National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene launches new era with ambitious staging of lost 1923 operetta.
December 2 - January 3 at Museum of Jewish Heritage
Now entering its 101st season, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene [NYTF] will present the first contemporary revival of the lost Yiddish American Operetta classic THE GOLDEN BRIDE (Di Goldene Kale). Featuring a cast of 20 and an orchestra of 14, this rare glimpse back into musical theater history begins previews December 2 as part of NYTF's inaugural year in residency at the Museum of Jewish Heritage [MJH]. The production marks the first long-running, full-scale production hosted at the Museum's 375-seat Edmond J. Safra Hall, which will be specially transformed for this ambitious event. Opening night is slated for Wednesday, December 9.
In THE GOLDEN BRIDE, a beautiful young woman named Goldele, abandoned as a child, receives an unexpected inheritance and sets off on a journey from Russia across the seas to America to claim her estate, find her mother and offer her hand to the man who can help.
With music by famed Yiddish composer Joseph Rumshinsky, libretto by Frieda Freiman and lyrics by Louis Gilrod, THE GOLDEN BRIDE is a timeless rags to riches American Jewish fairytale that takes us on a journey from the Russian shtetl to a New York City mansion. The first-class score and large-scale production at Kessler’s Second Avenue Theater kept the 2,000 seat house packed following The Golden Bride's 1923 opening. This wildly popular romantic comedy continued in its success with several subsequent revivals playing through the 1940s as well as engagements nationally and internationally, but was lost to time following the Second World War. In 1984, Dr. Michael Ochs, former head of the music library at Harvard unearthed an original vocal score and manuscript for Di Goldene Kale and spent a number of years translating, researching and reconstructing this nearly-forgotten treasure.
“There’s a world of historic works from the Yiddish canon that are just waiting to be repaired and brought to live audiences,” says Zalmen Mlotek, NYTF Artistic Director, “It’s our duty to make sure these incredible works of art are able to find a home— and where better than with the National Yiddish Theatre and performed at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, an institution dedicated to Jewish history and culture? It’s culture- it’s education- it’s entertainment. ”
“These performance pieces were relevant then, and are just as relevant today. There’s a very unique timelessness to this particular art form that consistently spans and bridges generations. They’re didactic, but they’re also transformational stories that engage and inspire creativity,” adds NYTF Executive Director Bryna Wasserman. “This the year that the Golden Age of Yiddish Theatre returns to NYC.”
Presented in Yiddish with English and Russian supertitles THE GOLDEN BRIDE will star Bob Ader (Broadway's All the Way Home), Glenn Seven Allen (Broadway's Light in the Piazza), Lisa Fishman (Off Broadway's On Second), Regina Gibson (Off Broadway's The Apple Tree), Jillian Gottlieb (The Metropolitan Opera's Das Rheingold), Cameron Johnson (Into the Woods), Rachel Policar (Off Broadway's HMS Pinafore), Bruce Rebold (Off Broadway's Kiss, Me Kate), and Adam B. Shapiro (HBO's The Normal Heart) with chorus/ensemble members including Nelson Bettencourt, Adam Kaster, Jessica Kennedy, Amy Laviolette, Joseph Mace, Isabel Nesti, Zachary Spiegel, Tatiana Wechsler, and Jeremy Weiss.
THE GOLDEN BRIDE creative team is comprised of direction by Bryna Wasserman (Lies My Father Told) and NYTF Associate Director Motl Didner (Fyvush Finkel Live), music direction by Zalmen Mlotek (Broadway's Those Were the Days), set design by John Dinning, costume design by Izzy Fields (Roundabout's Consent), and lighting design by Yael Lubetzky (Broadway's Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam), choreography by Merete Muenter (The Megile of Itzik Manger), libretto / score editing and translation by Michael Ochs, with casting by Jamibeth Margolis, C.S.A. (Broadway's Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables). NYTF Executive Producer Christopher Massimine (Broadway's It Shoulda Been You, American Idiot, and Soul Doctor) heads production and promotion as general manager and showrunner with Ken Larson (FX's American Horror Story) as production manager and Sean Patrick (Roundabout's Anything Goes) as production stage manager.
THE GOLDEN BRIDE runs December 2, 2015 through January 3, 2015 on the following schedule: Wednesdays & Thursdays at 2pm & 7:30pm; Saturdays at 7:30pm; and Sundays at 2pm & 6pm with additional performances Dec. 22 & 29 at 2pm, Dec. 25 at noon, Jan. 1 at noon and a special gala Dec. 8 at 7:30pm. NOTE: no performances Dec 24 or Dec. 31, no matinees Dec. 2 or 3 and no 6pm show on Dec. 13. The Museum of Jewish Heritage is located at 36 Battery Place at First Place -- accessible from the 4/5 train at Bowling or the 1/R at Rector Street. Tickets are $40 ($35 for previews) at 866-811-4111 or nytf.org.
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ABOUT the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
Since 1915, the award-winning National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene [NYTF] has presented a window into the world of Jewish culture by engaging, educating, and igniting the imaginations of generations of theatergoers. It is the longest consecutively-producing Yiddish theatre company in the world, NYC’s longest consecutively-producing performing arts company.
NYTF presents plays, musicals, concerts, literary events and workshops in English, Yiddish, Ladino, Hebrew and Russian, with English and Russian supertitles accompanying most performances. Its mission is to celebrate the Jewish experience through the performing arts and to transmit a rich cultural legacy in exciting new ways. www.nytf.org
ABOUT the Museum of Jewish Heritage
The mission of the Museum is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the broad tapestry of Jewish life in the 20th and 21st centuries—before, during, and after the Holocaust.
Multiple perspectives on modern Jewish history, life, and culture are presented in the Museum’s unique Core Exhibition and award-winning special exhibitions.
Acclaimed public programs, including discussions, films, plays, and concerts, highlight the richness of Jewish culture and ideas.
The Museum’s mission extends across the country and the world with Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) and initiatives with affiliate organizations: the Auschwitz Jewish Center and JewishGen. www.mjhnyc.org