylines, but the cast of characters try to give it their all and try to put their best comic selves out there.
One pivotal incident is that dear old dad has failed to pay the catering bill and the family argues about it in front of everyone. Tito, a close Hispanic family "friend" comes through with some excellent Mexican food to feed the guests which was a clever idea that forced a non-traditional celebratory meal; so, don't expect Kosher, cuz you're not going to get it.
My group enjoyed hanging out with, even started scolding the characters and some members of the cast had decent comebacks. Is it for everybody? Probably not, but, because we weren't afraid to loosen up and have a little fun, we had a good time. We even talked about it later that evening over a glass of wine, had a few retrospective laughs and agreed that with some tightening it could work well for the kind of demographic it can attract. Produced, written, and directed by the ambitious and multi-faceted, Amy Lord, who created the Off-Broadway smash-hit "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral" and also steps into the cast as Harry's all over the map mother.
If you're up for a silly theatrical event based on a cultural experience and don't mind getting into the act, get out there and see it. The group of energetic actor's deserve all of the community support they can get in the pursuit of their artistic endeavors.
The cast includes: Jacqueline Blumsack, Albert Cristofano, Marty Dusig, Andrea Friedline, Adrian Harrell, Sarah Harris, Phillip Hersh, Lesley Hunt, Daniela Jacobson, Brian Larabee, Amy Lord, Joanie Marx, Greg Mikurak, Carlos Luis Orrala, Constance Reese and Benny Solmor.
Final Performances: Saturday March 21 & April 4 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel
12825 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604
Tickets are $25.00 to $36.00 (meal included)
Info Line:
(310) 980-6260
Brown Paper Tickets
(800) 838-3006
"BOYCHICK AFFAIR" HILARIOUS
by Marvin Glassman
Special to Jewish Journal
Many of us are accustomed to witnessing at bar mitzvahs "how I became a man today" speeches, overly sentimental parents, crying grandmothers, lots of dancing and guests wearing new fashion items. The interactive comedy dinner theatre show "The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick", running now through March 8 at Emerald Hills Country Club in Hollywood, simulates the real bar mitzvahs that many of us experienced.
However, the show is played for laughs more than reality and so the interactive cast has on the roster: a pregnant, lesbian rabbi; a Jesus thumping girlfriend of the father of the bar mitzvah boy; a grandmother who is either having a heart attack or crying; a Spanish relative with ties to criminals and a few more zany characters thrown in.
In the show, the bar mitzvah boy does gangsta rap, family members feud, and a soap opera of mistaken identity relatives leave one with the realization that no real bar mitzvah can be as strange as this one or as much fun.
Putting this cast together with a buffet dinner and you have a formula for a good time. "Like many interactive shows, 'Boychick' works because the audience expects to have fun, so you have a built in audience for years," said producer Carrol Mendelson, who raised her two children in Hollywood, and wanted to re-create as much of the real bar mitzvah experience without being too predictable. "The Boychick Affair" has been playing for two years in Los Angeles, and although its run in Hollywood is currently for three months, it may be renewed for longer.
Playwright Amy Lord has a penchant for the interactive comedy dinner theatre genre, starring in "Tony and Tina's Wedding" and "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral", both still running for many years off-Broadway and may have found another long running vehicle with "Boychick". "We have a large 22 member cast so things never get dull. Actors improvise and hope the audience gets involved to at least dance and eat, but we never cross the line and push audience members to interact if they don't want to. You only need one or two in the audience to interact to make it fun for everyone," said Lord.
"It seems so much like a real bar mitzvah, I forgot for a moment that I was watching people who are not my relatives. I had a better time tonight than at some real bar mitzvahs," said Jack Rosen, a retired attorney who was part of the audience.
Standing out among the 22 member cast were actors Doug Smith (Harry Boychick), Marty Foyer (father Aaron Boychick), Jessica Welch (Rabbi Jules), Tony Salsberg (uncle Tito Sanchez) and Francine Birns (mother Cheryl Boychick).
The cast is blessed with good acting, improvisational skills and strong chemistry to make "The Boychick Affair" addictive even for those who may have already been invited to Harry Boychick's bar mitzvah before.
"The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick" runs through March 8 at Emerald Hills Country Club in Hollywood. Tickets including dinner are $44. For more information, call 866-262-6253 or go to www.boychickaffair.com
THE BOYCHICK AFFAIR: A Bar Mitzvah You'll REALLY Want to Attend
HOLLYWOOD GAZETTE
By Laura Burdick-Sherman
Senior Correspondent
When you arrive at the lobby of a Bar Mitzvah, and you're handed a yarmulke, while the family gossips with angst-filled faces, and a very pregnant lesbian rabbi ushers you in, you know this is going be one of the better Bar Mitzvahs you've ever attended.
Such is the guests' experience at the newly-opened interactive comedy-dinner theater, "The Boychick Affair", at Emerald Hills Country Club in Hollywood.
Using everyday Jewish-Yiddish vernacular from 'chutzpah' (audacity) to 'fercockta' (crappy), the enthusiastic cast involves guests immediately and throughout the show.
From the lobby welcome to Harry Boychick's hip-hop Haftorah to meshuganeh (crazy) festivities and candle-lighting, the audience moves from amusement to awe-stricken at the "chutzpah" of the cast. Latin fare dinner and end-of =the-evening soap opera revelations punctuate the unexpected flare of an entertaining evening.
Seemingly personal matters like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or the size of Harry's penis are announced as openly as they sometimes appear in unscripted conversations between family and friends.
However, the Boychick, Teitelbaum and Grossman families are treated to so lightheartedly and affectionately by Creator/writer, Amy Lord, that even the most curmudgeon-looking guests could be seen eventually laughing, singing and dancing in the celebration.
Guests seem to feel so at home that hardly a space remained to join the feverish Horah, watch the Chair dance or participate in the Limbo Rock. This was one Bar Mitzvah that didn't need to hire what are called, by Bar Mitzvah planner, "motivational dancers". The Boychick Affair is living proof that with a little joi devivre, Hamish merriment, and a couple of girls dancing on chairs, you can have a successful "coming of age" event.
But, as the saying goes, "you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Jewish food and events".
Jesus is pervasive with the over-the-top evangelical girlfriend, Penny (Lauren Kairalla), of Aaron Boychick (Marty Foyer), while loyal friend Tito Sanchez, played by earnest Tony Salzberg, adds Latin flavor, in more ways than one, and Lenny Lizzard (Benny Solmor) adds a level of energy all his own.
Doug Smith is believable as the sweet, unevolved Harry Boychick. No more ready to enter manhood than a synagogue. Francine Birns plays a convincing anxiety-riddled mom of B'nai Mitzvah and ex-wife, and Marty Foyer, amazing natural as Aaron Boychick. Brian Larrabee is so ebuliant as happy go lucky Uncle Brendan Grossman, either you want to have whatever he's drinking or hire him for the next show.
The entire casts deserve kudos for their professionalism.
Interestingly, the Hollywood audience, so familiar with the protocol, dressed in Bar Mitzvah appropriate attire. And, although the cast performed as hyperboles of their landsmen, the appearances and mannerisms of cast and guests so mirrored each other that the groups were seamless, adding an almost eerie surrealism to the evening.
Not surprisingly, the producers and cast are no strangers to Hollywood. Lord's father lives in Fort Lauderdale, and she came for the inaugural premiere. producer, Carrol Mendelson, lived and raised her children in Hollywood before moving to Los Angeles.
Dinner is served late-ish, so those hoping for early platters of hors d'ovres will have to wait for the real thing. Sunset-diners might want to have an early snack to tide them over. Water, coffee and dessert are provided, but there is a charge for soft drinks, beer, wine and liquor.
In addition to The Boychick Affair, Lord was best known for her starring performance as Tina in "Tony and Tina's Wedding". She also created the fifth-longest running Off-Broadway show, "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral", and three-year running smash-hit, "Club Disco", an interactive show set in a 70's disco in Bensonhurst, New York. The Boychick Affair will begin filming in March, and Lord also hopes to bring the show Off-Broadway, in New York, in 2010.
"Hollywood seemed like the perfect place. Boychick loves Hollywood. He grew up there. He just returned to his roots, but it's for Cuban, Christian, Purple, Green... anyone who wants to have fun." Said Lord.
An award-winning writer and producer in her own right, Mendelson lived and raised a family in Hollywood before moving to Los Angeles. Her son became a Bar Mitzvah in Hollywood. Prior to producing Boychick, she created "Imperfect Seed", "Precious Piglet and her Pals" and "Rachel and Julio" with Lainie Kazan and Joe Bologna.
"I'm happy to be back in Hollywood." Mendelson said. "People seem to get into the mood. It's very festive, and they have fun."
Playgoers are 'guests' at wacky 'Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick' in Hollywood
by EILEEN SOLER Special to The Miami Herald
Mazel tov! (Oy vey.)
For anyone from a dysfunctional family who has ever attended a celebration with relatives from hell, welcome to The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick.
You come, you nosh, you schmooze, dance the hora, light birthday candles for Harry's bar mitzvah and get down to partying with the 13-year-old (played by Doug Smith) who thinks he's gangsta, along with 20 relatives whose contemporary issues are served up as zesty as the ''kosher-style'' piccadillo.
It's environmental, interactive comedy theater and it will be going on at the Club at Emerald Hills in Hollywood through March 8.
And in the words of Harry's lawyer father Aaron Boychick's (Marty Foyer) Bible-thumping shiksa girlfriend Penelope (Lauren Kairalla), ``Jesus has everything under control.''
Not.
Tickets, at $44 per person, include dinner, dancing and comedy that begin at the holy ceremony led by pregnant lesbian Rabbi Jules (Jessica Marion Welch), during which Harry's relatives show themselves by calling out perfectly inappropriate comments about the bar mitzvah boy.
Soon, Harry's divorced parents sing his praises and Harry returns the favor by belting out a Bible-peppered street rap while dancers with ''Shalom'' emblazoned on their bottoms shake their thang.
''Shalom, baby, yo . . . It's all about the love, grandma,'' he sings as his mother Cheryl (Francine Birns) rushes up to guests, apologizing: ``A mother could never know this would happen. He is really a delicious boy.''
From the ''sanctuary'' at the Club of Emerald Hills, guests file into a hallway at the top of a stair, where hyperactive Uncle Brendan Grossman (Brian Larrabee) falls into a fountain and flamboyantly gay cousin Bobby Grossman (Joseph Long), adopted from Ethiopia, squeals through the scene.
''All bar mitzvahs are dysfunctional, but certainly not as much fun as this one,'' said Howard Miller, spokesman for the show. ``We make the best of it and we tie it together with love.''
The three-hour, threelocation event opened Jan. 10.
The show, created by Amy Lord from experiences at her own son's near-fiasco bar mitzvah, is running concurrently in Los Angeles and is in its 13th sold-out month.
'We've become so popular that we have groupies who know how to play along. It's Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding for Jews,'' Lord said.
Lord should know.
The mother of six starred as Tina in Tony 'n' Tina and created, wrote, produced and performed in Grandma Sylvia's Funeral, another popular interactive theater show.
The mostly improvised Boychick Affair is scripted just enough to move the train-wreck event to a sweet destination.
''The actors feed off each other and the audience so much that [the audience] never knows what to expect,'' said May Cain, whose daughter, Ariel Snihur, 15, plays one of the hip-hop dancing girls.
Guests (the audience) and relatives take the dance floor for the Macarena, the Electric Slide, the Soldier Boy and the hora.
And everyone eats, eats, eats.
Grandparents, uncles and aunts take turns telling hilarious stories about their own little Harry that include an especially embarrassing memory from grandpa Stan (Barry Klein) about Harry's bris.
Meanwhile, relatives mingle and carry on cross-conversations at every table, pull guests to dance, and drink much too much until long-held family secrets bring the show to a wild climax.
''I felt like I was with family members. I could have been a distant cousin,'' said Steve Weisberg of Hollywood.
``We need more theater like this in South Florida.''
Interactive play is no sit-down Affair
by James VandenAkker Contributing Writer
"Have a nosh. Have a laugh. Hava Nagila!" That's the clever tagline for The Boychick Affair, a zany interactive theatrical event playing at the Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel in Studio City. I refer to it as a theatrical event because the term "play" is too polite for these proceedings.
The audience members are seen as invitees to the bar mitzvah of Harry Boychick, and the enthusiastic cast comes into the lobby in character to lead us to the first of three locations. Once we get there, the pregnant lesbian rabbi (Lisa Clumeck) welcomes us to the event where we are introduced to Harry (Gregory Mikurak) and his divorced parents, Aaron (Barry Papick) and Cheryl (writer/director/producer Amy Lord). Anyone who has lovingly rolled their eyes over certain family members' behavior at family functions can relate to this opening scene. There's the clueless grandfather interjecting odd assertions at random moments and the loud-mouthed aunt braying from the back of the room. Soon the audience is encouraged to clap and sing along to a celebratory ode to Harry's rite of passage. Tambourines are even passed around.
My aversion to interactive theater was eventually worn down as we moved to the dining hall of the third location. I usually prefer to let the actors act while I sit happily entertained, but I wasn't able to sit for long as various cast members repeatedly pulled me away from my notebook.
Several of us in attendance were invited to chat and even dance with the performers. A note to the shy: avoid sitting on the aisle. Only a complete curmudgeon could resist this festive occasion though. The cast's commitment to the material was truly infectious. There is even a full catered meal with dessert included in the price. It really felt like a family gathering: disparate characters joined together laughing, eating, dancing, and of course, complaining.
The multiple locations were put to good use. We even watched one of the actors submerge into the hotel swimming pool fully clothed. I wondered though how tightly scripted the whole performance was. With the audience as part of the set and the interactive nature of the piece, there has to be a fair amount of improvising going on, or at least the willingness to improvise. Regardless of the script's assembly, however, there were plenty of terrific jokes. Personal favorites were a reference to "gefilte fish tacos" and the disc jockey announcing: "Welcome to Harry's B.M."
Dinner was served about three-fourths of the way into the show and while selected tables were excused to fill their plates, the inexhaustible cast scattered to those remaining seated to ensure no one was bored. It was an impressively organized team effort. When the show formally resumed after the meal some forced character revelations ensued. It was the only part of the evening that felt inorganic and I suspect this plot device was conceived to bring everything to a climax.
You'll leave this hilarious show the way you
leave boisterous family functions at their best:
with your spirits lifted and your bellies full.
editor@theSFV.com
Tolucan Times
by Carol Kaufman Segal
October 29, 2008
You are invited to a most unorthodox Bar Mitzvah, but I can bet that you will find it one of the most enjoyable ones you will ever attend! “The Boychick Affair,” at the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel in Studio City, brings you the Bar Mitzvah of Harry S. Boychick (an adorable Greg Mikurak) given by his Mother Cheryl (Amy Lord, writer and director) and her ex-husband, Aaron Boychick (Barry Papick). Harry’s Bar Mitzvah is presided over by Rabbi Jules Friedman (Janice Markham), who by the way is a Lesbian expecting twins from a sperm donor! With his dysfunctional relatives, the Teitelbaums and the Grossmans, family friends (the Sanchez family) and any number of other outside friends, Harry’s Bar Mitzvah offers up an afternoon in which you can participate with the entire cast (18 in all) talk, dance and sing with them and feel like “one of the family.”
At the same time, you will find yourself laughing all throughout the celebration. You will even get to enjoy the festive meal that comes with your “invitation.” But even though this is a happy occasion and everyone is having such a great time, as is usual in many cases when lots of relatives get together, there are family squabbles that arise during the party. Eventually, there are even secrets that are revealed that could possibly spoil this important event in Harry’s life. But never fear, the entire afternoon is all spent in fun and laughter.
“The Boychick Affair” is performed Sundays at 3 p.m., at the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel in Studio City. Group tickets are available by contacting Rosalie Lazarus, (818) 986-3006; individual tickets by calling (800) 838-3006.
LA WEEKLY FEBRUARY 28, 2008
THE BOYCHICK AFFAIR: THE BAR MITZVAH OF HARRY BOYCHICK Where's Harry? All the guests have arrived, but bar mitzvah boy Harry (Greg Mikurak) and his father, Aaron (Barry Papick), have gotten lost on their way to the temple. The pregnant New Age rabbi (Janice Markham) is in a dither, as is Harry's mother, Cheryl (writer-director Amy Lord). While cousin Soraii (Rebecca Silberman) "entertains" the waiting guests with off-key renditions of show tunes, man-hungry Grandma Betty (Sheila Oaks) goes on the prowl, as Aunt Rita (Cheryl David) gets an early start on the vodka.
The wait for Harry allows the audience to mix freely with the actors in Lord's hilarious interactive comedy about a dysfunctional family. When the bar mitzvah boy finally arrives, we're treated to a rendition of Hebrew prayers set to a rap beat. Following the bar mitzvah, the audience is ushered into a ballroom to be entertained by the cheesy musical duo the Lizards (Sam Crouppen and Alissa-Nicole Koblentz), who succeed in getting most of the audience to dance.
As the performance progresses, there is escalating verisimilitude — it becomes increasingly difficult to tell audience members from cast members, much to Lord's credit as writer and director. Lisa Clumeck's colorful costumes add humor to the show, with lots of visible bra straps and other fashion disasters. Hayworth Theater, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake; Sun., 2 p.m.; indef.(Sandra Ross)
AssociatedContent.com
Bonnie Preiver
My review, by Bonnie Preiver, Associated Content.com The Boychick Affair is a delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, as this interactive theater experience, in the vein of Grandma Sylvia's funeral, and Tony and Tina's Wedding truly involves and engages the audience completely!
One feels as though he/she is a true relative or friend of the Boychick
clan, and feels totally welcome, during the amusing, lively Bar Mitzvah
service, as well as the Reception to follow. Of course, no party is complete
without food!, and the congregation/audience is well fed indeed! The cast
are very convincing, realistic, and a real New York vibe ensues throughout
the show. Joel Weiss, as Uncle Sheldon is quite memorable in his character,
as is the entire cast. The title Boychick Affair is a great play of words,
with a double entendre, one discovers towards the end of the show. A not to be missed event! Now playing Sundays, at 2pm at the Hayworth Theater in Los Angeles.
HollywoodReporter.com
Julianna Beckett
A frantic 2 hrs and 15 minutes without an intermission, and the performers never let up. Each one carries their character from table to table and literally outside the rest rooms - a total hoot of an afternoon. As with most interactive shows, the show actually begins before you enter the performance area and that is half the fun, watching the actors mingle with the audience. I loved every minute of it, and the food is great. For me, it worked on every level as I tried to catch every conversation the actors were having around me. I had two cast members seated next to me and they never let up, not once.
The audience gets to play along
Los Angeles Times
Charlotte Stoudt
The worst part of family events -- weddings, birthdays, funerals -- may be that they actually involve your family. Amy Lord, Creator of the long-running interactive show "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral," has changed all that. Now every Sunday afternoon at the Hayworth, you're invited to "The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick," another clan gathering where the audience improvises alongside the cast of "relatives."
Of course the party goes off the rails early on: Being a nice Jewish boy, all Harry (Gregory Mikurak) wants to do is grow up to be a rapper, much to the horror of his parents, Cheryl (Lord) and Aaron (Barry Papick). But why shouldn't every 13-year-old have fly girls at his side while reading the Haftarah?
"Boychick" is all perfectly good-humored, and includes among other eccentrics an impossibly sincere pregnant lesbian rabbi (Janice Markham) and an aunt given to striptease (Cheryl David). As the cere- mony unfolds, (predictably) shocking revelations and inappropriate behavior ensues. Exhibitionists who wish to test-drive an alternative social identity can enjoy the simple moments: mingle with the family, dance the Macarena, and have a little nosh from the buffet table, courtesy of Casablanca Restaurant.
"Boychick" is scattershot goof; the show's fun entirely depends on your willingness to participate. Introverts will want to steer clear. But Lord -- incidentally the most convincing performer in her own play -- has created a tiny screwball universe for compulsive party crashers.
-- Charlotte Stoudt
"The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick," The Hayworth Theatre, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Aug. 31. $36. (800) 838-3006. Running time: 2 hours.
American Radio Network
KCLA, KLAS, KPRO-AM, KMAX-AM
Kaleidoscope Radio Magazine
By Gerri Garner
The Hayworth Theatre presents a madcap mockumentary of playwright Amy Lord’s hilarious take on the psychological drama that revolves around a huge family function. This one is a Bar Mitzvah, in ‘The Boychick Affair.’
You, the audience, are the invited guests. You mingle with the crazy family members, waiting for the Bar Mitzvah boy to show up for his ceremony. One Aunt Trudy (Jade Bari) wants to know if I smoke marijuana. She promises to find me later. Finally when Harry S. Boychick (Gregory Mikurak) arrives, we all are escorted upstairs to see him become a man on his thirteenth birthday.
Anybody can relate to the dynamics that goes on in such situations, ie: lust, love and betrayal.
The play, as written, could be based on a real event, innovatively directed by Lord, incorporating the audience as natural participants. The afternoon event is a hoot! You never know what is going to happen. The ensemble cast is outstanding, and they never leave character. Mikurak, as the wannabe boy in the hood, is terrific. Check out his belt.
After the Bar Mitzvah, there is a beautiful reception and a delicious, generous luncheon to partake in. I didn’t go to a special press review, I just joined in with the regular audience, so this is the real deal!
It is fantastic, funny… a wonderful setting, and a great experience. Please bring your sense of humor.
“The Boychick Affair” at The Hayworth Theatre located at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, playing Sundays at 2 pm. For reservations, please call area code (800) 838-3006 or go on line to www.thehayworth.com.
Hava Nagila, and a Quesadilla Too!
By Cynthia Citron
For the San Diego Jewish World
The Santa Monica Daily Press
www.CurtainUp.com
and www.AIRSLA.org (radio/podcast)
You don’t have to be Jewish to hate a Bar Mitzvah, but it certainly helps! Especially if you don’t know the Bar Mitzvah boy, his parents, his grandparents, his aunts, his uncles, his cousins, his pre-teen friends, or even the lesbian rabbi and her partner.
Such a motley group of relatives, friends, and strangers gathers every Sunday at The Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles to carry out “The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick,” and what they undertake is improv at its very best---or at least, improv at its very loudest. As is traditional at every Jewish event, nobody ever stops talking---or shouting. Or schmoozing at the top of their lungs.
Even when the religious service begins in the makeshift synagogue, members of the extended family, seated among the strangers in the audience, continue to shout out comments to one another, upstaging both the rabbi and the Bar Mitzvah boy. Undaunted, Harry (played by poised 19-year-old Greg Mikurak) recites his portion of the Torah in a rap beat, thanks his family, and stands by patiently as his divorced parents take turns waxing eloquent about him. So far so good, and Rabbi Jules (Janice Markham) leads the gathering to the reception hall for the traditional celebratory meal.
But first, everybody dances! The hora, of course, and the macarena, but surprisingly, not the bunnyhop, which is usually mandatory at any Jewish celebration. Various members of the family sing and tell stories and are called to the small table down front to light one of Harry’s birthday candles. And the noise continues, as family members engage in snatches of conversation, cross-conversations, and lots of kibitzing.
Amy Lord, who wrote and directed this interactive special event, plays Harry’s mother Cheryl, who tries to control the goings-on as well as the outrageous behavior of her ex-husband Aaron (played by Barry Papick). Aaron has imprudently brought his new girlfriend, Penelope, young and Catholic, to the affair. Penelope is played by Tara Peters, and she staggers the family by presenting the Bar Mitzvah boy with a large portrait of Jesus and imploring him to accept Jesus as his savior before it’s too late. “There’s still time!” she pleads.
And finally, it’s time to eat. Aaron, who is apparently close to bankruptcy, has failed to pay the caterer, and it looks like the meal will not be forthcoming. But family friend Tito (Carlos Luis Orrala) steps forward to save the day, providing a full Mexican meal to the entire company. Rice and beans, chicken quesadillas, salmon, vegetable tortillas, salad, and flan for dessert. Now that’s what I call interactive! The food probably wasn’t kosher, but it was certainly delicious. And while there was no chopped liver or gefilte fish, there was also no shrimp cocktail. A blessing on his head!
More dancing, and then, a final provocative fillip, as members of the family step forward to divulge a series of bizarre secrets and the action takes a turn for the unexpected.
And one more thing that was unexpected: I actually ENJOYED this raucous Bar Mitzvah. Go figure!
This bright cast of 23 will be bringing you “The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick” every Sunday at 2 p.m. indefinitely at the Hayworth Theatre, 2511 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Call 800-838-3006 for tickets.
The Jewish Journal
Los Angeles
Most b'nai mitzvah are similar. The prayers are rehearsed months in advance, the speeches are delivered almost flawlessly, and even the parties are practically identical, regardless of which disc jockey you've hired. It's probably even safe to say that the b'nai mitzvah experience is quite a production.
But not like this one.
When I arrived at the bar mitzvah of Harry Boychick, the family immediately greeted me with open arms, as relatives paraded the foyer with cameras in hand. Aunt Leenie (on the Teitelbaum side) snapped a photo with me as she thanked me profusely for attending the simcha. Walking into the sanctuary, the ready-to-pop pregnant Rabbi Jules handed me a program as she wished all the guests a hearty "Shabbat Shalom." Following the service, which included a unique version of the Shema, guests made their way into the ballroom for lunch and dancing.
It was all strangely familiar.
While I had never actually met any of the relatives before, I felt like I had met each of them at every b'nai mitzvah or family function I've ever attended.
But that's all part of the show.
"The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick," is the latest addition to the ever-amusing genre of interactive theater, known in the business as "environmental theater." In such plays, the conventional fourth wall is broken as actors directly interact with members of the audience. Each character has a detailed background, either created on the spot or written prior to the performance. While the show is staged and scripted, about 30 percent to 40 percent is improvised, said playwright and director Amy Lord.
In addition to writing and directing the show, Lord also plays Cheryl Boychick, mother to the bar mitzvah boy -- a part with which she is very comfortable, considering that in real life she is a mother of six.
Although it mimics a real bar mitzvah, "The Boychick Affair" also adds that certain craziness that only a true Jewish family can provide.
"It's a show about a kooky family and how love carries through in the end," said Lord, who finished the script in August.
The plays begins with photo-taking in the lobby, as the audience and cast make their way to the sanctuary for the service. However, the service is only a small part of the show. Much like an actual bar or bat mitzvah, the real excitement takes place during the party, which includes a cash bar, free meal, a DJ, dancers and a variety of songs one might expect to hear at such an event, including the Hora.
And just like any family, the Boychick clan has more than its fair share of amusing characters. From an overly macho father to a free- spirited aunt, everyone in this show has some sort of strange feature.
During the meal, I was approached by the 20-something Uncle Brendan, who asked if I'd like to participate in some illegal "herbal" activity. I said yes, but only because I knew it was just a show. Uncle Brendan and hippie Aunt Trudy snuck me into a back room as the bar mitzvah boy, Harry, tagged along. The group whispered anxiously as Trudy removed an Altoids container from her purse and revealed a hand-rolled cigarette, of which the contents' legality was in question. As soon as the first few puffs were taken, Cheryl Boychick barged in screaming. Busted!
(Upon later scrutiny, the cigarette was revealed to be tobacco, not marijuana.)
Situations like these occurred throughout the evening, and it seemed everyone was involved in the show somehow. Toward the end, you couldn't tell who was acting and who was in the audience.
While Lord said most of the characters are fictional, she admits that some of them are "loosely based on a few family members." In fact her actual son, whose name is also Harry, had his bar mitzvah a few weeks ago. "The two bar mitzvahs are similar," said Lord, adding "at Harry's actual bar mitzvah, his father's arm began to catch fire and six inches of the challah went missing." Lord, however, described her family much the way she described the Boychick family: "It may look messy on the outside, but underneath, it's great."
Lord grew up in a Conservative Jewish home in Brooklyn, N.Y., and became interested in entertainment at an early age, thanks to her parents and grandparents, who were involved in writing, acting and music. Double majoring in theater and psychology at City University of New York, she went on to star as Tina in the regional production of "Toni and Tina's Wedding," perhaps the most famous interactive production.
While this is the first time interactive theatre has centered on a bar mitzvah, it's not the first time the form has hit the Jewish community. Lord also created the hit play, "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral," which became New York's fifth- ongest running off-Broadway comedy, when it was finally retired in 1998. Her current projects include the musical "Unbroken" and the TV pilot "A Slice of Life."
But does "The Boychick Affair" have the potential to be the longest running bar mitzvah ever?
While Harry's bar mitzvah may be more of a production than any other b'nai mitzvah, Lord has expectations.
It has a "life of its own," Lord said.
"The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick" plays Sundays at 2 p.m. at The Hayworth Theatre, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $36. For more information, visit http://www.thehayworth.com
LA Times Calendar Reader Reviews
The Boychick Affair:
The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick
The Hayworth Theatre
2509 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.
Readers' rating: RAVE
Reader reviews:
May 5, 2008
Unknown LA, CA
Yesterday, I saw the show for the second time. I loved it that much. Each character brings something unique and funny. I'd go again!
April 24, 2008
Maura LA, CA
This was AWESOME! I loved it. I'm going again. More to see-I know it.
April 22, 2008
Lisa Valley, CA
From coming into the theatre until I left, I had the best time. It was an experience! When they say it is interactive-they mean it! Every person was great. I never laughed so hard. There was so much to see and hear, I have to go again. This time I am going to bring a group. Anyone who thinks their family is a little nutty will LOVE, LOVE this show.
April 21, 2008
Irene Tarzana, CA
This is truly a great show - At first I was suspect, as we had to wait a bit too long downstairs before things got started - but it was well worth the wait! All my friends from my temple group loved it, and I plan to return when my son and daughter-in-law visit in May! My favorites in the cast are the hysterical agnostic rabbi (Janice Markham) and the Bar Mitzvah boy's irresponsible father, (Barry Papick) Go see it!
April 14, 2008
Ken La Canada, CA
I am not Jewish and had never attended any sort of Mitzvah before. But wow, it was great. Everyone made me feel like part of the family. I would come again and bring my kids. So catholics aren't the only ones with crazy familys. Four STARS!
April 14, 2008
G Sherman Oaks, CA
I cannot say enough good things about this show! From top to bottom a fantastic show. Everyone in the show was amazing. I loved the DJ Lizzy. She was hysterial. I sat with Aunt Leenie and she stole the show. Props to everyone on a great performance. Great food too!
April 8, 2008
Tracy G. Santa Monica, CA
This UN-orthodox Jewish family really knows how to throw a party! Had a fun time following the Boychicks and their very extended kin be outrageous to the point that I now think my family is 'normal'.
April 8, 2008
Nicole LA, CA
Went to the show last weekend. Had a great time. I love that show started right when you get to the theatre. The laughs never stopped! High praise to the cast and the food was yummy too! SHALOM SANCHEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 7, 2008
Lucy SilverLake, CA
I have been reading the reviews for the show. What they all don't mention is that this show has a great heart. Every character is fantastic. I never laughed so hard.
April 7, 2008
John Hollywood, CA
Went to the show yesterday. I thought it was excellent. From top to bottom a 4-star show. I am going to see this show again!
April 4, 2008
David Marina Del Rey, CA
I loved this show!! It was funny as heck, the music was great, the cast was exceptional and the food was wonderful! I took my kids (ages 7 and 13), and they loved it as much as I did. I think the show is perfect for couples, groups and families. I recommend it to everyone!
April 3, 2008
Dave SFV, CA
My temple organized a group and we had such a great time. It was sad when it was over- we didn't want it to end. The show had great surprises too!
April 3, 2008
sy s. los angeles, ca
if you liked tony and tinas wedding or sylvias funeral you will be a willing participant at this boychicks bar mitzvah.its a simcha not to be missed and we didnt have to gift a fountain pen,with apologies to watermans ink...a five mazel tov event.
April 3, 2008
Christopher Noho, CA
I have seen Tina and Tony's and a few other interactive comedies, but this one takes the cake. High praise for Amy Lord and her cast of fine talent.
April 3, 2008
Lynda Northridge, CA
We had a great time. The whole family-cast was excellent! The parents and Harry were so true to life. It was like any crazy Jewish family. Good food too!
April 2, 2008
Joseph Tarzana, CA
All I can say is "oy vey". What a delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon and forget the "tsuris" (troubles) in your own life. From the opening greetings in the lobby to the last bite of the tasty food served this show is a winner. I'm sure you will recognize some of your own family members in these dysfunctional families. The Boychick's & Grossman families have one of everything. The people I sat with were planning to put together group of their own family members and come back and see the show again. It's a laugh a minute. Don't miss it!
April 2, 2008
Steve LA, CA
My wife drags me to the theatre all the time. But this was a great surprise! I would go again!
April 2, 2008
Kristy Sherman Oaks, CA
Have never seen an interactive show before. It was so funny. I sat with the actress girl Soreye. She kept me entertained the whole time. The Harry kid was great. The Sanchez family was funny and super friendly. Loved the Gay Rabbi and her "baby". Funny Lizzards too.
April 2, 2008
Barbra BH, CA
I took my 40 year old son to see the show because I saw the flyer and it looked cute....it was a flashback to his own Bar Mitzvah many years ago!!!!! We laughed till our sides hurt. Everyone in the cast was terrific....Mazel Tov!
April 2, 2008
Terrance Hollywood, CA
I just saw the show on Sunday and it was a real blast. Everyone in the show was great. The show started in the lobby before we even knew the show started. We were greeted like real family members, being offered congrats and left over bread from Sheldon. He later told me about his inventions...it still cracks me up. My wife is still laughing about the DJ Lizzi taking a picture of her necklace and not her face. She looked like the Nanny minus the bad voice-thank god!
April 2, 2008
Myndee Chatsworth, CA
I haven't been to anything this crazy and wacky since my own Bat Mitzvah. It was really funny. I liked all the family members. I sat with the cousin who worked at Kashi and wore spandex and his family. He made me get up and dance and it was fun. The D.J.'s were funny with their songs and clothes. The Bar Mitzvah boy was great as a wanna be rap star. Also loved the Jesus freak girlfriend.
April 2, 2008
Janice Agoura Hills, CA
My daughter's friend Alissa-Nicole Koblentz is in the show and we support everything she does. But this was by far one of the best shows we have seen in LA. We are season ticket holders at the Ahmanson, etc- but this show was great. I am coming back and bring a group of friends!
April 2, 2008
David Silverlake, CA
I saw a review for this in the Jewish Journal so I decided to take my wife to the show. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I don't think I ever stopped laughing and enjoying myself. The actors really made you think you were part of the family. At times I actually thought I was family! kudos to the cast and crew. We loved it.
April 2, 2008
Tom LA, CA
You don't have to Jewish to have fun at this show. I loved all the characters. Especially the Bar Mitzvah boy, the wanna-be actress and her mom and the d.j.'s. NICE Bra!
April 2, 2008
Bonnie Granada Hills, CA
What a great show! I couldn't stop laughing. My husband and I could totally relate. Our family is dysfuntional too!
Boychick Affair LLC © 2009 All Rights Reserved
866-999-6929