At The Table with Ari’el Stachel: A Yemenite-Inspired Shabbat

Come hungry. Come curious. Come ready for a Shabbat dinner unlike any other. Pull up a chair for a very special edition of Maine Jewish Museum’s At the Table series with Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning actor, writer, and singer Ari’el Stachel. Ari’el’s own story spans cultures and continents. The son of a Yemenite-Israeli father and an Ashkenazi-American mother, he has spent much of his life exploring what it means to hold multiple identities at once, an experience that ultimately helped inspire his acclaimed autobiographical solo show, OTHER. On Friday evening, we’ll leave the theater behind and gather around the Shabbat table. MJM Executive Director — and former award-winning restaurateur and caterer — Dawn LaRochelle will prepare a Yemenite-inspired pescetarian Shabbat feast highlighting the flavors of fall, with dairy-free and gluten-free options available. Over dinner, Ari’el will join us for an intimate evening of conversation and storytelling about family and heritage, Jewish identity and belonging, his journey to Broadway, and what it means to embrace all the pieces of ourselves.. ABOUT ARI’EL STACHEL Ari’el Stachel is a Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning actor, singer, and writer. He won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for originating the role of Haled in The Band’s Visit on Broadway and was a principal soloist on the show’s GRAMMY Award-winning original Broadway cast recording. His television credits include Law & Order: SVU, Billions, Jessica Jones, Blue Bloods, and The Night Agent, and his film credits include Zola and Don’t Worry Darling. Stachel wrote and performs OTHER, his autobiographical solo play exploring identity, anxiety, self-acceptance, and belonging, which played Off-Broadway at Greenwich House Theater in 2025 following acclaimed earlier runs at Berkeley Rep and Berkshire Theatre Group.