By Bart Greenberg***In a theatrical season that includes two major revivals by one of the first-celebrated Jewish-American playwrights, Clifford Odets, it is highly appropriate that we have the world premiere of a new Jewish family drama. Debbie Goodstein’s The Blue Violinist Over West End Avenue is like many a family reunion drama: chaotic, passionate, tense, loving, replete with 
past history and current events, and a few missteps along the way. But overall, it is a fine work, dealing with both family conflict and larger political issues, enhanced by a top-notch production.
The story surrounds, or perhaps is surrounded by, the Stein family, who live on New York City’s Upper West Side. Patriarch Abe (Adam Heller, giving a brilliant performance as a man filled with contrasting emotions) and his loving earth-mother wife Dina (Barbara Walsh, all hugs and humor and compassion), have four adult children. We are introduced to them in some early blatant exposition: Rachel (Lauriel Friedman), clearly her mother’s daughter, married to the bombastic Italian-Catholic cop Vinny (Mike Labbadia, bringing great energy to a character that teeters on anarchetype); Yitzhak (Etai Benson), an ardent Zionist and Orthodox Jew who has relocated his family 
to Israel; Joseph (Harrison Bryan), a gay actor with a snarky side used to compensate for some subtle family homophobia (another archetype rescued by the actor’s charm and besides, he’s very cute), who is engaged to a Moroccan-Jewish social worker Sami (Yair Ben-Dor); and finally, Jake (Rory Kulz), the baby of the family, a child prodigy on the violin who is now a student a Harvard. He arrives home with a “friend” (Ali Axelrad), a nice Jewish girl, who triggers the drama.
That is a whole lot of characters, all with their own agendas and all with their relationships with each other. It is notable that Goodstein keeps all the players well-defined,plus a special tribute goes to director Jonathan Silverstein for coordinating scenes with everyone on stage doing their own things, while the focus on the important conversations are never lost. All of the group scenes are totally believabl
e for anyone who’s ever experienced a family gathering.
The major flaw within the work is the playwright’s (and the matriarch’s) obsession with Fiddler on the Roof. That musical was vital to the Jewish generation on display, but the mix of claims to shtetl relationships to Sholom Aleichem (author of the work’s source material), quotes and song cues fromthe musical, and the naming of one of the sons “Joseph Stein,” which happens to also be the name of the musical’s book writer, culminates in a major misjudgment, a fake dream sequence that is so far over the top that it becomes a burlesque that doesn’t connect to anything else in the play.
What isn’t an issue is the cast, all of whom are doing their personal bests, beginning with Heller embodying a man who is struggling wit
h too many changes in a world he is being forced to adapt to. This is a detailed, compassionate portrayal, the type of which is seen rarely. Walsh brought warmth, humor and a great deal of vulnerability to her matriarch, and subtle suggestions that just occasionally she’d like not to be the peacemaker in her fractious family. Kulz, at the center of the major battle in the play, brings a quiet dignity to a loving person being drawn in several directions while trying to define himself. Axelrad brings clarity to what easily could become the villain of the piece; the playwright deserves great credit for giving her believable arguments that touch on her passion and humanity rather than any prejudices.
The Blue Violinist Over West End Avenue is an important work that carries its importance with a very light touch. While its political discussions are very of the moment, its humanity as a family drama will ensure it will be around for a long time.
The play runs through December 5, 2026 at Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd St. For tickets, scroll on theatrerow.ludus.com or visit the box office.
Photos by David Gibbs
