The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's world premiere production of Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent) beings performances November 14. The new musical highlighting the resilience and hope of those who endured the Holocaust through Yiddish song will run for a limited engagement through December 10 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage's Edmond J. Safra Hall.
The work is curated and written by rabbi, author, and licensed social worker Avram Mlotek, who is also the grandchild of Yiddish culturists. The musical is also curated and arranged by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's artistic director Zalmen Mlotek, and will be directed by Motl Didner.
The production stars Dani Apple, Jacob Ben-Shmuel, Yael Eden Chanukov, Abby Goldfarb, Eli Mayer, Daniella Rabbani, John David Reed, Mikhl Yashinsky, Rachel Zatcoff, and Steven Skybell.
The work is sourced from material that was written in cabarets, partisan encampments in the forests, concentration camps, and clandestine theatres during the Holocaust, and includes firsthand testimonies through poetry and music. Much of this material was salvaged by Shmerke Kaczerginski, who dedicated years of his life to collecting the songs and stories of those who endured the Holocaust. Many songs are also curated by Yosl Mlotek, who served as education director at the Jewish cultural organization The Workers Circle, and Chana Mlotek, a folklorist who was a music archivist for The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
The titular phrase “Tsvishn Falndike Vent” is a citation of the “Partisan Hymn,” a song written in 1943, that circulated through Jewish communities as a motto.
Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent) features choreography by Tamar Rogoff, orchestrations by Frank London and Michael Winograd, scenic design by Jessica Alexandra Cancino, costume design by Izzy Fields, lighting design by Yael Lubetzky, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier, projection design by Brad Peterson, and casting by Jamibeth Margolis. Jason Brouillard is production stage manager, alongside assistant stage manager Robert Cott. TINC Productions' Duncan Northern, Joshua Bernard, and Madilyn Kellner provide production management.
For tickets and more information, visit NYTF.org.
