SOUL TO SOUL Returns Off Broadway On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Weekend

Soul to Soul, the electrifying and emotionally-captivating theatrical concert that explores the parallels of African American and Jewish history takes the stage this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF), this annual concert will play on Sunday, January 20, 2pm, Off Broadway at the Museum of Jewish Heritage A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, NYC.

Soul to Soul follows the experiences of two minority peoples and their paths to America's promise of freedom overcoming segregation, prejudice, and economic hardship. The concert portrays stirring songs in Yiddish and in English, culminating in a high-energy collection of enthralling music, celebrating the historic partnership between the African American and Jewish people during the Civil Rights Era. This one-time-only presentation includes an introduction by Professor Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College. This exciting and timely event is traditionally sold-out.

This audience favorite, that has toured nationally and internationally, from Los Angeles to Denver to Houston to Miami to Toronto to Bucharest, celebrates diversity and strength in unity, features the talents of Lisa Fishman (The Golden Bride), renowned Cantor Magda Fishman (Temple Beth El of Stamford, Connecticut), Elmore James (Broadway's Beauty and the Beast) and Tony Perry (Five Guys Named Moe). Conceived in 2010 by NYTF Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek, Soul to Soul was first designed as a song-cycle and has evolved since then to include an interwoven narrative accompanied by newly updated multimedia imagery and video, curated by Motl Didner, that reflects the ongoing need for unity and healing in today's socio-economic climate.

The musical ensemble includes Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch, Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, and Matt Temkin with music direction by Mlotek.

Soul to Soul brought me back to the roots of my Romanian Holocaust Survivor grandparents and to the values I grew up with: unity, song, and equal rights to all human beings, says Soul to Soul performer Cantor Magda Fishman. Yiddish and Gospel comes from the heart and enters your soul as a performer and a listener alike. It's deep and moving; inspiring and uplifting. The narrative of the African Americans and Jews finds harmonious counterpart in many ways that are certainly felt in our souls. It's a privilege to work with NYTF in being part of this program, its unique cast and musicians. It's a show that speaks to everyone.

Immediately following the concert will be a talkback with the cast and creative team on the current state of diversity and social justice as related to the show. Participants will be able to engage, interact, and connect with each other to learn about and discuss the through lines of this cross-cultural program.

Lisa Fishman is a singer, actress and songwriter. She has performed throughout the U.S. and in Europe starring in Off-Broadway and Regional Musical Theatre, soloing with many of the great artists in Jewish music, singing and recording with Chicago's Maxwell Street Klezmer Band and The Modern Klezmer Quartet. Theater credits include the recent NYTF hit Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, as well as the Drama Desk-nominated operettas The Golden Bride and On Second Avenue, starring Mike Burstyn, Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Nancy in Oliver, Fanny Brice & Emma Goldman in Tintypes, the chanteuse in Ghetto Cabaret, and leading lady in Bruce Adler, A,B,C. Lisa can be heard singing Sheyn Vi Di Levone , in the 2003 film, Dummy, starring Academy Award winner, Adrien Brody, Illeana Douglas and Milla Jovovich. Lisa spent the 2016 holiday season singing Jewish music at Disney's California Adventure as part of their Festival of Holidays, and she is also a songwriter and recording artist of music with influences in folk, rock, jazz, blues and comedy!

Magda Fishman is the Cantor at Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT. She performs in a unique blend of traditional and contemporary styles. Her repertoire includes Israeli songs, jazz, liturgical masterpieces, musical theater and her own compositions. She played the female lead in Dorian Gray at the Prague state opera and the cabaret convention at Town Hall. Rose Theater at Lincoln Center featured her for the AICF. She is part of the cast in the popular NYTF concert, Soul to Soul, and has been featured at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles with Maestro Placido Domingo and Melissa Manchester.

Elmore James is a veteran of Broadway musicals and has had an international opera career, singing in nine languages. Some of the venues he has played are the Palace Theatre on Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the White House, the Kennedy Center and Town Hall in New York City. He composed the title song for the documentary, Of One Blood: A Return to Africa, which won best documentary at film festivals in Berlin, Montre l, and Arizona.

Zalmen Mlotek is the Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) having revitalized the theatre into an all year Yiddish cultural performing arts center. As co-creator Mr. Mlotek brought Yiddish-Klezmer music to Broadway and Off-Broadway stages with the Tony nominated Those Were The Days (1991), On Second Avenue (1987) and The Golden Land (1984). Over the past twenty years, his vision has propelled classics to life including NYTF productions of Di Yam Gazlonim (The Yiddish Pirates of Penzance, 2006), the world premiere of Isaac Bashevis Singer's Yentl in Yiddish (1998) the 1923 Rumshinky operetta The Golden Bride which was nominated for Drama Desk Awards and listed as a New York Times Critics Pick (2016) and the current hit production Fidler Afn Dakh (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish). As a leading authority on Yiddish folk and theatre music, he has taught and performed all over the world, worked with countless singers including Jan Peerce, Mandy Patinkin and Theo Bikel among others. His piano artistry can be heard in over two-dozen recordings and films.

Tony Perry has been seen on the New York stage in the US premiere of Murray Schisgal's 74 Georgia Ave., which was performed in English and Yiddish; Leslie Lee and Charles Strouse's Martin: A New Beginning; Bastard Jones; Raisin; More Than All The World; A Shelter In Our Car; Repo: The Genetic Opera; The Groove Factory; Cross That River; and The Bonus Army. Among his favorite roles are Delray in Memphis, Jim Conley in Parade; Tee Tot in Hank Williams: Lost Highway; Big Moe in Five Guys Named Moe, Ken in Ain't Misbehavin, Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show, Parchester in Me and My Girl, and Jim in Big River. As a singer-songwriter he has performed all across the northeast, has three CDs available at www.tonyperry.com, and iTunes. He is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association.

Soul to Soul will be presented on Sunday, January 20 at 2pm, by the NYTF at the Museum of Jewish Heritage A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, NYC. Tickets start at $25. For tickets call Ovationtix at 866-811-4111 or visit www.NYTF.org. In Yiddish and English with English Supertitles. Soul-to-Soul is a perennial sell-out.

The 104-year-old Tony Award-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) is the longest consecutively producing theatre in the U.S. and the world's oldest continuously operating Yiddish theatre. Led by CEO Christopher Massimine and Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek, NYTF is dedicated to creating a living legacy through the arts, connecting generations and bridging communities. NYTF aims to bring history to life by reviving and restoring lost and forgotten work, commissioning new work, and adapting pre-existing work for the 21st Century. Serving a diverse audience comprised of performing arts patrons, cultural enthusiasts, Yiddish-language aficionados and the general public, the company presents plays, musicals, concerts, lectures, interactive educational workshops and community-building activities in English and Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles accompanying performances. NYTF provides access to a century-old cultural legacy and inspires the imaginations of the next generation to contribute to this valuable body of work. Learn more at www.NYTF.org.

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