Beverly Sokal, founder of the Fells Point Corner Theatre, passed away on Sunday, Oct. 26.
Earlier this month, the Northwest Baltimore resident — who was a mother of five, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of 13 — turned 99 years old.
Born Beverly Nemser in St. Joseph, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City, Sokal graduated in 1944 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and theater from the New School for Social Research in New York City. Sha also received a master’s degree in education at Coppin State University.
For 18 years, Sokal taught English and theater to students through the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. She also taught at the preschool at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, the Children’s Theatre Association, and at the Maryland Training School for Boys and the Montrose Training School for Girls.
In addition, she and her late husband, Ernest Sokal, ran Habonim Dror Camp Moshava. (The Sokals met on a kibbutz in Israel’s Galilee region in the late 1940s.)
“She did everything with passion, determination, and creativity, and was well liked and respected by all those she mentored or taught,” her family wrote on the website of Sol Levinson & Bros.
In 1987, Sokal founded the Fells Point Corner Theatre, which is now located at 251 S. Ann Street.
“It’s hard to express how much Beverly Sokal meant to me,” wrote award-winning Baltimore playwright Rich Espey on social media. “From my first role as an actor at Fells Point Corner Theatre way back in 1998, she was my biggest cheerleader. She picked plays of mine to be produced at FPCT, which was a great honor. She invited me to be on the Board, which was a great honor.
“But the biggest honor was when, in 2005, she asked me to do a solo show on the upstairs stage,” he wrote. “The show was ‘QED’ by Peter Parnell, about the physicist Richard Feynman. It was 90 minutes of me, alone on stage (except for the last five minutes). It was the hardest thing I’ll ever do as an actor, and it was the best thing I ever did. … I knew if Bev, one of the strongest people I knew, thought I could do it, then it must be true. … Thank you, Bev, for believing in me and for believing in so many of us.”
In 2012, Sokal was a recipient of the Audrey Herman Award, which honors local theater leaders for their contributions to the community arts and culture scene. The following year, the second-floor stage at the Fells Point Corner Theatre was named in honor of Sokal.
“By turns fiercely protective and exceptionally supportive, Bev took the helm of FPCT at its inception almost forty years ago and led the theater with unwavering dedication until her retirement in 2004,” the theater posted on social media about its “indomitable founder.” “She championed original plays and ambitious, challenging theater in the hope it would bring all of us into conversation.
“More than anything Bev believed in community, in our neighborhood, and in the power of theater to enrich human lives, especially children. She nurtured the love of theater in generations of young people through FPCT’s community programs and mentored many of Baltimore’s finest theater educators.
“Her legacy shines brightly in the work that persists at FPCT, and in the warm memories of those of us who had the good fortune to benefit from her generosity, humor, and wisdom.”
Wrote her family: “Though age slowed her down, even until the end, she had a great zest for life and natural capacity to play and have fun. She attended all of her grandchildren’s weddings and would steal the show by dancing the Hora well into her 90s. In her last year, she began to speak more Hebrew and even began singing some of her responses. Her smile would still light up a room.”
Services for Beverly Sokal will be held on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. at Sol Levinson & Bros., 8900 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville. Interment will be at Baltimore Hebrew Cemetery, 318 Berrymans Lane in Reisterstown.
Sokal is survived by her children, Dina (Alan Hirsch) Sokal, David (Janet Woodward) Sokal, Eli (Kelly) Sokal, and Joe Sokal; her grandchildren, Amy Sokal, Danny (Erica) Sokal, Evan Sokal, Lucy Hirsch, Ann Hirsch (Gene McHugh), Sam Hirsch, Jacob (Nora) Woodsey, Ira Woodward, Rebecca Elizabeth Sokal, and Andy Benjamin Sokal; and her 13 great-grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her husband, Ernest Sokal, and her son, Dr. Yonatan Sokal.
Shiva will be held at 3 Scott Norman Court in Owings Mills on Sunday following interment from 5-8 p.m., with a service at 7. On Monday, Nov. 3,and Tuesday, Nov. 4, shiva will be observed from 5-7 p.m., with a service at 7 each evening.
“One of the great ladies of the Baltimore theater scene who for decades produced thrilling and provocative seasons of exceptional drama, comedy and music at the Fells Point Corner Theatre,” posted Steve Goldklang, secretary of the Vagabond Players theater in Fells Point. “There was, and never will be, anyone with her drive, determination and resourcefulness to inspire theater artists the way Bev did.”
Donations in Beverly Sokal’s memory can be sent to the Fells Point Corner Theatre, 251 S. Ann Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21231; Oasis of Peace, 229 N. Central Avenue, Suite 401, Glendale, California 91203; or Friends of the IDF, P.O. Box 4224, New York, New York 01063.
In August of 2023, the Baltimore-based roots/Americana band The Old Part of Town released a song and video titled “Beverly Said” in honor of Beverly Sokal. Watch it here:
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