Jewish Community Center theater troupe celebrates 75 seasons of fellowship, inclusivity
Proud of its pioneering past, Gallery Players is working to sustain its future as it celebrates its 75th season. As the resident theater of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Columbus, the troupe has made a difference.
“Gallery Players has been important to the JCC in many ways. For the larger community, it’s a window into the Jewish community,” said Allan Finkelstein, the center’s former executive director (1982-1991) and former president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America (1994-2015).
“Just as the JCC is open to everyone, so is Gallery, the first theater in town to invite everyone to try out,” Finkelstein said.
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How did Gallery Players begin?
When Jewish women in The Little Theatre Group founded the company in 1950, they did so partly because, in that pre-civil-rights era, they couldn’t perform elsewhere.
“Gallery Players prides itself in being the first theater in Columbus to allow everyone on our stages,” said Michael Solomon, theater program director.
“Local theaters were basically closed to several religions and ethnicities. ... We broke down the walls of segregation in Columbus theater,” Solomon said.
The troupe’s name came from its first home on Long Street.
“It had a loft or gallery, and that’s why it’s called Gallery Players,” veteran supporter Carol Luper said. “The glory of it was Gallery’s open admissions, which broadened programming."
That inclusive sense of community reflects key aspects of JCC’s mission.
“When we talk about community, we don’t just mean the Jewish community, but people who live near us on the East Side and throughout Columbus, and people of all backgrounds,” Solomon said.
How are seasons chosen?
All three 2023-24 productions revive past favorites: the musicals “Fiddler on the Roof” and “The Producers,” and the Holocaust drama “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
“This season is a throwback to our greatest hits, all beloved shows with strong Jewish themes,” Solomon said.
Pam and Ira Scheer, involved since the 1970s, remain active on Gallery Players’ planning committee, which selects seasons. “The first thing we discuss is how it fits our mission. Sometimes that seems like a disadvantage, but it really isn’t,” Pam said.
“Over the nearly 50 years I’ve been involved, we’ve had a mission to produce shows with Jewish themes or characters, or Jewish creators ... but they also have to be of interest to the community as a whole."
Although the theater has staged works by Shakespeare, Shaw and other non-Jews, such classics dramatize universal themes relevant to Jewish history, ethics and culture.
“The shows we pick don’t have to be overtly Jewish,” Solomon said. "But they must exemplify Jewish values: kindness, compassion, self-respect, goodness toward your fellow man and giving back to the community.”
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Who did the most to build the company?
Harold Eisenstein guided Gallery Players’ development into one of the area’s most-respected arts groups.
“We’re standing on his shoulders,” said Pam, who stage-managed shows Eisenstein directed.
A successful New York director-producer who worked with Frank Sinatra and other stars on ABC and NBC shows before coming to Columbus in 1958 to work at the JCC, Eisenstein produced and/or directed more than 200 Gallery shows.
“Harold was the soul of Gallery Players, bringing it up to the status of one of the city’s major theaters,” Finkelstein said.
Eisenstein, who died at 90 in 2008, also mentored emerging talents, such as famous singer-pianist Michael Feinstein, a Columbus native who worked in his youth on sound design for Gallery shows.
“Over his 40 years here, Harold gave Michael and many others their shot,” Finkelstein said.
Ira Scheer, taking over from Feinstein in the control booth, began working in 1978 on sound design. “Harold was able to bring out the best in people. He’d say: 'Think about it. Apply yourself. I’m sure you can.' And I was able to,” he said.
What's the opening event?
Gallery Players will launch its 75th season Oct. 15 with “One Night Only,” starring Broadway actor-singer Nick Cosgrove (“Jersey Boys”).
Backed by the 17-member Rick Brunetto Band, the 95-minute concert will celebrate Broadway’s “rich heritage,” especially of Jewish talent, Cosgrove said.
As emcee, Cosgrove will add biographical context for those creators and their songs. Among them: Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (“To Life” from “Fiddler”); Mel Brooks (“Opening Night” from “The Producers”); Frank Loesser (“Luck Be a Lady” from “Guys and Dolls”); Jonathan Larson (“Seasons of Love" from “Rent”); Rodgers and Hammerstein (medley); Stephen Schwartz (“For Good” from “Wicked”); and Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (“Maria” from “West Side Story.”)
“Without these major composers and lyricists, I don’t believe modern musical theater would exist,” Cosgrove said.
The concert also will honor Fred Luper and the Scheers as “Legends of Gallery Players.”
“Fred, active long before we were, made tremendous contributions,” Pam said.
What's Luper's legacy?
A Gallery Players actor since the 1960s, Luper performed there through 2018, playing Ziegfeld in “Funny Girl.”
“Many perceived Fred to be a curmudgeon, but he got to show off his talent and act with some of his favorite actors,” said his wife Carol, a retired TV reporter/interviewer.
“His strength was acting and singing, often with a comedic touch. ... I was the original stage wife, there for his every performance from tech rehearsal to opening night."
The Lupers met at tryouts in college. “Fred was always in theater, so it was natural when we got married to go to Gallery Players,” Luper said.
Over decades, the Lupers helped with fundraising, ticket sales and sponsorships. When Fred died in 2020 at 80, Carol was asked to take his place on Gallery/JCC boards.
“I said I will,” she said, “But I can’t push people to contribute like he did, and I can’t tell jokes like Fred did.”
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How did the Scheers connect?
The Scheers, meanwhile, met in 1974 through working backstage on Gallery shows. “Gallery Players and the JCC have been central to our lives,” Pam said.
Her first show as stage manager was “Spoon River Anthology” in 1975.
“My favorite part was calling the cues. ... You had to be on your toes for shows with more than 100 cues,” she said.
After marrying in 1983, the Scheers remained active.
“We stayed because of the pleasure we got from contributing to an art form, and the social aspects of Gallery Players,” Ira said.
Today, Ira, 85, and Pam, 73, are focused on leaving a legacy, having established a family fund to enhance facilities.
Thanks to such support from many patrons, the center’s 329-seat Roth/Resler Theatre recently installed a scenic-projection system.
“It’s our home, and we want to take care of it,” Pam said.
“It makes all the difference to have your own space,” Ira added. “And for Gallery Players to be a function of the Jewish Center.”
What makes Gallery Players special?
Gallery Players’ longevity has magnified its impact on Columbus.
“Not many arts organizations have survived and flourished for 75 seasons,” said Tom Katzenmeyer, president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Arts Council.
“Gallery Players has been an incredible outlet for local creatives, with a rich history, high quality and deep values,” he said.
As JCC’s resident troupe, Gallery Players is treasured by supporters.
“We’re special in having our own theater company here. Not many JCCs have a built-in theater company anymore,” Solomon said.
Many of North America’s roughly 350 Jewish Community Centers and camps have performing spaces (available for outside rentals and tours), but relatively few have their own troupes, Finkelstein said.
“The arts in JCCs used to be more prevalent than they are today. ... Especially now that anti-Semitism is rising everywhere,” he said.
"Anything we can do to promote works by Jewish artists or works with Jewish themes is vital.”
Anniversary season
Gallery Players’ 75th season, which will run in the Roth/Resler Theatre, 1125 College Ave., will feature:
“One Night Only” — 7 p.m. Oct. 15
“Fiddler on the Roof” — Dec. 2-17
“The Producers” — Feb. 24 to March 10
“The Diary of Anne Frank” — April 7-21
Subscriptions cost $75, or $120 including concert. Concert tickets cost $50. (614-559-6238, columbusjcc.org)
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: JCC's Gallery Players theater troupe celebrates 75 seasons
