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He Put The Yidl Into ‘Fiddler’ Without Knowing Yiddish

JL;DR SUMMARY At 86, veteran performer Joel Grey took on an unexpected challenge when he agreed to direct a Yiddish version of "Fiddler on the Roof" for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, despite not speaking Yiddish. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Fiddler On The RoofPerforming ArtsTheaterTranslationZalmen MlotekYiddish TheatreSteven SkybellJoel GreyOff BroadwayShraga Friedman

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"will be moving Off-Broadway to Stage 42 in February."
Israel
"for the first time ever in the United States a Yiddish version that originated in Israel"

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Cairo Item ID 62011
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-09-20 05:31:27 UTC
Curated 2025-09-20 08:31:40 UTC