\nSince her move to NYC, Lea has embraced her Jewish roots and has been very\ninvolved in the Yiddish Theater. In 2017 she made her Off-Broadway debut as\nHindl in the New Yiddish Rep’s hit production of God of Vengeance <\/em>and also\nstarred as Hennie in their Yiddish revival of Awake and Sing<\/em>. In 2018\nLea played in her dream role as Daphna in Bad Jews<\/em> in Orlando. Lea co-created Between The Threads<\/em>, anoriginal piece by a group of Jewish women performed at the HERE Arts Center\nin NYC. Lea can regularly be seen on stage with the Galli Children’s\nTheater and heard in synagogues up and down the east coast as the lead singer\nin the spiritual folk-rock band Revival. <\/em>She recently performed Yiddish\nsolo concerts in Switzerland and Germany, and staged In Love With A Dream!, <\/em>her\nautobiographical one-woman show which blends Latin, hip hop, and Jewish\nflavors. The show had successful performances Off-Broadway, in Boston, and in\nSwitzerland, and continues to tour in 2020. She made her film debut in The\nVigil<\/em>, which premiered at the TIFF festival in 2019.
\n“Eshet Chayil of Hip Hop” is her debut music video, a feminist update\non the traditional Jewish song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What is your music background? Do you write your own\nsongs?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to a Montessori middle school, which was very musical, but I didn\u2019t really have much time for much music growing up, because I was a competitive figure skater. I started taking voice lessons when I was about 12 and around the same time I started writing songs, but nothing I wrote was good back then. The first time I performed two original songs was at my high school graduation and people loved them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> Tell us a little about\nyourself, growing up and your passions. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I grew up in Zurich, Switzerland, and lived there until I moved to NYC to study musical theater when I was twenty. My first big moment in theater came only in my last year of high school when I played Rizzo in Grease<\/em>. Until then I had spent most of my life at skating rinks, because me and my older sister were competitive figure-skaters. In school I was very ambitious- I always had to be the best. Since I can remember, I was a showgirl. I\u2019ve always loved dressing up and putting on shows for my family. I started taking voice lessons at age twelve and attending dance workshops whenever time permitted. I dreamed of becoming famous and being on a TV show like American Idol<\/em>. In 2010 I actually did participate in a talent show on Swiss national TV, an experience that fortified my passion for the performing arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What is the most challenging role you have played and why? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every major role I\u2019ve played so\nfar was challenging for different reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Roles or scenes where I must\nshow vulnerability and where I\u2019m not the one driving the scene, are more\nchallenging for me. Stillness or admitting my love or dreams to someone is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> And the most fun one? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most FUN is playing myself\nin my one-woman show or my music video, it comes easy to me, I don\u2019t have to\n\u201cact\u201d (which you shouldn\u2019t anyway😊) I get to play all kinds of\ncharacters and versions of myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> Describe your biggest accomplishment to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The last year I\u2019ve mostly\ncreated my own work which has been a huge shift in my career. Writing and producing my one-woman show and\nmaking this music video has been the biggest accomplishments. The music video was\n\u201cBIG\u201d in terms of investment\u2014money, time, number of people involved, locations,\nsocial media work, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> How important is image? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Very, it\u2019s how we see and feel\nthe artist, it\u2019s the thing that makes a person uniquely them. There are so many\nfantastic singers out there, but many don\u2019t grab me, because what they are representing\nisn\u2019t compelling. Image is something I struggle with myself, because it feels\nlike in order to have a strong image, you have to decide which part of yourself\nyou are going to promote and leave other parts on the side. I think it\u2019s a\nradical act, because human beings have so many layers. I love to sing many\ndifferent music styles, but most successful artists chose one style they focus\non. I haven\u2019t quite figured out what my \u201cthing\u201d is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What image do you think your music conveys?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My songs are very personal and have a strong message. I write from a place of discomfort, either because something frustrates or confuses me, or I want something I can\u2019t get and the only way to work through it is by writing and knowing I can create some art from it. I\u2019d love to be a pop singer, but I think my lyrics are too specific to my life; they are not generic and therefore not commercial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> Describe your style. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I am very theatrical and so are\nmost things I do on a stage. My acting background seeps into my music. My songs\nhave a kind of musical theater feel. I care more about compelling storytelling\nthan hitting the perfect note. I laugh about myself and share my flaws with my\naudience, which adds some humor even to my sad songs. People often tell me I\u2019m\ntoo BIG but I want to be bold and celebrate freedom of expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My style is like a mix of Edit\nPiaf, Amy Winehouse and Barbara Streisand, dipped in Latin sabor<\/em>\n(flavor) and sprinkled with some street<\/em> pizzazz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What are you currently working on? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n NY Glam: What\ninspired this project and who did you work with? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017 I started working with the Yiddish Theater\nin NYC through which I met Jews who either grew up in an ultra-orthodox community\nor still live in it. I was fascinated, moved and saddened by their stories and\nstarted spending time in their neighborhoods and finding my way into some of their\nhomes. There I fell in love with the melodies they sing, however I was so\nannoyed by how their system suppressed women. At the same time I was taking a class\non hip hop culture at the New School and in search of what my final project\nwould be. I had a strong desire to musically blend these two worlds\u2014orthodox\nJudaism and hip hop\u2014but didn\u2019t know yet how. Eventually I got my hands on the\ntraditional Jewish song Eshet Chayil,<\/em> and that\u2019s when suddenly things\nstarting rolling. I realized that both these male-dominated arenas share an\nurgent need for feminist critique and the empowerment of women\u2019s voices. NY\nGlam:<\/strong> How do you define success?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Success is doing\nthe thing you want to do the most, but are the most afraid of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> Can you share with us any of your memorable\nperformances?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have a very\nfun memory from the play Awake and Sing <\/em>I did in 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One night I was\nwaiting in that tiny space behind the curtain for my cue to go back on stage,\nand I started dancing around a bit to pass time. Somehow I managed to do a fan\nkick, which is basically swinging your leg like a fan or wheel, and suddenly I\ncould feel my shoe slip off my foot. Helplessly I watched it fly through the\nspace in a huge arch and land prominently in the middle of the stage. I started\nlaughing so hard, I almost missed my entrance and the actors on stage were so\nconfused. When I came back on stage, I had one shoe in my hand and pretended I\nwas looking for my second one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> Which instruments do you play if any?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I play the piano, but I\u2019m far\nfrom being a Chopin. I accompany myself when singing and I love learning\nclassical pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What other hobbies do you have? Are there any causes that you support?\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of my hobbies are now part\nof my profession: acting, singing, dancing, rapping, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I also love Zumba, running, Salsa\nand Tango dancing, tennis, taking walks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY Glam: What are your long-term career goals? NY\nGlam:<\/strong> If you weren\u2019t acting what would you be doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe I\u2019d run my own art\nschool, own a creative bistro caf\u00e9, or be some kind of coach or teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What’s your goal for\nthis year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to produce two new music\nvideos for songs I\u2019m working on right now. And I\u2019d love to play a juicy\ncharacter in a play or a movie\u2014I miss acting with an ensemble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NY\nGlam:<\/strong> What is your advice for aspiring actors? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it\u2019s important to go\nthrough some kind of theater training to develop\ndiscipline and understanding for the craft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have something you want\nto create, do it! Don\u2019t wait for the perfect moment, just do it. Nobody else\nwill do it for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exclusive interview with Lea Kalisch – Musician & Actress Lea Kalisch was born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland, in a traditional Jewish family. She spent most of her youth on the skating rink as a competitive figure-skater\u2014a passion that taught her discipline, endurance and dedication. Since she can remember, Lea was a showgirl. In 2010, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19264,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8575\/revisions\/19264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nyglamour.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Lea-with-shtreimal-at-the-beach-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\nFor my final project I presented a very basic version of the rap. Then nothing\nhappened for almost a year until I found out that two of my best friends,\ndirector Einat Propper and music producer Enat Ventura, were going to travel to\nIsrael at the same time as me. We had to film something. I dug out my rap,\nknowing Israel would be the perfect shooting location, and that\u2019s when the\njourney began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Oscar, Grammy, Olympic Medal, 1st<\/sup> place in NYC Marathon, Nobel Prize, and Rabbinical Ordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n