NYTF Radio
31 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsNYTF Radio presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene serves to educate listeners on the history of Yiddish Theatre. Season 1 will consist of episodes that trace the early history of Yiddish Theatrical Performance in Europe and United States: From Purim spiels, to Avrom Goldfaden and the Sorceress, to late 19th Century Yiddish Theatre in America. At the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, our mission is to celebrate the Yiddish experience through the performing arts by transmitting the rich cultural legacy in exciting new ways that bridge social and cultural divides. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
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Episodes
Tevye's Daughters and the Women of Fiddler
November 30, 2022 10:00 - 34 minutes - 23.9 MBFiddler on the Roof is the story of Tevye the Milkman and his struggles to adapt to changing traditions in his little village of Anatevke. But who’s motivating him to adapt to these changes at all? Tevye has six opinionated, intelligent, and independent women in his life — his wife, Golde, and his five daughters: Tsaytl, Hodl, Khave, Shprintze, and Bielke. Their wits and whims shepherd Tevye through his development and open his eyes to the wide world outside of his established routines and...
The Life and Times of Kadya Molodowsky
June 22, 2022 13:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBOn today's episode, we have an exciting panel discussion diving into the life and times of Kadya Molodowsky featuring Molodowsky experts Kathryn Hellerstein and Anita Norich for a chat with translator Faith Jones. Kadye Molodowsky's play Ale Fenster tsu der Zun (All Windows Face the Sun) will be presented to view online from June 21st and will remain archived on the National Yiddish Theatre Website. You can view the work on the Yiddish Women's Playwright Series page at nytf.org/women ny...
A Conversation with Jenny Romaine, Director of Ale Fentster tzu Der Zun (All Windows Face the Sun)
June 17, 2022 16:00 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MBIn this new episode of NYTF Radio, Folksbiene associate artistic director (and Ale Fentster cast member) Motl Didner sits down with director and designer Jenny Romaine to discuss her vision for the virtual production. All Windows Face the Sun is the story of Binyumen, an optimistic builder’s apprentice who creates a magical tower that allows listeners to hear the past — hoping that looking back will help the world to move forward. But when the tower shares some unpleasant truths, the peopl...
A Conversation with Jenny Romaine, Director of Ale Fentster tzu Der Zun (All Windows Face the Sun)
June 17, 2022 16:00 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MBIn this new episode of NYTF Radio, Folksbiene associate artistic director (and Ale Fentster cast member) Motl Didner sits down with director and designer Jenny Romaine to discuss her vision for the virtual production. All Windows Face the Sun is the story of Binyumen, an optimistic builder’s apprentice who creates a magical tower that allows listeners to hear the past — hoping that looking back will help the world to move forward. But when the tower shares some unpleasant truths, the peopl...
Harmony: A New Musical (featuring Sierra Boggess)
May 04, 2022 20:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBOn Today’s episode, our very own Sarah Jae Leiber sits down to talk with Actress Sierra Boggess who is currently starring in Harmony: A New Musical. In the interview, Sierra tells us how she first became involved in the project, discusses her creative relationship with Barry Manilow, Bruce Sussman, and Warren Carlyle, plus she tells us why she thinks the story of the Comedian Harmonists is still relevant today. A New York Times Critics’ Pick and a recipient of 8 Outer Critics Circle Nomin...
Harmony: A New Musical (featuring Sierra Boggess)
May 04, 2022 20:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBOn Today’s episode, our very own Sarah Jae Leiber sits down to talk with Actress Sierra Boggess who is currently starring in Harmony: A New Musical. In the interview, Sierra tells us how she first became involved in the project, discusses her creative relationship with Barry Manilow, Bruce Sussman, and Warren Carlyle, plus she tells us why she thinks the story of the Comedian Harmonists is still relevant today. A New York Times Critics’ Pick and a recipient of 8 Outer Critics Circle Nomin...
Valentine's Day Conversation with Daniella Rabbani and Motl Didner
February 14, 2022 11:00 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MBOn today’s episode, NYTF Associate Artistic Director, Motl Didner sits down for an in depth conversation with actress Daniella Rabbani, a familiar face in the Folksbiene family. In the episode, we learn about about Daniella’s Jewish upbringing, her time studying theater at NYU, plus we hear all about riding in the van driven by our very own Motl Didner, as a member of NYTF’s Folksbiene Acting Troupe, AND we learn about her role in the motion picture Ocean’s 8 and many other projects she’s ...
A Conversation with Rachel Blaustein | The Garden of the Finzi Continis
January 29, 2022 12:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MBWe had the opportunity to speak to Rachel Blaustein, who leads the cast of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. The opera opened Thursday night to a sold-out crowd and a hungry audience grateful to be gathered in a theater together once again. Blaustein tells us about the way she got to know the story of the Finzi-Continis and the way she felt learning about the Jews of Ferrara, Italy who were murdered during the Holocaust. The granddaughter of survivors, Blaustein also shares how working on ...
The Garden of the Finzi Continis | Creative Team (feat. Ricky Ian Gordon, Michael Korie, and Richard Stafford)
January 23, 2022 11:00 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBIn the latest edition of NYTF Radio, we invite you to meet the creative team behind The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, opening in less than one week and running from Jan. 27 – Feb. 6. What makes a production happen? Who are the people that create a world-premiere opera where there never was one before? In this series of interviews with representatives from NYTF and the New York City Opera’s latest production, get behind-the-scenes scoop on the creative process that brought The Garden of the ...
An Intimate Conversation with Zalmen Mlotek and Eleanor Reissa
January 18, 2022 05:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBToday we have a very special episode for you today, an intimate conversation between Tony-nominated former NYTF artistic director Eleanor Reissa and current NYTF artistic director Zalmen Mlotek In this exclusive interview, longtime friends Mlotek and Reissa sit down to discuss the incredible story that inspired Reissa’s new book, The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey. You can purchase The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey at Amazon or wherever you buy your books, including Eleanor'...
An Intimate Conversation with Zalmen Mlotek and Eleanor Reissa
January 18, 2022 05:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBToday we have a very special episode for you today, an intimate conversation between Tony-nominated former NYTF artistic director Eleanor Reissa and current NYTF artistic director Zalmen Mlotek In this exclusive interview, longtime friends Mlotek and Reissa sit down to discuss the incredible story that inspired Reissa’s new book, The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey. You can purchase The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey at Amazon or wherever you buy your books, including Eleanor'...
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy (feat. Lisa Geduldig and Ophira Eisenberg)
December 13, 2021 05:00 - 37 minutes - 26.1 MBOn today’s episode, NYTF Literary Manager Sabina Brukner welcomes Lisa Geduldig (Kung Pao Kosher Comedy) and Ophira Eisenberg (NPR’s Ask Me Another) for a conversation about the intersection of Judaism and comedy in promotion for the 29th Annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. Founded by Comedian Lisa Geduldig, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy is an annual Christmastime comedy show housed in a Chinese restaurant — held this year virtually. This year’s comics include Ophira Eisenberg, Jessica Kirson, Arline...
A Conversation with Stand Up Comedian Modi Rosenfeld (feat. Bobby Underwood)
October 25, 2021 11:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBToday’s episode guest is stand up comedian Modi Rosenfeld. Voted one of the top 10 comedians in New York City by The Hollywood Reporter, MODI is one of the comedy circuit’s most sought after performers. Featured on HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, and E! Entertainment, MODI has received rave reviews in The New York Times, Time Out NY and The New York Post. In the episode, Modi talks to NYTF's Bobby Underwood (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Amerike: The Golden Land) about h...
"Putting it All Together" an interview with Motl Didner
June 27, 2021 11:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBOn 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 l...
"Things I Learned Along the Way" | Budd Mishkin Interviews Zalmen Mlotek (Artistic Director, NYTF)
June 15, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 41.2 MBOn 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 ...
The Bird of the Ghetto and Yiddish Women Playwrights Festival (feat. Sabina Brukner)
April 15, 2021 14:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MBOn 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...
Soul to Soul 2021 (feat. Zalmen Mlotek, Elmore James, and Tatiana Wechsler)
January 12, 2021 20:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBThis 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 fr...
Yiddish Stars of the Past and Present | Mickey Katz and Ben Liebert
September 30, 2020 22:00 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBOn 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 ...
Yiddish Stars of the Past | Samuel Goldenberg (feat. Zachary Baker)
August 10, 2020 19:00 - 37 minutes - 25.8 MBOn 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 a...
Yiddish Stars of Today: Daniel Kahn
July 06, 2020 12:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBToday 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 ...
The Cast and Creative Team of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish
May 20, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBOn 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! (feat. Motl Didner)
March 10, 2020 15:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBHappy 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.
Happy Purim! (feat. Motl Didner)
March 10, 2020 15:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBHappy 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.
Against the Odds
March 01, 2020 16:00 - 24 minutes - 16.9 MBIn 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?
Against the Odds (feat. Itzy Firestone)
March 01, 2020 16:00 - 24 minutes - 16.9 MBIn 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?
January Special Edition: Soul to Soul and The Investigation (Featuring: Bryan Doerries)
January 15, 2020 18:00 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MBIn today's special edition episode, we talk about our upcoming events centered around Social Justice. We talk about our concert Soul to Soul (An Annual MLK Jr. Tradition). Then we sit down with Theater of War Artistic Director Bryan Doerries to talk about his company, the audience's role in a theatrical performance, and their staged reading and town hall discussion of Peter Weiss' The Investigation.
S1E04 Boris Tomashevsky and the Vagabond Stars (feat. Nahma Sandrow)
December 25, 2019 17:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBIn the final episode of the first season we will learn about Yiddish Theater coming to America in the late 19th century. We sit down with scholar Nahma Sandrow author of Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater. We learn about a determined 14 year old boy who hatched an idea to put on a production of Avrom Goldfaden's The Sorceress. Yiddish theater in America had finally arrived. SUBSCRIBE! https://www.nytf.org/radio
S1E03 The Making of The Sorceress (Feat. Zalmen Mlotek, Motl Didner, and Mikhl Yashinsky)
December 14, 2019 20:00 - 1 hour - 45.8 MBIn today’s episode, we interview Zalmen Mlotek, Motl Didner, and Mikhl Yashinsky, three artists who played major roles in bringing The Sorceress from page to stage through NYTF’s Global Restoration Initiative: identifying and presenting essential operettas, musicals and plays of the Yiddish Theater for today’s audiences. SUBSCRIBE on all major podcast platforms or visit our page at https://www.nytf.org/radio
S1E02 The Life & Works of Avrom Goldfaden (Feat. Professor Joel Berkowitz)
November 27, 2019 16:00 - 1 hour - 42.8 MBToday's episode is all about the life and works of Arom Goldfaden, the father of Yiddish Theatre. We are joined by Professor Joel Berkowitz from the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee. We learn about the Haskalah or Jewish Enlightenment, and how it shaped his upbringing. We discuss his time in Iași, Romania where he founded the first professional Yiddish Theatre company. Then, we explore his time in NYC until his death in 1908. SUBSCRIBE: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts. www.n...
S1E01 Purim spiels (Feat. Motl Didner and Itzy Firestone)
November 19, 2019 21:00 - 35 minutes - 24.4 MBToday’s episode is all about Purim spiels, comic re-dramatizations of the Book of Esther. The book of Esther tells the story of the Hebrew woman Esther who becomes Queen of Persia and thwarts the genocide of her people by the evil Haeman. We will be joined by NYTF Associate Artistic Director Motl Didner who will give us a history of the earliest form of Jewish theatrical performance. Then stick around for our recurring segment Ask Itzy with the longest tenured member of the Folksbiene Itzy F...
NYTF Radio Trailer
October 30, 2019 00:00 - 41 seconds - 520 KBIntroducing NYTF Radio! A New podcast presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. NYTF Radio Serves to educate listeners on the rich cultural history of Yiddish Theatre. Season 1 will consist of 4 episodes that trace the early history of Yiddish theatrical performance in Europe and the United States from Purim Spiels, to Avrom Goldfaden, to late 19th century Yiddish theatre scene in America. Join host Toney Brown as he takes a deep dive into the history of Yiddish Theatre: intervie...