NYPL to Honor Molly Picon with Summer Exhibition

From June 26, 2007 through September 22, 2007, the New York Library of Performing Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza) will present an exhibition honoring Yiddish theatre legend - and Milk and Honey star - Molly Picon.  The exhibition will be held in the Library's Vincent Astor Gallery.

NYPL notes state: "For years she was the 'sweetheart' of New York's Lower East Side Yiddish-speaking community. Her shows, her sheet music, her records, her films, her radio programs, won her a special place in their hearts. Then, as she increasingly began appearing in more English language shows, television programs, and films, an even larger audience fell in love with her: the American public. Picon's changing career reflects the contributions immigrant cultures have made to our entertainment industry, our city, and our nation.

This exhibition, in cooperation with the Museum of the City of New York, includes more than two hundred photos, programs, posters, sheet music, records, radio scripts, set renderings, costumes and more. Just a sampling of some of the items on view: photos from Molly Picon's 1923 New York Yiddish Theatre debut in the Jacob Kalich/Joseph Rumshinsky production Yankele; Picon's costume from Yankele; photos and selected sheet music by Abraham Ellstein for the Joseph Green 1936 Yiddish film Yidl mitn fidl (Yidl with a Fiddle) and the 1938 Yiddish film Mamele; radio scripts from her 1941 series 'Nancy from Delancey;' memorabilia from the Jerry Herman/Don Appell 1961 production of Milk and Honey, her 1960s appearances on the television show 'Car 54, Where are You?' and the Norman Jewison film Fiddler on the Roof."

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Diane Cypkin, Professor of Media and Communication Arts at Pace University and herself a performer who has appeared in many Yiddish and English language productions. The institutions' look at Yiddish culture in New York continues at the Museum of the City of New York with The Jewish Daily Forward: Embracing an Immigrant Community, April 22, 2007 - September 17, 2007.

Events that will take place as part of the exhibition at the Bruno Walter Auditorium include: "The Yiddish Cinema: Molly Picon's Celebration of Jewish Life," a lecture by Eric A. Goldman, that will be held on June 26th at 3 PM;" Molly Picon and Her Yiddish Music," a lecture-concert by Dr. Diane Cypkin with Lena Pantfilova on Piano, that will be held on June 27th at 3 PM; and "Milly Picon and Milk and Honey: Memories of the 1961 Broadway Musical," with Stuart Hodes, Donald Saddler, and others, that will be held on June 28th at 6 PM.

Visit www.nypl.org for more information.