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National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbien to Present Mendy Cahan, 5/19 & 20
By: Kelsey Denette Apr. 11, 2012
As it continues to explore Yiddish culture in bold, new ways, the Drama Desk Award-winning National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene brings the internationally acclaimed Israeli theatre artist Mendy Cahan to New York for an exclusive three-show engagement May 19 and 20. The North American premiere of his "A Yiddish Bouquet" performs at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, on Saturday May 19 at 9pm, and Sunday May 20 at 2pm & 6pm. For tickets, which are $35, call the Baruch Performing Arts Center box office at 646/312-5073, or visit www.nationalyiddishtheatre.org.
A high-profile theatre artist based in Tel Aviv, Cahan ("Der Yiddish Express") is part of the vanguard of artists helping to popularize (and rehabilitate) Yiddish in Israel. He is also being hailed by the broader Yiddish cultural community as a leading light of the next generation of Yiddish theatre stars.
In "A Yiddish Bouquet," Cahan celebrates Yiddish and its many flowerings across a wide ecosystem of media and art forms. With new arrangements and piano accompaniment by Folksbiene Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek, this visceral and visionary performance-concert includes Hassidic nigunim, avant-garde poetry, folksongs and ballads of Gebirtig and Manger, as well as eye-opening Yiddish interpretations of Jacques Brel and Peggy Lee. It is truly a unique cross-polination of traditional folk and modern elements, arranged in a performance style with little precedent in Yiddish. Performed in Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles.
"This spring we are particularly proud to showcase young theatre artists and to tap into what is a wellspring of creativity in the increasingly dynamic Yiddish cultural scene," says Bryna Wasserman, Folksbiene's executive director. "Each of the projects we are doing, including recent runs of 'Traveling to Yiddish Land' and 'Soul to Soul' shows Yiddish in a different light and can change our perspectives about our legacy."
The Drama Desk Award-winning National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene, which celebrates its centenary in 2015, is the longest continuously producing Yiddish theatre company in the world, and America's sole-surviving professional Yiddish theatre. The company presents plays, concerts, literary events and workshops in English and Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles accompanying all performances. The company's mission is to celebrate the Jewish experience through the performing arts and to transmit a rich cultural legacy in exciting new ways. For more Folksbiene season information, visit www.nationalyiddishtheatre.org, or call 212/213-2120.
"A Yiddish Bouquet" performs at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, Engelman Recital Hall, on Saturday May 19 at 9pm, and Sunday May 20 at 2pm & 6pm. For tickets, which are $35, call the Baruch Performing Arts Center box office, 55 Lexington Avenue (between Lexington and 3rd Avenues) at 646/312-5073, or visit www.nationalyiddishtheatre.org
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