National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Brings NEW YORK SINGS YIDDISH! to Central Park

Join in this coming Wednesday, June 14 in Central Park, when National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) and Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage present New York Sings Yiddish!,  featuring an illustrious lineup of Yiddish theater and concert superstar celebrating the rich cultural legacy of Yiddish music.

The one-night only evening event will now feature a signature moment: world-renowned talk show host, author and professor Dr. Ruth Westheimer will appear on stage and the audience will sing “Happy Birthday!” - in Yiddish, Hebrew and English  - to the nonagenarian as she marks her 95th birthday.

The concert is in partnership with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene/Museum of Jewish Heritage -  A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and supported by the Workers Circle and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and will feature an illustrious lineup of Yiddish theater and concert superstars.

Also appearing at the celebration is stage and screen star Dudu Fisher, widely known for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables on Broadway. Fisher has performed with many of Israel's leading artists. “Baltic Truth,” Fisher's Holocaust documentary, was released this April, and he currently stars in the Netflix series Rough Diamonds. Fisher has released over 25 albums, with songs in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish. In 2020, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Authority for Yiddish Culture. He also will be performing at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on June 18 at 3:00 PM. (More details can be found at https://mjhnyc.org/events/dudu-fisher-in-concert-for-israels-75th/.)

The lineup additionally includes The Klezmatics, Joanne Borts, Joshua (SoCalled) Dolgin, Cantor Magda Fishman, Sara Mina Gordon, Elmore James, Daniel Kahn, Lea Kalisch, Frank London, Daniella Rabbani, Eleanor Reissa, Avi Fox-Rosen, and Lorin Sklamberg.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, will serve as Master of Ceremonies at the celebratory event. Led by NYTF Musical Director Zalmen Mlotek and featuring Musical Arrangements by Mlotek and Frank London, the concert is produced by Moishe Rosenfeld, Golden Land Concerts & Connections.

Throughout the night, Yiddish lyrics will be projected on a giant screen, and available on attendees' phones via QR codes, as singers lead the audience in an unprecedented community chorus, joyously celebrating our precious cultural legacy.

“On this special evening, New York will celebrate its Yiddish heritage and soul with some of our most brilliant musical stars – and under the stars. We invite all New Yorkers to come together in Central Park for a wonderful concert filled with Klezmer artistry and Yiddish theater gems for a memorable night,” Zalmen Mlotek said.

Anyone attending the event should enter at East 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue; Doors open at 6pm and the concert begins at 7pm. Seating and standing is first-come, first-served until capacity is reached. For information about the event, visit nytf.org/summerstage.

The event will encourage the audience to participate in an unprecedented sing-along, celebrating the launch of Yiddish Songs.org, home of The Yosl and Chana Mlotek Yiddish Song Collection at the Workers Circle. This collection is comprised of songs compiled in five anthologies by beloved Yiddish culture anthologists and community leaders Yosl Mlotek and Chana Mlotek and contains songs that highlight important themes, cultural activities, daily life, celebrated musicians, undiscovered musicians, and much more. 

“Hearing Yiddish songs brings our past to life and serves to inspire our lives today. Through our Yiddish songs, we hear the voices from our heritage speak of family relationships,  love, resistance and revolution, and even war,  and the voices of parents and grandparents singing lullabies,” said Ann Toback, CEO of the Workers Circle. “Yiddish songs are part of family celebrations, struggle, and success, and as the late Theodore Bikel once said, 'the Yiddish song emerges, not as a flower which wilts in the winds of autumn, but as a perennial, which blooms no matter where, no matter when'.”