A concert in memory of theater pioneer Joseph Papp
Later in life, the founder of the Public Theater and Shakespeare in the Park reconnected with his Yiddish heritage.
Joseph Papp with playwrights Jason Miller, David Rabe, John Ford Noonan, Ilunga Adell, Cyamo and Murray Mednick, 1972. Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
By Rukhl Schaechter June 12, 2025
The innovative American theatrical producer and director Joseph Papp will be remembered and honored in a concert to be held live at the Triad Theater in Manhattan, as well as online, on Sunday, June 22, at 1 p.m. ET.
Papp is best known for creating the Public Theater which helps support emerging playwrights and performers, and Shakespeare in the Park, which stages free-of-charge performances aimed at making classical theater more accessible to the public.
What’s less known is that later in life, Papp embraced his Yiddish cultural heritage. Born Yosl Papirofsky in 1921, he was a son of Yiddish-speaking immigrants. His mother, Yetta, was a seamstress and his father, Samuel — a trunkmaker. In the early 1980s he, together with Yiddish actor and producer Avi Hoffman, founded the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theater.
Among the successful productions of that theater was Lider fun gan-eydn (Songs of Paradise) — a 1989 Yiddish musical in which Papp collaborated with Hoffman and the latter’s mother, Forverts journalist and playwright Miriam Hoffman.
The upcoming concert, Remembering Yosl, will also feature pre-recorded celebrity testimonials from actors Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, F. Murray Abraham, Blythe Danner, John Lithgow and Estelle Parsons. The event, which Hoffman produced and will emcee, is sponsored by the Yiddishkayt Initiative.
To reserve in-person tickets to the show, go here.
For online tickets, go here.
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