QUEENS — Fans of Yiddish theater and music now have their own festival in Queens.
The Forest Hills Library’s first Festival of Yiddish Culture kicks off Monday, March 6, and will include “evenings of storytelling, theater, and music that will not only be informative, but funny, entertaining, and full of nostalgia too,” the organizers wrote on their website.
“We’ve done Yiddish programs in the past and people have wanted more,” said Radames Suarez, the Queens Library’s cultural arts librarian.
The free festival begins with an event featuring Shane Baker, “the best-loved Episcopalian on the Yiddish stage today,” the organizers said.
The actor and one of the most renowned promoters of Yiddish theater and language, will talk about his fascination with Yiddish culture. He will also tell jokes, play music and recite poetry.
As part of the festival, Allen Lewis Rickman, an actor and Yiddish theater historian, will present a lecture about the history of Yiddish theater from its beginnings in late 19th-century Romania and Dr. Diane Cypkin, a performer as well as professor at Pace University, will present music by Molly Picon, Aaron Lebedeff and Manasha Skulnik, stars of Yiddish theater and film.
The program also includes evenings of Yiddish songs presented by Hy Wolfe, the director of the Yiddish National Theater, and singer and songwriter Miryem-Khaye Seigel who will focus on Yiddish folk music.
“They are all really acclaimed performers,” Suarez said. “This is a Broadway-level artistry.”
All events presented during the Festival of Yiddish Culture will take place at the Forest Hills Library, at 108-19 71st Ave., every Monday in March (March 6, 13, 20 and 27), as well as Thursday, March 30, at 6 p.m. To see the complete schedule of events, go here.
