“Thrillingly Alive... Skillfully Delivered” -NY POST (Critic’S Pick)
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“thrillingly alive... skillfully delivered” -NY POST (Critic’s Pick) BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND MARCH 2 - 16, 2014 The 2014 production of THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER plans to: ENGAGE Over 3,600 people attended the 2013 three-week engagement of THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER. The production exceeded expectations of reaching a diverse audience. With your support, the upcoming production will be more accessible with a scaled ticket pricing system engaging an even wider net of exposure, especially for individuals under 30. EDUCATE THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER prepares the next generation of audiences through the spectacle of circus as a means to provide insight into history, culture, and tradition - closing the gap that exists between education and entertainment. PARTNER THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER will partner with schools and community groups to hold stimulating post-show discussions, in-school visits from teaching artists, and provide study guides. BRIDGE As a critically-acclaimed vehicle, THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER proves the continued relevance of Yiddish Theatre in today’s world, bridging the language barrier through unconventional expressive storytelling and the use of English and Russian supertitles. PRESS QUOTES “a home run...[that] keeps the ear and eye delighted throughout.” “ thrillingly alive...skillfully delivered” -Miriam Rinn, THE JEWISH STANDARD -Frank Scheck, NY POST (Critic’s Pick) “a clever production with a lot of heart” “boasts a freshness and vitality” -Marti Sichel, WOMAN AROUND TOWN -Raven Snook, TIME OUT NY (Critic’s Pick) “If MEGILE doesn’t sweep you off your feet, “a fun show that I recommend” chances are, nothing will.” -Ed Malin, NYTHEATRE.COM (Critic’s Choice) -Ted Merwin, THE JEWISH WEEK “outstanding...[a] cause for celebration!“ “Zalmen Mlotek’s band gets the sound just right, -Paulanne Simmons, CURTAIN UP and Dov Seltzer’s music is superb, sung by a wondrous cast.” -Peter Filichia, FILICHIA ON FRIDAYS “This production had me splitting my sides with laughter, crying, and captivated.” “outstandingly directed...choreographed with zest... -THE JEWISH LINK Do not miss this show under any circumstances!” -Miriam Hoffman, THE FORWARD AN EDUCATIONAL SPECTACLE THAT MUST BE SEEN “A few decades ago, THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER, was set to music and staged in Israel and on Broadway, and was a smash hit, with occasional revivals ever since. THIS IS THE BEST PRODUCTION of it I’VE EVER SEEN. The music is wonderful, the actors are perfect!” -Nahma Sandow, Professor Emerita at CUNY and author of Vagabond Stars “I found it to be so joyful and engaging. The music was fabulous and I loved the dancing and creative use of the props and set. Just the notion that the story took place in Shushan - which is Warsaw because galut is galut [exile is exile] - is a notion students could unpack.” -Elayna Koevary, SAR ACADEMY “My students, colleague, and I really enjoyed this fun high- caliber show! I’ve been telling colleagues and friends that it’s a Broadway-quality production that they should go see, even if they don’t understand Yiddish.” -Eelka Lampa, REGIS HIGH SCHOOL ABOUT THE SHOW This production is rooted in the artistic tradition of the Purim Shpiel with a circus atmosphere full of brightly colored sets and costumes, juggling, tumbling, aerial acrobatics, masquerade, clowning, magic, and puppetry. The first-rate five piece klezmer band, under the musical direction of Zalmen Mlotek, provides an exuberant soundscape accompanied by energetic choreography. Jewish Theater began with the Purim Shpiel. The Jewish communities of Renaissance Europe, inspired by the explosion of art and culture around them, brought their Purim celebrations from behind closed doors out into the public. Purim Shpielers went from house to house entertaining families with short plays. This is the beginning of the great Jewish theatrical tradition that 500 years later continues on the Broadway stage, TV and film. THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER honors these cultural pioneers with this production that puts a new twist on an old tale. This inventive and moving musical is based on a poetic fantasy penned by author Itzik Manger while he was in Warsaw, Poland in 1937 and set to music by the Israel Prize winning composer Dov Seltzer in 1965. Time periods are whimsically interchanged as a group of revolutionary tailors are inserted into ancient Persia, inhabited by the familiar Queen Esther, Mordechai the Wise, and Haman the Wicked. Among the young apprentice tailors is the sweet and handsome Fastrigosse who plays out a romance with Esther before she is whisked off to the palace for the fateful beauty contest which would put her in a seat of power, allowing her to save the Jewish people from Haman’s deadly plot. PRODUCTION HISTORY THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER was first presented in a small theater in Jaffo, Israel in a production starring the Burstyn family (Pesach Burstyn, Lillian Lux and their son Mike Burstyn). It soon became a big hit and is credited as the show which broke the “Yiddish barrier” in Israel. The production toured Europe and South America. The cast album earned the show a following in America even before the production arrived on Broadway in the 1968-1969 season. Although often revived in Israel, THE MEGILE OF ITZIK MANGER had no major revival in the United States until this production which ran off-Broadway for 23 performances in April and May, 2013 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City. ABOUT THE NATIONAL YIDDISH THEATRE - FOLKSBIENE The award-winning National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene‘s mission is to preserve Jewish culture through the performing arts, educate future artists and audiences, and strengthen Jewish identity in each generation. It is the longest continuously producing Yiddish theatre company in the world, and celebrates its centenary in 2015 as America’s only surviving professional Yiddish theatre. The company presents plays and cultural programs that connect people to their Jewish roots while serving as a vital resource for the performing arts in America. The NYT-F’s plays, concerts, literary events and workshops are presented in English and Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles. ABOUT ITZIK MANGER ITZIK MANGER was a prominent Yiddish poet, playwright, self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and ‘master tailor’ of the written word. He was born in Czernowitz, Austria-Hungary in 1901. A trickster at heart, Manger was fond of creating fictional biographies for himself and passing them off as truth. In 1921, Manger began publishing his early poems and ballads in several new literary journals founded in the aftermath of World War I. Soon afterwards, he settled in Bucharest and wrote for the local Yiddish newspapers. In 1927, Manger came to Warsaw, the spiritual and intellectual center of Ashkenazi Jewry. Between 1929 and 1938, Manger took the Warsaw literary world by storm. Manger’s Midrash and Songs of the Megillah represent his first attempts to rewrite old, familiar material through a modernist lens. With widespread anti-Semitism in the highest levels of Polish government and society, Jewish life in Warsaw became increasingly dire. Manger decided to leave for Paris in 1938, an exile from his creative homeland. However, Paris was not safe for long. In 1940, Manger fled to Marseilles, Tunis, Liverpool, and finally London, where he became a British citizen and remained unhappily for the next eleven years. He spent several years living in New York City before settling in Israel in 1958, where he remained until his death in Tel Aviv in 1969. ABOUT DOV SELTZER DOV SELTZER (Book, lyrics, and Music) is one of the leading Israeli composers. He started his career as a song writer, and has composed some of the most successful Israeli musicals, music for theater, film scores and lately symphonic and concert hall music. He wrote hundreds of songs, many of which have become an integral part of the new Israeli folklore. Among his most well-known musicals are KAZABLAN, I LIKE MIKE, UTZ LI GUTZ LI, THE MEGILE, and others. He wrote the musical scores for more than forty films, produced both in Israel and abroad. Among his symphonic works are STEMPENIU; TRADITION – Jewish songs for violin and SO, commissioned and recorded for a CD by Itzhak Perlman and the I.P.O.; RHAPSODIE HASSIDIQUE for violin and SO, commissioned and premiered by Lord Yehudi Menuhin in London; THE GOLD IN THE ASHES – a symphonic poem in commemoration of 500 years for the expulsion of the Spanish Jews. Together with French dramatist Jacques Rampal he wrote the Opera ESMERALDA based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His work LAMENT TO YITZHAK – A REQUIEM IN MEMORY OF YITZHAK RABIN, premiered in April 1998 by the IPO, with soloists, the New Israeli Opera Choir, and the Ankor Children’s Choir, under the baton of Maestro Zubin Mehta, as the opening of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the State of Israel. Additional performances of the work were given by the New York Philharmonic, with soloists, the Philadelphia Singers Chorale, and the Harlem Boys Choir, conducted by Maestro Kurt Masur, as part of the 1999 Lincoln Center Festival, and on the 10th anniversary to the assassination of Rabin, by the Jerusalem SO. THE CREATIVE TEAM MATTHEW “MOTL” DIDNER (director) is the Associate Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene. Directing credits include FYVUSH FINKEL LIVE! (Drama Desk Award Nominated), DI TSVEY BRIDER (The Two Brothers), THE PUSHCART PEDDLERS and DI KSUBE (The Marriage Contract). Motl has appeared on stage in GIMPEL TAM (Gimpel the Fool) and performs with Di Folksbiene Trupe (Travelling Troupe). He is a 2013-2014 Translation Fellow at The National Yiddish Book Center. Motl has served on the board of The Workmen’s Circle / Arbeter Ring and currently serves on the boards of Yiddish Actors and Friends Artists’ Club and PS 118 Founding Families of the Maurice Sendak Community School.