L ifestyles /C ulture
Play by ‘Poet of the Philly Streets’ Revived
quintessential American play-
wright was supposed to be” —
“a poet of the Philly streets,” in
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
Shulman’s words.

Shulman, 38, hails from
CLIFFORD ODETS’ DRAMA
Boston, and was convinced to
Awake and Sing, a classic of the
direct the
play by his friend and
American social realist genre
Quintessence art director Alex
that deals with Americanized
Burns. Where
in college his
Jewish immigrants in New
interest in
the play
was buoyed
York in the 1930s, opens at the
by his
desire for
gaining a par-
Quintessence Theater on Jan. 26.

In a cramped Bronx apart- ticular role, he finds now that
ment, three generations of he has a greater appreciation
Bergers try to figure out what for the totality of the play’s
it means to be a Jew and an themes. In 2019, he says, it’s
American, with far-reaching more relevant than ever.

consequences. Awake and Sing, he said, is
For director Max Shulman, about how it feels when “to be dis-
it’s “a kind of dream” to be able illusioned becomes a daily occur-
to bring Awake and Sing to rence, to be shocked to the point
the stage.

of numbness becomes a daily
“When I was an under- occurrence.” “But this play,” he
graduate at Northwestern said, “in many ways, is a call for
Lawence Pressman plays Jacob in Awake and Sing.
University, I thought Odets strength at a time like this, when
hung the moon and the stars,” things cannot get any worse.”
he said. The Philadelphia-born
Shulman, whose family Ellis Island-like characters in is going through an identity
Odets was “everything that a entered the country through the play, finds that Awake and crisis. Who are we in relation-
Sing “really brings to light what it ship to what we always were?”
meant to be a Jew in the period.” Pressman asked.

And it’s not simply a political
Lawrence Pressman, 79,
Whatever your political position today is,
or academic question to him;
playing the role of Jacob, agreed.

you can’t escape the fact that America is going
he remembers
his Jewish immi-
The play is about the “drama
that happens in family units” grant grandparents well, and his
through an identity crisis.”
(which it has in common with grandmother once labored in
LAWRENCE PRESSMAN
“all great dramas,” Pressman the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
said, “in particularly American (though she was gone before its
dramas”), but it’s also about the infamous fire).

Pressman himself is a vet-
perils and complex questions
eran actor, having appeared in
that face new immigrants to
NAME: WWDB AM 860; WIDTH: 3.625 IN;
fare as
diverse as Shaft to Doogie
the United States. The force
DEPTH: 3.62 IN; COLOR: BLACK; AD NUMBER:
Howser, M.D. to American
and honesty with which the
00082699 Pie.

The last
time he was in
play confronts those questions,
Philadelphia was
“at least 40,
Pressman said, are what gives
maybe 50
years ago,”
he said,
it its vitality for the current day.

when he
appeared in
a show at
“Whatever your political
the Playhouse
at the
Park. He
position today is, you can’t
escape the fact that America quite enjoys the “directness that
T H EATER
Photo provided
Philadelphians have,” he said
The lives of Shulman and
Pressman intersect in ways that
stretch across decades. Both
attended Northwestern, where
each discovered Odets and
fell in love. Pressman starred
as Jacob alongside an actor
named Richard Benjamin in a
student production of the play.

Benjamin, as it turns out, hap-
pens to be Shulman’s father-
in-law. What better way for a
family drama to be produced?
“It’s a play that once you
read it, or are exposed to it, it’s
viral,” Pressman said. “It just
goes through your system and
never leaves you.” l
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
Be heard.

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letters@jewishexponent.com 20
JANUARY 17, 2019
JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



L IFESTYLES /C ULTURE
Beef Bone Broth:
Healthy and Versatile
Roast at 400 degrees for
about 40 minutes until the
meat is browned and the veg-
etables are cooked.

Dump the contents of the
roasting pan, including all drip-
pings, into a large stockpot.

Cover with water, add the
remaining ingredients and
bring it to a boil.

Lower the heat, cover and
simmer for 12-36 hours.

Strain and use as desired.

F O OD
BONE BROTH seems to be
having its 15 minutes of fame
these days.

Th e name — bone broth —
refers to a long-simmered con-
coction of bones, vegetables and
herbs that becomes a rich, deeply
fl avored and healthy elixir.

But it is a misnomer; it
is actually a stock with an
extended cooking time. Stock
is simmered for several hours
with bones and various aro-
matics, whereas broth is gen-
erally simmered with meat
for a shorter period, results
in a thinner consistency and
a milder fl avor and generally
does not use bones. But with
apologies to Shakespeare, a
broth by any other name would
still taste as rich.

Bone broth has been
touted as a bit of a cure-all. It
is reported to help everything
from the common cold to joint
pain to intestinal infl ammation
to the eff ects of aging. Scientifi c
research does not necessarily
support all of these claims, but I
have a colleague who swears her
achy knees feel better when she
drinks bone broth.

And scientifi c research does
support the indisputable fact
that easy-to-digest, whole-
some, nutrient-rich foods like
bone broth are good for one’s
health, so it is a reasonable
choice for a sensible diet.

My husband has become a bit
obsessed with beef bone broth. It
started a few weeks back when he
made his fi rst chili of the season
as the weather turned cold. He
had a notion that the chili called
for beef broth, and was deter-
mined to go the distance with
bone broth, so he asked me to get
marrow bones, which he roasted
and then simmered for a day.

In the end, the recipe did not
require beef broth (don’t get me
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM started), so we had a gallon of
bone broth with no clear desti-
nation. Th e good news was that
we used it for a wonderfully
warming and healthy vegetable
soup. We also froze a couple of
pints for future use.

Oh, and of course, I gave
a container to my colleague
with the achy knees. One note
of warning: Bone broth is fra-
grant and the smell fi lls the
house while it cooks. Th is is BEEF BONE BROTH
worth considering before you VEGETABLE SOUP
embark on the project as the
Th is soup was a great way
smell is quite pervasive.

to use the spare vegetables I
BEEF BONE BROTH
had lying around. Th is version
Makes about 1 gallon
uses a classic assortment of late
fall/early winter produce like
Th e beef bones need to be cabbage, squash and root vege-
roasted fi rst in order to tem- tables, but you could adapt it to
per the fl avor. Th is only takes whatever is in season.

about 40 minutes, but it is cru-
cial for a successful result.

1 tablespoon canola oil
For the roasting step:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
8 cups assorted chopped
4 large marrow bones
1 large onion, coarsely
chopped 3 carrots, coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, coarsely
chopped 1 parsnip, coarsely chopped
(optional) 1 head garlic, cut in half
A handful of fresh herbs:
rosemary, thyme, parsley,
marjoram, whatever you
have on hand or
2 tablespoons mixed
dried herbs
Madeleine_Steinbach/iStock/Getty Images Plus
vegetables: carrots,
cabbage, butternut squash,
parsnips, sweet and white
potatoes, celery, etc.

1 teaspoon salt, plus
generous sprinkling of
pepper 2 quarts bone broth
1 cup red or white wine
1 cup water
2 cans chickpeas or
white beans, drained
In a large stockpot, heat
the oil and sauté the garlic
and onion. When fragrant,
add the remaining vegetables,
salt and pepper.

Sauté the vegetables
until they are soft, about
10 minutes.

Add the broth, wine, water
and chickpeas. Bring the mix-
ture to a boil, reduce the heat
and simmer for an hour. ●
Madeleine_Steinbach/iStock/Getty Images Plus
KERI WHITE | JE FOOD COLUMNIST
For the simmering step:
All contents of roasting pan,
plus drippings
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 cup red wine
In a large roasting pan,
place all the “roasting step”
ingredients, evenly distributed.

JEWISH EXPONENT
JANUARY 17, 2019
21