'To Paint the Earth,' Award-Winning Musical About Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Comes to East Hampton

The Jewish Center of the Hamptons (JCOH) will present the Richard-Rodgers-award winning musical To Paint the Earth in a special one-day-only concert this Sunday, July 16.

To Paint the Earth tells a story of the eve of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in which Jewish prisoners of the ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, resisted deportation to extermination camps. The musical was recently performed at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.

Daniel F. Levin, the musical’s playwright and lyricist, recalls learning about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising as a child in Hebrew school.

“I just got electrified and I remember the hair standing up on the back of my neck, reading that this group of Jewish fighters held off the German army, including the Air Force,” said Levin, noting that these untrained Jewish fighters held off the Nazis for close to the time it took the Germans to conquer Poland.

“The Germans conquered all of Poland, and here this group with no training… stood up and fought back. And it just gave me chills, and I was so proud,” said Levin.

This Sunday’s performance, which commemorates the 80th anniversary of the uprising, will feature acting by JCOH congregant Lauren Lebowitz Feldman. She is also the play’s Creative Collaborator.

Levin, who first pitched the idea at a musical theater writing program at NYU, said he was inspired by Les Misérables.

“I liked the themes of opera and tragedy…but I love the music of musical theater. And then Les Mis came along and it was just this incredibly complex story boiled down into this show,” Levin said.

To Paint the Earth is based on the testimonies of survivors, memoirs and first-hand accounts. During his research, Levin interviewed Michael Smuss, the last known Holocaust survivor who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Smuss is currently 97 years old. He was 16 at the time of the uprising.

Levin was also inspired by Vladka Meed, who passed as a Christian to smuggle children out of the ghetto and weapons to Jewish fighters. One of the characters in the play is based on Meed.

Levin also used the records of Emanuel Ringelblum, a Polish historian who led a secret operation called “Oyneg Shabbos” (Joy of the Shabbat) to chronicle life in the Warsaw Ghetto.

“These fighters deserve to be known for all of history as much as any general from World War II. We talk about Churchill and Roosevelt and MacArthur, but these [Jewish] kids weren’t trained,” said Levin. “The fact that they fought back always gives me some hope.”

To Paint the Earth is performed at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, 44 Woods Lane, East Hampton, on Sunday, July 16 at 4 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit jcoh.org/event/to-paint-the-earth.