Today we’d like to introduce you to Margy Horowitz.
Hi Margy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started taking piano lessons when I was five years old living in Chicago, IL. I discovered a talent for singing in harmony when I was accepted into our prestigious school choir in 4th grade, and I was one of the choir leaders in middle school. In high school, I discovered a love for directing theater when I became involved with our school play. I began giving piano lessons to local children when I was twelve while continuing on with my own piano studies.
In college, I was a music major focused on piano performance and pedagogy, but I was also involved in the school drama society. In my senior year, I directed the school musical (and accompanied the entire show on the piano). After college, I had a day job working as an editor for the Instrumentalist & Clavier Magazines (publications for music teachers) while continuing to give piano lessons to local kids after work, but my theater loves took a back seat.
I moved to Los Angeles in 1998 after accepting a job from Alfred Publishing Company in Van Nuys. Alfred publishes sheet music and other music publications. To earn some money on the side, I began giving piano lessons to my friend’s cousins. They attended the John Thomas Dye School in Bel Air and recommended me to all of their friends. Within a year, I was able to quit my job at Alfred because I was teaching nearly 50 students a week in Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills. I still loved theater but had no opportunities to explore it while working so many hours.
I should also add at this point that I grew up as an Orthodox Jew. That means that I was not allowed to do any work (including practicing piano) from sundown on Friday night until sundown on Saturday because that was Shabbat (the Sabbath). It also meant that, as a woman, I was not allowed to sing or dance in front of men for modesty reasons (I can go into more detail on that if you’d like). So, all of my musical theater ventures, including in college, were all-female productions performed for all-female audiences.
In 2005, a friend of mine back in Chicago told me that she had just been cast in an all-women’s musical catering to women in the Orthodox Jewish community. I thought that sounded like fun, and I missed my theater days, so I decided I was going to start my own musical theater group here in Los Angeles for the women of the Orthodox community here. With the blessing of my rabbi and the use of his synagogue for auditions and rehearsals, I posted flyers around the neighborhood about auditions for our first musical. I had about 25 women show up to audition, and we performed our first show, “The Mikado,” in December of 2005 to three completely sold-out audiences. I realized this was something that was needed in the community. A local philanthropist helped my theater company, the Jewish Women’s Repertory Co. (jwrcla.org), get our 501(c)3 non-profit status, started collecting donations, and continued to push the theater company forward. It has now been around for nearly 20 years; I’ve directed 17 full-length musicals and 12 cabaret show fundraisers. We have a board of directors, a music director, production manager, choreographers, and hundreds of women who have acted, sung, and danced in our shows over the years. We also give a donation to charity every year, giving a portion of our profits to JFS (Jewish Family Service), who helps women who are the victims of domestic abuse. That way, we feel like we are women helping other women in need.
Sonia Levitin (sonialevitin.com), a Holocaust survivor and author, came to one of our shows about a year ago and approached me to direct a staged reading of her latest play, “Chained.” It is about an Orthodox Jewish woman whose ex-husband refuses to grant her a “get,” which is a Jewish bill of divorce. As I grew up in the Orthodox community, Sonia felt that I would have first-hand knowledge of the ins and outs of the community and would be able to bring my own experiences to the play. We are performing our staged reading at the Museum of Tolerance on Thursday, February 29th. We hope the play raises awareness about a very difficult subject and brings about social change.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road!
I would say the main struggle has been financial. Philanthropists tend to give large donations to organizations that help with healthcare, schools & synagogues, or other pressing social issues. The arts are not always at the forefront of everyone’s mind, although I believe they should be! I don’t believe a society can thrive without a strong foundation in the arts. But it isn’t always easy to fund our shows. When I directed the JWRC’s first production in 2005, it cost me $15,000, and my husband and I funded it ourselves. We paid ourselves back through ticket sales, but there was no guarantee that anyone would actually come to see the show, so it was definitely a crapshoot! Thankfully it succeeded!!! Our last show, “The Sound of Music,” which we performed in December 2023, had a budget of $65K.
The women who participate in our shows (myself included) are often mothers and careerwomen. It is often challenging to make it to rehearsals twice a week for five months at a time when you have children to take care of. There have been times when our actresses have had to skip a rehearsal because they have a sick child at home, or they have a work deadline, or – sadly – an unsupportive husband who insists they need to stay home to take care of the children because he doesn’t want to “babysit.” But luckily, these instances are few and far between. We generally have a very committed cast and crew!
I hope that we will not encounter any challenges with the staged reading of “Chained,” coming up on 2/29. So far, it’s been smooth sailing, and I hope it will continue that way!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am probably known best in my community as a performing arts director, although I still consistently work as a piano teacher as well.
I’m a classically trained pianist, so I love showing kids the beauty of Mozart and Beethoven, exposing them to pieces of music that have stood the test of time for hundreds of years (and aren’t Taylor Swift or Beyonce!). I love explaining how to read music, which is truly like another language, both to my child and adult piano students. I am never prouder than when I hear them play a piece of music proficiently!
In the performing arts side of my life, I specialize in women-only productions. In many classic musicals, the men have the interesting parts, and often, the women are relegated to playing the long-suffering wife, girlfriend, mother, etc. But in my productions, women play the male roles! We have so much fun taking on the challenge of playing men, stepping into their shoes, and figuring them out. That definitely sets us (and me as a director) apart from other theater companies.
I am definitely most proud of the community theater company that I’ve built from the ground up. I’m sure when I die, that’s what I’ll be best remembered for!
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
That’s a tough question! I’m an open book for the most part. But there are probably people in my Modern Orthodox/Conservative Jewish community who probably have no idea that I grew up in an extremely sheltered, religious environment. I didn’t wear pants outdoors until college! I followed the laws of kosher and female modesty for a very long time. I don’t live in that world anymore, so I’m sure there are people who would be shocked if they knew.
Contact Info:
- Website: jwrcla.org and pianowithmargy.com
- Instagram: @margyhorowitz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margyhorowitz/
- Youtube: @jewishwomenstheater
Image Credits
Jeremy Horowitz
