Award-Winning Theater: Rebekah Scallet & the Latest from the New Jewish Theater!

Arnold00:00:00

If you love live theater, there is a group, the New Jewish Theater, that you always need to connect with. And they have some outstanding presentations coming up. And also they've won multiple awards. We're here to talk to one of the directors today.Welcome to St. Louis in tune, and thank you for joining us for fresh.

Arnold00:00:33

Perspectives on issues and events with experts,.

Arnold00:00:35

Community leaders, and everyday people who make a difference in shaping our society and world. I'm Arnold Stricker along with co host Mark Langston. Mark, were you able to traverse the Le Mans spire, Grand Avenue Detour?

Mark00:00:53

For those of you that don't drive Grand, It's a mess. Don't drive it.

Arnold00:00:57

It's crazy.

Mark00:00:58

It's amazing. They were back in the neighborhoods right over here. I guess they'd call it what they call it east of Grand.The neighborhoods there, they had them all torn out for a long time. They just dig in for fun. I don't know what they're doing. And now they're on grand. And it's a snake. It's really a snake.

Arnold00:01:15

It is. You go left and even when you go down into the stores and the shops down there, it gets even worse.

Mark00:01:21

Oh, yeah.

Arnold00:01:22

I imagine what the shop owners think about.

Mark00:01:23

I was gonna say you'd probably be a little upset, ticked off, really mad.

Arnold00:01:30

You got any other descriptors there, Mark?

Mark00:01:32

There's probably a few, but it's a family show.

Arnold00:01:36

Well, we're glad that you made it, folks. To join us, we want to thank our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage, for their support of the show.You can listen to previous shows@stlintune.com where you can follow us and leave a review. Our thought to ponder today is the School of Life offers some difficult courses, but it is in the difficult class that one learns the most.The School of Life offers some difficult courses, but it is in the difficult class that one learns the most. That was Corrie Ten Boom. She was an individual. She was actually a female watchmaker in the Netherlands.And her family, they helped a lot of Jewish refugees out of Germany. And she got caught and she went to Ravensbruck concentration camp and ended up back here in the States after the war. Very interesting woman.She learned a lot in the School of Life in those difficult classes.

Mark00:02:36

Yeah. I don't know what to say. It's terrible. It's just so terrible on so many levels.

Arnold00:02:43

I think a lot of people don't want to go through the difficult portions of life. They want life to be easy.

Mark00:02:48

Yeah. We can't forget, though. I worry that we forget sometimes. We forget where we've been, what we went through, what we suffered.

Arnold00:02:58

I think I worry about those individuals in our society who don't understand the life lessons that have been learned and the struggles that many people have had over the years just because of history. And they think history is from when they've been born on.

Mark00:03:19

Yes.

Arnold00:03:19

Rather than behind them. They're standing on people's shoulders that they have no clue who they are.

Mark00:03:24

When I just noticed that with the Artemis 2 flight, because I've got kids and I've kind of some younger and it's. This is our space journey. Dad, you had yours. When they walked on the moon.And they think they appreciate it a little bit, but this is more important to them than stepping on the moon.

Arnold00:03:44

And my iPhone and your iPhone. And our guest iPhone was a. Is a computer more powerful than what the Apollo 11 astronauts had when they landed on the moon? They use slide rules.

Mark00:03:55

Isn't that amazing?

Arnold00:03:56

It's crazy.

Mark00:03:57

Oh, yeah. It's craziness.

Arnold00:03:59

Matter of fact, our guest is Rebecca Scallett, artistic director for the New jewish theater in St. Louis. Here she's in her. What, your fourth season now?

Rebekah00:04:06

Yes, I believe that's correct.

Arnold00:04:08

Fourth season as artistic director at the New Jewish theater. Prior to St. Louis, she was the producing artistic director of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theater.She's also directed the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival Tour Company production. She's been a member of the Rivendale Theater Ensemble in Chicago. And she. I guess we ought to have a drum more. We ought to have a drum roll. Mark.

Mark00:04:32

Oh, hold on.

Arnold00:04:35

Not Jeopardy. Not Jeopardy. Not that one.Okay, here we her the performances from the New Jewish theater rated 31 nominations this past season from the St. Louis Theatre Circle and 14 wins. Ten wins for Cabaret, which she was the director. Congratulations. Now we need the pistachio galley. There you go, folks. There you go.Welcome back to St. Louis in Tune.

Rebekah00:05:01

Thank you so much.

Mark00:05:02

Wonderful.

Arnold00:05:03

I can't wrap my head around 31 nominations at the Theater Circle. What in the world?

Mark00:05:09

What's going on?

Arnold00:05:10

Were you guys surprised or.

Rebekah00:05:12

I was definitely surprised. It was very exciting to get so many nominations. The mo. The most in our history for any season of work we've done. So really exciting to see.And it was each show. We do five plays a year, and every show had at least two nominations. And some of them, like.Like Cabaret in particular, had a whole lot more than that. And you directed Cabaret and I did direct Cabaret.

Arnold00:05:34

Life is a cabaret. Now, for those people who aren't familiar with the St. Louis Theatre Circle give a little brief description.And then how do people who nominates and then who says yes, you get the award?

Rebekah00:05:50

Yeah. So the St. Louis Theatre Circle is a group that's made up of our local St. Louis Theatre Critics.So we have a number of critics who write for various publications or blogs. And they formed this circle. So they make a commitment to go see as many plays as possible in the St. Louis area every year.I know over a hundred, maybe more than that, in this last year that they attended. And then they come together and they vote for the nominations, and then they narrow down that pool and then select the winners in each category.A wide variety of categories. So they break up dramas and musicals and comedies.They each get their own category and then really honor the artists who are doing great work from a wide range spectrum of theaters, from some smaller storefront theaters that maybe do one or two productions a year, all the way up to the bigger guys like the repertory theater of St. Louis stages. So everybody's included. They also take in opera. They have an opera category as well to honor the work that they're doing. And I think they really see.I can't entirely speak for them, but my sense of it is they see their job is to shine a spotlight on Theater in St. Louis. There's so much great work happening here. Really high quality right here in our community.And I think they do a great job of letting people know about that and giving us an opportunity to celebrate and feel good about the work that we're doing.

Arnold00:07:07

That sounds great.

Mark00:07:09

Theater is good here in St. Louis, isn't it?

Rebekah00:07:11

It's incredible.

Mark00:07:12

Better than a lot of other places, I would say.

Rebekah00:07:14

I think so. St. Louis is an incredible art city.I've been here for like about five and a half years now after coming from Arkansas and just really blown away by how much there is going on and how much support there is for the art. People really believe in the arts here. They donate to the arts. They attend the arts. It's a really important part of the fabric of the community.And it's really thrilling to be able to create art in a community that values it like this.

Mark00:07:42

Yeah, yeah. They come out to see it and.

Arnold00:07:44

Discuss the new Jewish theater for those people who need an introduction to that.

Rebekah00:07:48

Yeah. New Jewish theater has been around for quite a while. We are entering our 28th, 8th season.

Arnold00:07:54

So it's really not new.

Rebekah00:07:56

No, it was when it was founded. It was. The new was to separate it from. This is not your grandmother's Jewish theater. It's not the Yiddish Theater. It's new plays. Yeah. Yeah. Oy vey.Indeed. So that's the. That's the new. It's. It's. It's. But yes. No, no longer. No longer new. We've been around the block a few times. I've been there. Yeah.

Mark00:08:15

So is it the old Jewish theater in.

Rebekah00:08:19

I don't know. I don't know that I want to be called the old Jewish theater. But, yeah. I'm still rel. Relatively new in the position.But it's been great to inherit a theater that has such a wonderful pedigree and even before I came along, known for some really outstanding productions. We're a small company. We are. We work in a black box theater. Nobody is more than 15ft away from the stage at any given time.We change up our configuration for each performance so it looks different every time you come.And we can provide a real intimacy with the actors and with the material that I think you don't get in a larger venue that makes us really unique and cool.

Arnold00:08:54

And performances are where we perform at.

Rebekah00:08:57

The Jewish Community center in Creve Core, Steinberg family campus. And we have a. As I said, a lovely black box theater that's built into the community center there.

Arnold00:09:06

So four shows a year, roughly.

Rebekah00:09:08

We do five shows.

Arnold00:09:09

Five shows.

Rebekah00:09:09

We're busy.

Arnold00:09:10

And you have a. Is it. Is there like a theater season?

Rebekah00:09:14

Yes. Yeah. We do. We offer a subscription package. We do. We run like on the calendar year. So we are. This is actually.We're getting ready to kick off our first show of the year now. And then we'll run all the way through December through the summer with five different productions.

Arnold00:09:27

Okay. Wow. And you're involved with. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Mark00:09:31

Yeah.

Arnold00:09:31

Let's go back to Cabaret.

Rebekah00:09:32

Okay.

Mark00:09:33

How big is the audience? Can I ask?

Arnold00:09:35

Good question.

Rebekah00:09:35

Sure. We. It depends on how we set up the theater.

Arnold00:09:38

Right.

Mark00:09:38

What's your biggest.

Rebekah00:09:39

But, like, we max out about 125, 130.

Mark00:09:42

That is intimate.

Rebekah00:09:43

So it is.

Mark00:09:44

That is really something.

Rebekah00:09:46

Yeah. It's very different. I just went to the Fox and saw Harry Potter, which was incredible. But it's so different. Exactly. Yeah.I sat in the balcony and had a blurry view of the actors faces. This. You don't miss a thing.

Mark00:09:58

I've been to a theater where you actually sat on the stage. We sat around on the stage and that was really nice.

Arnold00:10:05

That's cool.

Mark00:10:05

I like that. Intimacy is the Maplewood Richmond Heights theater.

Arnold00:10:09

Okay.

Mark00:10:09

They do a lot of things over there. Yeah.

Arnold00:10:11

Very cool.

Mark00:10:12

Oh, it was nice. It was really different. That's why I like the intimate, smaller theaters. I don't know how you make money at that to support it.I think that's a challenge.

Rebekah00:10:21

Yeah.

Mark00:10:22

But, boy, I sure like it best that way. Yeah.

Arnold00:10:25

And from your perspective, why should people go to the theater? What does the theater do to. Other than like a movie or listening to music, going to a concert, what is the theater? What's the draw for that?

Rebekah00:10:36

I think you can't really replicate that live experience of having. Of watching people right in front of you in our theater, right next to you, going through an emotional experience, watching them. Yeah.Whether it's have something that makes you laugh or something that makes you cry, they're right there in front of you.And that really is different than in a film, to be able to connect with the actor on stage, to be able to have this sense that anything could happen, because really, truly it could. You never know what's going to happen on stage. Something someone forgets, a prop or something happens just differently one night.And you can go to a play 10 times and see a different performance, even though of the exact same play, exact same production. So I think that sense of anything could happen, that sense of really being a participant.The actors feed off the energy of the audience, and depending on what the audience gives them, again, you get a different performance, you find something new, and I think that's really exciting. As a theater audience member, you are a part of the play, you play a role.And I think, you know, my favorite moments are when the actors and the audience, they're all coming together. Everybody's feeling each other, everybody's in that same kind of emotional space. And it feels really magical to me.And I've never experienced that in a movie.As much as I love going to the movies, you don't get that same sense of, we're a collective, we're all here together and we're all sharing this experience.

Arnold00:12:00

It makes sense.

Mark00:12:01

Yeah. Because it's different every time. I understand that. Yeah. Where a movie is not. It's the same every time. They flip the switch on. Where do you find the.The actors? Are they thespians?

Rebekah00:12:14

Thespians is a very dramatic way to put it. But where they come from, we use all local performers right here in St. Louis.On occasion, we might have somebody who's from St. Louis who doesn't live here anymore, who comes back to do a show, but really it's. Everybody has local connections, and we have, again, a very thriving theater scene here.So a lot of talented actors who have chosen to make their homes here in St. Louis who are a part of this community. And so we, we hold auditions, we hold open auditions and invite people in and see who we get.And I've been really lucky so far and found some amazing people to be able to work with.

Mark00:12:50

Oh, that's great.

Arnold00:12:51

Going back here to cabaret. 10, 10 Awards. The musical must have been. I'm going to read these. Mark, you can see this too. Outstanding musical director.Outstanding supporting performer in a musical, female or non binary role. Outstanding supporting performer in a musical, male or non binary role. Outstanding lighting design in a musical. Outstanding set design in a musical.Outstanding costume design in a musical. Outstanding performer in a musical, male or non binary role. Outstanding. Oh, not that one. Outstanding ensemble in a musical.Outstanding director in a musical. Outstanding production of a musical.

Mark00:13:33

Yeah, behind the scenes.

Rebekah00:13:34

Boy.

Arnold00:13:36

So I know you have, I'm going to guess you have costume designers, you have set designers. When you got the role to be the director of Cabaret, did you choose those? Were they part of the theater production?

Rebekah00:13:50

Anyway, so I'm the artistic director of the company, so I usually direct one play a year within the season. But as artistic director, yeah, I make all those decisions. So I actually put together the teams for each production that we do.And so when I get, I get to, to pick for myself who I want to work with and, and which show I want to direct, each year I get to make those decisions for myself, which is nice, a nice advantage. But yeah, I, so I put the teams together. I lead that and then as director of the show, I lead that process.So I really see it as my role to find the best people that I can who I think are going to do well, not just as a designer, but a designer for this particular project that I think this matches what their skill set is. And then I provide the overall vision, the path of where I want to go, the story I want to tell.But then it's really about the collaborative process and each individual designer and artist contributing what they their ideas to the process to create the whole. So Cabaret in particular was a very collaborative process. Like I, I knew again where I wanted it to go.But the designers brought so many of their own ideas. We had an incredible choreographer on it and choreography is such a big part of any musical, but particularly this musical.She contributed so much to the storytelling, so really, absolutely a team effort.

Arnold00:15:08

Interesting. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Lucian Tomb.We're talking to Rebecca Scallett about the New Jewish Theatre and her directing awards for Cabaret. And we're also going to get into her next direction, which is for Prayer of the French Republic.I want to double back to Cabaret for a few minutes that you get the. You have the script, you have the music and everything, the venue, because the venue is going to play a large part on how you're.You have a vision for this is going to be produced.And then you have the movie and other performances that people have in their mind about, quote, unquote, how it should be or how I think it is, because I've seen it that way. And how do you compete with that to make it a little different and put your own flair into it, yet stay true to the what's written?

Rebekah00:15:56

Yeah, that's a great question.Especially with something like Cabaret, because there have been so many different versions of it from the movie to several different Broadway productions. And they're all different. They all take a little bit of a different take on the story. So, yeah, absolutely, you're right.You're right on the money with the venue matters. And particularly in this instance because we are in this small black box, 125 seat theater and we're doing Cabaret, which is a really big musical.

Arnold00:16:23

Yes.

Rebekah00:16:24

And that was actually kind of part of why I wanted to do Cabaret at our theater.Because I had an idea that it would work really well to take it and turn our space into that cabaret, make it into that sort of nightclub atmosphere and make it very theatrical where we had actors doubling and playing multiple roles. Because we didn't have a cast of 30 or 40 people that you might see in a full scale production.We had to have actors play multiple roles and pull double, triple duty in the production. But I think that that theatrical approach really worked very well with the way that the play is written.Because the play kind of bounces back and forth between these nightclub scenes where we have traditional cabaret style, German cabaret style music that the characters are performing.And then we have the scripted scenes and the Cabaret scenes kind of comment on what we're seeing in the action, but they're not necessarily like directly driving the action forward. So the way that the story was structured with that theatrical approach, that all really worked well together.But yeah, we can only have about 12 people in our theater. 12 Actors is about where we max out. So we had to get really creative in how we were gonna do things.So I knew I wanted to have this intimate production. And then I really. Anytime I direct anything, I go to the script, I go back to the original story.What is the story trying to set and what do I want a contemporary audience to take away from it?And cabaret, set during the rise of Hitler during the Weimar Republic in the 1930s, early 40s, and speaks to this idea of injustice happening around us. As gets at the Nazi party is building its movement.The anti Semitism is coming and shows the people who just want to turn their heads away and keep having a good party and a good time at the cabaret versus people who see what's coming and try to do something about it. So it gets at all of that while also being a really specific story about this time and history and these people who were living this cabaret life.

Arnold00:18:26

Okay, so as an addendum to that, it's a musical. Was there just a piano player?

Rebekah00:18:31

No, we had a small ensemble on stage. We had a piano, we had a bassist, we had drums. And then we had someone playing a variety of horns for us at different times. So we were able.And we built that into the set itself. So the. Our cabaret band was always on stage and they were part of the. And they were part of the action, no matter what.

Arnold00:18:53

Okay.

Rebekah00:18:54

Yeah.

Mark00:18:54

Wow.

Arnold00:18:55

So you mentioned anti Semitism, which was a great segue to the show that you're directing now, I think. Prayer for the French Republic. That's going to be, folks, April 16th through May 3rd at the Wool Studio Theater at the J.And I just wanted to mention that the performances are Thursday and Saturday and Sunday and there is one Wednesday night performance.And the performances all start in the evening at 7pm the afternoon matinees are at 2pm and we'll get into more tickets, but you can go to jccstl.com and get to that. Talk about this particular play. What is it about? And why did you decide to direct this or choose this one as the artistic director?

Rebekah00:19:40

Yeah. So this is a really fascinating play. It was on Broadway. Tony nominated for best play in 2024.And it is about five generations of a French family living in Paris. And it bounces back and forth between 2016 and 2017 and 1945, 46.And shows how these multiple generations of one family are both asking themselves similar questions. I think it's. It gets at. Yes, it gets at anti Semitism, of course, in Paris in the 1940s, they were French Jews, were.They were living under the Vichy government. They. Under Nazi control. French Jews had been shipped off to the concentration camps at the time.And this, the family that we see, they do have family members who've been arrested and sent away. And we see them waiting, not knowing what's happened to Them, the contemporary family in 2016. It's.This is interesting thing that I learned is that was a time of a huge spike in anti Semitism in Paris. If you remember the Charlie Hebdo killing with the magazine there. And part of that, like, immediately after the.Those people went and committed murder at the magazine. They went to a kosher supermarket right afterwards and they just gunned people down in this kosher supermarket.And that was on top of a lot of other violent events against Jews in Paris. It was really rising. And so that year saw the most number of French Jews ever leave to move to Israel. 8,000 Jews moved to Israel that year.And the year before it was something like 1400.The playwright, who has French ancestry and had spent a lot of time in France and really loved it, saw this statistic and was really intrigued by it and wanted to know why these French families were choosing to leave. What was it that made them make that decision to leave? And so the play really dives into that question. It dives into French Jewish history.There's a huge, fascinating, long Jewish history in France going dating back hundreds, thousands of years.And French Jews with a long time considering themselves to be being some of the luckiest Jews because France has always taken pretty good care of them. Napoleon gave French Jews rights. They were the first to have, like, citizenship right. In Europe. And that's long been a point of pride for them.And so you see them being really connected to France. And he.And so he was wondering, how did these people with such deep roots, who feel so deeply connected, what is the thing that makes them decide to leave? And he. So he looks at that in this question of this family, of they themselves are facing some anti Semitism.They have a son who has decided to be more open with his Jewishness, who wears a kippah. When he goes out, he gets beaten up. And that's the triggering event for them to start asking themselves these questions.And then it compares that to this 1940s family where they didn't leave. They saw this rising tide and they stayed. And you see what happened to their family. It asks a lot of tough questions.It doesn't provide a lot of easy answers.It gives a lot of really interesting history and I hope is something that people can really relate to and understand and maybe learn something from as we.

Arnold00:23:01

Were talking, Mark, at the first part. It gives history that helps people think about where they are today.

Mark00:23:08

Yeah, very good. Yeah, exactly. I don't know. I don't know what else I can offer, but yes, that's. That's true.It does make people think they're not just an entertainment. Goes a little bit deeper than that.

Rebekah00:23:20

Yeah.

Mark00:23:20

How do you choose some of these? There's a lot of plays out there. Do you have a process to do this?

Rebekah00:23:27

I do, yeah. I keep an eye on what everybody's doing across the country. We are the new Jewish theater.Our mission is to do plays that are about the Jewish experience. Also just celebrate the contributions of Jewish writers to the theater.But so I'm always on the lookout for plays that might speak to a Jewish community or have a Jewish theme. And so this one was getting a lot of attention. A high profile production on Broadway. And I knew that it was something when I read it.I knew it was something that I thought would really be meaningful to the community. It was meaningful to me personally. I had a very emotional response reading the play and I thought, I just need to share this with people.But, yeah, so I read a lot of plays. I read the New York Times and look at reviews. I see what other theater companies are doing, travel to see plays when I can.And then I also do have a committee. We have a great group of volunteers at the J who also help read scripts. So I might find a script or somebody.Sometimes playwrights send me scripts and I'll. I'll read them myself or have the committee read them and give me feedback on it and we talk about it.

Mark00:24:28

So it's always developing. It sounds like it's something that's always ongoing.

Rebekah00:24:32

Yes, it's like a. Yeah, it's like a regular process of always on the lookout, always thinking in the back of my brain of, oh, there's this play, there's this play and there's plays that I might want to do. Like Cabaret is something I wanted to do for a long time. And then it was about finding just the right time and the right moment.And we do five plays a year. So I'm always. I'm putting together a whole season and I want to think about variety in that season. So this play, it sounds very heavy.It's also very funny. I want to point out there's. It's not just a downer.

Mark00:25:02

That's good. That's good.

Rebekah00:25:03

There's a lot. There's a lot of humor in it. And the playwright, Joshua Harmon actually is known for his comedies. He primarily writes comedies.And so he's imbued this play with a lot of humor. But it is a more serious subject matter, obviously. And then. But for the next play we're doing is more of a pure comedy.We'll have a musical at the end of the season.So I really try to have a wide variety and that's part of something I'm looking forward to, to make sure that we're I hope people will come and see everything that we do and I want them to have a complete experience when they do.

Arnold00:25:32

Yeah.And we're going to take a brief break because you have some special production experiences with this particular performance coming up and we'll come back and talk about that because those are very unique folks and you may want to participate with those. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Louis and Tomb. We'll be right back.As strange as it may sound, at Better Rate Mortgage we love talking to people about mortgages. Everyone in St. Louis promises a better mortgage rate. But what you really need to turn that perfect house into your dream home is a better mortgage.At Better Rate Mortgage, we open the door to so much more. So where are you in the home buying process? Researching, maybe wondering how much you can afford? House hunting?Get a pre approval from Better Rate Mortgage Ready to Buy.Our team is ready to make your mortgage process fast and easy, whether you're purchasing your first home or taking cash out to make your dream home even dreamier. Our door is open. Come on in and get started. Today we'll show you how.Call Sean directly at 314-375-3293 or online@betterratemortgage.com Remember, at Better Rate Mortgage, a better rate is just the beginning. Betterratemortgage.com NMLS ID 2401335 in equal housing Lender. Welcome back to St. Louis in Tune. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston.We're talking with Rebecca Scallet about the Prayer for the French Republic, which is by Josh Harmon. It will take place place April 16 through May 3 at the Jays Wool Studio Theater. And folks, write this down. If you're driving, don't do this.Just remember to look at the podcast where I'll list these things. Wednesday, April 22, 7pm Thursdays April 16, 2330 at 7pm Saturdays there's matinee 2pm and 7pm performances.April 20, April 18, May 2, 4pm Ooh April 25 and Sundays, April 19, 26th and 3rd. There's a big a great calendar on estl.com when you go to the new Jewish theater and then select the Prayer for the French Republic.The calendar is right there and right below it. It is find tickets but right below that are special production experiences. These are very interesting. Rebecca. I. The name is very interesting.I know Mark's going to love this one. Croissants and conversation.

Mark00:28:10

I don't know what I said.

Arnold00:28:12

We've got. These are selected dates and selected times and who's coming. What are they doing?

Rebekah00:28:19

Yeah. So we were really fortunate to get a grant from the Gloria and Ruben Feldman Educational Institute for this production to expand.Expand our educational experiences that we're offering because the play does take place in part during the Holocaust and gets at some of these stories of the Holocaust and things that happened. So we were able to receive this wonderful grant and offer educational opportunities, further learning opportunities around the production.So we brought in a dramaturg. His name is Dr. Dorian Stuber and he's on the Missouri Holocaust Education Commission and has a specialty in Holocaust literature.He's an English professor and he was our dramaturg for the production, which means that he provided background and context for the cast because they're not all historians themselves and you need a crash course in history to really understand who these people are and where they came from and all this French Jewish history and Holocaust history for this production. So he did that for our rehearsal process. And then also as part of this, he is offering a couple of other events.So Chrisanson conversation is one of them. That takes place place at the Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. And that is going to be a brief history of Jews in France.The little things we touched on. He'll talk about in more detail, but with an emphasis too, on our St. Louis connections to French Jews people.Quite a few survivors in St. Louis came from France.And so he's been doing some research on them and is going to tell some of those stories of the people who fled France to come to the United States and ended up in St. Louis.

Arnold00:29:52

Interesting.

Rebekah00:29:53

Have that connection.

Arnold00:29:54

That's April 23rd at 2pm to 3:30pm and is that free at the.

Rebekah00:29:59

That is free at the Kaplan Feldman, yes. And there's a registration link on our website.

Mark00:30:04

And croissants will be.

Rebekah00:30:05

And croissants will be served.

Mark00:30:07

Yes, I love croissants.

Arnold00:30:11

There's nothing better than waking up in Paris in the morning and smelling croissants. Being made.

Mark00:30:18

Croissants. Okay.

Arnold00:30:19

And then going down. Okay. And then going down to the little cafe and getting some in a cup of coffee.

Mark00:30:24

Have you been there?

Rebekah00:30:25

France?

Arnold00:30:25

Yes.

Rebekah00:30:26

Oh, Cafe au lait is my favorite. Delicious.

Mark00:30:29

Jealous of both of you.

Arnold00:30:30

Sit around and watch people walk.

Rebekah00:30:32

It is. It's pretty amazing.

Arnold00:30:33

Then you do.

Rebekah00:30:35

You need to go.

Arnold00:30:36

You need to go. You should. You'd love it, Mark.

Mark00:30:38

I would.

Arnold00:30:39

You do another one? Stages and Stories.

Rebekah00:30:42

Yes, that's an event we're doing. We're partnering with nishma, which is a women's group at also at the J.And I will be talking with Nancy Lisker, who's the head of the American Jewish Committee.And we're going to talk about how these issues that we see in the play relate to things that are going on for people today, relating it back to what's happening now in America with hatred against Jews.And also from the perspective, from the women's perspective, that one of the main characters of the play is the mom whose son is the one who's beaten up that I referenced earlier.And what it is to be, to be a mother in that situation and to worry for your child and what's that balance of wanting them to have pride and confidence in their identity, but also fear for their safety. So we'll be talking about all of those issues at that event.

Arnold00:31:30

And that is April 28th from 6:00 clock to 8:00pm at the J at the Arts and Education Building. And then you have another one.

Mark00:31:41

Is this more.

Arnold00:31:41

This is great. This is great.

Rebekah00:31:43

I'm busy.

Mark00:31:45

Yes, you are. You have been.

Arnold00:31:46

It's called Hidden A Memoir of Survival in Paris.

Rebekah00:31:51

Yes. This is another event that Dr. Stuber will be leading.It's based on a memoir by a woman named Sarah Kaufman, who was a philosopher, and she wrote this book that was about her personal experience hiding from the Nazis in Paris during World War II. So she was hidden by different people and moved from home to home. And it gets it.So it's similar to our family because we have the two grandparents in the story who stay hidden throughout the war as other people were taken. So it kind of mirrors that. But this is really a true story of someone who experienced that.Dorian's going to be leading a conversation about that book going into that, and it's a book club experience. The book is available to purchase.It's called Rue Ordener, Rue lebat, and it's available to purchase at the Holocaust Museum gift store if people want to read ahead. But also the event, you don't have to read it in advance. It's something you can go to and just listen and learn as well.

Arnold00:32:45

And that is April 29th from 7 to 8:30 at the Arts and Education Building at the J. At the Steinberg Family Complex, moving all.

Mark00:32:55

Around at the Jay.

Rebekah00:32:56

Yeah, it's a neat thing being a theater at a community center because we have all these different resources and different programs that the community center does. So it's great to be able to connect with those and reach out and move beyond just our little theater area.

Mark00:33:11

I think that's great. I think it is.

Arnold00:33:13

And Mark and I have talked to John Wilson on several occasions, and John's even going to be in this production.

Mark00:33:18

Mark, is that right?

Rebekah00:33:20

That's right.

Mark00:33:20

John Wilson's gonna be in.

Arnold00:33:21

He's not doing any fight choreography.

Rebekah00:33:25

He's not doing fights this time. But he is playing the piano on stage, so that's pretty exciting. Yeah. A piano features very prominently in the storytelling. Yeah.But he's wonderful in the play. He plays Patrick, who is Marcel's brother, the mom I was just talking about. Uncle Patrick.

Mark00:33:40

Tickles the ivories. Tickles the ivories. Yeah. I'll be. I'd like to see that.

Rebekah00:33:46

Yeah, you should check it out.

Arnold00:33:47

Absolutely.

Mark00:33:47

Throw things at them.

Arnold00:33:48

Rebecca, thanks for coming in. We greatly appreciate it. And folks, you need to come see these performances. The Prayer for the French Republic, April 16 through May 3.Check it out on jccstl.com where you can get the specific dates and times because they vary.And then you can also check out those things that we just mentioned, which are the croissants and conversations, the stages and stories, and the Hidden A Memoir of Survival in Paris. Thanks again for coming in.

Rebekah00:34:16

Thank you very much for having me.

Arnold00:34:18

We're going to take a brief break. This is Arnold Strick with Mark Langston of St. Louis in Tune. Don't go away.

Arnold00:34:36

This is Arnold Stricker of St. Louis in tune on behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. In 1857, the Dred Scott decision was a major legal event and catalyst that contributed to the Civil War.The decision declared that Dred Scott could not be free because he was not a citizen.The 14th Amendment, also called the Dred Scott Amendment, granted citizenship to all born or naturalized here in our country and was intended to overturn the US Supreme Court decision on July 9, 1868.The Dred Scott Heritage foundation is requesting a commemorative stamp to be issued from the US Postal Service to recognize and remember the heritage of this amendment by issuing a stamp with the likeness of.

Arnold00:35:13

The man Dred Scott.

Arnold00:35:14

But we need your support and the support of thousands of people who would like to see this happen. To achieve this goal, we ask you.

Arnold00:35:21

To download, sign, and share the one.

Arnold00:35:23

Page petition with others. To find the petition, please go to dred ScottLives.org and click on The Dred Scott petition drive on the right side of the page.On behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage foundation, this has been Arnold Stricker of St. Louis in tune.

Mark00:35:44

Sorry,.

Arnold00:35:46

What you laughing at?

Arnold00:35:47

You must have read something. I did that tickled your ivories there.

Mark00:35:50

I'll share it soon.

Arnold00:35:52

Okay. Welcome back to St. Louis in Tune. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston. We had Rebecca Scallett. She's still in studio.She's going to listen to us. She may contribute to our humor portion, but I want to get also mention she has a website of her own. R E B E K A H S C A L lEt.com.And you can go to the podcast page where you'll just have a link and you can go right there. I'll put that in there. And this gives some information about her and her background and what she's also doing.So don't forget, the prayer for the French Republic is April 16th through May 3rd at the Wool Studio Theater. Check it out on jccstl.com okay, Mark,.

Mark00:36:31

I'm looking at Congress. God knows what they do.

Arnold00:36:35

They collect our money.

Mark00:36:37

I'm still trying to figure out.

Arnold00:36:38

And make their salaries bigger.

Mark00:36:39

Whatever they.

Arnold00:36:40

Yeah, and end up being millionaires.

Mark00:36:42

That's. Isn't that funny how that happens?

Arnold00:36:43

It's incredible.

Mark00:36:44

But one of the things they voted on is like the days of the. We have special days. It's National Whatever day today is. National Ex Spouse Day. I know. I call it.

Rebekah00:36:58

Is that something to celebrate? I don't know.

Mark00:37:01

I haven't. I have an ex spouse. I call it a practice wife. Is that. That's pretty bad, isn't it? I should probably move on here.

Arnold00:37:11

What's next?

Mark00:37:11

Air Force Reserve birthday. There's something.

Arnold00:37:14

The Air Force Reserve birthday today is.

Mark00:37:16

The Air Force Reserve birthday today.

Arnold00:37:18

Okay.

Mark00:37:19

That's right. Let's get this one at all. International Be Kind to Lawyers Day.

Arnold00:37:26

Oh, my gosh.

Mark00:37:27

Didn't Shakespeare say. What did he say?

Rebekah00:37:29

Oh, first things.

Mark00:37:32

First thing we do is kill all the lawyers.

Rebekah00:37:34

That's right.

Mark00:37:34

Wasn't that a Shakespeare's?

Rebekah00:37:35

I believe so. Yeah.

Mark00:37:36

Yeah. Okay. That's one of them.

Rebekah00:37:38

That's why. That's why they need a day. Those poor lawyers.

Mark00:37:44

Because of Shakespeare.

Rebekah00:37:45

That's right.

Mark00:37:46

National Dolphin Day. Do you remember Flipper?

Arnold00:37:49

Flipper, of course.

Mark00:37:50

Oh, look, he jumped right in.

Arnold00:37:51

I can probably sing this song.

Mark00:37:52

Rebecca, do you know Cliff Flipper?

Rebekah00:37:54

You know Flipper? I watched Flipper on reruns as a kid.

Mark00:37:56

Really?

Arnold00:37:57

Really.

Mark00:37:57

You're showing your Age.

Rebekah00:37:59

Okay.

Mark00:38:01

National. Donate a book. Have you ever donated a book? Yes, I used to go to that book fair all the time. It was in the famous bar parking lot. Yes.That was a lot of fun. National Pecan Day. Do you call them pecans or pecans?

Arnold00:38:15

It depends upon what portion of the country you're from.

Mark00:38:18

Is that right? All right.

Arnold00:38:20

It could be pecan pie or pecan pie.

Mark00:38:23

Perfume Day.

Arnold00:38:24

National Perfume Day.

Mark00:38:25

Oh, yeah. Some people could really turn that down.

Arnold00:38:28

By Coco Chanel.

Mark00:38:29

I don't know who did that. Wait, there was a couple others. Just real quick. Let me click on something here. And then I think. Yeah, there was. What was it?National Garlic Day is coming up.

Arnold00:38:40

Oh, that's a good one.

Mark00:38:41

Oh, this is the one. Yeah. Let's see. National Cheese Ball Day is coming up. You like cheese balls?

Arnold00:38:48

No.

Mark00:38:49

No. Okay. Not interested in.

Arnold00:38:51

Kind of like fruitcake.

Mark00:38:53

And then coming up in about. Well, of course, recording this the day before tax day.

Rebekah00:38:59

Yeah.

Arnold00:38:59

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.

Mark00:39:01

Count your blessings and send them in.

Arnold00:39:03

Count your blessings day.

Mark00:39:04

Yeah, and send them all in. And then coming up right after that is husband. I'm gonna have to tell my wife this. Maria. Husband Appreciation Day.

Arnold00:39:15

Notice it happens on the same day right before tax.

Mark00:39:18

I know. It's. I know.

Arnold00:39:19

What's that all about?

Mark00:39:20

That honeydew list. In fact, we just made a honeydew list. It was a bit painful.

Rebekah00:39:27

Is it a very long.

Mark00:39:28

Oh, it is. It is. And then she's got it in sections. Basement, backyard.

Rebekah00:39:35

I'm glad she's organized. That's good.

Mark00:39:38

I'm not.

Arnold00:39:39

I learned something about.

Mark00:39:40

She keeps those, too. She keeps them.

Arnold00:39:42

I learned something about that. It's how to feel good about when you go through all that stuff, because sometimes it can get so overwhelming.You do a little bit each day I have a little check mark box on my phone, and at the end of the day, I check those things off that I've done. I put my tools. I pack them all the way up and put them away.

Mark00:39:59

I admit. All right. I have to admit we found some of her lists, and we've gone through them and gone. Look, we did them all.

Arnold00:40:06

Look, honey, these were from the 1960s.

Mark00:40:08

Yeah. Now you got to take me out to dinner. Okay.

Rebekah00:40:13

On husband appreciation.

Mark00:40:17

I like the way you think.

Rebekah00:40:19

I really do.

Mark00:40:20

Okay. Wow.

Arnold00:40:22

You know, the Masters golf tournament just got done.

Mark00:40:25

Did you see the hole in one?

Arnold00:40:26

Was there one?

Mark00:40:27

Yes, there.

Arnold00:40:28

Wow.

Mark00:40:28

There was one hole in one. Don't ask me who did it, but I was watching it when it happened.

Arnold00:40:35

Oh, wow.

Mark00:40:36

The crowd went crazy. I bet. Oh, I couldn't believe it. The guy couldn't believe it. That did it.

Arnold00:40:41

I wonder how many hole in ones have happened during Masters tournaments.

Mark00:40:46

Not many. I know they. They talked about it and they said it was a kind of a rarity.

Arnold00:40:50

But you notice all the caddies wear the same outfit. Yeah, There's a reason for that. Because in the 1930s, they used to wear denim pants with green hats.And to make them more visible against the fairways, they were required to wear these white jumpsuits. And the green hats were already standard. So it wasn't until the 1940s that all caddies wore the same uniform.

Mark00:41:15

That's good.

Arnold00:41:15

Well, there you go.

Mark00:41:16

That's good. Who to figure those socks?

Arnold00:41:20

Yeah, pink socks, Mark. I hate it when cashiers feel the need to check whether my money is real. If I could counterfeit money, I wouldn't be at Dollar Tree isn't.

Mark00:41:32

That's true. Let's see. Be buying a plane ticket somewhere. He'll get to.

Arnold00:41:39

It went away. Where did it go? It was a really good one. Oh, here it is. My husband said we need to stop traveling and save money. So I went without him and saved 50%.

Rebekah00:41:54

That's for national Husband's.

Arnold00:41:56

National Husband's Day. A pirate walks into a bar wearing a paper towel hat. The bartender asks, what's with the paper towel hat? The pirate says, arrangement.There'd be a bounty on me. Whenever I see a warning label on peanut butter saying it may contain peanuts. I understand why aliens don't visit us anymore.And when I point my remote control directly at the television, it barely works. If I accidentally sit on it, it will switch from Peacock to Netflix, turn on closed captioning, and turn itself off and on four times.

Mark00:42:36

That is so true. My cat does the same thing.

Rebekah00:42:39

My cat's always changing the channel.

Mark00:42:42

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has that.

Arnold00:42:44

I was at a cemetery recently having a casual stroll. As I started walking out of the gates, a man came up to me and said, hi, how are you today?I turned around slowly with a menacing smile and said, wait, you can see me. He screamed, just crawled out of the dirt and bolted.

Mark00:43:01

What is wrong with him? I don't know what's wrong with Arnold.

Arnold00:43:06

And I knew a guy who was.

Arnold00:43:07

Arrested for stealing hay. Unfortunately, he couldn't make bail.

Mark00:43:13

Wow, it's really bad. Someone should call 911.

Arnold00:43:17

And there's a lot of different kind of groups. There's aa, there's narcotics, Anonymous. There's probably stealing Anonymous, all these groups.There's another one called Plastic Surgery Addicts Anonymous. And the person who leads the group said, welcome to Plastic Surgery Addicts Anonymous.I'm seeing a lot of new faces in the crowd this week and have to say I'm disappointed. Wow. Wow.

Mark00:43:46

Talk to them.

Arnold00:43:49

And then lastly, hipaa. You know about hipaa? The HIPAA law? Oh, you can't talk about health unless you sign off. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And you go to a doctor's office.They're really pretty uptight about this stuff. This is a waiting room. This lady just recently went in there and she was telling about this story and the nurse came out and she said.The nurse was saying, in order to follow privacy requirements, we can't call our patients by their name. Would the lady with hemorrhoids please come in?

Mark00:44:21

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Arnold00:44:22

No.

Mark00:44:23

Thank you very much, folks.

Arnold00:44:25

That's all for this hour.

Mark00:44:27

Thank goodness.

Arnold00:44:30

Oh, thank you for listening. If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional shows@stlntune.com and follow us there and leave a review.And thank Bob Bertha Stell for our wonderful theme music, our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage, our guest, Rebecca Scala and co host Mark Langston.

Arnold00:44:45

We thank you for being a part.

Arnold00:44:45

Of our community of curious minds. St. Louis in tune. It's a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network.Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy, and let your light shine. For St. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.

Rebekah00:45:19

Sam.