Soraya’s “Yiddish Fiddler” Praised in Best Theater 2025

The Soraya is a leader in bringing original programs to Los Angeles, collaborating with artists locally and nationally, and serving the many communities of the San Fernando Valley and beyond. We are committed to these priorities now and long into the future.

Few programs better exemplify this than our partnership with National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene to bring the lauded Yiddish Fiddler to the West Coast for the first time with the original off-Broadway cast. Audiences responded enthusiastically to this authentic and moving theatrical experience, and though ours was a concert version, the power of the American classic was only further amplified. In fact, Los Angeles Times reviewer Charles McNulty wrote, “It’s a pity that this concert had such a brief run. But how lucky to experience at this fragile moment the values of generosity and empathy underlying this classic American musical — values that once made it possible to transcend our political differences and find ourselves in each other’s stories.”

McNulty just named The Soraya’s production as one of his Best Theater of 2025! We are pleased and proud, not only for the artistic recognition, but for the significance to audiences who come to the theater to celebrate human perseverance in the face of adversity. The Yiddish version of Fiddler underlines the historic and human dimensions of displacement and prejudice, and it celebrates the power of culture to propel us forward.

Congratulations to the cast, our partners at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, and to our supporters:  The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Noah Marco, M.D., and Cornelia Kalt-Marco, Carol Shubin, Ph.D., Faith and Jonathan Cookler, and Ronald and Sandy Friedman. Read McNulty’s 2025 wrap up here.

Gratefully,