Nearly 20 years ago, when Baltimore native Jeff Cohen was running a small, 74-seat storefront theater in New York City, he was approached by an elderly gentleman who handed him a manila envelope after a performance.

“He said, with a little accent, ‘Please take a look at this and maybe there’s something you can do with it,’” Cohen recalls. “I opened up the envelope and there was a magazine called Moment, which bills itself as a progressive Jewish monthly. Inside was an article titled ‘Slippery History,’ which was about this guy who gave it to me and his story about soap.”

Cohen never saw the man again, but the article was the catalyst for The Soap Myth—his poignant play that poses the chilling question of whether Nazi soldiers made soap from the corpses of their Jewish victims.

The emotional drama, starring theatrical icon Ed Asner and Emmy nominee Tovah Feldshuh, will begin an upcoming nationwide tour at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills on January 20. Though it debuted off-Broadway in 2012, this will be the first time Cohen brings the script, performed as a live reading, to his hometown.

“The Soap Myth took around seven years for me to write,” says Cohen, a Friends School alum who grew up living in Mt. Washington and Druid Hill. “Like many people, I had no idea there was any kind of dispute about whether there was this soap. It was all very new to me.”

The story is centered around Asner’s character, Milton Saltzman, a Holocaust survivor committed to proving that the Nazis did indeed make soap from the bodies of those they murdered. Though Saltzman, like many real-life survivors, cites his own memories and eye-witnesses who testified in The Nuremberg Trials, his experiences are rejected by Holocaust historians who dismiss the “soap myth” due to a lack of concrete evidence.

“I identify very strongly with him as an individual who is out of step with the majority,” Asner says of his character. “I’ve found myself in that position a few times, and it made it very easy for me to say, ‘Well, what do they know?’”

Another layer of the script explores journalistic integrity. The character of Annie Blumberg, a young Jewish reporter, develops a friendship with Saltzman, and struggles to tell his story when confronted with the opposing viewpoints.

“It’s a wonderful play,” Asner adds. “It talks about the overcoming of great odds, standing alone, and finally finding a sympathetic soul who identifies with you.”

Cohen says that the themes remain more timely than ever in today’s political climate. Not only does the journalistic message add to the conversation in the era of “fake news,” but the focus on Holocaust education feels paramount in the wake of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last fall.

“What’s happening in the world is really heartbreaking,” he says. “Not just the rise of antisemitism, but the rise of anti-immigration, and generally that kind of hatred and bigotry. Most of the audiences that we play to are very aware of issues regarding the Holocaust, but every once in a while we play to a non-Jewish organization and it opens their eyes.”

To further educate audiences, the cast has made a habit of engaging in talkbacks after the show. Cohen says that a frequent topic of conversation is the character Brenda Goodsen, an adamant Holocaust denier.

“I’ll never forget, once a feisty elderly woman stood up and said, ‘I’m a survivor and when she started talking, I wanted to throw my cane at her,’” Cohen recalls. “But she said, ‘You have to keep her in the play, because as painful as it is, people need to know. People need to see that evil in front of them and they need to never forget it.’”

Though Asner hasn’t spent much time in Baltimore—he speculates he filmed an episode of Route 66 here in the ’60s—he says he is looking forward to engaging with the Gordon Center audience.

“I respect, and like, Baltimore for the great history,” Asner tells us. “It’s bigger than its name. And I honor the fact that it has a standout Jewish community that has brought much dignity to the Jewish people.”

While it might only be in town for a single performance, Cohen says the beauty of The Soap Myth is that, like all plays, it transcends time.

“Survivors of the Holocaust are rapidly dying off,” he says. “Every time an actor plays the role of Milton Saltzman, whether it’s Ed Asner next month or another actor 150 years from now, Milton Saltzman will be alive. By enacting the role on stage you are creating an immortality for that character. So long as Milton lives, he will not let the world forget about the Holocaust.”

Obviously, the public knows you best as an actress, but music is actually your first love.
I’ve been performing since I was very young. The first time I sang in front of an audience I was three-and-a-half. Originally, I thought that’s what I was going to do. Obviously, the acting kind of took over for a while there, but I always wanted to get back to it. My dad is a jazz musician so I was always around it. Piano is his main instrument. But he’s the kind of person who can pick up any instrument—any stringed instrument—and play: piano, bass, banjo.

How did your recent debut album, Except Sometimes, come together?
You know, it was really something that I had wanted to do for years, but I just was too busy doing other stuff, and I hadn’t met the person that I wanted to collaborate with. And it was just kind of like the stars aligned and I met somebody that I really connected with musically, and that’s my pianist and the person who arranges all my music, [Peter Smith]. We met in New York and we started to work together and it kind of went from there. I wasn’t even necessarily thinking about doing an album. I was more thinking about performing in little jazz clubs and just doing it basically because I wanted to, and it kind of grew from there, and the album happened very organically. We got into a groove and we thought, ‘Let’s do a recording of this.’ It was kind of like a commando mission. We did the thing very independently and frugally and then Concord [Records] ending up releasing it. It was kind of like one thing after another and then, before I knew it, I was on tour.

One of those dates is at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills on October 25 at 8 p.m. What are you most looking forward to performing for audiences?
When I first went out on tour I was pretty much exclusively doing songs from the album. But because we’ve continued to perform since then and learn new songs, and, I feel, improved even—I mean, of course, you keep doing something, you improve—so a lot of the songs are a mixture of songs from the album and new songs. And then I never really know what I’m going to do until that day. We usually come up with the song list during soundtrack.

Really? That spur-of-the-moment?
Yeah. I mean, I think that there are different styles. I think some people want to call me cabaret because I’m known for doing something else, and I guess that’s just the word. But I’ve never really considered myself a cabaret performer as much as a jazz singer. I don’t script anything. I mean, sometimes I’ll tell an anecdote that I’ve told somewhere else, but it’s not scripted, at all. I really try to maintain the spontaneity.

The album has 10 tracks, mostly from the Great American Songbook, right?
Yeah, well, pretty much all from the Great American Songbook, with the exception of the cover of “Don’t You Forget About Me.”

Yeah, why did you feel it was important to include that song?
When we were rehearsing and coming up with the songs that we were going to do, [Writer/director of The Breakfast Club] John Hughes passed away. It just kind of came out of a rehearsal where he was on my mind, and I said to Peter, ‘Hey do you think we could do this as a jazz song?’ and he started to put these beautiful chords behind it, and I just thought it would be really nice as a tribute to him and also for people who kind of know me for this other thing that I do. It’s kind of like a nice bridge, I thought.

I was surprised at how well it actually translates into a jazz arrangement.
Yeah, it’s surprising, right?! It’s really funny because when you work with musicians, they are so used to hearing some of these songs. Like, the amount of times they’ve had to play, “Stormy Weather,” you know? I really tried to pick songs that were maybe not heard quite as much as, like, “My Funny Valentine,” you know? And all of the guys—any jazz musician who plays that song—gets really excited because it’s so different from what they normally do. So it’s really kind of fun. And also, it’s not symmetrical—at least the way that I do it. I think I cut two lines from it, which is always confusing for musicians, when it doesn’t follow a regular musical pattern.

But, hey, it’s jazz.
It’s jazz.

You can do what you want.
[Laughs]

Speaking of John Hughes, next year is the 30th anniversary of The Breakfast Club.
Yeah, I think it’s coming up. It was released . . . coming up this February, I think.

Do you know of anything planned to celebrate the anniversary of The Breakfast Club?
There have sort of been discussions, but nothing absolutely definite.

As a former child star yourself, what are your thoughts on the proliferation of teen and tween stars today? Do you ever want to give them advice?
No. I feel like everybody has to sort of find their own way. I’m not really much of an advice giver. I recently did this film that’s going to come out—Jem and the Holograms—and most of the stars—actually all of the stars other than me and Juliette Lewis—are young. And a couple of them, I think, came out of Disney stuff. But I was really impressed with them. They all seem like they really have their heads together, and I think they’re all going to be okay. But I really feel like it depends so much on their family background, their education. Aubrey Peeples, who plays Jem, is a serious reader, and I really connected with her because I was always a real serious reader, and I think it really kind of helped me see outside of what I was doing and see the big picture more. So I really just think that it depends on the individual—and also on how good they are at resisting drugs.

Yeah, there’s always that.
You know, I took my elder daughter out last night for a little special time on the beach, and on the way back, I put my iPod on shuffle, and Amy Winehouse came up. And Matilda said, “Oh I love this song.” And I said, “I love it, too.” And then I said, “It’s so sad, the way that she died.” And Matilda said, “Oh yeah, it really was.” And then we were talking about all the young people, the incredibly talented people, who have died from heroin overdoses. And we got in this whole conversation about being an artist. And part of what makes you a great artist is how sensitive you are. But then part of being sensitive is sometimes it’s really hard to be that sensitive and people want to do whatever they can to not feel what they’re feeling. And my daughter is definitely an artist. So I had this whole, incredibly emotional conversation with her about drugs, and promising me that she wouldn’t go there. But it’s true, I feel like it really is hard for so many people who are incredibly talented because of that sensitivity, and learning how to channel it and deal with it without doing the drug and alcohol option.

Right, to have some sort of productive outlet for those feelings. But, obviously, she feels she can talk to you about things, so that’s a good sign.
Yeah, I think that’s really key, but then, you know, you hear about people who had great parents, and the parents did everything right, and it still happens. It’s terrifying.