Molly Picon: Yiddish Star, American Star
From June 26, 2007 through September 22, 2007
Vincent Astor Gallery
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts,
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat: 12 to 6; Thurs: 12 to 8
Learn more:
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/exhib/lpa/lpaexhibdesc.cfm?id=446

Look at the NYPL brochure on Molly Picon (pdf)
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/imagesexhib/mollybro.pdf

Molly Picon Exhibit Info:
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/exhib/lpa/lpaexhibdesc.cfm?id=446

Please see below for full details on the exhibition
and related public programs.
For years she was the “sweetheart” of New York’s Lower
East Side Yiddish-speaking community. Her shows, her
sheet music, her records, her films, her radio
programs, won her a special place in their hearts.
Then, as she increasingly began appearing in more
English language shows, television programs, and
films, an even larger audience fell in love with her:
the American public. Picon’s changing career reflects
the contributions immigrant cultures have made to our
entertainment industry, our city, and our nation.

This exhibition, in cooperation with the Museum of the
City of New York, includes more than two hundred
photos, programs, posters, sheet music, records, radio
scripts, set renderings, costumes and more. Just a
sampling of some of the items on view: photos from
Molly Picon’s 1923 New York Yiddish Theatre debut in
the Jacob Kalich/Joseph Rumshinsky production Yankele;
Picon’s costume from Yankele; photos and selected
sheet music by Abraham Ellstein for the Joseph Green
1936 Yiddish film Yidl mitn fidl (Yidl with a
Fiddle)and the 1938 Yiddish film Mamele; radio scripts
from her 1941 series Nancy from Delancey; memorabilia
from the Jerry Herman/Don Appell 1961 production of
Milk and Honey, her 1960s appearances on the
television show Car 54, Where are You? and the Norman
Jewison film Fiddler on the Roof.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Diane Cypkin,
Professor of Media and Communication Arts at Pace
University, and herself a performer who has appeared in
many Yiddish and English language productions. The
institutions’ look at Yiddish culture in New York
continues at the Museum of the City of New York with
The Jewish Daily Forward: Embracing an Immigrant
Community, April 22, 2007 – September 17, 2007