Toronto theater plants roots

Green Jewish Co. opens with 'Rose'

By RICHARD OUZOUNIAN

TORONTO -- On March 5, a new professional ethnic theater opened in this most multicultural of Canadian cities. But instead of representing one of the newer aspects of Toronto's diversity, it celebrated one of the oldest.

The Harold Green Jewish Theater Company's inaugural production is Martin Sherman's "Rose," starring Stratford veteran Lally Cadeau as the 80-year-old holocaust survivor. The company's mission statement is "to illuminate humanity through a Jewish perspective."

The company is named after the late community leader and philanthropist, while the organization itself is in the hands of two local acting community vets -- Avery Saltzman and David Eisner.

Between them, they boast 60 years of showbiz experience -- Saltzman as a legit performer throughout Canada and the U.S., with his major Gotham exposure starring opposite Judy Kaye in the New York City Opera revival of "The Pajama Game," while Eisner has kept busy mainly in film and television, with long-running stints on Canadian sitcoms like "King of Kensington" and "Hangin' In."

For many years, Toronto's Jewish community was served by the Leah Posluns Theater, which staged an eclectic mix of ethnic and conventional programming. But although the building still remains (and now hosts a non-Equity Jewish group called Teatron), the company closed its doors in the late 1980s.

"For the first time in over 20 years, there's going to be a theater in this city devoted to telling Jewish stories," Eisner says.

And unlike many fledgling troupes, the theater company is starting on reasonably solid ground: Its initial season of two plays is budgeted at $1 million, with all of its donor goals met before opening night.

The group's advisory council includes such local heavyweights as theater impresario David Mirvish, Soulpepper Theater artistic director Albert Schultz, independent producers Jeffrey Latimer and Michael Rubinoff and actress Sheila McCarthy.

After the 4½ week run of "Rose" in the 497-seat Jane Mallett Theater downtown, the company will follow in June with Wendy Wasserstein's "The Sisters Rosensweig."

In the theater's second season, Saltzman and Eisner plan to add a third play in Yiddish, as well as some appropriately themed Broadway musicals in concert, like "Milk and Honey" and "The Rothschilds."

"There's a real need among people of our generation to reconnect with their beliefs," Saltzman says. "We may be telling Jewish stories, but their content is universal."