Theater News

Amerike to Open National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's 103rd Season

The musical follows the journey of the American immigrant experience.

Glenn Seven Allen joins the cast of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's Amerike – The Golden Land.
Glenn Seven Allen joins the cast of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's Amerike – The Golden Land.
(© David Gordon)

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF), currently producers of the Tony-nominated Indecent, will open its 103rd consecutive season with Amerike — The Golden Land, a high-energy musical journey of the American immigrant experience.

Directed by Drama Desk nominee Bryna Wasserman, this reconceived production of Zalmen Mlotek and Moishe Rosenfeld’s musical (originally The Golden Land) — begins performances at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on Tuesday, July 4. The show’s five-week off-Broadway engagement plays through Sunday, August 6.

The cast features Glenn Seven Allen, Alexandra Frohlinger, international klezmer star Daniel Kahn, Dani Marcus, Stephanie Lynne Mason, and David Perlman. Jessica Futran and Christopher Tefft will be the designated principal understudies. The show’s ensemble includes Ashton Michael Corey, Maya Jacobson, Alexander Kosmowski, Raquel Nobile, Isabel Nesti, and Bobby Underwood.

With a score that weaves in popular period songs heard on the radio and in the theaters along Second Avenue, the show re-creates an authentic soundscape of New York’s Lower East Side and of the outer-borough neighborhoods to which the Jewish population gravitated. Its book incorporates the stories and observations of real-life immigrants collected by Mlotek and Rosenfeld — people who, like the vast majority of American immigrants, faced the heartbreak of starting over and the challenges of confronting poverty and racism, both abroad and in their new home.

The design team reunites The Golden Bride alums Yael Lubetzky (lighting), Izzy Fields (costume design), and Merete Muenter (movement and staging). New to the team are scenic and projection designer Jason Courson, props designer Colleen Lynch, and sound designer Patrick Calhoun. Music direction and arrangements are by Zalmen Mlotek. Eileen Haggerty is the production stage manager.

For tickets and more information, click here.

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