Zalmen Mlotek: Press

New York Timess

THEATER REVIEW; Back to an Era When Yiddish Ruled the Stage
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Published: March 16, 2005
Can a perfectly calibrated ensemble production also be a star vehicle? Apparently so, because that's what the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater's revival of ''On Second Avenue'' is. Six appealing performers with six fine voices share roughly equal time delivering songs and shtick from the heyday of Yiddish theater, yet the show's biggest name, the American-Israeli actor Mike Burstyn, shines all that much brighter in his solo moments, radiating affability like a cheery fireplace on a cold night. This zippy revue, created by Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek and first seen in the 1980's, consists of bits from the Yiddish theater that flourished along Second Avenue north of Houston Street in the first half of the last century. It was a theater of melodramas and morality tales and immigrant longings, and ''On Second Avenue'' samples it generously.
There are aphorisms (''He who digs a grave for others will himself fall in'') and sassy couplets (''We come from Passaic; we're gifted, not archaic'') and lots and lots of songs. ''In the theater, we saw ourselves,'' Mr. Burstyn summarizes in one interlude, and the music covers the spectrum of emotions: love, regret, envy, self-parody.
Joanne Borts, Lisa Fishman, Robert Abelson, Elan Kunin and Lisa Rubin join him in delivering it all, each adding something memorable. Much of the music is of a bouncy variety that has even the crankiest audience members stomping or clapping along, but perhaps the high point is a quiet, lovely round, ''Shtetl Montage,'' a homage to places left behind.
Some of the material is delivered in Yiddish, with supertitles provided, though they're hardly worth the trouble: the lyrics don't translate very poetically, and in any case the performers convey all the meaning that's needed. English, though, takes over for a priceless barrage of jokes delivered vaudeville-style by Mr. Burstyn. ''Two Jewish cannibals,'' he begins, but the rest won't be spoiled here.
''On Second Avenue'' runs through April 10 at the Jewish Community Center, 334 Amsterdam Avenue, at 76th Street, (800) 994-3347.



THEY KNOW FROM GOOD THEATER; [SPORTS FINAL Edition]
HOWARD KISSEL DAILY NEWS DRAMA CRITIC. New York Daily News. New York , N.Y. : Mar 29, 2005 . pg. 36
In its heyday, a century ago, Second Avenue served its immigrant audience in several ways. It reminded them of the world of Eastern Europe it had left behind, and, in such dramas as "The Yiddish King Lear," it crystallized the crises they faced in their new home.
"On Second Avenue ," the nostalgic musical about Yiddish theater's golden age, re-creates the charm of that lost world beautifully.
At several points, the show, which is playing at the JCC at 76th and Amsterdam and has two midweek matinees, uses film footage to show such stars of the Yiddish stage as Molly Picon and Pesach Burstein.
Burstein's son, Mike Burstyn, stars in "On Second Avenue." Burstyn, who has starred on Broadway in "Barnum" and "Ain't Broadway Grand?", brings real pizazz to bear on the material.
A cast of six lovingly performs a selection of comic numbers, touching songs like the lullaby "Raisins With Almonds" and a wittily blended medley of songs about the beloved towns left behind, like "Belz." A klezmer band provides rousing accompaniment to a well-put- together tribute to a rich legacy.

WHEN SECOND WAS FIRST
By FRANK SCHECK
THE glory days of New York's Yiddish the ater are lovingly re-created in this musical revue presented by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre.
Now in its 90th year, the troupe has devoted itself to preserving this vanishing culture, celebrated in "On Second Avenue," first presented in 1986.
The ensemble cast is headed by Mike Burstyn, who was literally born to perform this material. His parents were famed Yiddish theater stars Pesach'ke Burstein and Lillian Lux, to whom he pays loving tribute in one of the show's most memorable moments.
Otherwise, he and talented fellow performers Joanne Borts, Lisa Fishman, Robert Abelson, Elan Kunin and Lisa Rubin deliver songs, comic sketches and dramatic scenes mainly culled from the productions that played the dozens of theaters lining Second Avenue in the first half of the 20th century. (The show is performed in both Yiddish and English, with English supertitles provided for the Yiddish-impaired.)
While the evening will appeal most to those with nostalgic memories of its inspirations, there's enough merriment and fun here to win over the most goyish of audiences.
From the lively, klezmer-style music and songs to the hopelessly corny comic routines delivered by the ebullient Burstyn to the moving tributes to such beloved, long-gone stars as Molly Picon, the evening is infused with a joyfulness and emotionalism that's irresistible.
By the time it concludes with such stirring musical numbers as "Rumania, Rumania," you'll find yourself yearning to return to an Old Country from which you never even came.

ON SECOND AVENUEJCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., at West 76th Street; (212) 239-6200. Through Jan. 1.

HEY KNOW FROM GOOD THEATER; [SPORTS FINAL Edition]
HOWARD KISSEL DAILY NEWS DRAMA CRITIC. New York Daily News. New York , N.Y. : Mar 29, 2005 . pg. 36
In its heyday, a century ago, Second Avenue served its immigrant audience in several ways. It reminded them of the world of Eastern Europe it had left behind, and, in such dramas as "The Yiddish King Lear," it crystallized the crises they faced in their new home.
"On Second Avenue ," the nostalgic musical about Yiddish theater's golden age, re-creates the charm of that lost world beautifully.
At several points, the show, which is playing at the JCC at 76th and Amsterdam and has two midweek matinees, uses film footage to show such stars of the Yiddish stage as Molly Picon and Pesach Burstein.
Burstein's son, Mike Burstyn, stars in "On Second Avenue." Burstyn, who has starred on Broadway in "Barnum" and "Ain't Broadway Grand?", brings real pizazz to bear on the material.
A cast of six lovingly performs a selection of comic numbers, touching songs like the lullaby "Raisins With Almonds" and a wittily blended medley of songs about the beloved towns left behind, like "Belz." A klezmer band provides rousing accompaniment to a well-put- together tribute to a rich legacy.

From the press:

"The most-fun musical of the season. The sounds of traditional Jewish klezmer music make a joyful noise, a breath of fresh rhythm on the stage ... under the swinging baton of Zalmen Mlotek."

Jack Kroll - NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE about "Shlemiel the First"

"Rarely has the drama of the exodus of the Jews from Eastern Europe been given so entertaining and vibrant a treatment as in THE GOLDEN LAND. Zalmen Mlotek is responsible for the musical direction, and he also conducts the Golden Land Orchestra, which is the backbone of the production, This highly talented musician deserves at least three cheers. His work is both fresh and true to its Yiddish sources."

Eleanor Lester - THE NEW YORK POST about "The Golden Land"

"...the emphasis is on the wonderful, tuneful, toe-tapping songs performed by a talented, energetic cast of ten and musically directed by Zalmen Mlotek ... our rating, A+!"

Tom Jacobs - THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS about "On Second Avenue"

"...a humdinger of a hum-along ... a practically self-translating effusion of song and dance ... an orchestra equipped to play anything ... a musical mitzvah!"

Richard Shepard - THE NEW YORK TIMES about "Those were the Days"

http://www.folksbiene.org/press/MlotekX.pdf

this is a clip that BBC radio did with ZM at the piano

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7739968.stm

review of Gimpel Tam
playing December 4- 28th only
at the JCC inu manhattan
www.folksbiene.org

review- commentary
on Gimpel Tam
playing at the JCC thru DEcember 28,2008
www.folksbiene.org

Jewish Experience in 3 Generations


Published: March 26, 2009
Three Murray Schisgal plays that examine generations of Jewish life in America, presented under the title “Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!,” are the new attraction from the National Yiddish Theater — Folksbiene — in its 94th consecutive season.

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Michael Priest Photography
Stuart Marshall, left, and Michael L. Harris in “The Pushcart Peddlers,” one of three short plays in “Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!”
Each is a one-act by the dramatist, whose Broadway credits include “Luv” and “Jimmy Shine” and who, with Larry Gelbart, wrote the hit film comedy “Tootsie,” and each is being presented in this country in Yiddish for the first time.

As a whole, “Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!” (“Play! Play! Play!”), adds up to worthwhile entertainment, though its components vary in quality from perceptively funny to repetitious to provocatively promising. (As usual the Folksbiene accompanies its performances with supertitles in English and Russian.)

The best of the three is the opener, “The Pushcart Peddlers,” directed by Motl Didner, the associate artistic director of the Folksbiene. In richly comic scenes it traces the ascent into the American dream of an utter greenhorn on his first day in the United States. The newcomer, Shimmel (played by Michael L. Harris), encounters Cornelius, a canny, fast-talking banana peddler (Stuart Marshall) who has been in the Land of Promise for all of two days.

Before he knows it, Shimmel, like Cornelius, has a new business (selling bananas from his very own cart), a new name (Samuel P. Stone), a lesson in negotiation, a partnership, a vision of corporate wealth and a love interest. She is Maggie (Dani Marcus), a supposedly blind flower girl but in reality an aspiring musical comedy star whose dream intersects with Samuel’s newfound ambition: acquiring a seat on the stock exchange and investing in musicals. Led by Mr. Marshall, the cast goes at the material with uninhibited zest.

The second and weakest of the plays, “The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Crying,” staged by Gene Saks, who has directed many Neil Simon comedies, focuses on Ben, who has achieved the American dream. Played by I. W. Firestone, he is a once-penniless multimillionaire in a paisley dressing gown and ascot who is driving his wife, Judy (Suzanne Toren), to distraction because he is reduced to tears by everything from the obituary of a man he has never known to the 1963 Jerry Lewis film “The Nutty Professor.” Deriving little laughter from the lachrymose, “The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Crying” registers mainly as repetitious.

The last of the plays, “74 Georgia Avenue,” directed by the actor Bob Dishy, stars Harry Peerce as Marty, a successful modern-day businessman in an unhappy marriage to a younger woman. He returns from Manhattan to his boyhood home in the East New York section of Brooklyn to find the house inhabited by Joseph (Tony Perry), a black man whose wife lies dying in the next room.

As a boy Joseph accompanied his own father, the janitor at the neighborhood synagogue, to services attended by Marty and his extended and close-knit family. Joseph even has a rack of clothing worn by the rabbi, the cantor and Marty’s much-loved grandfather, and while Marty and Joseph share a bottle of Cognac as the night progresses, Joseph — speaking Hebrew, Yiddish and Aramaic — channels these people, their religious rites and their ways. The situation is fascinating, but more illumination of Marty’s yearning for his roots would make this a stronger play.

Enhancing the appeal of “Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!” are solos by the singer and guitarist Lisa Fishman.

“Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!” continues through April 5 at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, 344 Amsterdam Avenue, at West 76th Street; (800) 595-4849, folksbiene.org.

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‘SHPIEL! SHPIEL! SHPIEL!’ A FOLKSBIENE HIT YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

The March 19 opening night performance of the National Yiddish Theatre — Folksbiene’s “Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!” trilogy by Murray Schisgal hit an emotional home run with the audience. “The Pushcart Peddlers,” directed by Motl Didner, has naive immigrant Shimmel (deliciously played by Michael Harris) inveigled into a get-rich-quick scheme in the vein of **Bernard Madoff* by banana peddler Cornelius (Stuart Marshall). Possibly blind flower seller and wannabe actress Maggie (Dani Marcus), whose wacky antics recall Carol Burnett at her best, becomes the deux ex machine who saves the day. In “The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Crying,” directed by Gene Saks, tear-duct challenged Benjamin (I.W. “Itzy” Firestone) drives his wife, Judith (Suzanne Toren), to distraction with his lachrymose meshugas. But it was “74 George Street,” directed by Bob Dishy, that proved to be the evening’s surprise. With a possible nod to Bernard Malamud’s “Angel Levine,” the confrontation between a black man named Joseph (Tony Perry) and Marty (Harry Peerce), a white Jewish man who is visiting his former apartment, kept the audience engrossed as the two retraced a past they mysteriously shared. By the time the character played by Perry (whose newly acquired Yiddish earns him an alef) channels the cantor of yesteryear by singing “Avinu Malkeinu,” some in the audience were close to joining Firestone in eye dabbing.

Rounding out the evening’s program was troubadour Lisa Fishman accompanying herself on the guitar. Her wonderful interpretations of Yiddish songs included the delightful “Watch Your Step!” about the hurry-hurry, fast-moving, fast-talking life in this new land. As for the characters’ names in “Peddlers,” Schisgal no doubt took a page from Charles Dickens, who fabricated names to fit his characters. In Yiddish, Shimmel’s name means mold (as in farshimlte broyt — moldy bread). His last name, Schitzman, needs no translation — just say it quickly in English! Someone to whom s…t happens. As for Cornelius (the Madoff-like swindler), who envisions himself as a banana magnate, Schisgal must have had Vanderbilt in mind.

Don’t know about the Russian supertitles, but those of the English version for the Yiddish-impaired were more than adequate. Though there is always something nuanced or idiomatic lost in translation, the action onstage spoke for itself. Among the opening night’s guests were Schisgal, Didner, Dishy, Saks, Anne Jackson, Eli Wallach, Fyvush Finkel, and Kaufman, and her husband, Sidney Gluck. Pity it’s such a short run. You only have until April 5 to catch this dramatic trio at the Folksbiene.