00:00Ok, hi everybody, I'm Gaudi Levy, I'm the director of the Temple Emmanuel Stryker Center
00:04and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the New York City premiere of a documentary about a singular
00:10woman,
00:11an actress, singer, and a playwright,
00:14who for more than half a century has commanded the stage, the small screen, and the big screen,
00:21and has never shied away from who she is.
00:25With a name like Tova Felshu, she is undeliorably Jewish.
00:30Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Tova Felshu.
00:50Consider, she played Rosie Bryce in Funny Girl and the mother of the hot rabbi in Nobody Wants This.
00:57She starred on The Walking Dead as a former politician, a character she says was based on Hillary Clinton.
01:08She'd been in Gypsy, Pin Pin, Hello Dali, and of course Golda, her portrayal of Golda Meir,
01:16the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history, which she also performed here on the Stryker stage.
01:26Four Tony nominations, two Emmy nominations, the Israel Peace Medal, the National Foundation for Jewish Culture Jewish Image Award,
01:34and the Performing Arts Award, not bad for Tova Felshu.
01:39Now, for the first time, Tova becomes the subject rather than the character.
01:45In a documentary about her life and arise, directed by David Serro,
01:52who, by the way, is here tonight from Paris.
01:54He arrived just about an hour ago from Paris, so we appreciate it very much.
01:57Following the screening, they will be joining conversation with award-winning journalist
02:02and Sirius XM radio host, Jessica Shaw, to reflect on the film, Tova's career, her music cultural impact,
02:11and what it means to become an icon with a unique place in American Jewish culture.
02:18Before we screen the film, it is my pleasure to introduce the film director, David Serro.
02:31Let me take this one. One, two. How is everyone feeling?
02:35I don't hear you. How is everyone?
02:39Are you excited to watch this movie about Tova Felshu? I want to hear you guys.
02:45They're not excited. Gadi, they're not excited.
02:48Are you guys excited?
02:51Okay, give it up again for Tova Felshu, the one and only.
02:57And we have her husband, who is right here.
03:01And we have the son, who is right here, Brandon.
03:05And now we have all the cousins right here.
03:09Okay, I'm so happy. Who is Jewish here?
03:14Everybody, you can smell the good credit score in the house, right?
03:18You know, a round of applause for Gadi Levy, please.
03:24He is the one paying me, so please, you know.
03:26I need money for my green card.
03:28Give him a big round of applause, please. Thank you.
03:33Gadi is so sweet.
03:34He came to me and said, you know, David, tonight this is not my venue.
03:38It's your venue.
03:39I said, fine, let's sell it, right?
03:42Anyway, so tonight, you know, I want to thank Gadi Levy.
03:47I want to thank Harry White and all the wonderful team of the Striker Center.
03:52Please give it up.
03:53And our wonderful technician.
03:56Thank you.
03:57So, they told me by sometime, a little bit, people are still arriving.
04:00From the bottom of my heart, it truly means a lot that you guys went through, you know, the weather,
04:06the snow.
04:08Tell me about it.
04:08I had to go through D.C., through Afghanistan, through Pakistan, through Mamdani, through my grandmother to come back here,
04:16for God's sake.
04:18Anyway, it cost me $4 million to arrive here.
04:21Just the trip to go here is more expensive than the movie, I tell you that.
04:24So, now, what you're going to see is really a movie that is part, that is showing a woman that
04:35is absolutely unique.
04:36You have seen her on stage.
04:38You're going to see really the soul, the woman who is behind that extraordinary artist.
04:45I hope that this movie will do to you, there she is, will do to you what it did to
04:51me.
04:52And I hope that you would take a little bit from inside of you, you would have, I went to
04:59public school.
04:59I'm in English, you know, don't worry.
05:02And I hope you would take a little bit of Tova Felsho inside of you, because I took a lot
05:08of it inside of me and made me a better person, you know.
05:12So, thank you, Tova, for this opportunity.
05:15Thank you so much.
05:16Thank you for making theater, I was going to say, thank you for making theater great again.
05:21But, you know, I don't want to go into that.
05:23But thank you.
05:24No, I didn't say, I didn't say, I didn't say.
05:26But thank you for making, you know, for this opportunity.
05:29It truly means a lot.
05:30This is really the world premiere, honestly.
05:33And this was for Stryker, for Gaddy, always.
05:37You know, I think, I thanked everybody.
05:39My immigration attorney.
05:42Who else, you know, no, but I wish you a wonderful screening.
05:46We're going to have a wonderful Q&A after.
05:48I want to thank Jessica Scholl, who will be with us.
05:51Jessica, who is right here.
05:52Thank you so much.
05:54And now we will pass to get along, to get some donation.
05:57If you can, thank you.
05:58So, ladies and gentlemen, are we ready over there?
06:01Yes, we are.
06:02My brother, thank you so much.
06:04Enjoy the movie.
06:05Thank you.
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