Billy Crystal’s fake Yiddish was a Jewish standout at the Tonys — but how should Jews feel about it?
The shtick was familiar and fun, but did it reduce the mameloshn to a punchline?
Culture
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The incredible life of Alla Nazimova, Jewish superstar of the 1920s, is the focus of a new one-woman play
In “The Garden of Alla,” Romy Nordlinger tells the fascinating and nearly forgotten story of an actor, director, writer and queer icon.
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Stephen Tobolowsky has a Talmud story to tell you
For over a decade Stephen Tobolowsky has been sharing stories. Have you heard the one about his Talmud collection? The 70-year-old actor, known for his turns as a folksy insurance salesman in “Groundhog Day” and a hapless tech sociopath in “Silicon Valley,” has written two books, hosts a podcast and is now debuting an audio…
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Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor And Yiddish Theater Scion, To Receive Kennedy Center Honor
The Kennedy Center Honors announced July 18 that it would recognize a member of Yiddish Theater royalty. Michael Tilson Thomas, the longtime music director of the San Francisco Symphony and an 11-time Grammy winner, will receive the prestigious award at a ceremony to be broadcast December 15. Thomas is a veteran maestro, pianist and composer…
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WATCH: The First Trailer For ‘Fiddler On The Roof’ Documentary ‘Miracle Of Miracles’
It seems like “Fiddler” fever may never break. Hot on the heels of the Folksbiene’s Yiddish production of the Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick classic comes a documentary chronicling how the hit musical came to occupy a beloved place in the American songbook — getting there wasn’t easy. In a newly-released trailer for “Fiddler: A…
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Hades Has A Field Day As ‘Hadestown’ And ‘The Ferryman’ Take The Tonys
The Greek realm of the dead had a banner year at the 2019 Tony Awards. If eight wins for Anaïs Mitchell’s “Hadestown,” a folk retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth wasn’t enough, Jez Butterworth’s “The Ferryman,” which alludes to Charon, the famed boatman who carried the dead through the River Styx in its title,…
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‘Hadestown,’ ‘Tootsie’ and ‘The Ferryman’ Lead The 2019 Tony Awards Nominees
A folk ballad riff on Greek myth, a family divided by the IRA, a “mad as hell” newscaster and two men who dress in drag for two very different reasons. The most diverse Broadway season in recent memory has made for an eclectic ballot of 2019 Tony nominees. The Tony Award’s announced its nominees April…
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Why The Edelweiss Is Not A Nazi Anthem
I won’t waste any time. “Edelweiss,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, penned for their 1959 musical “The Sound of Music,” that played at the White House before a press conference on the day the Mueller report was unsealed, is not a Nazi anthem. In the show and film, it’s sung in a moment of defiance…
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Is Orpheus And Eurydice A Myth About Political Power? In ‘Hadestown,’ Absolutely.
Editor’s note: On April 30 ‘Hadestown’ was nominated for 14 Tony Awards, the highest number of any eligible Broadway show. Orpheus and Eurydice: You know the story. They fall in love, Eurydice dies, and Orpheus, a musician of astonishing talent, follows her to the underworld, hoping to rescue her. His music so moves Hades, god…
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Purim in Paris: Rachel Félix and the Paradox of French Anti-Semitism
Paris is crammed with sites of Jewish interest. While some are obvious — the shops on the Rue des Rosiers or the Holocaust memorial at Drancy — others come as more of a surprise. The Comédie-Française belongs to this latter group. The nation’s oldest state theater, founded in the 17th century under the aegis of…
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The Drama Of The Admissions Scandal Gets Its Time On Stage In ‘Admissions’
Yesterday, during rehearsals for Theater Wit’s production of Joshua Harmon’s “Admissions,” a drama about parents’ bullheaded efforts to get their child into his college of choice, the news broke among the cast and creative team. A wide-ranging sting operation conducted by federal authorities led to the indictment of 50 people —- including the actresses Felicity…
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Yiddish אַ פֿאָלקסטימלעכע שטימונג אויפֿן אַמסטערדאַמער ייִדיש־סימפּאָזיוםA folksy approach to this year’s Yiddish symposium in Amsterdam
דער שוועדישער פֿאַרלעגער ניקאָלײַ אָלניאַנסקי האָט דערציילט ווי ער האָט אָנגעהויבן אַרויסגעבן קינדערביכלעך אויף ייִדיש.
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