Watch The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater.
The Thomashefskys brings to life the words and music of the American Yiddish theater. The storys lead characters-Bessie and Boris Thomashefky-also happen to be the grandparents of San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas. Bessie and Boris emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the 1880s, and while still in their teens, they began to play major roles in the development of New York Citys Yiddish theater. For Jewish immigrants who settled on the lower East Side of Manhattan, the Yiddish theater was central to their lives, and provided a stage for the new ideas that were shaping the transition to an American way of life. In The Thomashefkys, Tilson Thomas serves as guide through the lives and repertoire of his grandparents. His grandfather died before he was born, but his grandmother lived until he was 17. His close relationship with her is a source of much of the performance material. Performed at the New World Symphonys spectacular new Frank Gehry-designed home in Miami, Tilson Thomas shares the stage with a 30-piece orchestra and ensemble cast to bring the repertoire and words of Bessie and Boris to life. With time, aspects of klezmer and cantorial sounds became more integrated and more American, as Jewish composers became immersed in their new surroundings, greatly influencing composers like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.
Saw it this morning at 2 am–an excellent show!
Steven Torrey, like you, I caught it accidentally at exactly 12:20p on Sunday, April 22nd here in Portland. I should have been out in the sunshine, but I was sick and resting up. It was a happy accident! Share it with all of your friends and family, as I did. Peace. Love. Happiness.
Please advise when the following programme will be available in British Columbia The Thomashefskys.Thank You H,Oppelman
Wonderful program. Who are the performers?
saw this show earlybin the morning… I’m only 15 but loved it and really want to see it again.
One of the most captivating stories I’ve ever seen on PBS. It revealed to me a side of American entertainment I knew nothing about. The music was powerful from start to finish, especially the son the Pintele Jud and the way it was presented. I watched it over and over a dozen times on my DVR. And the host and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has missed his calling as a comic entertainer.
Maestro Thomas’ comedic talent has been just what the classical music world needed! MTT, as he is called in San Francisco, is a tremendously, multi-gifted man, a natural teacher and story teller. He unpacks history and the musical art to make it alive for us today! Check out his TED talk, too, and his keeping score DVD series!
I am a Jewish woman who came from Soviet Russia almost 40 years ago. I also lived in Israel. But I never knew anything about Jewish cultural scene of early 20th century in America. It felt like I was getting to know some of my relatives for the first time. Very good show! Great performers! Thank you!
The name of then gentleman who played the violin piece please…thanks
This show was an absolute DELIGHT…I had no idea that Tilson Thomas was the grandson of these legends nor that he could sing, dance and do schtick! (I never caught his young people’s concerts, alas.) Where are credits for the wonderful performers, especially the terrific singer/actress who channeled Bessie?
Click on the “About the Program” link at the upper right of this page to find out the names of the performers.
As an aside, who shortened Michael (Michel) Tilson Tomas(hefsky)’s name?
Hello Brenda from Flatbush!
Don’t feel badly. I didn’t even know that Michael Tilson Thomas was Jewish! For me, that’s a lame excuse… I’m 72, born to two Miami parents from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who loved comedy and music, and were active in the Jewish community. My life was filled with little jokes, expressions and memories sparkled with lots of little Yiddish phrases. I have been listening to classical music since I was a teenager, and spent many years reviewing movies, plays, and other entertainment for radio and TV stations. So, I felt like an absolute dummy as I sat transfixed by this program. As I like to tell people, “Learn something new every day.” Bravo and mazel tov to all who took part in this amazing program. Pass it on… It’s better than “Fiddler on the Roof,” and it’s a TRUE STORY! Cordially, Ellen Kimball, Portland, Oregon
Please could you tell me when the Thomashefky program be repeated? Thank you.
Hi Vanda,
Please check the schedule widget above on this page, or you can visit the PBS search tool below to check to see if there are any repeats of The Thomashefskys in your area.
http://www.pbs.org/tv_schedules
The program is also available in its entirety online. Click the “Watch the Full Program” link on the upper right hand part of this page.
Would be even better had the person playing Bessie known Yiddish and not have mispronounced words as if they were German. Vos ken men tohn–s’iz doch Amerikeh!
Hi Zvi Gitelman — Just wondering how old you are. I’m a second-generation American, age 72, but my mother and father, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, used Yiddish words and told stories and jokes about their parents. As we all know, Yiddish is a dying language and it was not chosen as the main language of Israel in the 1940s. Hebrew was. My family was predominantly from Eastern Europe, Russia, Roumania, Hungary, but these people are all gone. I’ve been reviewing plays, movies and other entertainment for decades for radio and TV. I think would be pretty hard to find a young actress talented and attractive enough to sing, dance and actually speak Yiddish with a perfect accent, right? Of course, right! I am sure there are differences in the accents, but we should overlook these things a bit. In my opinion, all of the performers did a magnificent job with this very interesting and touching program. The subtitling of Yiddish/English expressions was particularly helpful. Incidentally, my husband’s father was from Russia, spoke Yiddish with a Russian accent, and read the Jewish Forward in Hebrew characters. He spoke broken English enthusiastically all his life. Cordially, Ellen Kimball, Portland, Oregon
What a delightful joyous testament to the human spirit in art! Thank you.
What a nice thing to hear!
Particularly from a man whom I guess is Irish Catholic? We lived in Boston, Massachusetts for a very long time and, although we are Jewish, both my husband and I grew up in primarily Catholic communities. Art should be for everyone, right? My Jewish father painted a splendid replica of Michelangelo’s “Pieta” — the noted sculpture of the Virgin Mary with the body of Jesus laying across her lap — and gave it to a local Catholic church in North Miami, Florida before he died.
When can I see this program in Pompano Beach,Fl. 33062—–Channel 2 Public Television?
What a wonderful show! As a younger person my parents took me to the last of the Yiddish Theater performances on 14th Street and 2nd Avenue to share in a culture that I never knew existed. What a delight. They of course grew up with this entertainment and relished in this living experience from many years before.
The “Dybbuk” was a fantastic show played on stage and hailed as a classic. Mr. Thomas is a true showman. He can do it all.
I just watched the program “The Yiddish Theater” on WPBS in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Is this show available?
It was wonderful. Please let me know if I can buy a copy of it. If so, how can I do it?
As a Jewish immigrant from Hungary in 1939, I found this program emotionally overwhelming. And, also a wonderful show.
Please let me know,
Peter Rowe8