Green Fields (Grine Felder) presented by The Yiddish Public Theatre

[Mjspudic <Mjspudic...>]

************************************
                                    
*******************************************
                                                                    
*******************************************  
Yiddish Public Theater: Green Fields (Grine Felder)
              Zypora Spaisman: Artistic Director

       This evening I attended the official opening night performance, in 
Yiddish, of Peretz Hirschbein's 1916 idyllic love story, Green Fields (Grine 
Felder) and wanted to jot a quick note, wholeheartedly recommending this 
performance to the list.

       Performances are currently taking place in New York City on the Lower 
East Side at the Yiddish Public Theatre, housed in the newly renovated 
auditorium of the Educational Alliance at 197 East Broadway, a block removed 
from the old Forvertz building and likewise a block away from the East 
Broadway subway stop on the "F" Line.  You can't miss the building as 
"Yidisher Folks Teater" is potently proclaimed on a large banner in Hebrew 
letters on the side of the theater.  
       
        In short, it is a wonderful performance that could use more audience 
support. Much careful attention went into the stage design and you will be 
very pleasantly suprised by the overall charm of it.  Concerning the music, 
Herbert Kaplan (credentials include work with Sarah Caldwell's Boston Opera, 
soloist with Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops, touring accompanist with 
Betty Comden and Adolph Green) does a magisterial job at the piano, culling 
together an evocative montage of catchy tunes in leitmotivic fashion that 
further emotes the spirit of the play.  

       Zypora Spaisman, Shifra Lerer, Felix Fibich and Hy Wolfe are among the 
principal cast, which goes without saying, anyone in the greater New York 
area with an interest in helping this Yiddish project sustain itself should 
make every effort to attend.  Also noteworthy are the state of the art 
"supratitles," (similar to what is done at the New York City Opera) with the 
Yiddish translated in illuminated letters above the stage in both English and 
Russian!  If your Yiddish is strong enough, you can easily avoid the 
interference of the translation above the stage.  It strikes me as a better 
translating medium than headphones and you can enjoy the drama while putting 
your Yiddish comprehension to the test.

       Performances are scheduled for Wednesdays at 2pm and 7pm, Saturdays at 
8pm and Sundays at 2pm and 5:30pm.  

       For further information and ticket reservations one may contact Ticket 
Central at (212) 279-4200.  

Michael Spudic