Our Mission

The Jewish Repertory Theatre is a program of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo. Founded in 2002, the JRT is a professional theatre whose mission is to present high quality plays grounded in Jewish life, themes, and values. Through our productions, audiences of diverse beliefs and backgrounds explore both the uniqueness of Jewish heritage and cultural experiences, as well as those that are shared with others. Drama illuminates the human condition, and the JRT strives to bring this into focus through the lens of Jewish theatre. The Jewish Repertory Theatre is theatre for everyone.

Committee

David Bunis, Committee Chair and JRT Producer
Dr. Saul Elkin, Artistic Director
Christi Allen, Managing Director
Maxine Seller
Sherry Baum
Sophia Veffer
Ann Emo
Michael Frisch
Les Greenbaum
Lois Weis
Ronnie Podelefsky



		David Bunis is the co-founder of the Jewish Repertory Theatre Of Western New York. A Buffalo native, he returned to Buffalo in 1965 after working in New York City for Bloomingdale's. He served as chairman of the board of The Sample Shop, one of Western New York's finest specialty stores, a chain founded in 1929 by his mother Anne Bunis and run by the Bunis family for over 60 years. He retired from the business world in 1990. David has been an active volunteer for many agencies in this region having served on several boards, including Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo and Jewish Philanthropies. He is a member of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), counseling small business owners. David Bunis is chair of the JRT advisory committee and serves the company as its producer.


		Saul Elkin is the co-founder of The Jewish Repertory Theatre of Western New York and has appeared in or directed many JRT productions. He is the founder and artistic director of Shakespeare in Delaware Park, and a former chair of the University at Buffalo's Theatre Department. Coming from Jewish immigrant parents from Russia and Romania, Saul Elkin spoke both Yiddish and English growing up in New York City. He began his acting education in a small children's theater school for Jewish children. His first show was at the age of seven, cast as the lead in a play by the founder of the Yiddish Art Theater, Maurice Schwartz. Elkin continued to work as both an actor and director for the Stage as well as Television. His acting and directing credits include over 250 theatre performances, film, television ("The Edge of Night" a soap opera in which he played a doctor), and several regional and seasonal theater companies. He holds B.A. and M.F.A from Columbia, and a Ph.D from Carnegie-Mellon University. He came to Buffalo, NY in 1969 and began teaching Theater at the University at Buffalo, where he soon became Chairman of the Theater Department in 1971-1985. He founded Shakespeare in Delaware Park in 1976 and co-founded the JRT in 2002.


		Christi Allen is the Managing Director of The Jewish Repertory Theatre of Western New York. Christi honed her skills as a film, tv and commercial producer in Los Angeles with companies such as The Tornante Company, Vuguru, Lions Gate Films and SiTv. Alongside industry veterans Michael Eisner and Lou Fusaro, Christi produced the groundbreaking web series THE BOOTH AT THE END, a psychological thriller starring Nikita's Xander Berkely, distributed by FOX International Channels (FIC). She produced TURNING JAPANESE, an award-winning comedy short starring Brian Austin Green (Desperate Housewives/90210). The film has been celebrated throughout the world, taking in multiple awards, including Best Emerging Short Film at the American Pavilion Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. Christi has also produced the independent feature films WAITING FOR OPHELIA, starring Emmy Award-Winner Yeardley Smith (The Simpsons), PIECES OF EIGHT and RHINOS. While at SiTv, the first English-language Latino network in the USA, Christi produced a number of groundbreaking shows, including controversial talk show BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER, JAMMIN', a rockumentary/reality series featuring Los Lobos and Jon Densmore from The Doors and other shows such as MODEL LATINA and HEIR TIME. She was nominated for a COLA Location Manager of the Year and her team received the coveted Imagen Award for Best National Programming.