Joel Grey, Samantha Hahn, Stephanie Lynne Mason, Zalmen Mlotek, Rosie Jo Neddy, Bebe Neuwirth, Raquel Nobile, Jana Robbins, and Rachel Zatcoff will take part in Yiddish Fiddler book celebration
Who: Joel Grey, Samantha Hahn, Stephanie Lynne Mason, Zalmen Mlotek, Rosie Jo Neddy, Bebe Neuwirth, Raquel Nobile, Jana Robbins, Rachel Zatcoff
What: Virtual book launch party
Where: National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
When: Sunday, May 2, free, 2:15
Why: In the summer of 2018, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene unleashed a phenomenon on the New York City theater world, a mind-blowing production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. At the time, I wrote, “I’ve seen numerous Fiddlers over the years, but this Yiddish version, which could have felt dated and old-fashioned, instead is very much of the moment in the wake of the immigrant and refugee crisis currently going on in America and around the world. It’s chilling watching the final scenes in light of what is shown on the news night after night.” Samantha Hahn, who played Beylke, the youngest of Tevye and Golde’s five daughters, documented the making of the show, regularly talking to cast and crew, and now takes us behind the scenes — through auditions, rehearsals, mishaps, and more — in On The Roof: A Look Inside Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. She writes in the book, “I went home that night and took a shower, put on my pajamas, turned out the lights, and crawled into bed. A minute later I got out of bed, turned on the lights, took the pillow case off of my pillow to wrap around my head like a shmata, and practiced the ‘Tradition’ choreography. Even in my little bedroom, wearing my ‘Yertle the Turtle’ hand-me-down pajama shirt and my blue pillow case around my head — it felt like I was doing something special.”
On May 2 at 2:15, Hahn, an actress, singer, voiceover artist, and author, will do something special at a virtual book party, reuniting with her four stage sisters, Stephanie Lynn Mason (Hodl), Rosie Jo Neddy (Khave), Raquel Nobile (Shprintze), and Rachel Zatcoff (Tsaytl), as well as director Joel Grey, producer Jana Robbins, NYTF artistic director Zalmen Mlotek, and Fiddler fan Bebe Neuwirth, who was at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust for opening night. (The musical later moved uptown to Stage 42.) The party will include backstage video footage, a panel discussion, a live chat, and a Q&A. To get in the mood, you can check out Fiddler’s Stars in the House reunion here.