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Jill Sobule

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Jill Sobule: Singer, Songwriter and in Sarasota

Sobule will return to Asolo's Mertz Theatre Monday for a one-woman, one-night only concert.

Jill Sobule is many things — Yentl composer, blogger, provocateur, singer-songwriter, lesbian and '90s folk-rock star. But she never saw herself as a teacher. Sobule worked with Florida State University/Asolo Repertory Theatre master of fine arts students to create songs for Asolo Rep's new staged musical of Yentl. But there's a teacher behind each student. "At one point one of them says, 'Gosh, you've been our favorite teacher,' " Sobule told Patch in a phone interview. “I’ve never thought of myself as a teacher or mentor, and that made me feel so good and made me feel this is the second half of this life. There's more." Sobule, 47, will return to Asolo's Mertz Theatre Monday for a one-night only, one-woman concert at 8 p.m. Tickets are …

Review: Yentl Has No Identity Issues With Music, Acting

Asolo Rep's 'Yentl' blends a perfect mix of updated music and storyline of a classic play.

On the surface Yentl should have no interest to me, but the play isn’t at Asolo Repertory Theatre to be superficial. I’m not Jewish; I’m not religious, for that matter. I don’t have gender identity issues. And I’ve never seen the movie version with Barbra Streisnd.  But that’s the beauty of this new storyline: With all these groups the play could pander to, it instead finds common ground. There are universal themes of trust, friendship, honor, self-identity and youth in revolt. I was just there for the music, really, and was rewarded with a great piece of theater as well. At a recent matinee of Yentl, I had the opportunity to watch this new twist on the Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer play, directed by Gordon Greenberg. I hoped to …

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