Marketing whiz Shlome Steinmetz brings his storytelling savvy to the HASC concert

Photos: Family archives

Mention the name Shlome Steinmetz to any young chassidish boy in the tri-state area, and he’ll probably be able to rattle off a list of the ways he knows Shlome.

From writing for some of the most popular Yiddish-language weekly magazines, to revolutionizing the way chassidish summer camps are run, to help create what these boys know best — the hugely popular “Interen” series of Yiddish productions and videos, Shlome is the behind-the-scenes mover and shaker for so many things in their lives.

Those Interen Yiddish productions have changed the face of modern Yiddish entertainment for kids. What started a decade ago as a small Chol Hamoed play in the FDR theater with 900 seats, quickly grew into a series of professional productions under the “Steinhaus” production label founded by Steinmetz and his partner Lazer Neuhausz. Lazer was actually the originator of the Interen plays, and together they raised the bar for quality, state-of-the art production of Yiddish entertainment.

But for energetic, forward-thinking Shlome Steinmetz, it didn’t end there. Today he’s owner of the Pivot Group, one of Brooklyn’s largest marketing firms, and has morphed into a top-of-the-line event producer — as anyone who will be at the 36th “A Time for Music” HASC concert next week will surely see in real time.

Shlome’s first experience with HASC was in the summer of 2019, when he organized a concert geared to the heimish, chassidish crowd. It was an exclusive men’s event at the Prospect Theater called Musical Journey, featuring Lipa, Ari Hill, Motty Steinmetz, Shira Choir, Freilach Band, and Beri Weber.

While HASC has been known for over three decades as the musical event of the year, traditionally held in Lincoln Center or Avery Fisher Hall, this year’s concert will be moving to a luxurious new venue — the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

“It’s costing more, yet we took a risk, adding a whole reception and moving away from purely musical entertainment of years past, but so far it paid off,” says Shlome, who admits that a concert would have once been considered an unlikely choice for his production prowess.

“Well, I’m not the most musical guy,” he says. “I don’t naturally understand music, I know when something is nice, I know what people connect with, but I’m not musical. So I look at every show as if it’s a story that needs to be told. I have to entertain people and will do whatever it takes to provide them with stellar entertainment.”

Music has come a long way in recent years, but people’s attention spans are shorter and their expectations are higher, so Shlome has seen the need to up the ante. Last year he added master mentalist Lior Suchard to the roster of entertainers and the crowd loved it.