Only 50 days until July 4th, when Fiddler on the Roof premieres (in Yiddish) off-Broadway. And now, we know who will be in it.

If you’ve heard of anyone in the cast, it’s Jackie Hoffman, the Emmy-nominated comedian (for Feud) whose Broadway credits have included scene-stealing in everything from Hairspray to Xanadu to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She is also extremely, very, super Jewish. She has performed musical parodies of pretty much every Jewish holiday you can think of— including Shavuot. Hoffman will be playing Yenta the matchmaker, because of course she will.

Your Tevya is Steven Skybell, who has been on Broadway several times, including in the last revival of Fiddler (he was a replacement Lazar Wolf). He grew up Jewish in Lubbock Texas, which would make shtetl-dwellers’ heads spin.

Jill Abramovitz will play Golda, and, yes, her Broadway credits too include the last run of Fiddler (she replaced Grandma Tzeitel, and understudied both Golda and Yenta). She’s also a songwriter, including contributing lyrics for Broadway intermarriage musical It Shoulda Been You.

Neither of the leads are big names, so it’s exciting to see what could be the big breaks of actors who have been in the business for some time.

The supporting cast is:

Kirk Geritano as Avram, Samantha Hahn as Bielke, Cameron Johnson as Fyedka, Daniel Kahn as Perchik, Ben Liebert as Motel, Stephanie Lynne Mason as Hodel, Rosie Jo Neddy as Chava, Raquel Nobile as Shprintze, Bruce Sabath as Lazar Wolf, Jodi Snyder as Fruma-Sarah, Lauren Jeanne Thomas as The Fiddler, Bobby Underwood as the Constable, Michael Yashinsky as Mordcha, Rachel Zatcoff as Tzeitel.

Also in the production is: Jennifer Babiak, Joanne Borts, Josh Dunn, Michael Einav, Evan Mayer, Nick Raynor, Kayleen Seidl, Adam Shapiro, and James Monroe Stevko.

Of course, the director is the legendary Joel Grey. Some of the cast members have experiences performing in Yiddish, but for some, it’ll be like a mamaloshen boot camp.

See you in July!

Photo by Joan Marcus

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Next week, one of the most famous Yiddish plays of all time is making its return to New York (no, not Fiddler in Yiddish, that’s later this year).

In 1892, playwright Jacob Gordin premiered The Yiddish King Lear. It is not a translation of the original play; rather, it retells the Shakespearean tragedy as the struggles of a renowned rabbi with his children, who represent disparate types of Jewry, from Hasidic to secularized. (The titular patriarch is considered one of the meatiest roles in Yiddish theatre; it defined the legendary Jacob Adler’s career.) Now, the play returns as a staged reading to Manhattan, for two nights only. And stay tuned— you could go see it.

The new Lear is David Serero, an actor and opera singer born in France, who also directed, produced, and adapted this production. (YIVO is also a producing partner.)

On the surface, Serero may be an odd choice for the role. First of all, he’s only 36, much younger than the role he’s portraying. In addition, he’s not a Yiddish speaker— in fact, he’s Sephardic (of Moroccan descent). As to his age, he’s already played Shylock, so a tragic Jewish father of adults is within his range. That performance of Merchant of Venice was part of a string of productions adapting classic theatrical works for Sephardic audiences. Others included Othello (Serero was Othello) and Nabucco (yes, he was Nabucco). But playing Gordin’s version of Lear is a lifelong dream, and Serero is excited to jump to the Ashkenazi world of performance.

“For me, Yiddish theatre is Jewish theatre,” he told Jewcy. “My goal is to bring Yiddish theatre in English for everyone, including non-Jews. You don’t need to be British to love Shakespeare or French to love pastries!”

One step towards accessibility is translation. In the upcoming production of Lear, the text will be in English, but the show will contain classic Yiddish songs (providing, presumably, an opportunity to hear Sesero’s baritone). Following both performances, Gordin’s great-granddaughter and biographer, Beth Kaplan, will host talkbacks. Serero hopes that this reading will be a step towards a fully mounted production of the play.

So, interested yet? Well, if you sign up for Jewcy’s email list, you’ll automatically be entered in a drawing to win a pair of tickets to the show! You have through the weekend, and winners will be notified Monday morning, January 29th. At that point, you can pick which performance you’d like to attend. 

Yiddish King Lear plays January 30 and February 1 at 8 pm at the Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk Street. You can also buy tickets here.

Image courtesy David Serero

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The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene gives the people what they want. “Folk” is in the name, after all. And obviously, the people want Fiddler on the Roof performed in the mamaloshen. Naturally. If you don’t, there is something wrong with you.

The time will be July. The place will be the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. Most other details are still forthcoming, but the musical’s lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, and the great director Jerry Zaks are both signed on as production advisors. Beyond that, we only have this vague, and honestly sort of confusing statement by the Folksbiene’s executive Christopher Massimine to go by. He says the production “will be presented in the context of a historical retrospective hypothetically introducing the idea that Sholem Aleichem has been present at the conception of the adaptation of his work for the musical stage.”

What? So, does that mean a framing device where Sholem Aleichem appears as a character? Is this going to be for Fiddler what Indecent was for God of Vengeance? Do we breathe new life into Tevye and his family by making the actors break the fourth wall or something?

“The idea we are putting forth would be an accurate re-creation of how this musical might look in its native Yiddish tongue,” Massimine continued.

What does re-creation mean? Is the translation new? Is the choreography different, like in the most recent Broadway revival?

WHAT IS GOING ON?

In any case, this production is far from the first performance of Fiddler in Yiddish (to say nothing of other Yiddish adaptations of Aleichem’s work). Back in the 1960s, only a couple of years after the Broadway production premiered, original director/choreographer Jerome Robbins helmed a Yiddish-language version of the show— in Israel (there’s even a cast album, and it’s great).

So we have a ways to wait before seeing Yiddish Fiddler onstage, but ideally more information will come soon. In the meantime, stay strong, and listen to every single cast recording of the show there is (and there are at least a dozen,) over and over to pick your favorite.

UPDATE, AS OF MARCH 16: JOEL GREY IS DIRECTING THIS PRODUCTION. GET. HYPE.

Photo of  the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof by Joan Marcus

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As I wrote about yesterday, we lost great actor Fyvush Finkel over the weekend, so I went to visit his star on the mostly-abandoned Yiddish Theatre Walk of Fame.

The Walk, I explained, on 10th Street and 2nd Avenue, dates only to the 1980s, but these days sits in disrepair, and a lot of the names are near-indecipherable. There’s no comprehensive list of who’s who of the walk (though this one isn’t bad), so I decided to make one.

Here, in no particular order, are the over sixty Yiddish greats:

• Fyvush Finkel– (May his memory be for a blessing)
• Molly Picon-Like Finkel, she had great crossover success, including playing Yenta the matchmaker in the Fiddler on the Roof film. She died in 1992.
• Jacob Kalich, Picon’s husband, was an actor as well (he also appeared in the Fiddler film, credited as Yankel).
• Pesach Burstein did it all: Singing, directing, vaudeville, you name it. he died in 1986.
• Lillian Lux was married to Burstein (they wed on tour in Uruguay), but was a great performer in her own right, including starring on Broadway, and often wrote her own material. She died in 2005.
• Mike Burstyn-The son of Pesach Burstyn and Lillian Lux, this performer mostly did Yiddish theatre as a child, then going by Motele, before transitioning to other areas of performance in adulthood, such as starring on Broadway in Barnum and off-Broadway in The Rothschilds. A documentary about the Burstein family (which includes Mike’s sister Susan), The Komediant, won an Israeli Best Documentary Award.
• Joseph Buloff not only had a wildly successful career in the Yiddish theatre, his other roles included the original Broadway cast of Oklahoma! He was Ali Hakim, the “Persian” peddler often coded as Ashkenazi Jewish. He died in 1985.
• Luba Kadison, who was married to Buloff, was a member of the famous Vilna Troupe. Perhaps her most iconic role was that of the demon-possessed bride, Leah, in The Dybbuk. She died in 2006.
• Irving Grossman was as home on the Yiddish stage as in English vaudeville, and was also an important figure in theatrical unions. He died in 1964.
• Dina Goldberg, like many other actors on this list, appeared in the film Catskill Honeymoon. Also called Diana (such as when she appeared on Broadway in Milk and Honey), she often worked with Grossman, to whom she was married.
• Seymour Rexite was a performer of stage, screen, and radio, and president of the Hebrew Actors Union. The story goes that Rexite sang for Calvin Coolidge, who was so moved he granted entry visas for family members who were still abroad. He died in 2002.
• Miriam Kressyn was married to Rexite, and in addition to acting she was also a playwright, drama, and professor of drama. She died in 1996.
• Jack Reckzeit was Seymour Rexite’s older brother, and allegedly it was he who wrote the song that Seymour sang to sway President Coolidge. Like his brother, he served as the Hebrew Actors Union president. He died in 1988.
• Leo Fuchs was known as the “Yiddish Fred Astaire,” highly prolific during his prime, and performing in Cabaret on Broadway in his old age. He died in 1994.
• Rebecca Richman appeared in many works of Yiddish theatre, including A Child for Sale and Here Comes the Groom (Fuchs, her husband, was her costar in the latter).
• Leon Liebgold appeared on stage and screen, including in the film adaptation of The Dybbuk (his character was the doomed young man who becomes the titular vengeful spirit). He died in 1993.
• Lilly Lilyana (also spelled Lili Liliana) was married to Liebgold, but not until after she starred with him in The Dybbuk as Leah. She died in 1989.
• Irving Jacobson was a member of a prominent Yiddish theatrical families (and related to at least one other by marriage). He was mostly known for comedy and vaudeville, including songwriting. He died in 1978.
• Hymie Jacobson was Irving’s brother, and together in addition to performing they even owned theaters. He was married for a time to Miriam Kressyn before she wed Rexite. He died in 1952.
• Ludwig Satz was declared in the New York Times in 1925 to be one of Yiddish theatre’s greatest comic actors. He died (in America) in 1944.
• Moishe Oysher was actually best known as one of the great cantors, and did a lot of radio, but he also performed on the Yiddish stage and screen. He died in 1958.
• Leon Blank rose from singing in the chorus to becoming a solo star, turning down non-Yiddish roles for the community of “Second Avenue.” He died in 1934.
• Aaron Lebedeff also worked his way up to stardom (all the way from being a prompter). He was best known as a character actor. He died in 1960.
• Alexander Olshanetsky composed for the Yiddish theatre (one of the “Big Four”), as well as conducted. He died in 1946.
• Abe Ellstein was another one of the “Big Four,” and his work included the hit Yidl Mitn Fidl. He died in 1963.
• Joseph Rumshinsky was also in the Big Four, and also published his writings. He died in 1956.
• Sholom Secunda rounds out the Big Four composers. He wrote the melody to the crossover classic, “Bei Mir Bistu Shein.” He died in 1974.
• Arnold Perlmutter was also a prolific composer for the Yiddish theatre. He died in 1953.
• Maurice Schwartz did it all: acting, directing, writing, producing, and teaching others the art of theatre. He died in 1960.
• Paul Muni was a protégé of Schwartz. That’s right; the Paul Muni of Scarface and other Hollywood classics got his start in Yiddish theatre (his parents were actors, too). He died in 1967.
• Menasha Skulnik starred on The Goldbergs, but before that he was a Yiddish theatre actor. He died in 1970.
• Itzik Feld sang for the Yiddish theatre. He died in 1943, and on his tombstone (that he shares with his wife Lola), in English it says: “The play is done, the curtain drops/Slow falling to the prompter’s bell.”
• Jacob P. Adler was a legendary actor, with a long, prolific career. Amongst his many projects was performing Shakespeare in Yiddish, including the titular role in a famous production of King Lear, and taking on Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. He died in 1926.
• Sarah Adler was his wife, and an amazing performer as well (she had literally hundreds of leading roles). Their daughter together is Stella, as in, the woman who revolutionized American acting. Sarah died in 1953.
• Henrietta Jacobson was part of a family heavily involved in the Yiddish theatre. She also choreographed and designed sets, and acted on Broadway. She died in 1988.
• Julius Adler, Henrietta’s husband, acted, wrote, and directed. He died in 1994.
• Jacob Jacobs did everything comedy, from performing, to writing, to directing vaudeville. He died in 1977.
• Betty Jacobs was married to Jacob, and was from a theatrical family herself. She was also a performer and was involved in a Yiddish theatre firm.
• Mischa and Lucy Gehrman were a married couple, both actors. She died in 1954.
• Herman Yablokoff was one of the biggest stars of his day, and another figure who worked both onstage and behind the scenes. He died in 1981.
• Bella Meisel was Yablokoff’s wife (and from a theatrical family), and a performer, including a singer. She probably died in 1991.
• David Kessler was a great star, mostly known for his serious and dramatic roles. He died in 1920.
• Zvi Scooler was an actor and radio announcer. Like Picon, he appeared in the film of Fiddler on the Roof (as the rabbi!). He died in 1985.
• Ben Bonus was an actor and producer He died in 1984.
• Mina Bern was married to Bonus, and was also an actor and director. Together with her husband, they created the revue “Let’s Sing Yiddish.” She also had an Obie Award. She died in 2010.
• Mary Soreanu was once called the “Queen of Yiddish theater,” dedicated to preserving its legacy after its heyday.
• Lucy Levine was an actor and singer whose shows included The Golden Bride, revived to great success in 2016. She died in 1939, at only 32.
• Boris Thomashevsky was an actor and creator of Yiddish theatre almost unparalleled in importance. He died in 1939.
• Bessie Thomashevsky, married to Boris, was often her husband’s co-star, but had a huge career independent of him. She died in 1962.
• Rose Bozyk also went by Reizl, during her years as an actor. Later in life, she played Amy Irving’s grandmother in Crossing Delancey. She died in 1993.
• Max Bozyk, Rose’s husband, was an actor, director, and theatre manager. He died in 1970.
• Peretz Sandler was a composer for the Yiddish theatre. He died sometime before 1965.
• Jennie Goldstein was an actor and singer best known for playing “unhappy heroines.” She died in 1960.
• Ida Kamińska was from a theatrical family who after a successful career stateside returned to Europe after the Holocaust to reestablish Yiddish arts. She died in 1980.
• Michal Michalesko was a singer and “renowned actor.” He died in 1957.
• Art Raymond was a nightclub figure: bandleader, radio host, music expert, and all around cool purveyor of culture—Yiddish culture included. He died in 2014.
• The Barry Sisters, as the appear on their plaque, were Merna and Claire (Minnie and Clara Bagelman, that is), and are sometimes known as a Jewish version of the Andrews sisters. They were a clear and important connection between secular and Yiddish culture in the mid-twentieth century. Merna died in 1976, and Claire died in 2014.
• Abraham Goldfaden– The plaque continues “Founder of the Yiddish Theatre 1876,” and that about sums it up. What Yiddish theatre would have become without him, in the United States or Europe, is doubtful. He died in 1908.
• Daniel Libeskind is included as a “Friend of the Folksbiene” (that being the century-old Yiddish theatre company), because he and his wife Nina are patrons of Yiddish theatre, and advocates for its continuity. Libeskind is famous for being an architect, perhaps best known for winning the contest for redesigning the World Trade Center. His plaque was a late addition, in 2003.

Image credit: Gabriela Geselowitz

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As we previously established, terrible things happen to the Jewish community on Tisha B’Av, and while it’s not quite on the scale of the destruction of the Temple, yesterday was no exception when we lost actor Fyvush Finkel. The Emmy winner, who was almost 94, was known in secular roles as a character actor, but he was also arguably the last bastion of Yiddish theatre from, if not its heyday, when it existed far more prevalently in the Jewish community than today.

Amongst Finkel’s many accolades, he has a star bearing his name on the Yiddish Walk of Fame, so I decided to make pilgrimage.

The Walk of Fame sits at 10th Street and 2nd Avenue, at the site of what was then the 2nd Avenue Deli. It dates to 1985, even then somewhat of a memorial (Molly Picon was still alive, then, for example, but her husband Jacob Kalich was gone, for another, and theatrical patriarch Abraham Goldfaden died in 1908).

Eventually, the deli moved uptown, and a compromise was struck: No one would tear up the stars laid into the sidewalk, but no one would maintain them, either. Since then, they’ve gradually fallen into disrepair, the names wearing away beneath the feet of passersby. The storefront they sit in front of is currently a bank. I have visited this spot many times, going a bit out of my way to pop over whenever I’m on St. Marks or in Alphabet City. Although I know the occasional historical walking tour points it out, not once have I seen anyone so much as look down as they walk over it.

Today, alas, was no exception. I thought of leaving something on his star, like a flower, or in vein with Jewish tradition, a stone. But his star was one of the top ones (and one of the only ones unshared with any other names), and right by the entrance to the bank.

This did make the wheels in my head start turning, so keep an eye out for tomorrow’s post, where I finally make a definitive list of who’s on the Walk (I couldn’t find one anywhere else), and try to conclude if Finkel was the final survivor.  In the meantime, I leave you first with this tweet:

[WHIP PAN TO]: Hairless intubated human form suspended in goo. Tub signage: NUTRIENT BATH #6.
VO: Sixush Finkel. It is your time. ARISE.

— Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) August 14, 2016

Finkel worked up until the end, and so I also leave you with a clip from one of his final (Yiddish) roles: A shtetl dweller who may or may not be a dybbuk (IMDB actually lists the part as “Dybbuk?”) in the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man:

Images: Fyvush Finkel in A Serious Man. Via YouTube. Other images by Gabriela Geselowitz.

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• Law and Order: SVU’s B.D. Wong’s New York City apartment used to be, variously, a Yiddish theater, a sweatshop, and a porno theater.

• Rachel Shukert asks the question that’s been on all of our minds since those naked Vegas pictures of Prince Harry surfaced: “Roundhead, or Cavalier?”

• Cindy Sheehan is withdrawing as Roseanne Barr’s running-mate. Oh wait, it’s too late to do that?

• Judah Friedlander, stand-up comedy artist.

• Justin Bieber’s camp counselor Scooter Braun has signed K-Pop star Psy to his label. Call him, maybe?

• What the what? A Christmas Story 2 is happening:

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• Art Garfunkel defends, well, his art.

• Matisyahu’s The Posession beat out Shia LaBeouf’s Lawless in the battle at the box office.

• Forget those bungalows: it’s Rockaway Beach’s style that has hipsters heading out there en masse.

• Yiddish theater heads to Williamsburg this fall.

• Changes in how Israel depicts and presents the Holocaust are seen at the country’s various Holocaust museums.

• If you’re Matt Groenings waitress at Bennigan’s, he just might leave you a napkin filled with these awesome Simpsons-themed doodles:

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