Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Kate McKinnon Attend ‘Fiddler On The Roof’ In Yiddish
The rabbi, learned and wise, is the most important member of any shtetl.
That is, unless Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and “Saturday Night Live” star Kate McKinnon show up.
That’s just what happened on Tuesday night at Stage 42, the Off-Broadway theater where the Folksbiene’s celebrated Yiddish-language revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” is playing.
The 86-year-old justice was as surrounded by rabid fans as she might have been if she had appeared at, say, the Kotel or at a law school graduation. Fan pictures on Twitter show her resplendent in her typical off-duty look of an embroidered robe, throwing up her hands as people swarm her.
Notorious RBG and Kate McKinnon were in the very small audience with us for tonight’s Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof at Stage 42!!
The show was simply incredible in every way. Steven Skybell as Tevye is absolute perfection.
Now at Veselka 🙂
What an evening!! @motherhoodmag pic.twitter.com/46YQr5Y8m1
— Michael Kasdan (@michaelkasdan) August 14, 2019
In comparison, Emmy-winner and star of “Saturday Night Live” Kate McKinnon, appears to have enjoyed a night of virtual anonymity. But the 35-year-old’s presence didn’t escape the eagle-eye notice of Jackie Hoffman, the Hollywood actress who plays Yente the Matchmaker, who tweeted — “The fabulous Kate McKinnon was at our shtetl tonight wearing stilettos, which I am calling shtetlettos.”
Ginsburg and McKinnon, who often impersonates her on “Saturday Night Live,” posed for a picture together, dazzling a room full of — no-doubt — extremely overwhelmed fans. Legendary actor Joel Grey, the production’s director, gave both women a backstage tour, as musicians and tzit-tzit-wearing actors looked on.
Tradition means the most beloved Jewish Supreme Court justice watching “Fiddler on the Roof.” And tradition, which to Jewish people has always required both staying the same and evolving, means welcoming a non-Jewish, lesbian cutting-edge American comedian to the shtetl, too.
Jenny Singer is the deputy life/features editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!