Playwrights Horizons and Horowitz

Recently I was cast in a show off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons called In The Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot. I have played roles in various plays before, but they all involved music. Either I was music directing and acting, or playing the piano and acting or singing and acting. But just playing a role, well, it’s been awhile. OMG it’s much easier! And with this specific group of people, it was a total and complete joy as well. There aren’t many plays I know about which openly cast for women or non-binary actors over 50 years old, but this was one of those plays. The playwright was Sarah Mantell and they had the foresight to create a play where young queer people could look forward to one day playing one of the 7 roles in the play. I learned a lot about myself during this process too. My character was Horowitz, and that appealed to me because it’s a one-named character. For the last 10 years or so, I have preferred to be called Barsha, my last name only. It all started in 2005 when I began subbing on keyboards in Jersey Boys for my friend Deborah Hurwitz. Although our first names are spelled differently, when people referred to us by our first name, no one who which Debra/Deborah was the one they meant. So it became Barsha or Hurwitz. I started to love it. Especially because my family is all women (4 of us plus mom), and the Barsha name would stop with us sisters. But this show also brought up another important aspect of being called Barsha. The character of Horowitz was non-binary, and I realized that what I loved about Barsha is that it was gender neutral. It leveled the playing field in a way for me. I started to realize that I resonated more with Barsha than Debra. I felt like Barsha. And I still do. So if you see me, please call me Barsha.