Café Named Desire
“Café Named Desire” (previously known as "Jew You Love Me?") is an original new musical about love, sexuality, and self discovery. It is a lighthearted comedy conceived by the JEWish Cabaret, following their successful productions of “Purim – Uncut!” in 2017 & early 2018.
With a refreshingly new take on the challenges of relationships, romance, and religion, ‘Jew You Love Me?’ received great reviews at its debut run in July 2018, and is sure to touch audiences near and far as we take it further.
We are currently working on taking the show forward and we will soon have exciting news to share about the musical's future!
If you want to be among the first to know - you're welcome to sign up to our mailing list:
Team:
David Djemal
Writer / Director / Co-producer
David is an actor who has performed professionally both in Israel & the UK.
David studied acting at the Stella Adler Studio in New York as well as the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with distinction.
Recent credits: Behrouz Boochani in CITIZEN (The Space Theatre) and Benny in SCOOP (The Rose Playhouse), as well as providing voice work for notable film & TV projects including ENTEBBE, THE CROWN (Netflix), and BBC’s McMAFIA.
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Shar Shamai
Writer / Director / Co-producer
Shar is a Musical Theatre performer and a voice teacher. He recently completed his second MA degree in music - MA Musical Theatre, at The Guildford School of Acting (GSA). Shar came to the UK after graduating with an MA in Classical Singing at the Jerusalem Academy of Music & Dance.
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Anna Oggero
Assistant producer
Anna trained in Italy as a performer at Accademia dello Spettacolo and she has a MA in Law. There she worked as a musical theatre teacher and as a performer. Credits include Nabucco, The Sound of Musical, Solo Chi Sogna and JCSS. She moved to London to do the MA in Musical Theatre at Goldsmiths. As freelance producer she worked on Under-the-Skin and Baby Love by Tik-sho-ret, she is Co-Producing Butterfly Lovers The Musical and Production Manager of Opera Co-Pro Ltd.
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Emily Rose Simons
Co-writer
Emily is a London based musical theatre writer. She is an alum of the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at Tisch, NYU, The CRY HAVOC Company apprenticeship program and Book, Music, Lyrics workshops in London. She is currently a participant in the Advance Mercury Musical Developments Workshop. www.songsofemilyrose.com . Composer-Lyricist credits include: The Inconvenient Miracle, Confessions of A Rabbi’s Daughter, Yet, My Mum. Composer credits include: Far From Heaven.
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Musical Director:
Kieran Stallard
LONDON PUB THEATRES (Sepy Baghaei) “a little musical with a big heart”
"It is clear that Djemal and Shamai understand the ingredients of a successful musical. There is tension in each of the three major threads, broken up by a number of strong comedic interludes’.
Building on the music, there was an overall sense of joy, celebration and positivity throughout which was lovely to see.
Overall, The Jewish Cabaret have pulled off something quite special. Jew You Love Me? simultaneously delves into what it can mean to look for love as a member of the British-Jewish community, while presenting narratives that can also be related to by audience members of non-Jewish backgrounds."
The full review: http://pubtheatres1.tumblr.com/post/176450530692/jew-you-love-me-lion-and-unicorn-theatre-nw5/
breaking-the-fourth-wall.com (Michael Davis)
"Jew You Love Me? has the distinction of not only being a British musical, it focuses on the seldom explored subject of being Jewish in the UK – as part of society as a whole and within their own community. Set within Golders Green in north London, the fictitious nexus of this neighbourhood is a café called ‘Desire’."
The full review: https://breaking-the-fourth-wall.com/2018/07/29/jew-you-love-me-lion-and-unicorn-theatre-review/
www.londontheatre1.com (Chris Omaweng)
"Religious traditions are brought into question in Jew You Love Me?, a musical that ultimately sends out a message that ... Love expresses itself in many different ways, and various forms of sexual orientations and consented relationships all have their place in the modern world, and should be celebrated.
Because of the convincing plotlines, the show overall leaves its audiences with a mixture of feelings. This is not a straightforward comedy. It is more of a multi-layered tale of lust, love and loss... there is still much to be taken away from a compelling and accessible production that refreshingly departs from ‘A meets B and they live happily ever after in perpetual bliss’."
The full review: https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/jew-you-love-me-at-the-lion-and-unicorn-theatre-review/
Life in the cheap seats - Webcowgirl's London Theatre Reviews
"And LOOK, here I was in London in 2018, and the community that I am not a part of but which lives side by side with me is doing their own theater, theater that represents THEM, and I am having this opportunity to get to learn about another culture and other values and, look at Bracha, the same conflicts and heartaches that have been going on for centuries when you want to fit in, you want to do right, but you just can’t seem to live up to what is expected of you."
The full review: https://webcowgirl.wordpress.com/2018/07/29/review-jew-you-love-me-jewish-cabaret-theatre-at-the-lion-and-unicorn/
