Alliance Theatre casting director finds balance

Arts and Culture

Jody Feldman, the long-time casting director and associate producer of the Alliance Theatre, has found a way to nurture Atlanta's acting talent while tending to her own family.

Feldman (right) gives direction to Tabitha Christopher during a general audition. "She often stops people and gives them another chance, and that's rare," says Clifton Gutterman, who was the Alliance artistic assistant from 2001-2005. Artistic intern Brooks Brantly and Christina Case Dresser, administrative assistant for the acting program, sat in on the audition.

Feldman thought she wanted to be an actress, but a drama class at the University of Georgia in 1978 convinced her otherwise. Although performing didn't suit her, she loved the theater so much that she became administrative assistant at the Academy Theatre. In 1992, Kenny Leon asked Felddman to come to the Alliance. At first she balked because she had a 15-month-old son and didn't think she could do the job and be a mother, but she soon accepted.

The past 16 years have proven she could balance her responsibilities at the Alliance and at home. Feldman has embraced her husband's family's Shabbat dinner tradition, something she didn't get a chance to celebrate that often as she grew up in the small town of Brewton, Ala. She and her sister Mitzi Waronker get dinner ready as the rest of the family waits for the meal to begin.

Jody Feldman and her great-niece Sophia Bressler, 6, light candles that represent the dual commandments to remember and to keep the Sabbath. The dinners often draw large crowds. On this night, there were about 20 people, including Feldman's mother and mother-in-law.

Brett and Kevin Feldman say a prayer before breaking the challah bread.

Jody Feldman's sons, 16-year-old Jason and 9-year-old twins Brett and Kevin, pour red wine into silver cups for their Shabbat dinner.

Jason Feldman reads Hebrew prayers from the Siddur before the family's Shabbat dinner.

Jody Feldman works with her son Kevin on a math problem before touching her plate. The mother of three has integrated her personal and professional lives -- helping start the theater program at her twins' Hebrew school and staging an "American Idol"-style fund-raiser for Hillels of Georgia.

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Jody Feldman, the long-time casting director and associate producer of the Alliance Theatre, has found a way to nurture Atlanta's acting talent while tending to her own family.

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