Queens Theatre in the Park Presents ZALMEN MLOTEK 2/21

Queens Theatre in the Park (QTP), in association with The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene, presents Zalmen Mlotek on Sunday, February 21 at 3pm in the Claire Shulman Playhouse Main Stage Theatre at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY. Tickets are $33 and are available at www.queenstheatre.org or by phone at 718-760-0064. Zalmen Mlotek is part of the American Express Cultural Heritage Series and a talkback will follow the performance.

100 Years of Yiddish Theater Music - From shtetl to Klezmer Revival featuring special guest Daniella Rabbani, and the New Yiddish Chorale. Join one of the world's most acclaimed authorities of Yiddish song in a musical journey that explores the wonderful legacy of Yiddish theater music and its influence on American popular culture. Mlotek, who is the Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene, and the co-creator of the musical hits The Golden Land, Those Were the Days and On Second Avenue, introduces and performs musical gems, as translations appear on a large screen.

Zalmen Mlotek is an internationally recognized authority on Yiddish folk and theater music and a leading figure in the Jewish theatre and concert worlds. Mr. Mlotek was raised in a prominent Yiddish-speaking family renowned for its Jewish songbook collections. His formal training as a classical musician and conductor was at Julliard School of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Tanglewood Music Center, Manhattan School of Music and Mannes School of Music. Among his most notable teachers and mentors was Leonard Bernstein. Mr. Mlotek also studied conducting with Zubin Mehta, James Levine and other masters of music and conducting. Mr. Mlotek's deep roots in Yiddish culture, his elite musical education, his talent and passion for both have merged into a career that has revitalized the world of Yiddish music and theater. Mr. Mlotek brought Yiddish- Klezmer music to Broadway and off-Broadway stages as a co-creator, music director, and conductor of Those Were the Days, the first bilingual music honored with a Drama Desk Award and nominated for two Tony Awards. He was co-creator, music director and conductor for the The Golden Land, an off-Broadway hit that toured nationally and was produced in Italy under the sponsorship of Leonard Bernstein. Mr. Mlotek was the arranger and music director for Isaac Bashevis Singer and Robert Brustein's acclaimed production of Shlemiel The First at Lincoln Center's Serious Fun Festival in 1995 that subsequently toured to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston, and recently performed in Washington DC. He is the Artistic Director of The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene, America 's only Yiddish theater. He instituted bi-lingual simultaneous English supertitles at all performances and this year Russian supertitles as well. The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene is dedicated to bringing quality performances of the spoken and sung Yiddish word, with accessible translation, to new audiences around the country. Their recent smash hit, On Second Avenue, an historical musical overview of the heyday of the Yiddish Theater recently nominated for two Drama Desk awards was performed in Los Angeles in February 2007. In 1995 Mr. Mlotek conceived and was musical director for the first All Star Klezmer Extravaganza at Lincoln Center, filmed by PBS for Great Performances and later released on CD and video as In The Fiddler's House with Itzhak Perlman. Mlotek has concertized in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and other cities in Europe and Israel and has performed extensively throughout North America. His many recordings include several made at the request of the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mlotek's many recordings include several made at the request of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. His tribute to wartime Yiddish Theater, which he conceived in collaboration with Adrienne Cooper is performed all over the world and is available on the Traditional Crossroads label. In addition, his Yiddish choral work can be heard on Mandy Patinkin's Yiddish language CD Mameloshen on Nonesuch Records. Mr. Mlotek is the conductor of The New Yiddish Chorale. He has presented master classes in Yiddish art songs, folk, and theater music and taught at Columbia University, Yeshiva University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Hebrew Union College, the University of California at Berkeley, and Bar Ilan University.

Daniella Zeva Rabbani is an Israeli American performance artist born and raised in New York. A young comedienne, Daniella's impersonations of wacky foreign family members, teachers and classmates are the foundation of what is now a thriving career as a "brilliantly broad" (TheaterOnline) character actress. Ms. Rabbani is an accomplished mimic, able to pick up on sublte gestures and copy any accent she hears. In her young career, Daniella has performed in four different countries and in as many languages. She has also performed in accents ranging from Argentinean to Afghani. Daniella attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. During her time at NYU, Daniella studied abroad in Italy where she trained in Commedia d'ell arte and in London where she learned from the greats of British theatre. Daniella's work continues to be inspired by these multicultural experiences. Critics have praised her unique sound and robust energy as "dynamic and sexy" (All About Jewish Theater). Select theatrical credits include: Off-Broadway's critically acclaimed Gimpel Tam, Israel Horovitz's Mid East Pieces at Theater for the New City and Atonement directed by Elizabeth Swados. Jihad the Musical at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival, Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors with the Vermont Shakespeare Company and The Play's the Thing with the Actor Shakespeare Company of New Jersey. Daniella is a member of AEA and art.party.theater.company. Ms. Rabbani tours with mentor and award winning musician Zalmen Mlotek and was recently presented by the City University of New York's concert series with Klez-Punk band Golem among others. As an "earthy, appealing alto" (Backstage), Daniella has teamed up as guest vocalist with the swingin' Klez Dispensers and The Foolish Band playing fresh, lively, soulful music influenced by genres as wide ranging as Bollywood music and bluegrass, all powered by heart-stopping, foot-stomping, unforgettable Eastern European and klezmer rhythms. Select Concert appearances include: Town Hall NYC, Baruch Performing Arts Center with Tovah Felshuh, The Hamptons Synogogue with Susan Watts- Hoffman, City Winery, DROM and Barbes. Daniella has recorded voiceovers in several languages and her voice can be heard guiding you through The Ellis Island Immigration Museum, The Chaggall exhibit at NYC's The Jewish Museum and in Paris' Grand Palais.
Ms. Rabbani has apprenticed under movement guru Jena Nacrason and choreographs for The New Acting Company in Greenwich Village. She is on faculty as a movement teacher at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting where she graduated and is the recipient of the Center for Arts Education Grant for the Salk School of Science.

Tickets are available:
* Online at www.queenstheatre.org.
* By phone at 718-760-0064, Tue-Sat, 12-6pm.
* In person at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY.

* Multi Show: Order any three or more shows and earn the multi show discount price. This discount is available for any show this season. There is no limit on the number of tickets you can purchase at this discount. If you are already a Theatre or Dance Subscriber or have purchased at least two shows this season, you have already earned this discount on additional ticket purchases.
* Groups: Contact group sales associate Barbara Matovu at 718-760-0064 x128 for groups of 15 or more.

Queens Theatre in the Park is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY.
By Subway:Take the 7 train to Mets-Willets Point stop. Exit and turn left after passing through turnstile, walk downstairs on the parking lot side and follow the theatre shuttle signs. Take free trolley to the Theatre. Trolley runs for one hour before and after all performances.
By Car:Take the Grand Central Parkway to exit 9E (from Manhattan) or 9P (from Long Island) and follow the signs for the Theatre. Free parking in adjacent lot.

About Queens Theatre in the Park
Queens Theatre in the Park is committed to presenting performing arts that provide audiences with the highest quality work. QTP also produces new plays, with a concentration on up-and-coming directors and playwrights. QTP has broadened the experience of its core audience to include works by under-recognized artists from around the world and works that tap into the diverse communities of Queens.

Queens Theatre in the Park is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the New York State Pavilion designed for the 1964 World's Fair by Philip Johnson. The Pavilion was converted to a theatre in 1972 and was operated by various organizations until 1985. QTP was officially established in 1989 with the full support of the community and the Queens Borough President. After a $4 million renovation that brought full ADA compliance, the Theatre officially opened to the public in 1993 in a facility that allows it to stage productions equal to those of any Off-Broadway house in Manhattan in its 464-seat main stage theatre and its 99-seat Studio Theatre. What was then a small cabaret-style theater with an operating budget of under $500,000 has transformed itself into a major performing arts center with exhibition galleries with a projected operating budget of $3.5 million for FY10.

QTP became an independent nonprofit in 1997. It is a member of the Cultural Institutions Group receiving support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The Theatre presents and produces 300 performances annually. QTP serves 100,000 people annually who reflect the rich demographics of its community population. Currently 75% of the Theatre's constituency is from Queens. In addition to its own season, QTP frequently provides its space for use by community arts organizations and local promoters.

QTP has recently completed a $ 23 million physical transformation of the Theatre. This major capital investment has added a 75-seat cabaret performance space with a full service cafe and kitchen facility; created a dramatic new 3,000 square foot lobby/reception area; provided new visitor amenities and improved the facility's accessibility. These improvements have transformed Queens Theatre in the Park into a destination for the residents of the borough and beyond.

For information, click here.

 

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