On Second Avenue

Playwrights:

Zalmen Mlotek, Co-Creator

Zalmen Mlotek (Co-Creator) is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Yiddish folk and theatre music, and a leading figure in the Jewish theatre and concert worlds. In addition to On Second Avenue, Mr. Mlotek served as co-creator, music director, and conductor of The Golden Land and Those Were The Days, which received two Tony nominations and a Drama Desk Awards, as well as music director for Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Shlemiel the First. He conceived and directed the music for the first All-Star Klezmer Extravanganza featured on Itzhak Perlman: In The Fiddler’s House, and released the CD Moments of Jewish Life. Mlotek has concertized in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and other cities in Europe and Israel. As a noted accompanist, he has appeared with Theodore Bikel, Jean Stapleton, Sheldon Harnick, Jan Pierce and other prominent theatre figures. Mr. Mlotek holds a Master of Fine Arts in Orchestral Conducting and Opera Studies from the State University of New York at Purchase and has received post-graduate training at Julliard, the New England Conservatory, and the Tanglewood Music Center, under Leonard Bernstein. He is currently the Artistic Director of The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene, America's oldest Yiddish theater.

Moishe Rosenfeld, Co-Creator

Moishe Rosenfeld is the founder and president of Golden Land Connections, a national entertainment company based in New York. Among the many shows he has produced is the Itzhak Perlman concert at Lincoln Center, which was featured in the PBS documentary In the Fiddler’s House. During the 1980s, Rosenfeld co-created and produced the Yiddish-English musicals On Second Avenue, The Golden Land, and the award-winning Those Were The Days. As an actor he has appeared in Sophie’s Choice, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, Crossing Delancey, Dear Mr. Wonderful and Avalon. He has also appeared in more than twenty-five plays in the Yiddish theater alongside such legendary stars as Ida Kaminska, Joseph Buloff, Jacob Ben Ami, Pesach Burstein, and Berta Gersten. For the last twenty-five years, he has been the writer and announcer of the daily Yiddish newscast on New York WEVD radio, the last daily Yiddish radio program in the United States. Born in Montreal, Rosenfeld attended the Jewish People’s Schools, McGill University, and the New York Jewish Teachers Seminary.

CAST & CREW:

Bryna Wasserman, Co-Director, Honorary Artistic Director - Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre

In her fifteen year career as Artistic Director of the Segal Centre, Bryna brought the English theatre to national prominence, shepherded in new, multi-faceted programmes and modernized the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre. Carrying on the legacy of her mother Dora Wasserman, Bryna organized the first ever Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival. Her directing credits at the Segal Centre include: Houdini The Musical, Man of La Mancha, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The Jazz Singer, The Pirates of Penzance, God of Vengeance, Fiddler on the Roof, Double Identity, The Dybbuk, They’re Playing Our Songs, Those Were the Days, Lies My Father Told Me and the last production of On Second Avenue, the Drama Desk nominated co-production with the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene of New York, where she now serves as Executive Director. Under her direction, the Segal Theatre has garnered many Masque and MECCA awards and le Prix de la critique. Her contribution to Montreal English theatre was recognized with a special MECCA of Distinction in 2001. More recently, Bryna was named Outstanding Citizen of the Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough and received the Mlotek Prize (New York) for her contribution to Yiddish culture.

Audrey Finkelstein, Co-Director and Artistic Programming Coordinator - Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre

Audrey is a Montreal-based director, performer, stage manager, educator and Artistic and Program Coordinator of the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre. She is no stranger to the DWYT having performed with the company since childhood. Among her DWYT directing credits are co-direction of The Wise Men of Chelm and assistant direction of God of Vengeance and Fiddler on the Roof. Other recent directing credits include: The Wandering Minstrel- Celebrating 100 Years of Entertainment at the Y (YM-YWHA), Six Days and Seven Gates (Israel Bonds benefit) and Out of Step (Dell’Arte International). Performance credits include: Haunted House (Tableau d’Hote Theatre), Knot of Nots (Tangente), Peacemaker (Geordie Productions), Fiddler on the Roof (Saidye Bronfman Centre), Ur-Hamlet European tour directed by Eugenio Barba, creating and performing The Whisper (Edgefest) and her solo show In Conversation with Crows. Audrey holds a BFA in Directing from York University and an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theater from Dell’Arte International. She has trained with the Odin Teatret (Denmark), LUME (Brazil), Sue Morrison (Toronto), and Robert Lepage (Quebec).

John Gilbert, Musical Director

Musical Director John Gilbert was born and raised in Montreal and studied classical piano at Ecole Vincent D’Indy and McGill University. Recent credits include Inherit the Wind (Segal Centre), The Satchmo’ Suite (Manitoba Theatre Cenre), the award-winning Cabaret (Segal Centre), the French premiere of Chicago (Montreal, Paris), Houdini (Theatre Outremont), and Naomi Emmerson’s Piaf: Love Conquers All (Centaur Theatre). He will return to the Segal Centre as next season as musical director for Guys and Dolls.

Jim White, Choreographer

Jim is a veteran of Stratford Festival, (Guys and Dolls, Carousel, The Mikado, Pinnafore, Iolanthe, The Visit and Hamlet). He has appeared at the Virginia Theatre in NYC as well as for the opening of The Old Vic Theatre in London. Most recent choreographic productions include West Side Story, Christmas Carol, Annie, Anne of Green Gables, The Sound of Music, Oliver, The Producers, Forever Plaid, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan and the Canadian premiere of White Christmas. Jim returns to the Segal Centre after choreographing Lies My Father Told Me, and will choreograph next season’s production of Guys and Dolls.

John C. Dinning, Set Design

As a set designer for three decades, John has worked with such companies as the Vancouver Playhouse, Alberta Theatre Projects, the Shaw Festival and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Recent Segal designs include Lies My Father Told Me, Blithe Spirit, Educating Rita, The Pirates of Penzance and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other recent productions include Schwartz’s – The Musical (Centaur), In Piazza San Domenico (Centaur) and The Wild Guys and Misery (Grand Theatre, London, Ontario). Mr. Dinning has garnered several awards and nominations for design and production, including Betty, Merrit and Masques awards.

Luc Prairie, Lighting Design

Since 1974, Luc has been lighting up stages for theatres and operas across the country. He has worked for the Centaur Theatre, Mirvish Production, Soul Pepper Theatre Compagnie Jean-Duceppe, Saidye Bronfman Centre (Now Segal), Canadian Stage, Théâtre de Quat’Sous, Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Théâtre Rideau Vert, Théâtre de l’Opsis, Montreal Yong Company, Grant Theatre, Calgary Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Pacific Opera Victoria, Belfry Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Manitoba Theatre Center, NAC, Opera McGill, Opera Lyra, Edmonton Opera, Canadian Opera Company. He teaches at the National Theatre School of Canada (French and English section).

Susana Vera, Costume Designer

Susana Vera has been designing and creating costumes for professional theatre and dance in Montreal for the last eight years. Some recent works include The Brazilian and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Theatre Lac Brome, 2011); EL12 by La Otra Orilla presented at the Cinquième Salle de la Place des Arts de Montréal (DanseDanse); Haunted Hillbilly by Sidemart Theatrical Grocery; Death and the Maiden (Centaur); Swan Song of Maria by the Black Theatre Workshop and Inherit the Wind (Segal Centre, 2009). She received a MECCA for the costume design of The Jungle Book (Geordie Productions).


CAST:

Heather Batchelor
Benny Winkelman Batchelor
Avi Bendahan
Cheryl Blum
Ghislaine Dote
Doreen Fagan
Billy Finkelstein
Stephanie Finkelstein
Cynthia Fish
Paula Frank
Alexandre Fredeau
Caroline Gauthier
Aron Gonshor
Heather Huff
Rosaruby Kagan
Betty Kis-Marer
Jesse Krolik
Edit Kuper
Celyne Lavigne
Bronna Levy
Burney Lieberman
Jordan Marchand
Catherine Marmen
Richard Martz
Eva Petris
Marc-André Poulin
Yvette Rambour
Amanda Shilo-Braverman
Jordana Singer
Sam Stein
Natasha Trepanier
Angelo Vernucci
Sara Zameck