Jewish Family Service (JFS) brought Broadway to Dallas on April 20 at the Dallas Majestic Theater with Broadway Legends Sandra Joseph and Ron Bohmer as well as a surprise guest – Bohmer’s daughter, Austen Danielle Bohmer, who recently made her Broadway debut. The evening, titled Just for Show,  featured the Broadway stars in a “A Look Behind the Curtain: Songs and Stories from Broadway” and raised critical funding to support Jewish Family Service programs and services.

Joseph and Bohmer met and fell in love while playing Christine Daaé and the Phantom in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera and have been married for more than 20 years. Joseph holds the record as the longest-running leading lady, spanning 10 years and 1,500 performances, in the longest-running Broadway show of all time, 35 years. Joseph is also the bestselling author of Unmasking What Matters: 10 Life Lessons from 10 Years on Broadway, and a keynote speaker. Bohmer has starred in more than a dozen Broadway productions in a career spanning 30 years on Broadway stages and with symphony orchestras worldwide. The couple resides in San Diego but flew straight to Dallas from New York City, where they attended the final curtain call of The Phantom of the Opera at NYC’s Majestic Theater, after its 35-year run on Broadway before their performance at Dallas’ theater of the same name. In fact, Joseph wore the same gold sequined dress she donned on the red carpet for the NYC extravaganza, joking to the JFS audience, “I wanted to try it out first there and make sure it would be good for Dallas!”

More than 750 attendees entered the Dallas Majestic to a red carpet, where they were interviewed by Entertainment Reporter Danielle Hawthorne about their excitement for the evening and their passion for the work of JFS. Guests received a “JFS Bill” program and found a goody bag of popcorn and treats for the evening at their seats. Hawthorne kicked off the evening as emcee, introducing JFS Board Chair Eric Goldberg, who thanked the more than 60 volunteers for this event, which had skipped a year due to the pandemic. JFS alternates its Woman-to-Woman Luncheon with Just for Show, but the nonprofit did not hold the event in 2021. Goldberg recognized event chairs Anita and Todd Chanon, and Michael Kaufman and Durward Watson for their hard work ensuring the evening’s success.

JFS President and CEO Cathy Barker then highlighted “Your Journey with JFS,” and introduced Matthew Randazzo, president and CEO of Dallas Foundation. Randazzo shared an emotional story of an unwed mother’s long journey to success due to the help of a very similar Jewish nonprofit in Detroit – a story which turned out to be about his own mother. Barker returned to the stage asking audience members to stand as they related to various scenarios, as she read them aloud, regarding the impact of JFS on their lives – until nearly everyone in the audience was standing.

Joseph and Bohmer then took the stage with a big “Hey Dallas!” and kicked things off with “Merrily We Roll Along – Old Friends,” explaining how they love Dallas, have been here many times, and love being with old friends. “We are here to celebrate the incredible work by JFS!”

Joseph shared her Broadway journey to playing Christine Daaé and how when she first arrived in NYC she was able to get a $15, standing-room-only ticket to The Phantom. She shared that on the closing night earlier that week, after the final curtain call, she went to that same spot and had a moment of gratitude “for letting me be a part of it.” She had dreamed of playing Christine one day and would have never imagined she would play that role for 10 years.

“I only had the courage to move to NYC because of my parents who encouraged me. I sat down with them after college, and my dad said go and give it a time limit of five years. So off I went with my graduation money. At the four-and-one-half-year mark, I was sleeping on a friend’s sofa, and my credit cards were maxed out. I was facing the decision of moving back home to Detroit and admitting failure.

Soon after, my agent called and said I had an audition for the part of Christine.  So there I was with Hal Prince and all the supervisors. I was so nervous, and my mouth went dry.  I didn’t get the part, but I was the understudy for Christine and in the chorus. I was the mannequin – yes, after all those singing and dancing lessons. But I was on tour, and I was paying back my student loans. We did the show eight times a week. After a year, the actress playing Christine left to take a part in another show.  The company flew me back to audition again for Hal Prince and the supervisors.  Throughout my audition I made dramatic movements throughout my singing, and the assistant director pulled me aside and said, ‘What in the hell was that?’  I did not get the part. I realized that the most important thing was authenticity – I had been wearing a mask myself. I had no idea if I would ever get another chance, but I got a third call. I knew I needed to drop the mask and be present, be myself and bring heart to the audition.”

Joseph then sang “Think of Me” for the JFS audience just as she had for her audition, complete with a montage of photos of her in the role of Christine showing on the screen behind her. “I couldn’t have seen how it would change my life, but it did in many ways. We were on tour and performing at the Kennedy Center. We had a new Phantom, and now we have been married for more than 20 years. And we survived quarantine! Connection is so important to all of us. I was so grateful to be home and with him!”

She then performed “Times Like This” from the musical Lucky Stiff – “Times like this, a girl could use a dog” – with a photo of their dog in the background. Bohmer entered the stage highlighting that it was their dog Rocky in the picture – a pandemic pup. He shared his enthusiasm for supporting JFS and all they have achieved. He then sang “Some Enchanted Evening,” followed by “Pink Fish” by Alan Menken, a song which mirrors his own journey from a small town outside of Cincinnati to the big city and his Broadway debut as Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof at the Gershwin Theater.

“At that time, I became a father,” Bohmer continued.  “My daughter Cassidy will graduate and become an OBGYN this May.  Four to five years later as I was in Les Misérables, I had Austen Danielle who made her Broadway debut in Diana as the understudy and in the chorus.

Austen Danielle entered the stage performing “Gimme Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie, and she also sang a song from Diana. She shared, “It’s a huge gift to be here and perform with my family and celebrate JFS.”  Austen and her dad then sang “Together Forever” from Annie.

Bohmer continued that his Broadway debut took a long time…he was a waiter for nine days, a carriage driver, and sold a down comforter to Meryl Streep! His first big break was playing Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof in 1990 and working with Gerome Robbins. The threesome then sang “To Life” from Fiddler as well as “Oklahoma,” including a chorus sing-along with the audience.

Concluding the evening, Joseph shared that she and Ron were blown away at all the ways JFS helps people. “It blew our hearts wide open when we heard about it,” she shared. “We all need help from time to time, and they are all inclusive – it doesn’t matter your age, race, religion, or ability to pay… and they’ve been helping people for more than 72 years. We have put something together for you and want to dedicate it to the work you do. On the screen were numerous voicemails left on JFS’s phone for assistance illustrating many different needs, which led into Joseph and Austen Danielle singing “For Good” from Wicked with a montage of photos of JFS serving others – and not a dry eye in the house.

Bohmer entered the stage singing “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” followed by special thanks. He concluded, “We will leave you now with the show that brought us here and will do an entire scene from The Phantom. I have never gotten to sing this to my wife – a song sung by Raoul in the show.”

The audience sat captivated for their final performances, “All I Ask of You” and “Music of the Night.”

Major donors were then invited upstairs for dessert and an after-party, including photos with the performers.

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Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas is a nonsectarian mental health and social services nonprofit that has served anyone regardless of age, race, religion, or ability to pay for more than 72 years. Their mission is to provide effective and accessible whole-person care that promotes lifelong self-sufficiency and well-being for the Greater Dallas community. JFS Dallas offers programs to the community such as individual age-appropriate counseling, family violence intervention, support for older adults, transportation services for disabled or homebound, a client-choice food pantry, and emergency financial assistance. The agency’s comprehensive services impacted over 30,000 lives last year. Jfsdallas.org

PHOTOS BY KIM LEESON

More than 1,000 attendees came together in support of this luncheon – the organization’s largest source of unrestricted operating support

Just 48 hours before the day of the Jewish Family Service’s long-awaited 10^th Anniversary Woman to Woman Luncheon on May 25 at the Renaissance Dallas Addison Hotel, the staff learned that Keynote Speaker Kristin Chenoweth was ill and needed to cancel her appearance. This year’s event not only marked the 10^th anniversary of the beloved biennial event, but it was also the first time in more than four years the group had been able to be together in a ballroom celebrating the power, influence, and impact of women, and, most importantly, what this event has done to advance the work of Jewish Family Service as JFS Board Chair Julie Liberman stated during her opening remarks.

JFS quickly pivoted after Chenoweth canceled, and Helen Hunt, a multi-award- winning actress, accomplished writer, director and producer, stepped in to take her place.

“It was a no-brainer for me once I did a shallow dive into the work of Jewish Family Service,” shared Hunt. She added that supporting our neighbor is what is important as is the work of JFS – to support lifelong sustainability while keeping the dignity of the client in mind.

Julie Liberman kicked off the luncheon welcoming the more than 1,000 attendees and thanking the many sponsors, organizations, family and community foundations, and corporate and individual donors for their support as well as the board and staff. Rabbi Shira Wallach, of Congregation Shearith Israel, offered the invocation, leading with a powerful prayer for the victims and families of the Uvalde elementary school shooting.

Woman to Woman Sustaining Chair Linda Garner and Founding Chair Ethel Zale then took the stage expressing their excitement at how much the event has grown since the first one in 2004 – an event which over the years has raised more than $4.6 million, helping to triple the number of clients served.

The audience was directed to the screens to listen to a series of recorded intake calls received by the agency. These illustrated the vast array of needs in the community – a glimpse of what the nonprofit hears each day. Carey Nottingham, director of client navigation and a licensed professional counselor, JFS, then shared more of her experience. “I oversee a team of two who answer up to 800 calls every month,” stated Nottingham. “It has been difficult to be inundated with voicemails from people who need help, and no matter how quickly we call them back, there are hundreds more we still need to call, and the list keeps growing.”

JFS CEO Cathy Barker shared, “With your help, we have been able to grow our professional, effective, and affordable health and social services, going from serving 7,400 individuals in 2004 to more than 39,000 last year.”  Services include career and financial services, food pantry and emergency assistance, older adult services, family violence services, clinical services, and much more as well as referrals for support.

“We have seen a 225 percent increase in calls for help this year,” added Barker as she called for the attendees’ support “to continue to be responsive when it’s needed most.”

In yet another show of women supporting women, WFAA’s Sonia Azad, graciously stepped in as the event moderator to cover for Cynthia Izaguirre, who was called to report on the Uvalde shooting. Azad introduced the keynote speaker, Helen Hunt, while wishing Chenoweth a speedy recovery. Highlighting Hunt’s accomplishments, she shared that she had won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Oscar for her role in the film As Good as It Gets and can most recently be seen in Blindspotting, The Night Clerk, and I See You. Other notable films include What Women Want, Twister, and Pay it Forward.

Hunt began by introducing herself as Kristin Chenoweth – then adding that she was a little older, crankier, less musical, and taller.

“When I heard it was the Woman to Woman Luncheon, with respect to all of the men in the room, I breathed a huge sigh of relief,” added Hunt. “I am grateful for the men who are here and help facilitate this, but at the end of the day, for me, for my whole life, circling up with women is the most important thing I’ve done. I’ve been doing it since my 20s, and I still do it every Thursday.  I gather with a group of women, and we get very real right away.  The women I know just get right to it, and I need that.”

“I used to do everything I could to walk around and say I’m fine, but I’m just not. I need circles of women, I need groups of people, and I think we need each other. The days of pretending we don’t went away with COVID-19.”

A few highlights from her opening talk:

In As Good as It Gets, she expressed it was a hard character - she played a born and bred Brooklyn gal who worked as a food server while keeping her child with asthma alive. “This was a woman deeply affected by what people say. People say don’t take is personally, but I’m a person!” Hunt expressed how a kind and thoughtful word means the world to her.

At the time of The Sessions, Hunt expressed that she had a teenager, and the message of the movie was that there is such a thing as healthy sexuality – that matters – that our teenagers see there is another way.

Hunt discussed the impact of James Hillman’s essays on her work with Ride and She Found Me – sharing with the crowd, “Feel free to see these – I’d be proud if you did.” Ride was influenced by his essay which stated as a parent you better get out there. The message of Then She Found Me, also based on one of his essays, demonstrates how “you can’t really love until you have made peace with betrayal. Faith equals the act of showing up for yourself and others when it’s hard.”

As she began talking about Pay It Forward, she said to the audience, “Given that you have donated your time this afternoon, you are committed to lifting up your most vulnerable neighbors. The part of me that is expressed in that movie is I know when I write a check, show up at a lunch, hold someone’s hand, pick up trash on the beach, I’m also doing it for me. I believe it’s important that I give up the notion or identity that I’m the helper when I go visit people who are sick or dying. If I come in as, boy, you’re really in trouble and I’m here to help you, I keep them in that role. But if I can come up for air and just let our hearts be together while I’m in that room the way our hearts are together in this very big room, maybe I’ve helped a little bit, and all the tenets of work that you all do are right in line with that. There are few secret things about me that live deep in the ground of the work that I’ve done. What I can say is this organization has served more than twice as many people in the last few years. The blessing and the curse of the last few years has been the jig is up, and we need each other.

She ended with a quote from a JFS client. “My pantry is full, my mind relieved, and my heart has new faith in humankind. With gratitude and love, thank you for your selfless work. So thank you all for your selfless work and for having me here today.”

Hunt then sat down for a fireside chat with Sonia Azad. When Azad asked Hunt where she found her circle of women, Hunt said, “I’ve had no trouble. If you put out cheap snacks, they show up.” She added, “My experience with other women is that we want to be there for each other – we share strength with each other.”

Hunt also expressed some of her favorite things to do are watch baseball and go to the movies. When asked about a stand-out moment, she referenced her dad, her best friend, her acting teacher, who always gave her a slow, steady drip of encouragement – “which means everything.” She tries to do the same for her own daughter.

Hunt concluded that the event had been good for her heart and soul. “To see us all gathered here together…sharing our time.”

Luncheon co-chairs were Rachel Biblo-Block, Beverly Goldman, Julie Gothard, Marcy Kahn, Julie Liberman, Staci Rubin, and Laura Weinstein.

Attendees included Lisa Brodsky, Jill Cumnock, Trisha Cunningham, Ben Leal, Marissa Castro-McCoy, Ana-Maria Ramos, Judge Clay Jenkins, Mary Pat Higgins, Jaynie Schultz, Tammany Stern, and Gay Willis.

Visit Jfsdallas.org.

Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas is a nonsectarian mental health and social services nonprofit that has served anyone regardless of age, race, religion, or ability to pay for more than 70 years. Their mission is to provide effective, accessible, and comprehensive mental health and social services that promote lifelong self-sufficiency and well-being for the Greater Dallas community. JFS Dallas offers programs to the community such as individual age-appropriate counseling, family violence intervention, support for older adults, transportation services for disabled or homebound, a client-choice food pantry, and emergency financial assistance. The agency’s comprehensive services impacted over 39,000 lives last year. Jfsdallas.org