National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Presents: NYTF Radio Conversations Featuring the Company of FIDDLER and More

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene continues to entertain and educate audiences with a new season of NYTF Radio conversations about the history of Yiddish Theatre and Jewish performative culture.

Hosted by Toney Brown, NYTF Radio is among Folksbiene's initiatives to bring ongoing programming to audiences during these unprecedented times where audiences are consuming entertainment at home. Since early March, Folksbiene has been entertaining audiences with Folksbiene! LIVE, featuring virtual performances and conversations with Yiddish stars.

In its second season, NYTF Radio continues to explore Yiddish history and stars past and present. The series - which you can listen to at https://nytf.org/radio/ - launches May 20 and features:

Wednesday, May 20

The Cast and Creative Team of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish

This is a rebroadcast of the Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish Q&A from Folksbiene! LIVE, featuring director Joel Grey, Stephen Skybell, and many of the cast and creative team members. Hosted by Folksbiene Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Forgotten Yiddish Stars: Samuel Goldenberg (feat. Zachary Baker)

Samuel Goldenberg was one of the great stars of the day alongside Jacob Ben-Ami. A multi-disciplinary artist, Goldenberg traveled the world playing in the great melodramas and art plays of the day. Toney sat down with Zachary Baker, the Reinhard Family Curator Emeritus of Judaica and Hebraica Collections in the Stanford University Libraries to discuss the life and work of Samuel Goldenberg, including his turns in August Strindberg's The Father and the role of Maurice Green in the 1927 production of Yo a man, nit a man.

Wednesday, June 17

Yiddish Stars of Today: Daniel Kahn

Toney talks with Daniel Kahn, the leader of the band Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird, discussed his relationship with Yiddish music and culture, his relationship with the Folksbiene (and his role in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish), and what it's like being a Yiddish performer in today's world.

NYTF Radio Host Toney Brown is Folksbiene's Digital Marketing Associate. He studied Theater Arts at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He also directs and performs in plays in the downtown theater scene in New York City.

At https://nytf.org/radio/, you can also catch up on previous episodes of NYTF radio online, which traced the early history of Yiddish Theatrical Performance in Europe: from Purim Plays to Avram Goldfaden and The Sorceress, culminating in an exploration of the early days of Yiddish Theatre in America.

Featured guests included: Bryan Doerries (Artistic Director, Theater of War), Professor Joel Berkowitz of University Wisconsin Milwaukee (Shakespeare on the American Yiddish Stage), author Nahma Sandrow (Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theatre), Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek, Actor Mikhl Yashinsky, Associate Artistic Director Motl Didner, and longtime company member Itzy Firestone.

Discover Folksbiene! LIVE:

Launched in March with Zalmen Mlotek's Living Room Concert, Folksbiene! LIVE is an online celebration of Yiddish culture, featuring livestreamed theater, American Jewish performers, concerts, lectures, talks, and other events. The programming provides inspirational and entertaining experiences as cultural and arts venues across the country and world remain closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Folksbiene! LIVE's diverse programming in May includes: Lisa Fishman in Concert on May 27, Zalmen Mlotek's Living Room Concerts on select Thursday evenings, and Tuesday afternoon Yiddish lessons - beginning on May 19 - led by Motl Didner. Evening events now start at a later time - 7:30 PM - so audiences can first participate in nightly cheers for frontline workers a half-hour earlier.

Stay tuned by subscribing to Folksbiene's newsletter on its website and catch up on past episodes at nytf.org/live. Each episode is broadcast at nytf.org/live and on Folksbiene's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/folksbiene/.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski

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