Way out east On Second Avenue

Here's a quick quiz to see if On Second Avenue is right for you: You not only know who Molly Picon and Boris Tomashevsky were, you get misty eyed just thinking about their brilliant work.

If this describes you (or at least anyone near and dear to your heart), you may well find yourself grinning joyously at On Second Avenue, an affectionate look back to the days when Yiddish theatres on the Lower East Side let immigrant crowds forget their turn-of-the-century problems and enjoy fun music and melodramas. The show is a smorgasbord of old-school entertainment that gives modern audiences a taste of what those theatregoers of long ago experienced, combining scenes from Yiddish operettas, musicals, adaptations of classics, vaudeville, and movies. Created by Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek and presented by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, this show is as warm and comfortable as a shawl on a cold evening, and will bring back many happy memories for those in the audience lucky enough to have seen Yiddish theatre in its glory days.

It's fun, it's celebratory, it's charming and nostalgic. It's the kind of show you can safely bring your Grandma Yetta or Uncle Morty to see. (You'll get extra gelt at Chanukkah, just see if you don't.) You can even learn some new words while you're at it: the songs are mostly performed in the original Yiddish, with English supertitles. On the downside, if you don't already know and appreciate Yiddish theatre, this is not the best show to whet the appetite. Little time is spent educating or enlightening the audience about the largely lost genre: there is some narration that keeps the various scenes more or less linear, and an all-too-brief ode to Molly Picon, but little more to help the novice. The show could best be described as "Yiddish Theatre 102," a refresher-survey course: perfect for those who know the basics, but don't really want to delve into the heart of the art.

The energetic cast keeps the show lively and energetic, recreating the low-budget spectacles of old with sheer talent. Lisa Rubin, Elan Kunin, Robert Abelson, Joanne Borts, Lisa Fishman, Reyna Schaechter, and Mike Burstyn work very well as a group and shine as individual performers. Mr. Burstyn is at his strongest recreating vaudeville sketches that go on forever but remain charming thanks to his buoyant wit. Mr. Abelson sings with a strong, lovely voice, and genuinely moving in a musical scene with young Miss Schaechter about a reluctant child learning to study Torah. Ms. Fishman does great comic work throughout the show, but is most memorable as a femme fatale singing a noir-ish torch song about the destructive nature of greed. Ms. Rubin is chameleon-like in her ability to switch styles at a moment's notice, and Ms. Borts does some wonderful comedy work. Elan Kunin has a matinee idol's good looks and a strong voice to match, and sings the romantic roles very nicely. The Folksbiene Klezmer Band hovers above the stage on a balcony and plays joyously throughout the show, wordlessly evoking the frantic, frenetic worlds of both the Old Country, and the old Lower East Side.

As directed by Bryna Wasserman, the overall mood of the evening is one of reverence and affection for a long gone art form. There is nothing weighty here; this show is all about the fun and escapism that gave our grandparents and great-grandparents some relief from their difficult lives as new Americans. Grandma and Grandpa will love this strong dose of nostalgia, and if it brings some smiles to the younger generations' faces as well, so much the better.

On Second Avenue runs until April 10 at the Jewish Community Center at 334 Amsterdam Avenue. Tickets are $45, and can be purchased by calling 800-9YIDDISH.

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