National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene To Host Immigration Arts Summit

Image by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/Getty Images
In July, within sight of the Statue of Liberty, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene will host a two-day immigration arts summit.
The event, scheduled for July 17 and 18, will coincide with the Folksbiene’s presentation of the original musical “Amerike — The Golden Land,” which opens July 4. Like that production, the summit will take place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park.
“All immigrant story-lines of starting new lives in America and pursuing the American Dream share many common threads,” Folksbiene CEO Christopher Massimine commented in a press release.
“There is so much we hope to learn about the positive and negative aspects of this uniquely American experience,” he added.
The summit, which will feature a keynote address from actor John Leguizamo, will involve organizations including the Pan Asian Repertory, Repertorio Español, Irish Repertory Theatre, and the Kairos Italy Theater. Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs in the USA will also participate.
Also present will be Morris Vogel, executive director emeritus of the Tenement Museum, and Frank London of the Klezmatics.
The summit will conclude with a free public concert in Robert Wagner Park.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

