Mara Jill Herman

Multidisciplinary Jewish Artist

A) What qualities make the nominee deserving of the Z3 Bridge Builder Award?

Mara Jill Herman builds community through theatrical experiences and humanitarian causes via personal and partner affiliations. Her work has been featured on CBS Mornings, NPR, New York Jewish Week, Playbill, AM New York, Backstage, BroadwayWorld Japan, and more.

In an effort to bridge divides, Mara conceived, directed, and produced three major benefit concerts and a music video: Stronger Than Hate, Changemakers, Ruth Sent Us, and The Lights.

After the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA when people carried torches and screamed “Jews will not replace us,” and global antisemitism was on the rise, Mara began to take action with her art. Following the deadly antisemitic terrorist attack at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 she produced Stronger Than Hate, a concert to unify the Jewish community and allies, celebrate Jewish artists, and raise funds for the congregation. In 2019, Mara produced Changemakers to amplify StateraArts, an all-female organization that advocates for gender parity. The concert exposed the fact that while 70% of Broadway audiences were made up of women in 2019, only 17% of those productions hired women at the helm. In 2022, Mara produced Ruth Sent Us, a concert in protest of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe Vs. Wade. This event celebrated the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to ever serve in the Supreme Court and the first Jewish woman to hold that position.

In 2020, Mara aimed to spread Jewish joy during Hanukkah and produced The Lights music video. The video celebrated multicultural Jewish families, resiliency, and tradition to foster connection online. Mara collaborated remotely with Ahava Theatre Company and The Broadway Boys to engage a widespread community. She revived the video in 2023 after the October 7th terrorist attacks in the Middle East, which resulted in over 10,000 views sending a message that humans are stronger together and stronger than hate.

B) In what ways has the nominee demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to their work in bridging divides?

Mara Jill Herman is an award-winning, multidisciplinary Jewish artist and merges activism with art i.e. “artivism.” As a female and Jewish person in the workforce, she is motivated to fight oppression and act in the name of social justice and equality. She is a generative artist and the recipient of over 50 grants including New York Foundation for the Arts’ City Artist Corps Grant and YoungArts' Creative Grant. During the Covid shutdown, Mara spearheaded a volunteer Zoom play and music reading series to celebrate the work of Jewish artists and primarily feature the plays of Neil Simon.

Most recently, Mara was one of four Jewish adults in a regional production of Fiddler on the Roof in Houston, Texas. Although she was hired strictly as an actor, Mara was an educational resource for her non-Jewish peers who craved a deeper sense of Jewish culture and learning to embody the music, text, and characters in Anatevka. Mara supported her non-Jewish peers with questions about Jewish rituals like weddings and Shabbat and collaborated with religious consultant Rabbi Adrienne Scott when she did not immediately know the answers. As a native New Yorker and current resident of Astoria, it was revelatory for Mara to engage in dialogue about Judaism in a different part of the country and to forge allyship among Jews and non-Jews. Mara took pride in cultivating inclusive spaces that uplifted the production value and overall experience for the artists and audiences alike.

C) How has the nominee's work impacted the Jewish community and beyond?

Mara is a community organizer across industries and volunteers for Maestra Music, Cycle For Survival, Flip The Vote, and Knock For Democracy. As a dedicated fundraiser, she’s raised nearly $30,000 for Health, Human Rights, Political, and Social Justice causes.

After earning a reputation for generative art, Mara was asked to produce for small businesses and independent artists. In 2022, Mara produced the Caregiver Cabaret for the Parent Artist Advocacy League and was featured in Broadway News, Joyful Parenting, and Economic Equity For Moms. In 2023, Mara produced the first production of The Moss Maidens, about the Dutch resistance during World War II, which made history as the twice-extended and completely sold out run in SheNYC festival’s eight-year history. The Moss Maidens attracted attention from New York Jewish Week, Moment Magazine, New Voices, and Astoria Post and won Best Play and Best Ensemble.

Mara’s additional producing highlights include Communion (The Cell), Today You Are A Man! (The Tank) and the upcoming short film Malka (starring Tovah Feldshuh). Partnering organizations and beneficiaries of her work include Anti-Defamation League, Tree of Life Synagogue, Ahava Theatre Company, National Council of Jewish Women, and Path To Peace. Mara is a 2023 & 2024 nominee for the Barbara Whitman Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as a vocalist in the 2023 concert We Are Here: Songs From The Holocaust.

This past spring, Mara taught educational workshops to high school students for New York Theatre Workshop’s production of Here There Are Blueberries, the Pulitzer Prize finalist and new play about historical photographs and what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust. She can be seen in the upcoming Unapologetically Jewish Digital Chutzpah event for Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media. Her mission is to amplify Jewish stories, help abolish antisemitism, advocate for gender equity, and protect human rights.