Yes, Patti Smith Really Did Sing ‘Yentl’ at MoMA!
Image by Craig Barritt/Getty Images
By Talya Zax December 20, 2016
Singer and writer Patti Smith made a surprise appearance at MoMA on Sunday, December 18th, delighting visitors both tipped-off and caught unawares. As The New York Times’ Jonah Engel Bromwich reported, Smith’s performance, during which she read a selection of her poems and performed four songs, was her latest in a string of near-yearly tributes at the museum to the late French playwright and novelist Jean Genet.
Among the highlights, we have confirmed that Smith sang the yearning Barbra Streisand classic “Papa Can You Hear Me” from “Yentl.” We haven’t tracked down any video of the performance. Until we do, we can revisit Streisand’s performance in her 1983 film adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Leah Napolin’s play, below.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
