“ ‘Amid Falling Walls,’ though, relies heavily on lyrics and spoken text, almost all of it in Yiddish; non-Yiddish speakers, like me, will spend the performance reading supertitles, which are in English and Russian.”
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“this 80-minute musical revue takes audiences to the ghettos of Warsaw, Vilna, and Lodz, where makeshift Yiddish theaters and underground cabarets gave voice to the fears and aspirations of the people crowded within...No other company does this kind of work, and it would be a shame to miss this moving and revelatory showcase of mostly forgotten songs that still embody the spirit of survival and resistance.”
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"It's a tragedy too terrible to bear, a triumph almost too bitter to celebrate. And yet, the very existence of 'Amid Falling Walls' is cause for celebration, not least for its ability to convey the day-to-day reality of living, and outlasting, a world of horror. An important, highly valuable piece of the past has been finally retrieved."
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Director Matthew “Motl” Didner manages to make what might have been just a well-staged concert of moving songs into a dramatic whole with a deep feeling for the ebb and flow of emotions from happiness to hopelessness. "Amid Falling Walls"—an apt title, unfortunately, still consequential in 2023—does come during a spike in anti-Semitism. Though an entertainment, the show provides ample historical evidence of blind prejudice. If only the message could register.
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Putting today’s politics aside—assuming that’s even possible—Amid Falling Walls is absolutely worth a trip to Battery Park. You don’t need to know Yiddish to love it, and you’ll probably come to feel that without Yiddish it would lose half its power to move you.
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a simultaneously delightful and devastating musical revue … performed with verve and heart in Yiddish (with supertitles in English and Russian) by a lively nine-piece orchestra and an adept eight-member cast.. The songs demonstrate a breadth of tone, and a depth of talent by the creators, who ranged from amateurs as young as eleven to songwriting pros, all expressing themselves with humor and sorrow, rage and resistance,
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“This show of ‘songs of survival’ is a collection of Yiddish songs that are emotional and illuminating testimonials...The 80-minute revue encapsulates hope, resistance, bigotry, desperation, love, grief, tragedy, joy, and pride."
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"The production’s structure has nonlinear ghetto and partisan scenes and a loosely linked narrative, so in some ways it resembles a poignant musical revue. This framework strengthens the play’s focus on collective memory of tragedy and celebration of resilience through musical numbers that provide the 'glue' for the show...Certainly, this production’s message of Jews’ resilience amid tragedy and sorrow is an appropriate message for events of the day. "
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