NYTF Radio

On today’s episode, we interview NYTF Associate Artistic Director Motl Didner who, along with Zalmen Mlotek, are in the midst of putting together A Yiddish Renaissance, A Virtual Concert Celebration.

Motl took the time out of his day to conversation titled “Putting It All Together” is a full on in depth background of the Yiddish Renaissance, the rise of Yiddish in our pop culture, and a behind the scenes look at piecing together a full scale online concert featuring over 140+ artists. So let’s take it away to Motl Didner.

On today’s episode, we have a very insightful interview today conducted by the great Budd Mishkin from NY1 and currently on 1010 WINS. Budd is in conversation on a beautiful sunday day with NYTF’s very own Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek.

Zalmen is in the middle of gearing up for the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene’s upcoming A YIDDISH RENAISSANCE: A VIRTUAL CONCERT CELEBRATION. Debuting on Monday, July 26, 2021 at 2pm and only available for 96 hours, the benefit concert features over 140 Actors, Singers, and Musicians of all ages celebrating the revival of Yiddish in Culture, Arts, and Learning across the globe.

The conversation with Budd Mishkin and Zalmen Mlotek titled “Things I learned along the way” touches on both the personal and professional life of Zalmen and his prestigious career in music and Yiddish culture.

Be sure to register for our free event "A YIDDISH RENAISSANCE: A VIRTUAL CONCERT CELEBRATION" by going to nytf.org/renaissance

On April 18th 2021, NYTF will present The Bird of the Ghetto by Chava Rosenfarb. The play chronicles the attempted Vilna Ghetto uprising and the tragic story of Jewish resistance leader Itsik Vitenberg, commander of the United Partisan Organization (FPO). The presentation coincides with the 78th anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on April 19, 1943.

In anticipation for this production, NYTF Radio speaks to NYTF Literary Manager Sabina Brukner. We will learn about the start of NTYF’s Yiddish Women Playwrights Festival, our production of The Bird of the Ghetto, Sabina's life and upbringing in Yiddish culture, and of course, we chat about the great Chava Rosenfarb, one of the greatest post-war Yiddish Writers.

This episode is all about NYTF's annual concert tradition: Soul to Soul. The electrifying and emotionally captivating theatrical concert that explores the parallels of African American and Jewish history takes to our virtual stage this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

We interview NYTF Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek and singer Elmore James. We discuss how the two artists first met, their relationship to Yiddish and African Music, and learn about how the first Soul to Soul concert came to fruition.

Then, we talk to Soul to Soul director/producer Tatiana Wechsler about the process of making Soul to Soul virtually, growing up in an African and Jewish household, her performing influences, and her time performing with NYTF in The Golden Bride.


About our Guests
Zalmen Mlotek is an internationally recognized authority on Yiddish folk and theater music as well as a leading figure in the Jewish theatre and concert worlds. For the past 20 years, he has been the Artistic Director and conductor at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. He brought Yiddish-Klezmer music to Broadway and Off-Broadway stages with the Tony-nominated Those Were the Days and Drama Desk Nominated Amerike – The Golden Land. He serves as Music Director for most NYTF productions, including the Drama Desk Nominated musical, THE GOLDEN BRIDE. His music can be heard in over two-dozen recordings and films, has taught and performed all over the world and worked with countless singers including Jan Peerce, Theodore Bikel and Mandy Patinkin. He is currently the musical director and conductor of critically acclaimed, award-winning Fidler Afn Dakh (Fiddler on the Roof – In Yiddish), directed by Joel Grey. He received his musical training at the Juilliard School of Music and studied under Leonard Bernstein.

Elmore James Elmore James has spent a lifetime in the theater as an actor, Broadway musical performer, international opera singer, and director. He has performed at all the major musical venues in New York City, including the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall, as well as in the opera houses of Europe.​

Tatiana Wechsler – NYTF: The Golden Bride, The Sorceress. Off-Broadway: X: Or, Betty Shabazz…, Julius Caesar (The Acting Company). NYC: Othello. First woman to play Curly in Oklahoma! (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Regional: Love in Hate Nation (Two River Theatre), Benny & Joon (Paper Mill Playhouse), The Legend of Georgia McBride (Marin Theatre Company), Love’s Labor’s Lost (OSF). Film: Netuser. Appearances at The O’Neill Theater Center, Joe’s Pub, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Yankee Stadium, Birdland, The Beacon Theatre, Madison Square Garden, Town Hall, The Minskoff Theatre, Lincoln Center, The Delacorte Theater, and Radio City Music Hall. Singer-songwriter. NYU New Studio graduate.

On today’s episode, the past and present of Yiddish theater collide as we explore the life and performance of renowned Yiddish musician and comedian Mickey Katz. We are joined by Ben Liebert, who is making his return to Folksbiene! Live on Thursday, October 8th with A Bisl Borscht: A Tribute to Mickey Katz. Ben Liebert is an actor, director, and business coach, based in New York City. He played Motl in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and Boq in Wicked on Broadway and has directed such shows as Into the Woods and the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). He is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Ben gives us a breakdown on the life of Mickey Katz, from his musicianship, his yiddish parodies, and why his music is so important today. Later, Ben reflects on his time as a cast member in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, and discusses his time as a director during the COVID19 pandemic.

On today’s episode, we pay tribute to the forgotten stars of the Yiddish Theatre by learning about the actor Samuel Goldenberg. We will learn about his life, his famous roles, his contemporaries, and wonder, “How did he perhaps get lost to time?” We are joined on the program by scholar Zachary Baker. Zachary Baker is the Reinhard Family Curator Emeritus of Judaica and Hebraica Collections in the Stanford University Libraries. He has two pieces about the life of Samuel Goldenberg published at the Digital Yiddish Theatre Project. One article is titled “Enough about Strindberg! Let’s talk about Goldenberg” and the other article is titled “A Piquant Curiosity: The Gender Bending Drama Yo a Man, Nit a man. Let us preserve the history of Samuel Goldenberg by learning all about this famous Yiddish Performer.

Today we learn about Yiddish Stars of the present. Our guest on the episode is Daniel Kahn. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan and currently residing in Berlin, Daniel Kahn is an actor, musician, playwright, poet, and translator of the Yiddish language. He is the front man of the group Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird. We discuss his career in the performing arts, translating english into Yiddish, and his time performing with the Folksbiene. Did you know Daniel is a viral sensation? Tune in, to hear the story.

On today’s episode, we pay tribute NYTF’s Landmark production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.This is a rebroadcast of the Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish Q&A from Folksbiene! LIVE, featuring director Joel Grey, Stephen Skybell, and many of the cast and creative team members. Hosted by Folksbiene Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek.

Happy Purim! We throw it back to our very first episode of NYTF Radio where we sat down with Associate Artistic Director Motl Didner to discuss the history of Purim and Purim Spiels, the earliest example Yiddish theatrical performance.

In this episode, we continue explore the oral history of the Folksbiene with longtime company member Itzy Firestone. We learn about the Folksbiene in the 1980s as the company navigate a difficult question: How do we preserve Yiddish theatre in a world with fewer and fewer fluent Yiddish speakers?