New Jewish Theatre closes out the season with Klezmer musical

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Gallery • 2 Photos
From left, Emily Baker, Terry Meddows and Johanna Elkana-Hale perform in the New Jewish Theatre’s production of  ‘Shlemiel the First.’ 

Published May 8, 2013

The New Jewish Theatre will end its 2012-2013 season with a musical adaptation of stories by Polish-born Jewish-American writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. 

Singer, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1978, wrote in Yiddish, and much of his writing reflects life in the shtetls of Europe and the rhythms of the Yiddish language. He vividly conjured the Jewish world of Eastern Europe before 1935 drawing on folk memories and mystical traditions. 

Several of his short stories are set in Chelm, a mythical village of fools whose residents ultimately reveal the truth. 

The Chelm stories are the basis for the upcoming NJT production of “Shlemiel the First,” a klezmer musical, scheduled for May 16 to June 9. 

Tickets are $35 to $39 and can be purchased from the NJT box office at 314-442-3283 or at www.newjewishtheatre.org. The production will be in the JCC’s Wool Studio Theatre, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. There will be post-performance discussions after many of the performances.