Tony and Grammy-winner Ari'el Stachel explores his Arab/Jewish identity at Vancouver

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Ari’el Stachel was in fifth grade when the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place in the U.S. Like many Americans with roots in the Middle East, he was caught up in the resulting backlash meted out upon his and other immigrant communities.

The son of an Israeli-raised Yemenite Jewish father and Ashkenazi Jewish mother from New York, he had already chosen to use his mother’s last name rather than his father’s to avoid being associated with any Middle Eastern background. Then he took further steps to differentiate himself from his roots.

But the then 10-year-old still found himself on the receiving end of taunts of “terrorist”.

“Honestly, my identity is something of a mind melt to come to terms with,” he said. “It’s so loaded in terms of shifting global politics, traditions, calling myself an Arab-Jew exploding people’s minds, and other ongoing challenges. But it is what it is.”

In his solo performance piece, An Evening With Ari’el Stachel, the artist presents a deeply personal dive to defining one’s true self. Stachel will be perform in Vancouver on Nov. 9 and 10 as part of the Chutzpah! Festival.

“The play is about masking my identity and trying to find different ways of fitting in to be able to get along in the world, which included finding different identities to go with my skin,” he said. “That included, for a period of about eight years, claiming to be half-Black. I finally ‘came out’ as Middle Eastern in college, and that became the thing I walked through the world with as my proud, full self.”

Getting involved in Middle Eastern theatre companies and cultural groups eventually lead the Tisch School of the Arts drama student to a role in The Band’s Visit. The musical, based upon a 2007 Israeli film of the same name, follows the 1996 trip by the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra to Tel Aviv and situations that led to a very different cultural exchange than what was originally intended.

For his role as the lothario Haled, Stachel won a featured actor in a musical Tony Award for his performance and a Grammy for the official cast recording of the Broadway production. Subsequent work has ranged from appearances in Law And Order: Special Victims Unit as Sgt. Hasim Khaldun and in director Olivia Wilde’s film Don’t Worry Darling featuring Wilde, Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.

His one-man show, originally titled Out Of Character, debuted in 2025. It has gone through a number of versions since.

“Who I thought I was when I started the play and who I am now are obviously different. But the root is always about the fact that you never quite feel like you fit in anywhere,” he said. “How and where you fit in with things is subject to all kinds of conditional realities, including geopolitical ones that affect individual lives. It has been a very mission-based creation for me, because I never thought I would ever see a Yemenite-Jewish-American experience reflected on a stage.”

Another reason for creating his own vehicle was that, post The Band’s Visit, he didn’t feel the roles being offered to him were necessarily for him.

“While the needle was going in the right direction after doing that show, and musical theatre is an important art form, I really wanted to share things that are important to me with the world,” he said. “I’m sure that the 16-year-old me would have been amazed I even made it to Broadway and probably expected me to keep cashing in on the Tony today. But, while I love theatre and escapism, the hard reality of doing the same thing eight times a week is that the ecosystem is really challenging and takes your whole life.”

So, Stachel chose to make art that meets his personal brief to say something important about his own experiences to help reflect and give voice to others in similar situations. He finds the idea of a “living, breathing, autobiography designed to entertain” an incredibly rewarding use of his talents. He also admits that a solo show is a constant process of revision and re-creation.

“The biggest challenge when you write from this perspective, and I know this is cliché, is to have what you do be both personal and universal,” he said. “So, you have to find a framing that is taking however many years of life and cramming it into an evening that is going to be entertaining and relevant. And that means being nimble in a changing world.”

Since launching in 2001, the Lisa Nemetz Festival of International Performing Arts: The Chutzpah! Festival has present a wealth of global and national performance examined through a Jewish cultural lens.

With a roster that includes dance, music, theatre, comedy and crossovers of all kinds, the annual fall showcase frequently introduces local audiences to artists who go on to much bigger things at intimate local venues. The full event caledar is posted online and all tickets are on sale at chutzpahfestival.com.

Here are five recommended events at this year’s event:

When: Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway

A introductory multi-genre cabaret with everything from musical drag from Uriel Yekutiel and music from Hayley K Turner to flamenco from Liat Har Lev (pictured).

Things My Dad Kept

When: Nov. 4, 7 p.m.

Where: Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre, 950 West 41st

Playwright and performer Ronit Rubinstein looks into her relationship with her late father and Holocaust survivor, Mordechai, using the template of what he kept in his office drawers.

Kosha Dillz

When: Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Temple Shalom, 7190 Oak St.

Rami Even-Esh is rapper Kosha Dillz. A freestyler who has shared stages with the likes of Wu Tang Clan, he also raps about his Jewish identity and family life in often funny fashion.

Duo Andalus

When: Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Fox Cabaret, 2321 Main St.

Vocalist Lala Tomar and guitarist Ofer Ronen travel across the Mediterranean region to present an evening of music ranging from historic Moroccan Ladino language songs to classics from Al-Andalus, flamenco traditional tunes and more.

Yankl and the Beanstalk

When: Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 15, 3 p.m.

Where: Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre, 950 West 41st

It’s a Jewish take on a U.K. pantomime classic coming straight out of Jewish immigrant communities of East London in the 1880s. With magic beans, a pickle fairy and plenty of popular Yiddish hits of the day, this one will be a real climb up the shtick.