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Authority on Yiddish folk and theatre music headlines New Haven event

Zalmen Mlotek is an accomplished conductor, an authority on Yiddish folk and theatre music, and the executive director of the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre.

He grew up in The Bronx, in a Yiddish speaking home. Mlotek’s father, a Holocaust survivor from outside Warsaw, was a writer and educator at the Workmen’s Circle, and an editor for The Forward. His mother worked for many years at YIVO as a musicologist and continues to be active in the Yiddish music world.

Mlotek has been a driving force in bringing musical theatre pieces dealing with the Jewish-American experience to Broadway and to communities nationwide. The Folksbiene, currently in its 89th season, was founded in 1915 on the Lower East Side of New York City. It is the longest continuously producing Yiddish theatre in the world and America’s only permanent professional Yiddish theater. Mlotek, interviewed by phone from New York, says he is thrilled to be a part of the “Taste of Yiddish” program this Sunday at the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven.

Q: How did you get involved in the upcoming New Haven Yiddish festival?

A: My own connection to New Haven goes back more than 18 years. My wife and I were married by Rabbi Feldman at the Westville Synagogue. My in-laws still live here, and we often come for yom tov. Elizabeth Edelglass, library director of the Department of Jewish Education, and several colleagues came to see our Folksbiene family show last year. They were very excited about it and wanted to bring it to New Haven. They have put together a wonderful “Taste of Yiddish” program. The presenters are all great, and there is something for people of all ages.

Q: Your new CD, “Kids and Yiddish,” is wonderful. The songs are upbeat and funny and the bright colors and designs on the cover are so appealing. Why did you decide to record a CD for children?

A: I was brought up in a home with Yiddish speaking parents. They loved Yiddish and always encouraged my speaking of Yiddish. I decided I’d speak Yiddish with my three kids and I have. I worked at Yiddish summer camps and I saw how young people could get turned on and excited by Yiddish. When I took over the Folksbiene six years ago, it was time to bring Yiddish to the next generation. Our shows on the main stage have supertitles. And we have our family show, a 70 minute romp of songs, skits and jokessort of where Sesame Street meets Saturday Night Live. Children learn Yiddish through songs and plays. And the humor has various levels. It encourages families to comewith the children, parents and grandparents.

Q: To what do you attribute the recent surge of interest in Klezmer music, Yiddish language and culture?

A: People with younger sensibilities (and with an interest in modern pop culture) are starting to embrace and delve in to their culture. This is what happened with the Klezmer revival. It came through their interest in music. They were musicians first, who became knowledgeable about how song fits in to the Yiddish world. This has caused a ripple effect around the world.

Q: What are some of your fondest memories of appearing with such greats as Jan Peerce, Theodore Bikel and Leonard Bernstein?

A: Studying with Leonard Bernstein was one of the most important experiences for me. I studied with him one summer at Tanglewood. I’ll never forget sitting with him in his box, listening together to Jesse Norman singing Brahms, seeing him weep the whole time. When I was at Juilliard, he came to guest conduct and to teach five students. It was the day that Begin, Sadat and Carter signed the peace treaty. He was listening to the news in his limo and came in 20 minutes late. The orchestra was packed and everyone was waiting. He came in with his cape, towel and cigarettes. He said, “He did it!” Only a very small group of us knew what he was talking about. He picked up his baton and said, “Let’s have a C Major chord for Jimmy Carter.” Then, he said, let’s have an E Flat minor chord for Begin. It was amazing.

Q: What are some projects you are currently working on?

A: On Nov. 11, we are presenting “Jewish Musical Drama in the New Country,” a concert all in Yiddish at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

This event is part of the conference-festival “Only in America,” presented by the Jewish Theological Seminary and The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. On Nov. 25 (at the Manhattan JCC), we are presenting “Akeydes Yitskhok” (Sacrifice of Isaac), a 1897 show written by Abraham Goldgaden. On May 2, at Temple Shaaray Tefila in Manhattan, we will be performing “Di Yam Gazlonim!: (the Yiddish “Pirates of Penzance”).

On Sunday, Nov. 9, Zalman Mlotek and the actors and musicians of New York’s famous Folksbiene Yidish Theatre will present “The Mazldiker Mystery Tour,” as part of “Taste of Yiddish,” the kickoff event of the JCC of Greater New Haven’s Jewish Book Festival.

Sponsored by the Department of Jewish Education of Greater New Haven and the DJE Library, and cosponsored by the Jewish Ledger, the day also includes classes and lectures and concludes with a klezmer sing-along celebration led by Mlotek and the musicians of the Folksbiene. Box lunches are available with advance purchase.

The JCC is located at 360 Amity Road in Woodbridge. For registration and further information, contact Ruth Gross, (203) 387-2424, x310.