The phrase “family entertainment” has taken on some political nuances. But the family entertainment at Shalom Milwaukee, the new Jewish festival slated for Sep. 12 at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, will be a true family experience: The performers will be members of real families.
Musical groups made up of parents and their children, who range in age from 11 to 80-something, will light up the stage and the acoustical system with an eclectic array of sounds and rhythms.
As of this writing, scheduled performers include:
• Joe and Rick Aaron, father and son musical team, will play klezmer music.
• Ken and Molly Baron, a singer-songwriter father and his 11-year old daughter, a flutist, will perform his original songs.
• Steve Cohen and his 19-year-old son, Jake, will perform blues and rock.
• Marge Eiseman and teenage son Jona Muchin’s musical duo, “BaRuach” (“In the Spirit”), will perform original songs by Eiseman.
• Dr. Jeff Green and his seventh grade son, Matan Koplin-Green, will perform world music with guitar and drums.
• The Guten Guys including dad Jim Guten, Shorewood high school sons Jesse and Mike, and Mike’s classmate, Jona Muchin, will play songs by the Jewish singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan.
• Moshe Skier Band, consisting of Mark Skier, Mendel Appel and Moshe’s teenage daughter, Perel, will perform Hassidic folk music.
Also, Amy Gelfman, a newcomer to Milwaukee (and soon-to-be teacher in The Harold & Terry Nash JCC Parenting and Family Center), will sing children’s songs and perform Yiddish songs and comedy.
“We (the performers) are excited to come and do this. For many of us, it’s hard to find local gigs — to have an opportunity to perform in our home community,” said Marge Eiseman, performer and one of the event organizers.
“Also, parents are happy to perform with their children. What makes Jewish families hang together is doing things together. If you are having a bad day with your 15-year old and you sit down to play together, [the tension] just melts away. You are collaborators, not parent and child; you rely on each other and respect each other in a new way.”
Other acts at Shalom Milwaukee will include the Yonim Israeli Dance Troupe, a youth dance group from Madison, and Max Samson’s giant puppet show, “Jonah and the Whale.”
The “Real Family Entertainment Stage” is sponsored by HealthEOS and Sendik’s on Downer and in Bayside.
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