It was a simple exercise. Students in Juilliard's playwriting program were asked to go around the room and say what one topic they found fascinating but thought other people - like, say, a theater audience - would find boring.
When it was Daniel Goldfarb's turn, he immediately knew his answer: Orthodox Judaism.
As Goldfarb went on to regale his class with funny anecdotes about Orthodox Jewish friends, acquaintances, and friends of friends, he soon realized he wasn't the only one who found the subject fascinating after all. It sparked Goldfarb to write the comedy “Modern Orthodox.” The play, which has received great acclaim off-Broadway, will be presented by the Jewish Community Center's Art & Culture program Oct. 21-Nov. 5.
“Modern Orthodox” started off “being a play about the differences between secular and religious Jews. The humor was blacker,” says Goldfarb, speaking to the CJN from his home in New York City. “But I fell in love with (Orthodox lead character) Herschel while writing it. I could write six plays about him. The play became about commitment and faith. It became more hopeful.”
Secular financial consultant Ben (Larry Nehring), left, is made uncomfortable by Orthodox diamond dealer Herschel (Brian Zoldessy) in JCC's “Modern Orthodox.”
The playwright, now 33, wrote the first draft of “Modern Orthodox” in 1999. It tells of Ben, a “High Holiday Jew,” who encounters Orthodox diamond dealer Herschel while shopping for an engagement ring. Ben takes an immediate dislike to the tightly wound, blunt, and very religious Herschel; he says he will not buy the diamond unless Herschel removes his yarmulke.
After complying with Ben's demand, Herschel suffers a series of tragic occurrences, including the ending of his own engagement. Herschel shows up on the doorstep of the apartment Ben shares with his girlfriend, the jaded Jewish doctor Hannah, and insists the pair help him find a new bride. He wants them to right the wrong Ben forced upon him.
As Herschel is confronted with Ben and Hannah's modern and more permissive lifestyle, the couple find themselves challenged, at times infuriated, and often moved by Herschel's unshakable faith and adherence to ritual.
Goldfarb acknowledges he's much more of a Ben than a Herschel, yet he flatly rejects the term “secular.”
“I'm really committed to exploring my Jewish identity,” he says, noting that almost all of his other plays have Jewish themes. “I don't go to shul regularly, but I'm not blas' about my Jewishness.”
Goldfarb did very little research to write his play; he simply collected stories from Jewish friends. He did, however, spend quite a bit of time surfing dating websites. At the time Goldfarb first started writing “Modern Orthodox,” JDate and other Jewish matchmaking websites were new fads. “I filled out a profile on JDate as if I were Herschel,” he reveals.
Once interested women started responding, he felt guilty and took “Herschel's” profile down. But, his experience answering Jewish dating questionnaires led to his writing a popular scene in which Ben and Hannah go online to find Herschel a Jewish match.
Goldfarb's parents first took him to see Broadway shows in New York City at age 6. The Toronto native was instantly hooked on the theater and started writing his own short stories “with lots of dialogue.”
He had three one-act plays produced while attending the School of the Arts in Toronto as a drama major, and he knew that playwriting was his calling. He moved to New York at age 19 and attended New York University (NYU) and Juilliard.
After an initial reading at Juilliard, Goldfarb developed “Modern Orthodox” through a series of staged readings, from “just friends of mine doing it” to “fancy” readings featuring stars like Sarah Jessica Parker and Paul Rudd.
The play received its first full performance at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn., in 2000. Then “it took a holiday for three years,” Goldfarb says with a laugh. After several re-writes, including an attempt to adapt it from a play to a movie, “Modern Orthodox” found new life in New York. The play attracted the attention of “American Pie” movie star Jason Biggs and Broadway directing legend James Lapine. It premièred off-Broadway in 2004.
Directed by Lapine, the play starred Biggs as Herschel and '80s film icon Molly Ringwald as Hannah.
“Lightning struck twice,” says Goldfarb. While “Modern Orthodox,” a comedy, was playing on a for-profit stage, another play of his, the naturalistic drama “Sarah, Sarah,” was running in a nonprofit theater. “I felt like I was finally a member of that community I wanted to be a part of my whole life: New York playwrights.”
The success of “Modern Orthodox” landed Goldfarb his next job, co-writing the book of the hit musical “Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me” alongside beloved comedian Martin Short. He's also collaborating on two more musicals and writing (solo) a new original drama, all while teaching play and screenwriting at NYU.
His other new project? Fatherhood. Goldfarb and wife Marianna are expecting their first child in March.
The playwright marvels that his journey has paralleled that of his play's characters. “I wrote ‘Modern Orthodox' single. Then this amazing thing happened - I got engaged right when they decided to produce it. I was in the same place Ben is at the beginning of the play. Three weeks after it opened, I was married. Now, I'm in the same place Ben's in at the end.”
JCC Arts & Culture program presents “Modern Orthodox” through Nov. 5 at Tri-C Eastern Campus Performing Arts Center. Shows will be Thursdays at 7:30, Saturdays at 8, and Sundays at 2. http://www.tickets.com or 800-766-6048.
