National Yiddish Theatre Presents:
Folksbiene Chanukah Spectacular
An Evening of Music, Comedy, and Community Featuring 50+ Stars from Across the Globe, From Broadway to the Yiddish Stage
—With Appearances from Australia, Japan, Romania, Israel, Moldova, Canada, The Netherlands, Great Britain, and artists from across the USA —
—Special Greetings From Carol Burnett and Cameo Appearances by Emanuel Azenberg, Mayim Bialik, Billy Crystal, Tovah Feldshuh, Beanie Feldstein, Joel Grey, Jackie Hoffman, Carol Kane, Barry Manilow, Mandy Patinkin, Itzhak Perlman, Eleanor Reissa, Neil Sedaka, Steven Skybell, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and Jerry Zaks—
—With Geni Brenda (Romania), Mendy Cahan (Israel), Yefim Chorny (Moldova), Josh Dolgin (Canada), Suzanna Ghergus (Moldova), Miwazow Kogure (Japan), Shura Lipovsky (The Netherlands), Freydi Mrocki (Australia), Polina Shepherd (Great Britain), and Merlin Shepherd (Great Britain)—
—Only available at NYTF.org for viewing for 96 hours after the event—
(New York, NY)—Yiddish song, dance, comedy and celebration – from across the globe – come together when National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene presents a Folksbiene Chanukah Spectacular this December, featuring an international array of more than 50 stars – from Broadway to the Yiddish stage.
This curtain rises on this unprecedented event on December 8th at 7:00 PM, kicking off with an international opening number celebrating Yiddish theatre and much more. The cavalcade of cameo celebrity appearances makes this the must-see celebration to launch the Festival of Lights.
This gala is a benefit for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene through permission from Theatre Authority, Inc. The event will be free to the public, with registration required, and opportunities to donate throughout. Afterwards, the celebration will only be available for viewing for 96 hours!
The spectacular is produced and directed by Adam B. Shapiro, one of the stars of the celebrated, award-winning Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.
“You cannot spell fundraiser without f-u-n, and that’s what the evening is about,” Shapiro says. “We’ve enlisted stars from here at home and across the world, and from renowned and award-winning Folksbiene productions like Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, The Golden Bride, The Sorceress, Hannah Senesh, and Soul to Soul. Tune in to see a tribute to the golden age of musical theatre, hilarious sketch comedy routines, beautiful song, dance, and so much more.”
“We’re excited to present this exceptional Yiddish celebration, bringing together Yiddish Ambassadors from across the globe, from across the United States to as far away as Australia,” Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, and Dominick Balletta, Executive Director. “This will be a theatrical experience like no other – presented virtually so that families and communities across the world can enjoy together.”
The spectacular will feature musical segments, comedy, special guest appearances, and a grand finale performance by members of the Children’s Choir from Tzipporei Shalom of Congregation Beth Shalom in Teaneck, NJ, as well as other young performers. Ronit Wolff Hanan and Adina Avery-Grossman are Conductors of the Choir.
The event is free – though viewers are encouraged to donate and must register at https://nytf.org/spectacular/. And, Folksbiene also will host a special pre-show Zoom cocktail party (featuring Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish’s breakout star Steven Skybell and Folksbiene Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek – at 6:15 PM for donors (and those who donate at certain levels will have special appetizers deliver from the Lox Cafe to nosh on during the event). For more information on this special pre-show event, please contact Joseph Mace at jmace@nytf.org.
Yiddish has a global reach, with friends of the Yiddish theater around the world. On December 8th, the Folksbiene will have greetings from: Geni Brenda (Romania), Mendy Cahan (Israel), Yefim Chorny (Moldova), Josh Dolgin (Canada), Suzanna Ghergus (Moldova), Daniel Kahn (Germany), Miwazow Kogure (Japan), Shura Lipovsky (The Netherlands), Freydi Mrocki (Australia), Polina Shepherd (Great Britain), and Merlin Shepherd (Great Britain).
The evening will also include special cameo greetings by: Emanuel Azenberg, Mayim Bialik, Carol Burnett (an audio appearance), Billy Crystal, Tovah Feldshuh, Beanie Feldstein, Joel Grey, Jackie Hoffman, Carol Kane, Barry Manilow, Mandy Patinkin, Itzhak Perlman, Eleanor Reissa, Neil Sedaka, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and Jerry Zaks, many of whom attended Folksbiene’s hit production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, plus Steven Skybell, the award-winning actor who played Tevye.
Other participants from Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish are: Jennifer Babiak, Joanne Borts, Lisa Fishman, Kirk Geritano, Abby Goldfarb, Samantha Hahn, Cameron Johnson, Daniel Kahn, Ben Liebert, Stephanie Lynne Mason, Rosie Jo Neddy, Raquel Nobile, Bruce Sabath, Kayleen Seidl, Drew Seigla, Adam B. Shapiro, Jodi Snyder, Lauren Jeanne Thomas, Bobby Underwood, and Rachel Zatcoff.
Also participating are Folksbiene Associate Artistic Director Motl Didner, Richard Kass, Heather Klein, Zalmen Mlotek, Daniella Rabbani, and Dinah Slepovitch. From the cast of Soul to Soul, Folksbiene’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend program, Senior Cantor at B’nai Torah Congregation Magda Fishman, Brian Glassman, Elmore James, Tony Perry, D. Zisl Slepovitch and Matt Temkin will appear.
Plus, look for the stars of Folksbiene’s New York Times Critic’s Pick The Sorceress: Mikhl Yashinsky, Jonathan Brody, Rebecca Brudner, Jazmin Gorsline, Dylan Seders Hoffman and Lexi Rabadi (also star of Folksbiene’s production of Hannah Senesh).
Tatiana Wechsler, who was recently in the gender-bending, historic performance of Oklahoma at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, will perform a special number with Frank London of the Klezmatics.
About the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
Now entering its 106th season, 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 company. NYTF, which presented the award-winning Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, directed by Joel Grey, to sold-out audiences before it moved to Off-Broadway uptown, is in residence at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek and Executive Director Dominick Balletta, 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.
About the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust. The third-largest Holocaust museum in the world and the second largest in North America, the Museum of Jewish Heritage anchors the southernmost tip of Manhattan, completing the cultural and educational landscape it shares with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage maintains a collection of more than 40,000 artifacts, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies and contains classrooms, a 375-seat theater (Edmond J. Safra Hall), special exhibition galleries, a resource center for educators, and a memorial art installation, Garden of Stones, designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. The Museum is the home of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.
Currently on view is the acclaimed exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. This is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, bringing together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world. Also on view are Ordinary Treasures: Highlights from the Museum of Jewish Heritage Collection and Rendering Witness: Holocaust-Era Art as Testimony.
The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. The Museum has reopened to the public with timed ticketing and limited capacity. For more information on health and safety measures, visit mjhnyc.org.
