Daniel
Kahn

“That was my New York debut, and
while I was doing that, the company
announced what its summer program
would be. I tried out, and it was a
blessing to be given that opportunity.”
Yashinsky, who soon will be teach-
ing Yiddish at the University of
Michigan, has appreciated working
with Joel Grey.
“Just like growing up with Fiddler
on the Roof, I grew up watching Joel
Grey in Cabaret and being delighted
by his performances,” Yashinsky says.
“It’s an honor to be directed by some-
one who has been a light in my own
life and shows what a performance
can be — rich, lively, entertaining and
humorous.
“He’s been very insightful in rehears-
al, and he has an interesting style of
direction. He’s not domineering. He
suggests things in subtle ways or asks
questions about characters or motiva-
tions.
“Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist, was
there on the opening day of rehearsals,
and the widow of Joseph Stein, book
writer for the play, also was there. It
felt very heady in that moment.”
Daniel Kahn, whose main work is
as singer-songwriter with his klezmer-
centered band Painted Bird, con-
nected with Fiddler through Zalmen
Mlotek, NYTF artistic director and
musical director for the show.
“Last summer, I was performing
in their play Amerike — The Golden
Land, a celebration of immigrant cul-
ture,” he says. “That was a wonderful
experience so when they decided to
do Fiddler, I auditioned for Joel.”
Kahn, 39 and based in Berlin, dem-
onstrated his talents over Skype.
“What drew me to want to be part
of this production was the idea of a
kind of cultural homecoming for the
play itself,” says Kahn, who attended

details

The Yiddish version of Fiddler
on the Roof will be performed
July 4-Aug. 26 at the Museum of
Jewish Heritage in New York.
Tickets start at $66.
(212) 213-2320; nytf.org.

Joel Grey and Michael
Yashinksy at rehearsal

the Roeper School before studying
theater and writing at the University
of Michigan. “I’m a big fan of Sholem
Aleichem’s literature, and it’s a real
inspiration to hear the songs in the
language in which they should have
been originally.
“Yiddish is expressive in ways that
no other language is with levels of
humor, irony, emotional complexity
and intertextuality. When I first got
into Yiddish songs, it was like I was hit
over the head with the incredible trea-
sure of progressive songs of struggle,
social justice and revolution that were
a corollary to the songs I knew as an
American.”
After learning and recording
Yiddish songs, Kahn studied the lan-
guage at the YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research in New York. At a Yiddish
New York festival, he performed some
Fiddler songs with a group and met
Sheldon Harnick, the festival speaker.
“I was really glad to see that Michael
is in the show, and it’s an honor to
work with Joel Grey,” says Kahn, who
is in group scenes with Yashinsky.
“Joel Grey has wonderful energy and
asks all the right questions. I love kib-
itzing with him.”
When Yashinsky and Kahn get
back to Michigan, they visit the same
Farmington Hills subdivision, where
their parents — Debra and Gary
Yashinsky, and Marcia Kahn — are
neighbors. When Kahn next returns
to Berlin, he will be leaving behind the
focus of a fictional wedding to focus
on a real one.
“I’m getting married in September.
She’s from St. Petersburg but grew up
in Germany,” Kahn says. “We met at
the Jewish Museum, Berlin, which is
where we’re getting married.” •

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June 28 • 2018

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