We had the good fortune of connecting with Rena Strober and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rena, what role has risk played in your life or career?
The arts are absolutely all about taking risks! I live by the following mantra “Say YES unless you absolutely have to say No.” This comes with all the risks in the world. I tell my young voice students that until you know what you can’t do, you’ll never know what you can do. Being an artist means digging deeper into your soul than most other careers & lifestyles. We have to access deep parts of who we are in order to bring roles and stories to life. We have to be vulnerable and fearless more days than not. We have to show parts of ourselves that scare us and in doing so, we are taking risks of judgement and failure. But when we succeed the feeling is so much greater not only because of that risk, but because we brought our entire selves to our art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Over the course of my career my art has grown, transformed and become so much more encompassing of who I am as an artist. I started my career on the Broadway stage but have gone on to turn my love of performing into my love of storytelling and advocacy. Music changes our lives on a daily basis and that is what I’ve tapped into over the last 10 years. It started when I began working with young blind singers and quickly learned just how powerful the voice can be. I went on to produce one of my proudest projects to date;  A Sesame Street album called Imagine That! It features Jason Alexander, French Stewart, Cristina Jones the ‘Blind Soprano’ and the DOTZ Blind Children’s choir. They are made up of all my amazing students from the Academy of Music for the Blind. It is one of the most magical albums I’ve ever heard and raises money for Guide Dogs of America. www.renastrober.bandcamp.com Since surviving a world pandemic, I’ve decided to produce more projects that speak to human survival and trauma. This past year I wrote, co-produced and starred in a short film called Spaghetti & Matzo Balls. It is the story of my own experience with trauma and how it led me back to my Jewish roots. I’m extremely proud of the film and can’t wait to share it with the world. It recently had its West coast premiere at the Pasadena International Film Festival and will continue to play Festivals before landing on a streaming service. But the trauma I experienced was one that involved a now infamous mob hit, me singing of Don’t Rain on My Parade and the NY establishment Rao’s. You can look up the film if you’d like to know more. What’s amazing is that over the last few years I’ve connected more to my Jewish roots and not hidden it from the industry. I’m getting roles that not only celebrate my Jewishness but connect to the kind of Jewish woman I am. I’ll be in San Diego this summer doing a reading of a new Jewish Children’s Musical called Hareville and in July I’m shooting one of the most powerful short films I’ve ever read! It’s called Thirteen and is based on the true story of a single Jewish mother fighting to get her disabled daughter Bat Mitzvah’d in the 1990’s. It’s a film of female empowerment, Jewish change and most of all, a film about inclusivity of anyone with a disability. It’s amazing how it truly brings together everything I am proud of. My life as an artist has never been an easy one. I work hard everyday to make ends meet, I say Yes to every opportunity that comes along and always continue to grow as a person. Most recently I’ve gone back to grad school part time.  I’m currently studying to become a Cantor at the Academy of Jewish Religion here in LA. I’m already working as a Cantorial Soloist around LA and around the Country and find that my work as a Cantor has deepened my work as an artist. It’s all about connecting to who we are at our core and at my core I am a singer, actor, storyteller, advocate, Jewish leader and fearless mother.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Honestly, as a New Yorker I still find it hard to come up with things to do with friends who visit me in LA. However, the best parts of living in LA are what we can do outdoors and up on mountains! I love taking my friends to Griffith park to hike up to the observatory, get lunch at the Trails cafe and if they’re here with a child most definitely the train rides! I’m not a fan of the touristy parts of Hollywood so they’re on their own for Hollywood & Vine. A nice drive to the beach is always fun as is the Santa Monica Pier.
On my list will definitely be Sugarfish downtown followed by the Last Bookstore and a walk through the Grand Central Market. Because of my fun connections we’d spend one evening all dressed up and head to the Magic Castle and sip martinis while watching close hand magic. We may take in a film at the Grove or better yet perhaps some music at Hotel Cafe. Since I’m always performing around town, perhaps I’d have a show when they’re here and could show them my newest stories and music.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The depth of my success rides on the shoulders of so many other artists, friends & mentors. My original success on Broadway absolutely came from my 5 summers at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in NY. But my most recent successes have come from my work with young blind musicians. I worked as the voice teacher & head of fundraising for the Academy of Music for the Blind for 5 years and in doing so quickly learned that our voice comes from a much deeper place inside of us. These kids taught me more than I could ever teach them. I learned how to see the world through my voice, my friendships and my passion for making space for these incredible young singers. I learned how to connect to music, tell stories, develop friendships that all had nothing to do with how I ‘saw’ the world. My Sesame Street album IMAGINE THAT features Jason Alexander, French Stewart and Cristina Jones ‘Blind Soprano’ and the DOTZ Blind Children’s Choir. They are all my students and the album raises money for Guide Dogs of America. This album is one of my proudest accomplishments.

Website: www.renastrober.com

Instagram: renastrober

Facebook: renastroberfanpage

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuQuo85V-l1BXhE-7nerzA

Other: www.renastrober.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
JOCELYN ROHRBACK

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