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April 26, 2013
Jewtopia at Rothstein
KDHS hosts Bryan Fogel’s one-man show here.
LAUREN KRAMER
Bryan Fogel was a struggling actor and writer doing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles back in 2001. When he met Sam Wolfson, another aspiring artist doing the same thing, the pair had a lot in common – both wanted desperately to get noticed. They joined forces and sat down together to write, produce and ultimately star in their own play. They called it Jewtopia and centred it on a friendship between Adam, a Jewish character, and his non-Jewish friend, Chris.
“Chris wants to marry a Jewish girl so he’ll never have to make another decision,” explained Fogel, 39, in a telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles. “In Adam’s world, that’s a turn-off, but in Chris’ world, it’s everything he wants: not to have to think, and to have a Jewish girl run his life for him.”
Fogel and Wolfson took out $80,000 worth of credit and opened Jewtopia in May 2003 in Los Angeles. The show became a hit and changed both of their lives, taking them completely by surprise. It ran for three-and-a-half years in New York with productions also in Toronto, Chicago and Miami. Fogel said it is considered the longest-running original comedy off-Broadway, with some 1,300 performances. It’s also been licensed and produced as far away as Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Fogel will be in Vancouver May 8 and 9 to do his one-man show, Jewtopia Live. The sold-out May 8 performance is being hosted at King David High School and includes dinner; on May 9, Fogel will do a 2 p.m. matinée and a 7:30 p.m. show, both at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
His hour-long routine is comprised of stand-up comedy, multi-media inspired from his life stories, snippets from the book Jewtopia that he co-wrote a few years ago and clips from the movie Jewtopia, which will be released on the big screen in October. The movie has a star-studded cast with familiar names including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tom Arnold, Camryn Manheim and Rita Wilson.
“The heart of the story, about the two guys both seeking love, is intact, but how they get there is definitely different from the play,” he said. It took Fogel and Wolfson a few years to assemble the film and Fogel is hoping it will do well and lead him to direct another film.
Fogel grew up in Denver, moving to Los Angeles after he graduated from the University of Colorado. “I never got any flak for choosing this career, but I spent a long time trying to get some success,” he reflected. “You never feel quite secure in this business – that’s the nature of it. But, for the most part, I really enjoy making people laugh.”
In the decade since Jewtopia was first performed, Fogel said he’s “not as neurotic” as he was back then and he has been thrilled with the opportunities that have presented themselves. “It’s been a great ride,” he said.
The May 9 matinée of Jewtopia Live is free for King David students, $18 for other students; the night show is $99.99. To purchase tickets, visit kdhs.org or call 604-263-9700.
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.
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