JULY 13 • 2023 | 69
THEATER CAMP, A VERY
KOSHER MOVIE; BARBIE
AND THE HARDY BOYS
Theater Camp opens in
theaters on July 14 and
it is really a “tribe fest.”
Here’s the capsule plot:
The director and founder
(Amy Sedaris) of a scrappy
arts camp in upstate New
York falls into a coma. Her
“out-to-lunch” son takes
over as camp director. He
joins forces with a band of
eccentric camp teachers
to put on their big summer
show.
The most prominent
teachers are played by
Molly Gordon, 27, Ben
Platt, 29, and Noah
Galvin, 29. Gordon, Platt
and Galvin wrote Theater
Camp, and Gordon co-di-
rected the film. Galvin’s
mother is Jewish, and he
identifies as Jewish.
As noted in my last
column, Gordon has a
recurring role on the hit
Hulu series The Bear. She
plays Claire, the girlfriend
of Carmy, the series’ lead
character.
You might know that
Galvin plays a gay Jewish
doctor on the hit ABC TV
series The Good Doctor.
He and Platt are real-life
romantic partners, and they
are engaged to marry.
Platt and Gordon have
known each other since
they were children in Los
Angeles. Both had a strong
Jewish background grow-
ing up. Gordon’s parents
are successful directors
(mostly TV).
Ben’s father, Marc Platt,
66, is a leading producer.
Ben’s mother, Julie Beren
Platt, 66, has served as
the chair of the Board of
Trustees of the Jewish
Federations of North
America since 2022.
Ben Platt is currently
starring in the hit Broadway
musical Parade. It’s about
the events that led to the
horrible lynching of Leo
Frank in Georgia in 1915.
Platt, who plays Frank, was
Tony-nominated for the
role. It was recently report-
ed that the Parade cast
says Kaddish before each
performance.
Barbie, which opens on
July 14, is a live-action film
about the iconic doll. As
you may know, Barbie (the
doll) was invented by the
late Ruth Handler, who was
the first president of the
Mattel Toys Company.
Here’s the basic plot:
After being expelled from
Barbieland for being a less-
than-perfect doll, Barbie
sets off to the real world to
find true happiness. Margot
Robie plays Barbie, and
Ryan Gosling plays Ken.
Twelve actresses play
different versions of Barbie
(like President Barbie and
Lawyer Barbie). Six actors
play variations of Ken. One
Ken variation is played by
British actor Kingsley Ben-
Adir, 37. He’s the son of a
British father and a mother
who was born in Trinidad.
“On her own” she con-
verted to Judaism, as did
Kingsley and his brother.
Barbie was co-written
by Noah Baumbach and
Greta Gerwig. Gerwig,
who has been Baumbach’s
romantic partner since 2011,
directed Barbie. Baumbach,
53, is the secular son of a
Jewish father and non-Jew-
ish mother. His excellent
films include Margot at the
Wedding, The Meyerowitz
Stories and Marriage Story.
The last got a best film
Oscar nomination.
A Canadian friend just
confirmed that Alexander
Elliot, who plays Joe Hardy
on the (current) Hardy
Boys series, is Jewish. The
third and final season of
the Hardy Boys (eight epi-
sodes) will be released on
July 26. The Hardy Boys
series is filmed in Canada.
Elliot, 19, was born
Alexander Schmelzer. He
was born and raised in
Toronto. My friend is not
absolutely sure that both
his parents are Jewish. But
that is likely, he says. Elliot’s
parents are from Romania
and they immigrated to
Canada — probably in the
1990s.
It was announced recent-
ly that David Corenswet,
29, will portray Superman
in the next Superman film.
Rachel Brosnahan (The
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) will
play Lois Lane.
David’s late father, John
Corenswet, was Jewish and
grew up in New Orleans.
John’s father, a prominent
(Jewish) New Orleans busi-
nessman, was born in New
Orleans, as was John’s
Jewish mother. John moved
to Philadelphia, where he
was a stage actor for many
years before becoming
a Philadelphia attorney.
John’s mother, who is a
Quaker, also became an
attorney. David’s sister,
Amy, is a Philadelphia attor-
ney.
Sadly, John died in 2019,
age 64. His funeral was
held at a New Orleans
Reform synagogue, the
same synagogue his father
belonged to.
I am trying to get more
information about David’s
Jewish background. I have
strong clues that he identi-
fies as Jewish: Some years
back, he posted a photo
of himself and his sister in
front of a Xmas tree. He
tagged the photo, “Jews on
Christmas.”
The Jewish Federation of
New Orleans often invites
guest speakers to speak
before them. In 2020, David
spoke to the Federation;
also, in 2020 he spoke to
MTV news, mainly about his
star role in the Netflix series
The Politician. He hap-
pened to tell MTV that he
just found out that his late
aunt’s “famous” matzah ball
recipe actually came from
the back of a Manischewitz
box.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
IMDB
Molly Gordon
IMDB
David Corenswet
DANIEL BENAVIDES
Ben Platt