"Little Shop of Horrors" Cast Helps Feed the Hungry

March 22, 2010 - PRLog -- For the last three weeks, the elementary, middle, and high school students of the Jewish Cultural Arts Theatre (J-CAT) have been, singing, dancing, and acting their hearts out for appreciative and sold out audiences at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, located on the Sanford L. Ziff Campus, 18900 NE 25th Ave., North Miami in their hit production of "Little Shop of Horrors."  They have also put their hearts into something else: raising money to feed the hungry of North Miami.

After each curtain call, lead actor Avi Gadish and (his double cast David Ben-Arie) explained to the audience that the words "feed me" took on a whole new meaning for them in their roles as Seymour Krelbourn, the hapless nebbish who finds a man-eating plant and ultimately takes to murdering not so innocent characters to feed it. As they explained, the play inspired them to do a food drive to help support the Jewish Community Services  Kosher Food Bank.  Unlike other food drives, however, they didn't ask people to bring in the food (though food donations would have been accepted and delivered to the food bank).  Realizing from past food drives that often people forget to bring food, these teens decided to do it differently.  After each performance, they gave a "Broadway Cares" style pitch and asked the audience to purchase $10.00 Publix gift cards that were available for sale at the exit. The students, in turn, donated the cards to the food bank.  
You wouldn't think a musical spoof of the "B" sci-fi movies of the 50s about a man-eating plant would inspire charitable feelings in the cast or the audience, but then you have to know something about this young cast and the J-CAT Guild organization to which they all belong. Established in the Fall of 2007, the Jewish Cultural Arts Theater started as a theater program involving students from 15 area schools.  The J-CAT presents 5-6 productions a year and, to replicate the educational component of theater programs in schools, the program's Director, Dr. Michael Andron, established an honor society for the students called the J-CAT Guild. The Guild adopted a point and honor system similar to the National Thespian Honor society with one additional component; they pair mitzvah (charitable) projects with two productions every year.  
Because the Spring musical came so close to Passover, J-CAT Guild co-presidents Rebecca Battat and Avi Gadish decided to partner with the Kosher Food Bank to provide Passover supplies for needy families.  The fact that the  plant repeats "Feed Me" throughout the play seemed like a catchy bonus to bring their message of feeding the community's hungry to their audience. "A major component of our theater is mentoring (younger actors).  By having a food drive, we foster a sense of community responsibility among the cast,"  explained Battat.  
On the last day of the show's run, the J-CAT Guild co-presidents presented nearly $1,400 in Publix gift cards to JCS Executive Director Judith Lieber and Kosher Food Bank Coordinator Graciela Chemerinsky. (Pictured).  "Sitting in the theatre today I knew that these are the reasons that humanity will survive . . ." said Judith Lieber after receiving the donated cards.  "Each one of these kids is a blessing

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The Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center/Sanford L. Ziff Campus is dedicated to the enrichment of Jewish life and fosters the spiritual, emotional, and physical development of its individual members through all of life’s stages and circumstances. The MAR-JCC represents a model of acceptance, understanding and diversity. As such, people look at the MAR-JCC as a center of excellence that epitomizes how shared Jewish values support a vibrant and evolving constituency. The MAR-JCC is a beneficiary agency of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the United Way of Miami-Dade County, and a member of the Jewish Community Center Association of North America.