Performance Practices

A search in the Yiddish press for Ida Badanes (1874-1946) largely returns two types of results: regular advertisements for her medical office (first in the East Village, and later on the Upper East Side), shared with husband, Alexander (Jacob) Ravnitsky, and many hundreds of columns published in the Forverts, Der Tog and the Jewish Ladies Home Journal’s “Di froyen […]

Read Part I here. Published in Der tog (the day) – March 7-Nov. 14, 1925 Translated by Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel PART II:  EARLY CAREER May 27, 1925 “Actress and Wife”  I, from my side, must confess to you that I was not among the most famous housewives… Believe me, it was easier for me to perform […]

Last November, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene opened its final production of 2023, a musical revue called Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent): Unveiling Resilience and Hope During the Holocaust. The production was curated and written by Avram Mlotek, with music curated and arranged by Zalmen Mlotek, and directed by Motl Didner. The Folksbiene’s website explains […]

In his memoirs, Menashe Skulnik recalled the many years when he performed in cities outside of New York – including six years in Philadelphia, which he considered to be a theatrical purgatory.

Menashe Skulnik (1892-1970) was one of the great comic actors of the Yiddish theatre, remembered for his trademark porkpie hat and beloved for his schlemiel-like stage persona.

What would it take for a Yiddish theatre production to rival the fame of Sh. An-ski’s The Dybbuk?