Executive & Artistic Director

Thor Steingraber

________

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s

Fiddler on the Roof (Fidler Afn Dakh) in Yiddish

A Soraya Concert Production & West Coast Premiere

With English Supertitles

Sat Sept 13 | 8pm

Sun Sept 14 | 3pm & 7pm

Run time: approximately 2 hours, including a 20-minute intermission

________

Based on the Sholem Aleichem stories by special permission of Arnold Perl

Book by Joseph Stein

Music by Jerry Bock

Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

Orchestrations by Larry Blank

Originally Produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince

Original New York Stage Production Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins

Yiddish Translation by Shraga Friedman

________

Director

Joel Grey

Projection Design

Beowulf Boritt

Associate Director

Matthew “Motl” Didner

Music Director/Conductor

Zalmen Mlotek

________

Generously underwritten by

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation

Noah Marco, M.D., and Cornelia Kalt-Marco

Carol Shubin, Ph.D.

Faith and Jonathan Cookler

Ronald and Sandy Friedman

________

This Yiddish version of Fiddler on the Roof was produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in New York City, 2018. It was subsequently produced off-Broadway in 2019 by Hal Luftig, Jana Robbins, LHC Theatrical, Jenny Steingart, Steven Chaikelson, Ruth Hendel, Braemer House Productions, Jamie deRoy & Friends, Nina Korelitz Matza/Nicola Behrman, Anita Waxman/Martin H. Borell, and the Shubert Organization, in association with Sandy Block. Executive Producer, Roy Gabay.

Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International. All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

________

Program | Program Note

Performers | Ensemble | Instrumentalists

Steven Skybell | Jennifer Babiak | Rachel Zatcoff | Yael Eden Chanukov | Rosie Jo Neddy | Kirk Geritano | Drew Seigla | Griffith Frank | Samuel Druhora | Lisa Fishman | Bobby Underwood | Carly Post | Glenn Rosenblum | Jodi Snyder | James Monroe Števko | Mikhl Yashinsky | John Reed | Lauren Jeanne Thomas

Michelle Azar | Jessica Fishenfeld | Michael P. McDonald | Rachel Oremland | Rachel Policar | Bryan Vickery | Brooke Wetterhahn

Joel Grey

Joseph Stein | Jerry Bock | Sheldon Harnick | Jerome Robbins | Shraga Friedman

Matthew “Motl” Didner | ​​Zalmen Mlotek

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene

Production Credits

________

The Soraya

Our Supporters | The Soraya Team

Steven Skybell

Steven Skybell (Tevye) is currently starring as Herr Schultz in the Broadway revival of Cabaret for which he received a 2024 Tony nomination. Skybell won the 2019 Lucille Lortel Award for best performance by an actor for his portrayal of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, directed by Joel Grey. Other Broadway credits include Wicked, Pal Joey, Fiddler on the Roof, The Full Monty, Love! Valour! Compassion! Café Crown, and Ah, Wilderness! Recent engagements: Carnegie Hall solo debut in an evening of Yiddish songs from the Holocaust (also seen at The Salt Shed, Chicago); and his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Tevye in Barrie Kosky’s celebrated Fiddler from the Komische Oper Berlin.

Jennifer Babiak

Jennifer Babiak (Golde) is thrilled to return to Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. Her credits include: Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof; off-Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Golde), I Can Get it For You Wholesale (Classic Stage Company). Tours: West Side Story (Maria), Evita (Mistress), Grease (Sandy). Select regional: Into the Woods (Cinderella), My Fair Lady (Eliza), Jekyll & Hyde (Emma), The Pirates of Penzance (Mabel). Babiak is an NYU Steinhardt graduate. Thank you to Joel, Zalmen, Stas, Motl, Jamibeth, and all at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene for the gift of a lifetime with this special show and company. Thanks always to family, friends, and husband Michael.

Rachel Zatcoff

Rachel Zatcoff’s (Tsaytl) credits include: Broadway: The Phantom of the Opera (Christine Daaé). International tour: West Side Story (Maria). Off-Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Tsaytl), Winesday (Molly), The Golden Bride (Khanele). Regional: The Last Five Years (Cathy), The Secret Garden (Alice), A Little Night Music (Anne), The Most Happy Fella. New York City Opera: Candide directed by Hal Prince, Dear Erich (Lili), The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Adriana). Favorite roles: Alfie’s mama and Seth’s wife. Zatcoff has a Bachelor of Music from Rutgers University, and a Master of Music from Temple University. She enjoys drinking red wine, talking to the moon, being a Libra, eating all of the cheese, performing, and celebrating life in NYC. Love and thanks to the entire mishpokhe for including me in this dream show from day 1 and continuing to — even 30 weeks pregnant.

Yael Eden Chanukov

Yael Eden Chanukov’s (Hodl) credits include: off-Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and Amid Falling Walls (National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene). Regional: Fiddler on the Roof (Drury Lane Theatre), Wizard of Oz (Creede Repertory Theatre), Next to Normal (Sapphire Theatre). Readings: Alexsei's Quest, Vilna: A Resistance Story. Television: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “For All Mankind.” She is represented by Powerline Entertainment and teaches voice at musicaltheatrecoach.com.

Rosie Jo Neddy

Rosie Jo Neddy (Khave) is a New York City-based theater artist. She grew up in Ohio and studied theater at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Neddy has been with this Fiddler since its beginning in 2018, playing Khave in every iteration of the production. Other credits include: Carousel at Lyric Opera Chicago, Gypsy at Music Theater Works. Neddy, a passionate director, choreographer, and teaching artist, has worked with The Shubert Organization/MTI Broadway Junior, LaGuardia High School, and Disney Theatrical Group. Thank you so much, Zalmen, Motl, Joel, and all Fiddler company members for your love and support these past seven years.

Kirk Geritano

Kirk Geritano (Motl) is an original cast member of Yiddish Fiddler, starting his journey at the show’s inception in NYC with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in 2018. Originally cast as Avrom and an understudy for Motl and others, Geritano continued in the role for several years as the show moved uptown to Stage 42 and then to New World Stages. After many understudy performances as Motl during the original run, Geritano is honored to be playing the role for the West Coast premiere of the show. Other credits include several national and regional educational tours for ArtsPower and George Street Playhouse, as well as countless readings, projects, and concerts with the Folksbiene. He is also an experienced youth acting teacher and director, currently working at Rockstar! Studios in Middlesex, New Jersey.

Drew Seigla

Drew Seigla (Pertshik), a native of Richmond, Virginia, made his off-Broadway debut as Matt in The Fantasticks at the Snapple Theater in Times Square for a two-year stint. Next, he was cast as a standby for three roles in the off-Broadway success Sweeney Todd at Barrow Street Theatre. Seigla is most known for playing Pertshik in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Stage 42 and at New World Stages where he can be heard on the original cast album. He was honored to sing at Carnegie Hall in April as a vocalist in Bryan Perri’s Few Words: A Performance. Seigla recently took his final bow as Pierre in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at Firehouse Theatre. He attended Elon University for music theatre and earned his degree from The Juilliard School in Music from the vocal arts division. Thanks to God, Mom, Dad, and my wife, Steph.

Griffith Frank

Griffith Frank (Fyedke/Ensemble) is an award-winning singer, performer, and multiplatinum RIAA songwriter hailing from Los Angeles. His critically acclaimed rendition of “Unusual Way” was featured in the credits and on the soundtrack of the 2009 movie musical Nine. Frank has written songs that have been streamed over a billion times. He has performed in shows and festivals globally, including as a featured singer at the renowned Java Jazz Festival. Frank is a graduate of the opera program at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and honored to be a part of the cast.

Samuel Druhora

Samuel Druhora (Leyzer Volf) has performed principal roles in some of musical theater’s most iconic productions — from Jean Valjean in Les Misérables to the depths of the Paris Opera House in Phantom, with standout turns as Juan Perón in Evita, and leading roles in Ragtime and Sweeney Todd. His passion lies in crafting truthful, layered characters — whether it’s under the stage lights or in front of the camera. Druhora is thrilled to join the cast of Fiddler on the Roof in this special Yiddish-language production at The Soraya.

Lisa Fishman

Lisa Fishman (Yente/Bobe Tsaytl), singer, actress, songwriter, and voice-over actor, is thrilled to return to Fiddler in Yiddish after appearing in the off-Broadway productions from 2018 to 2020 and 2022. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, starring in musical theater, performing original music, singing and recording with Klezmer bands (including Chicago’s Maxwell Street Klezmer Band), concertizing in Jewish music (Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino), entertaining children on television, working in voice-over, and singing everything from jazz, folk and rock to light opera and heavy metal. Theater highlights: Fiddler on the Roof (Golde), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Oliver! (Nancy), Tintypes (Fanny Brice/Emma Goldman). Other highlights: voicing Ms. Dogma on the animated series “God’s Gang,” providing the English dub for the leading role of Adina on the Netflix hit “Rough Diamonds,” and voicing the “My Yiddishe Bubbie” doll. Fishman performs her original, one-woman musical, Dating (and the Search for Love), around the country.

Bobby Underwood

Bobby Underwood (Constable) is excited to return to his Yiddish Fiddler mishpocheh, more than seven years after the beginning of its first run at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. He also works as a comedian and, along with Fiddler’s music director Zalmen Mlotek, will perform the West Coast debut of their Tom Lehrer tribute show, “Thank You, Tom Lehrer,” at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura on Sept. 16. For Mom, Dad, and everyone who came before them.

Carly Post

Carly Post (Shprintse/Ensemble) is beyond excited to join this mishpocheh. Other shtetls include two years on the Fiddler on the Roof national tour (Bielke). Other credits include: Rewind (Theater Row), Pride and Prejudice (SheArts), A Christmas Story, Anything Goes. Readings: Yidl With His Fiddle (Yidl). You can see Post on Amazon Prime’s “Étoile” and hear her on PBS Kids. Endless thanks to her family, Stephanie, friends, wonderful dog Rory, Nouveaux, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene team, Joel, and her supportive friends.

Glenn Rosenblum

Glenn Rosenblum’s (Rabbi/Ensemble) credits include (New York): The Rise of David Levinsky. Los Angeles: Mack and Mabel, Man of La Mancha, Follies, Grey Gardens. Regionally: Fiddler on the Roof (Motel), Ballroom, Chess, Guys and Dolls. Cabaret and his cabaret show, Glenn Rosenblum Is the Musical Man. Rosenblum is also the creator of Broadway Showstoppers, a lecture/cabaret series performed most recently at the Coachella Valley Repertory and Crystal Cruises. Television: “Law And Order: SVU,” “Bones,” “Miami Vice.” He has a Bachelor of Arts in theater from UCLA.

Jodi Snyder

Jodi Snyder (Frume-Sore/Beylke) is a New York-based actor and is thrilled to be reunited with her Fiddler mishpocheh. She has been touring the U.S. with the Tony Award-winning revival Parade understudying the role of Lucille Frank among others. Other select credits include: Fiddler on the Roof (Drury Lane Theatre), Pete the Cat (Lucille Lortel Theatre). Snyder has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater from Syracuse University. A huge thank you to her entire family and the UIA Talent Agency.

James Monroe Števko

James Monroe Števko (Mendl/Ensemble), a New York City-based actor and dancer, is an original cast member of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. He is now a stager for the Jerome Robbins Trust, staging the choreography of Jerome Robbins nationally. Števko is also a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera. His other credits include: The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Muny, Milwaukee Ballet. Having started dance at the age of 18, Števko is inspired to teach and mentor upcoming artists as a master teacher. Features in: Denník N, Nový Čas, Dance Teacher magazine, Dance Informa, NY1, and more.

Mikhl Yashinsky

Mikhl Yashinsky (Nokhem/Mordkhe/Ensemble) is an actor, playwright, translator, and teacher. Born in Detroit, he has a bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard University. Yashinsky’s The Gospel According to Chaim (New Yiddish Rep, 2023–24) was hailed as a rare new Yiddish play, one that “jolted the repertoire with a work that is both traditional and delightfully subversive,” and his new musical Feast of the Seven Sinners was praised as “a saucy spectacle which sprouts excitingly unorthodox fruit” (Forward). With National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Yashinsky performed in the original New York cast of the Yiddish Fiddler (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Musical Revival), as well as Amid Falling Walls (Drama Desk, Outstanding Musical Revue), and The Sorceress (New York Times Critic’s Pick), in which he played the title role as a “keen, if malevolent, psychologist” (New York Times). His translations of The Mother of Yiddish Theatre: Memoirs of Ester-Rokhl Kaminska and Adventures of Max Spitzkopf: The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes are forthcoming from Bloomsbury and White Goat Press.

John Reed

John Reed (Avrom/Ensemble) is honored to be a part of this company. Credits include: off-Broadway: Amid Falling Walls (National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene). Regional theater: Guys and Dolls, Something Rotten! Fiddler on the Roof, A Chorus Line, Tootsie, 42nd Street. Australian theater: Funny Girl, Merrily We Roll Along, Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear. Huge thanks to NYTF, Zalmen, Motl, Joel Grey, and my family. For Papa and Eeya, Dad and Sluggo. L’Chaim!

Lauren Jeanne Thomas

Lauren Jeanne Thomas (Fiddler) is an actor, a multi-instrumentalist, and a one-woman band (Fiddler on the Loop) based in New York City. She has been with Fiddler since the show’s off-Broadway premiere in 2018, and she’s thrilled to rejoin her Fiddler family for this very special concert. Additional credits include: Beau the Musical (off-Broadway, Out of the Box), The Goree All-Girl String Band (off-Broadway, New York Musical Festival), Once (Broadway national tour), Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Hester Street (Theater J, world premiere). Thomas is part of an all-women, multi-instrumentalist country/folk show called Americana Women (@americanawomenshow). She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from Boston University. She also trained at London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art. Endless love and gratitude to this company.

Michelle Azar

Michelle Azar (Woman 2/Ensemble) is thrilled to be part of the third generation of women in her family to perform with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. She created and tours as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in All Things Equal by Tony winner Rupert Holmes. Recent television: “NCIS,” “Criminal Minds,” and upcoming feature Cry Baby. Azar has a master’s degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NYU. Her solo piece, From Baghdad to Brooklyn, continues to tour the country. Grateful to Michael and Richie, this entire artistic team, Bobby and Alison, and her supportive family.

Jessica Fishenfeld

Jessica Fishenfeld (Ensemble), a New York-born, Los Angeles-based actor and singer, was just seen as Margot Bell in the L.A. premiere of The Angel Next Door at the International City Theatre, giving “sweetness and heart to match her glorious soprano pipes” (Stage Scene LA). Credits include: New York: Brunnhilde in Das Barbecü (off-Broadway), Leah in Stonewall (New York City Opera/Jazz at Lincoln Center), Clara in The Light in the Piazza (Skirball Center). TV: “America’s Got Talent,” “Panhandle” (SONY Pictures), “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

Michael P. McDonald

Michael P. McDonald (Ensemble), a Southern California native, is thrilled to be joining this production of Fiddler on the Roof. An MFA graduate of the Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University, he has had the opportunity to work at The Shakespeare Theatre DC, The Guthrie Theater, Marin Shakespeare Company and many other theaters around the country. Recent Los Angeles credits include Psycho Beach Party at The Matrix Theatre, several productions with Back Room Shakespeare, and The Groundlings. McDonald is grateful for the support of his family, his partner Jerwin, and their dog Stryder.

Rachel Oremland

Rachel Oremland (Ensemble) is ecstatic to be performing in her first production of Fiddler on the Roof. Many years of listening to her grandmother drop Yiddish phrases paid off. Favorite credits include: Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library (WP Theater), Nunsense (Playhouse on Park), The Who’s Tommy (Seven Angels Theatre), Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Summer Camp, American Sports Story. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NYU Tisch. Major thanks to Malissa, her friends, and loving family for their support.

Rachel Policar

Rachel Policar (Woman 1) is a versatile performer across many genres and a sought-after interpreter of Jewish performance art. She made her off-Broadway debut with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene as Goldele in The Golden Bride and is thrilled to be joining the Fiddler on the Roof family. This season Policar joined The Phoenix Theatre Company as an impressionist in Forbidden Broadway, and appeared in concert as Sally Bowles in Cabaret with the Sanibel Music Festival. Favorite credits include: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg (Anchorage Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Penn Square Opera), Dot in Sunday in the Park With George (NYU Broadway Orchestra), and Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank (Maine Jewish Museum). Policar is a cantor in Madison, Connecticut, a Meisner-trained actor, and she writes and produces parody songs with her voice, ukulele and piano. She is an avid traveler and is happiest sipping a cappuccino while planning her next trip.

Bryan Vickery

Bryan Vickery (Ensemble) is thrilled to be a part of this historic production of Fiddler on the Roof. He recently appeared in Lost & Found: The Unsung World of Frank Wildhorn. Select credits: Chess (Molokov, Broadway World Nomination), Twelfth Night (Orsino), Pygmalion (Henry Higgins), Richard II (Bolingbroke), Oklahoma! (Curly), Forever Plaid (Smudge). Vickery has performed Shakespeare in the U.K. and France and has sung on several recordings for the Operetta Foundation.

Brooke Wetterhahn

Brooke Wetterhahn (Ensemble) Having found a home in Anatevka many times before, it is a true blessing to return to the shtetl — this time telling its beloved story in Yiddish. National tour: Fiddler on the Roof (first national, director Bartlett Sher). Regional/other: May We All (The REV Theatre Co.), Fiddler on the Roof (The Gateway Playhouse), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bristol Riverside Theatre), Broadway Rising Stars (Town Hall NYC), Artistic Stamp: Wild Thyme (Drama League Award Nomination). TV: “Girls5Eva” (Netflix). Wetterhahn has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NYU Tisch. Special thanks to this inspiring Fiddler team, and much love to my family and friends. Cultivate joy.

Joel Grey

Joel Grey (Director) has created indelible stage roles each decade since he launched his career in the early 1950s. He made his theatrical debut at the age of 9 in the Cleveland Play House production of On Borrowed Time (and recently directed a production of the play for Two River Theater Company’s 20th Anniversary Season). Grey made his Broadway debut exactly two decades later as a replacement in Neil Simon’s first comedy hit, Come Blow Your Horn (1961). Since then, his Broadway credits include Stop the World I Want to Get Off, Half a Sixpence, Cabaret (Tony Award), George M! (Tony nomination), Goodtime Charley (Tony nomination), The Grand Tour (Tony nomination), Chicago (Drama Desk Award), Wicked, Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony Award-winning revival of Anything Goes, and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Grey’s dramatic stage roles include Marco Polo Sings a Solo, the Roundabout Theatre production of Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Drama Desk nomination), New York City Opera’s Silverlake (directed by Hal Prince), and Larry Kramer’s seminal The Normal Heart at the Public Theatre, which he also co-directed with George C. Wolfe in its Broadway premiere (Drama Desk Award, Tony nomination).

Grey received the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the British Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1972 film version of Cabaret (directed by Bob Fosse). He is one of only nine actors to have won both a Tony and an Academy Award for the same role. Other film credits include: Man on A Swing, Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians, The Seven Percent Solution, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka, Altman’s The Player, The Music of Chance, Michael Ritchie’s adaptation of The Fantasticks, Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark and Clark Gregg’s Choke. Recent television appearances include “Brooklyn Bridge” (Emmy nomination), “OZ,” “Law and Order: CI,” “House,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Private Practice,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Warehouse 13,” and “CSI.” In 2010, Grey was honored for his illustrious television career by The Paley Center for Media in both New York City and Los Angeles.

Grey most recently directed the acclaimed production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, which won the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Best Musical Revival, the 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Revival, a 2019 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award Special Citation.

Grey is also an accomplished photographer. He has five books of photographs: Pictures I Had to Take (2003), Looking Hard at Unexamined Things (2006), 1.3–Images from My Phone (2009), The Billboard Papers (2013), and The Flower Whisperer. His memoir, Master of Ceremonies, was published in February 2016 (Flatiron).

Grey is the father of Jennifer and James and the grandfather of Stella.

Joseph Stein

Joseph Stein (book) won a Tony Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Fiddler on the Roof. His other musicals include: Zorba (Tony and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award nominations); Rags (Tony nomination); The Baker’s Wife (Olivier Award nomination, London); Take Me Along (Tony nomination); Juno; Irene (starring Debbie Reynolds); King of Hearts; All About Us; and Enter Laughing: The Musical (Lucille Lortel Award nomination, outstanding revival). Stein also co-authored, with Alan Jay Lerner, Carmelina; and with Will Glickman, Mr. Wonderful (starring Sammy Davis Jr.), The Body Beautiful, and Plain and Fancy. His plays are Enter Laughing, Before the Dawn, and Mrs. Gibbons’ Boys. Stein grew up in the Bronx and first became a social worker while pursuing writing on the side. He began his career in TV and radio, writing for “The Sid Caesar Show,” “Your Show of Shows,” “Henry Morgan Show,” and many others, and for personalities including Tallulah Bankhead, Phil Silvers, Jackie Gleason, and Zero Mostel. On Broadway, Stein made his debut contributing to the theatrical revues Lend an Ear (featuring Carol Channing) and Alive and Kicking. He wrote the screenplays of Enter Laughing and Fiddler on the Roof, for which he won the Screen Writers Guild Award. In 2008, Stein was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. He passed away in 2010.

Jerry Bock

Jerry Bock (music) was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on Nov. 23, 1928. That was his first out-of-town tryout. Thirty years later, Bock and Sheldon Harnick gave birth to The Body Beautiful in Philadelphia. That was his fourth out-of-town tryout. In between was Catch a Star! a fleeting revue that, according to critic Walter Kerr, posed the question: “What do you call something between a flop and a smash?” Kerr’s answer? “A flash.” Next, Jule Styne and Tommy Valano midwifed Bock, Larry Holofcener and George Weiss into birthing Mr. Wonderful, starring Sammy Davis Jr. The title song and “Too Close For Comfort” are still active off springs. Bock and Harnick’s celebrated collaboration yielded five scores in seven years. The Body Beautiful, Fiorello! (winner of a Broadway triple crown: Tony Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and Pulitzer Prize in drama). Tenderloin, She Loves Me (winner of Variety’s poll of critics as best musical, citing Bock and Harnick as best composer and lyricist). Fiddler on the Roof (nine Tony Awards, notably the citation for best musical of the year), The Apple Tree and The Rothschilds. In addition to the 1989 silver anniversary production of Fiddler (from which a major excerpt was featured in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway), a highly esteemed revival of The Rothschilds enjoyed a successful run off-Broadway the following year. Since then, Bock and Harnick were honored by being inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame, receiving the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Spirit of American Creativity Award from the Foundation for a Creative America. But the award that Bock held near and dear was the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Wisconsin. It was there that he met his wife, Patti, and he decided to be a composer. Bock was a member of a number of professional guilds and associations, including the BMI Foundation Inc., a membership he relished. As for Patti, their son, George, and their daughter, Portia, Bock confessed they were his longest running hit. Bock passed away in 2010.

Sheldon Harnick

Sheldon Harnick’s (lyrics) career began in the 1950s with songs in revues (“The Boston Beguine,” “The Merry Little Minuet”). With Jerry Bock, he created a number of memorable musicals, including Fiorello! (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize), Tenderloin, She Loves Me (Grammy), Fiddler on the Roof (Tony), The Apple Tree, and The Rothschilds (subsequently revised as Rothschild & Sons). Other collaborations: Rex (Richard Rodgers), A Christmas Carol (Michel Legrand), A Wonderful Life (Joe Raposo), The Phantom Tollbooth (Arnold Black, Norton Juster), and The Audition (Marvin Hamlisch). Harnick wrote three musicals himself: Dragons, A Doctor in Spite of Himself, and Malpractice Makes Perfect. He passed away in 2023.

Jerome Robbins

Jerome Robbins (original director and choreographer) is world-renowned for his work as a choreographer of ballets as well as his work as a director and choreographer in theater, movies, and television. Although he began as a modern dancer, his start on Broadway was as a chorus dancer before joining the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre in 1939, where he went on to dance principal roles in the works of Fokine, Tudor, Massine, Balanchine, Lichine, and de Mille. Robbins’ first ballet, Fancy Free (1944) for ABT, still in many repertoires, celebrated its 50th birthday on April 18, 1994. While embarking on his career in the theater, Robbins simultaneously created ballets for New York City Ballet, which he joined in 1949, and became an Associate Artistic Director with George Balanchine. Robbins has directed for television and film as well, with his co-direction and choreography of West Side Story winning him two Academy Awards. After his Broadway triumph with Fiddler on the Roof in 1964, he continued creating ballets for New York City Ballet. He shared the position of Ballet Master-in-Chief with Peter Martins until 1989. Robbins has created more than 60 ballets, including Afternoon of a Faun (1953), The Concert (1956), Les Noces (1965), Dances at a Gathering (1969), In the Night (1970), In G Major (1975), Other Dances (1976), Glass Pieces (1983), and Ives, Songs (1988), which are in the repertories of the New York City Ballet, the Ballet de l'Opera de Paris, and major dance companies throughout the world. More recent ballets included A Suite of Dances with Mikhail Baryshnikov (1994), 2 & 3 Part Inventions (1994), West Side Story Suite (1995) and Brandenburg (1996), all of which premiered at New York City Ballet. In addition to his two Academy Awards, Robbins’ awards and citations include four Tony Awards, five Donaldson Awards, an Emmy Award, the Screen Directors’ Guild Award, and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. He is a 1981 Kennedy Center Honors Recipient, was awarded the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, is an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and was awarded a National Medal of Arts as well as the Governor’s Arts Awards by the New York State Council on the Arts. Some of his Broadway shows include On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Miss Liberty, Call Me Madam, and Fiddler on the Roof. In 1989, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director. He was most recently awarded the French Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur. Robbins passed away in 1998.

Shraga Friedman

Shraga Friedman (Yiddish translation) was no stranger to the theater. Having fled Poland as a teenager at the outbreak of World War II, he joined Israel’s national theater, Habima Theatre, becoming one of its prominent actors and directors. Whether in classical dramas, like Hamlet, or musicals, like Hello, Dolly! Friedman was noted for his great versatility as an actor. Well-versed in many languages, he translated poems as well as plays which were seen on the Israeli stage. He did not live to see the American production of his Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, having passed away in 1970, at the age of 46.

Matthew “Motl” Didner

Matthew “Motl” Didner (Associate Director; NYTF Program Director and Producer) is the creator of the hit online series “15 Minute Yiddish (More or Less).” Associate Director of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Winner of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel awards), directed by Joel Grey. Directing credits include: Amid Falling Walls (Drama Desk Award Winner), The Sorceress (New York Times Critics Pick), Fyvush Finkel Live! (Drama Desk Award nominated), Robert Brustein’s The King of Second Avenue, The Megile of Itzik Manger, Two Brothers, The Pushcart Peddlers and The Marriage Contract. Co-director: The Golden Bride (Drama Desk Award nominated). Didner has performed on stage at Carnegie Hall in Vessels of Light and in NYTF productions of Gimpel the Fool and with The Folksbiene Troupe. Yiddish coach: Caught Stealing (director Darren Aronofsky), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” An American Pickle and New York City Opera’s Angels in America.

​​Zalmen Mlotek

​​Zalmen Mlotek (Music Director and Conductor; NYTF Artistic Director) is a world-renowned authority on Yiddish folk and theater music. As Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, his visionary leadership brought the award-winning and critically acclaimed Fidler Afn Dakh (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish), directed by Joel Grey, to New York. Mlotek also served as the production’s musical director and conductor.

Mlotek co-created Those Were The Days, the first bilingual musical on Broadway, which earned two Tony Award nominations. His other acclaimed works include On Second Avenue and The Golden Land, both nominated for Drama Desk Awards. The Golden Land toured internationally under the sponsorship of one of Mlotek’s most influential mentors, Leonard Bernstein.

Mlotek has played a key role in reviving and preserving the richness of Yiddish theater, overseeing groundbreaking productions such as the world premiere of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yentl in Yiddish, Di Yam Gazlonim (a Yiddish adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance), and a revival of the 1923 Joseph Rumshinsky operetta The Golden Bride.

An active performer in Europe and Israel, Mlotek is also a highly sought-after musical collaborator for recordings, concerts, television, and film. His credits include consulting for PBS programs such as The Thomashefskys, produced by Michael Tilson Thomas, and Itzhak Perlman: In The Fiddler’s House.

His recent musical Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent), created in collaboration with his son Avram, features songs composed in ghettos, camps, and cabarets during World War II. Many of these songs were drawn from his mother’s landmark collection, We Are Here, the first-ever English-language anthology of Yiddish Holocaust songs. PBS is currently developing a program based on Amid Falling Walls, scheduled for release in June 2026.

Under Mlotek’s leadership, NYTF received a special Drama Desk Award for its contributions to New York City theater. The company has earned over 10 Drama Desk Award nominations and four Lucille Lortel Award nominations during his tenure.

In 2015, The Forward named Mlotek one of the “Forward 50,” recognizing American Jews who have made a significant impact on Jewish life in the United States.

The legacy of his parents’ Yiddish song collections is preserved and freely accessible at yiddishsongs.org, and featured in NYTF’s online series "Pearls of Yiddish Song with Zalmen Mlotek."

________

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene

Now in its 110th season, the Drama Desk Award-winning National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene is America’s longest consecutively producing theater and the world’s oldest Yiddish theater company still in operation. Under the artistic vision of Zalmen Mlotek, NYTF keeps Jewish culture vibrant on stage celebrating its richness, wit, and wisdom through performances that resonate deeply with audiences today.

NYTF is where history and innovation meet. The company revives and restores lost and forgotten works, commissions daring new pieces, and adapts classics for the 21st century. Productions are performed in both English and Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles, ensuring accessibility for diverse audiences.

Over its remarkable history, NYTF has been honored with multiple Drama Desk Awards — including for Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (directed by Tony and Oscar winner Joel Grey) and the world premiere of Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent), a stirring theatrical work of resilience, resistance, and hope told through Yiddish song. NYTF has also received a special Drama Desk Award for its pioneering role in preserving Yiddish theater in America.

Founded in 1915 to serve Yiddish-speaking immigrants seeking a connection to the old country, NYTF now reaches new generations worldwide — on stage and online. Through Folksbiene On-Demand, audiences can access over 150 hours of free programming (with over 1 million views since 2020), including the popular “15 Minute Yiddish (More or Less)” and “Pearls of Yiddish Song with Zalmen Mlotek.”

This fall, NYTF returns to the off-Broadway stage at Theatre Row with Hannah Senesh, the extraordinary true story of the young Jewish woman whose courage defied tyranny. The production stars Jennifer Apple, acclaimed for originating the role of Anna in the Broadway-bound The Band’s Visit first national tour, recognized as a dynamic performer whose work spans stage, television, and voice. Her presence brings new dimension and power to the story of Senesh’s defiance, resilience, and legacy.

For more, visit nytf.org — and step into a living legacy of art, culture, and courage.