Northlight Theatre opens 50th Season with The First Lady of Television
Aug 20, 2025
Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, opens its 50th Anniversary season with James Sherman's new play The First Lady of Television, directed by Artistic Director BJ Jones. The production runs September 4 - October 5, 2025, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.
The First Lady of Television at Northlight Theatre
In 1950, Gertrude Berg was the popular creator and star of America's first family sit-com, The Goldbergs. When co-star Philip Loeb is accused of communism, Gertrude must make an enormous decision: fire him to keep the sponsors at bay or defend him and risk the show being canceled. In this new play based on the true story of a pioneering American entertainer, onstage comedy balances with the offstage intersection of art, religion, and politics that is shockingly relevant for today."In 2009, I watched the documentary Yoohoo, Mrs. Goldberg by Aviva Kempner, which brought back memories of the show that ruled the airwaves. I thought her story would be a terrific stage play and commissioned a draft right away. That original treatment didn't quite work out, but years later, after I saw James Sherman's play Chagall in School and was struck by its themes of anti-Semitism, we started talking about the project and soon had a first draft of the play," comments BJ Jones. "Cindy Gold, a Northlight regular, is a dead ringer for Gertrude Berg, and I had her in mind for Gertrude/Molly Goldberg from the very beginning."
The cast is Cindy Gold (Gertrude Berg/"Molly"), Joe Dempsey (Walter Hart), William Dick (Phillip Loeb/"Jake"), Ty Fanning (Larry Robinson/"Sammy"), Mark Kaplan (Eli Mintz/"David"), and Sarah Coakley Price (Arlene McQuade/"Rosalie").
The creative team includes James Sherman (playwright), Artistic Director BJ Jones (director), Jeffrey D. Kmiec (set design), Raquel Adorno (costume design), Lee Fiskness (lighting design), Andre Pluess (sound design), and Nicolas Bartelson (props design). The stage manager is Katie Klemme.