Matinees at the J - JCC Rochester

Brighton Beach Memoirs

Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 • 2:00pm • Hart Theater

Neil Simon’s adaptation of his autobiographical Broadway hit about a 1930s Brooklyn teen (Jonathan Silverman) and his family.

Cast: Jonathan Silverman, Blythe Danner, Bob Dishy, Brian Drillinger, Judith Ivey
Directed by: Gene Saks
Written by: Neil Simon

General Admission Ticket: $5.00

1:30PM Popcorn in the theater lobby
2:00PM Movie (run time 2h 3m)
4:00PM 15-minute post movie talk-back

Julie & Julia

Monday, April 13th, 2026 • Movie 3:00pm • Hart Theater

The adaption of Julie Powell’s autobiographical book about an amateur chef who decides to try out every recipe in a cookbook by chef Julia Child and writes about it in a blog over the course of a year. Meanwhile, flashbacks show Child learning about French cuisine while living in Paris.

Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Chris Messina, Stanley Tucci, Linda Emond
Directed by: Nora Ephron
Screenplay by: Nora Ephron

General Admission Ticket: $5.00

2:30PM Popcorn in the theater lobby
3:00PM Movie (run time 2h 3m)
5:15PM 15-minute post movie talk-back

2:00pm: popcorn in lobby
2:30pm: movie (run time 2h 24min)
4:55pm: restroom/stretch break
5:15pm: talk and Q&A

Funny Girl (1968)

Thursday, May 28th, 2026 • 02:30pm • Hart Theater

Barbra Streisand won an Oscar portraying legendary stage comedian Fanny Brice as she breaks into show business, rises to stardom with the Ziegfeld Follies and finds heartache in her marriage.

Cast: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis
Directed by: William Wyler
Written by: Isobel Lennart

General Admission Ticket: $5.00

Please join us after the movie for a very special talk and Q&A.

Conductor/composer Jonathan Allentoff will share his insights on the film score for Funny Girl by Jewish composers Jule Styne, Bob Merrill, and Walter Scharf and the Academy-Award winning performance by Barbra Streisand. He will discuss his exploration of the original piano manuscripts and the process of restoring, arranging, and conducting the song People for performances in Rochester and Los Angeles. A Q & A will be included.

Jonathan Allentoff is the music director of the Brockport Symphony, Greece Community, and Temple Beth El Orchestras, associate conductor, principal arranger, and principal viola of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra, President of the Greece Performing Arts Society (GPAS), director of the Eastman Summer Studio Orchestra and Eastman Klezmer Ensemble at ECMS at the Eastman School of Music, Director of Music and the Sobel Family Center for the Arts and Chair of Encore at Hillel School, composition mentor and conductor for the LA Inception Orchestra, and the founder of Allentoff Music (ASCAP).

He recently conducted the New York American String Teachers Association Orchestra at the NYSSMA Conference, presented at the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) Seminar on the film and television scores of his mentor Van Alexander, conducted the premiere of his arrangements celebrating 90 Years of 20th Century Fox and performed as violin soloist at the ASMAC Celebration with vocal artist LC Powell and the Flight 584 Big Band at the Mayflower Club in North Hollywood, presented a lecture on Studio Music at the APME Conference at The University of Memphis, directed the All-County Orchestra at the Calkins Road Performing Arts Center, conducted the Los Angeles Inception Orchestra studio recording session at Village Studios in Westwood, CA and the orchestral session at UCLA, and composed the score for the documented drama, Love Letters from the Cold War.

His works and licensed arrangements have been performed by ensembles across the globe, including the Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Holyoke, Muncie, Oklahoma, Redlands, Salina, Texas, and Vermont Symphony Orchestras and the Sydney Opera House. He holds a Master of Arts degree specializing in Music, Interdisciplinary Arts, Education, and Technology from Stony Brook University, and he received the Dr. Deborah C. Hecht Award for his MA thesis. He holds a Bachelor of Science, Summa Cum Laude, in Interdisciplinary Arts and Music from SUNY Brockport. He is an active member and clinician for APME, ASCAP, ASMAC, ASTA, CODA, NAfME, and NYSSMA, and he serves on the Executive Board of NYASTA and the LA Inception Orchestra Board of Directors.

1:30pm: popcorn in lobby
2:00pm: movie (run time 99m)

Driving Miss Daisy

Wednesday, June 17th, 2026 • 02:00pm • Hart Theater

As social change sweeps the 1960s South, so is transformed the 25-year relationship between the wealthy, strong-willed Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy) and Hoke (Morgan Freeman), her soft-spoken but equally indomitable driver, from suspicion and mistrust to respect and deep-rooted affection. With a melodious synthesized score by Hans Zimmer, the film also boasts a strong supporting ensemble with Dan Aykroyd as Miss Daisy’s son, Patti LuPone as his nouveau riche wife, and Esther Rolle as the housekeeper.

Cast: Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone, Esther Rolle
Directed by: Bruce Beresford
Written by: Alfred Uhry

General Admission Ticket: $5.00

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Monday, January 5th, 2026 • 02:00pm • Hart Theater

Aboard a train from Istanbul, a passenger is found murdered and famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot steps up to determine which of the other passengers is responsible. The victim, who just the night before had asked Poirot for protection, turns out to not be who he seemed.
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie.

Cast: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Martin Balsam
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Screenplay by: Paul Dehn

General Admission Ticket: $5.00