ACTOR . WRITER . RECONTEUR . TEACHER
January-Feb 2026, LONDON UK, INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE, of Cohen, Bernstein, Joni & Me, UPSTAIRS AT THE GATEHOUSE.
How does an aspiring young singer from New Zealand find her way into the lives of some of the greatest musicians of the 20th Century? And how does her father become more inspiring than all of them?
click below to see audience reactions:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uF0ECBwIk56sygsC6XBYYx4BQvLbTwh7
In Cohen, Bernstein, Joni & Me, audiences laughed, cried and shared in the sheer joy of the most improbable, hilarious and heartwarming true stories you’ve ever heard (and will never forget) coming to life.
https://thespyinthestalls.com/2026/01/cohen/
https://theatreandtonic.co.uk/blog/cohen-bernstein-joni-me-upstairs-at-the-gatehouse-review
https://theatrereviews.design/2026/01/22/
https://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/blog/cohen-bernstein-joni-and-me
https://ayoungishperspective.co.uk/2026/01/23/review-cohen-bernstein-joni-and-me/
About the show
Comedy = tragedy + time. And that’s the essence of Deb Filler’s loving, hurting, hilarious 37-character solo show, Cohen Bernstein Joni & Me.
Gutsy, determined and madly lucky, Deb, the child of post war Jewish immigrants, takes us on her quest for love, happiness, success... and her own kind of music.
Leonard Bernstein plays piano just for her. Leonard Cohen shares Hallelujah with Deb that results in near catastrophic consequences. And wait, is that Deb…backstage with Joni Mitchell?
These unlikely events are just the tip of the iceberg. Like Forrest Gump, Deb’s magical life keeps dropping her into the right place at the right time - smack into the worlds of some of our greatest musical artists.
Cry a little, laugh a lot, as this note-perfect odyssey through the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, reminds us of the many ways our past can shape our future.
Read Deb’s Interviews with Everything Theatre and Theatre Weekly.
REVIEWS
COHEN, BERNSTEIN, JONI & ME
“AN UNFORGETTABLE STORY, AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING."
A Spy In the Stalls , London,4 stars
“A LOVE LETTER... TENDER... COMIC... NUANCED... IMPRESSIVE.”West End Best Friend, London,5 stars
“PHENOMENAL, CHARISMATIC, MAGNETIC, BRILLIANT.”Theatre and Tonic, London 5 stars
“A FORCE OF NATURE...CAPTIVATING…UNMISSABLE.”Jewish Renaissance, London, 5 stars
(A) DIZZYING PERFORMANCE. I LOVED IT!Theatrereviews.design, 5 stars
UPLIFTING... BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED... REFRESHING!
A Young(ish) Perspective, 4 stars
“HILARIOUS, SURPRISING, SEARINGLY HONEST, BITINGLY FUNNY.”
London Theatre1, 4 stars
“A RACONTEUR WITH CHARM, WIT, PACE. FUNNY AND ENGAGING “ London Pub Reviews, 4 stars
InterviewsDeb Filler, COHEN, BERNSTEIN, JONI & ME, Upstairs at The Gatehouse in
KRAVITZ, COHEN, BERNSTEIN and ME
“A sweet tale of a life lived in the wings.” Daily Mail (4 Stars)
“Whether you like jokes or singing, get your coats on and go see it.” Get Your Coats on, Edinburgh (4 Stars)
“It’s lovely fun watching this extremely confident performer unravel and reveal her career…a performer’s performer. “ British Theatre Guide (3 stars)
“Endearing and Enjoyable.” Fringe Review (3 Stars)
FILLER UP!
“Funny and affecting…She is a brilliant observer and her characterisations…are powerfully nuanced.” Sydney Morning Herald
“…utterly winning blend of humour and wistful observation… an intelligent and evocative meditation on appetite and hunger… The show…is a knockout. Miss it at your peril.”
New Zealand Herald
“Wonderfully warm and relaxed performer."
Sydney Arts Guide.
“Irresistible…poignant…dazzling. “
British Theatre Guide.
“Talent simply overflows from the Assembly's Wildman Room." - The Scotsman
PUNCH ME IN THE STOMACH Theatrical Production
“Magnificent…hilarious…to miss her would be madness.” New Zealand Herald
“Filler is a complete chameleon, transforming herself instantly into dozens of relatives and accents … exhilarating and liberating.”
The Independent (London)
“Magnificent … Extraordinary … Dazzling … Stunning. The press note says she does ’35 plus characters’. But I was laughing, crying, thinking and feeling too hard to count.”
The Boston Globe
“Extraordinary work, an extraordinary story-teller…” Village Voice
“Consistently clever … Extraordinary … Tour de force”Philadelphia Inquirer
“Filler’s overriding warmth, relaxed delivery, and level of comfort with the material is so engaging.”
The Toronto Star
“Filler has an extraordinary gift for mimicry …she has a wonderful smile, and embracing warmth… “
Globe & Mail (Canada)
“Filler, a gifted mimic…has tapped into the same vein of self-deprecating attitude many great comics that has never been more aptly applied than here.”
New York Newsday
“The most striking quality of Deb Filler’s performance… evokes the emotional dualism of much great humour (Issac Bashshevis Singer, Woody Allen and Bernice Reubens, among others), which implies that laughter is indispensable.” Montreal Mirror
Nomination for the Helen Hayes award for Outstanding Actress in a Non-Resident Production
For the Holocaust, ‘Second Generation,’ An Artistic Quest, NY Times
Deb Filler in Filler Up! Aviva-Berlin
Interview with Deb Filler, Aviva-Berlin
Filler Up! The Sydney Morning Herald
Birds of a Kind goes places rarely seen in English-language theatre, Toronto Star
Nostalgic Yiddish singalong @ Chutzpah!, Vancouver Observer
Review: ‘I Did It My Way In Yiddish (In English)’ by Deb Filler at MetroStage, DC Metro
“I Did it My Way in Yiddish (in English)” at MetroStage in Alexandria, The Zebra
I Did It My Way In Yiddish (In English) ~ MetroStage, The Whisk and Quill
Who is Deb Filler?
Aunt Sarah in TV’s DOC, a Rabbi on The Handmaid’s Tale, actor at the Stratford Festival, Australian Marine Biologist on the FX TV hit Shark Lords, the voice of the Peg Bundy Doll, star and playwright of the off Broadway classic, Punch Me In the Stomach.
Deb Filler has been working as an actor, character artist, singer, comic and writer, for 30 years. She’s appeared in clubs, theatres, on film, TV and in print. Nominated for the prestigious Helen Hayes Award, she’s had sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival, in London, Toronto, Berlin, Montreal, Sydney Australia, Baltimore, Washington D.C and her home town of Auckland, New Zealand.
Film and Television
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Last Laugh
Biddie Schitzerman
Shark Lords
Trip
Angst
Recent Shows
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BEDFORD FRINGE
Kravitz, Bernstein, Cohen, and Me
JULY 28 ‘23
7pm, -
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PHOENIX ARTS CLUB
Kravitz, Bernstein, Cohen, and Me
SOHO, LONDON,
JULY 29, 2023
4:00pm -
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EDINBURGH
Kravitz,Bernstein, Cohen, and Me
AUG 3-27, ‘23 -
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OMNIBUS THEATRE
Kravitz, Bernstein, Cohen, and Me
LONDON,
SEPT 3, 7:00 pm -
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JW3
LONDON, SEPT 5, 2023
7:30pm
WORK
Deb has performed standup, MC’d and taught at Brown University, Humber College, TOi Whaakari (NZ Drama School) and The Actors Company, et cetera. She leads workshops internationally for aspiring leaders, writers, and performers. She has developed and produced workshops for corporate, government, educational, theatre arts and not for profit organizations.
Join Deb’s mailing list
DEB FILLER is a workshop facilitator, keynote speaker, M.C., character actor and entertainer. To be the first to hear about her next workshop, or performance near you, join her mailing list!
Purchase: PUNCH ME IN THE STOMACHThe Film