The Megile of Itzik Manger in Concert

Dani is thrilled to be back with the Folkbiene family after appearing in Amid Falling Walls and The Sorceress! Also Off-Broadway: WHITE ROSE and THE BAKER’S WIFE (Theatre Row). Regional: Ellie Blake – FREAKY FRIDAY (Virginia Musical Theatre), Tzeitel – FIDDLER (Phoenix Theatre Company), Cinderella – INTO THE WOODS (Phoenix Theatre Company), Oz – WE WILL ROCK YOU (Barn Theatre), and Julia – ZM (Goodspeed Opera House – workshop). TV: The Waitress (FOX/Hulu’s I CAN SEE YOUR VOICE) and voice of Princess Poppy (RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE Season 15). You can also catch her interview on ACCESS HOLLYWOOD with her singing dog, Clarence. BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Chag Purim Sameach! www.daniapple.net IG: @apple.dani TikTok: @daniapple

Shane Baker is Executive Director of the Congress for Jewish Culture, a Yiddish cultural organization. He translated Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot into Yiddish, starring as Vladimir internationally and Off Broadway. Recent Yiddish work in New York includes Off Broadway runs of Avrom Sutzkever’s Night Stories and Bashevis’s Demons. In English, he appeared in various versions of Jeff Weiss’s Hot Keys, as well as Everett Quinton’s stagings of Charles Ludlam’s Galas and Conquest of the Universe or When Queen’s Collide. In 2020 he received the Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award. For more information visit www.CongressForJewishCulture.org

Richmond, VA native Drew Seigla is thrilled to return to NYTF in The Megile of Itzik Manger in Concert for his second appearance in a yiddish musical. He made his Off-Broadway debut as Matt in The Fantasticks at the Snapple Theatre in Times Square for a 2 year stint. Next up, he was cast as a standby for 3 roles in the Off-Broadway success Sweeney Todd at Barrow St. Theatre. He is most known for playing Pertshik in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at NYTF, Stage 42 & at New World Stages where he can be heard on the Original Cast Album. Drew was honored to sing at Carnegie Hall last April as a vocalist in Bryan Perri’s Few Words: A Performance. This summer, he played Pierre in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at Firehouse Theatre. He attended Elon University for Music Theatre and earned his B.A. from The Juilliard School in Music from the Vocal Arts Division. Thanks to God, Mom and Dad & my wife, Steph.

Avi Hoffman is proud to be back at the Folksbiene where he began his career at the age of 10, immediately after seeing the original production of ‘The Megile’ in 1968. He was awarded Congressional recognition, was invited to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis and was inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame for his lifetime work advancing Yiddish and Jewish culture and Holocaust awareness. Nominated (Drama Desk) for his Yiddish language portrayal of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, he is best known for his award winning Too Jewish Trilogy. Avi has performed all over the world, has numerous film, television and theatre acting and directing credits and has received multiple awards and nominations. Visit www.YILoveJewish.org

Lea Kalisch is a Swiss polyglot touring singer actress, entertainer and film director. She’s the Eshet Chayil of Hip hop, known to wear a shtreimal and blending Yiddishkayt with Pop. She’s starred in multiple OFF- Broadway productions, Yiddish plays and regional theaters (Awake & Sing, Bad Jews, God of vengeance, the Wanderers) and graces stages across America and Europe with various concerts programs.
Her debut Yiddish film Un tango para Rachel is currently seen in festivals worldwide. She’s thrilled to be back on the Folks Biene stage.
Follow her musical journey at @leaklisch and Leakalisch.com

An actress and stunt performer, Hannah is thrilled to be working with Folksbiene again…where her stage journey began in the US.
Originally from the UK, Hannah trained at The Central School Of Speech And Drama and has worked all over the UK and US.
Recent credits include THE EFFECT ( Off Square Theater Co ), TV/Film: FBI, YOUR FRIENDS YOUR NEIGHBORS, LONG BRIGHT RIVER, RAISING KANAN.
Fun fact – Hannah is still an active Muay Thai fighter!
She extends her love and thanks to the family at Folksbiene, as always.

NYTF audiences will remember Adam from Gimpl Tam, The Megile of Itzik Manger, The Golden Bride, and as Der Rov in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.
Film/TV credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Master of None, Friends From College, and HBO’s Emmy winning film, The Normal Heart.
His debut EP “Let Love In” is available on all digital music platforms.
So thrilled to be back with the Mishpokhe. adambshapiro.com

Born in Detroit. AB: History and Literature (Harvard). New Yiddish plays Mikhl has written: musical Feast of the Seven Sinners; drama The Gospel According to Chaim, which “jolted the repertoire with a work both traditional and delightfully subversive” (Forward). He has performed with the Folksbiene in: Fiddler on the Roof; Amid Falling Walls; The Sorceress, in which Mikhl played the title role as a “keen, if malevolent, psychologist” (NYT, “Critic’s Pick”). His translations The Mother of Yiddish Theatre: Memoirs of Ester-Rokhl Kaminska (Bloomsbury) and Adventures of Max Spitzkopf: The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes (White Goat Press) were released in 2025.
instagram.com/mikhldarling

Rachel Yucht is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to revisit the role of Zeyresh. In addition to the long list of concerts with the Folksbiene & multiple regional theater productions (The Ogunquit Playhouse is paradise), she has had the great pleasure of performing at some of NYC’s most iconic venues including Hammerstein Ballroom, Birdland Jazz Club, & Carnegie Hall. When she is not on stage, Rachel coaches competitive gymnastics in TriBeCa. She is thrilled to celebrate Purim with all of you!