Politics. Sports. Fake News. Truth. Based on actual events, this riveting dramatic comedy depicts an unusual cross-cultural friendship that develops in the years preceding World War II. In order to preserve their special friendship, the great American boxing champion Joe Lewis, German boxing great Max Schmeling, and wise-guy strategist and boxing manager Joe “Yussel the Muscle” Jacobs (played by Tovah Feldshuh), confront the lies of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment, in a whirling 90-minute theatrical adventure.
A Play in Development — A Unique Format
We flew in some of the original members of the Minneapolis world premiere cast as well as welcoming a new ensemble member flying in from Germany. Theatre Or was only the second theatre company to host a presentation of this play as it journeys to New York. The play was still in development, with new scenes added since the play’s premiere. Tovah and the playwright, her brother David Feldshuh, asked Denver audiences for their feedback.
When God seeks out an earthly therapist to aid him with his wrenching doubt, it is not always clear who is the therapist to whom. Wrestling with doubts of her own, Ella has but one therapy session to convince God not to destroy his creation.
Our production was directed by Richard Pegg, and was fortunate to have two actors alternating in the role of God, one of them a rabbi! We held talk-backs after the performances to discuss the theological ramifications of a God who needs help.
In September and October of 2018, we held ten performances in the Pluss Theater in the Denver JCC, two in the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, and two in the sanctuary at Hebrew Educational Alliance. A few weeks later, we revived the production at the Boulder JCC. A performance at The Temporary in Basalt, Colorado was planned for March 3, 2019, but had to be cancelled due to a storm.