Eleanor Reissa is an American actress, singer, theatre director, playwright,

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

, choreographer, translator, and author based in New York City. She works and performs in English and

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

speaking stages, and also interprets and performs

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues ...

and songs.

Background and Education

Eleanor Reissa was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. However, her parents were born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. During WW2, they were both placed in German ghettos established in occupied Poland, and fought and lived through the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. In America, they were both considered

sweatshop A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or illegal working conditions. Some illegal working conditions include poor ventilation, little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting, o ...

workers. Hence, Reissa studied in the New York City public school system and received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Theatre at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

, graduating cum laude.

Directing and acting

Reissa's directing debut in Broadway garnered her a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nomination for ''Those Were the Days'', which she also choreographed and starred in. Other New York directing credits include: ''Cowgirls'' (1995

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

nomination), ''Echoes of the War'' (2005

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

nomination), and ''The Soldier's Wife'' (two 2006 Drama Desk Award nominations). In Yiddish, her New York directing credits include: ''Got Fun Nekome'' (''

God of Vengeance In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

''), ''Hershele Ostropolyer'' (adapted by Reissa), ''Zise Khaloymes'' (based on her English language play, ''Sweet Dreams''), and ''Yoshke Muzikant: The Klezmer’s Tale''. Furthermore, she was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene for five years. On

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, she was in the cast of

Paula Vogel Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play ''How I Learned to Drive.'' A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Bro ...

Indecent Inappropriateness refers to standards or ethics that are typically viewed as being negative in a society. It differs from things that are illicit in that inappropriate behavior does not necessarily have any accompanying legal ramifications. Co ...

, and was nominated for a

as the director of the musical ''Those Were the Days'' (which she also choreographed and starred in). In April 2019, Reissa directed, co-created and featured as a vocalist in ''From Shtetl to Stage: A Celebration of Yiddish Music and Culture'' at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Music and recordings

Reissa has also sung in numerous American musicals in the theatre, including ''

Tintypes ''Tintypes'' is a musical revue conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle. Description With its time frame set between the turn of the 20th century and the onset of World War I, this chamber piece with a cast of five provides a mus ...

'', ''

The Rise of David Levinsky ''The Rise of David Levinsky'' is a novel by Abraham Cahan. It was published in 1917 in literature, 1917, and remains Cahan's best known work. Plot summary The book is told in the form of a fictional autobiography of David Levinsky, a Russian Je ...

'', and ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

''. Reissa's singing in Yiddish has earned her the title of the "Reigning Queen of Yiddish

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

". Additionally, she has been featured in ''Pearls of Yiddish Song'', ''Remember the Children'', ''Going Home: Gems of Yiddish Song'', ''Songs in the Key of Yiddish'', and in 2015, ''Just Add Water'' (Eleanor Reissa and Di Boyess). She has collaborated with

Frank London Frank London (born 1958 in New York) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music. Early life London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourth g ...

of the Klezmatics and the Klezmer Brass Allstars, to perform together internationally. Along with the Klezmatics, she recorded ''Vilde Mekhaye (Wild Ecstasy)'' in 2016. They have also performed in festivals and venues including

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Toronto, Paris,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and in New York City at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette St ...

and

Feinstein's/54 Below 54 Below is a cabaret and restaurant in the basement of Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Owned by Broadway producers Steve Baruch, Richard Frankel, Marc Routh and Tom Viertel, 54 Below has hosted shows by such performers as Patt ...

. She and Frank London performed their program ''Kurt Weill in New York'' at the

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

Festival in

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

, (Germany) featuring

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', ''The Big Gundown'', ''Archery'', and ''Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music in ...

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includi ...

, and

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

Playwriting

For her playwriting, Reissa received the Dorothy Silver Playwriting Award for ''Wishful Thinking,'' and then was shortlisted as a finalist for her play, ''Thicker Than Water'' a few years later. Reissa's plays have been published in an anthology called ''The Last Survivor and other Modern Yiddish Plays''. Her play, ''The Last Dinosaur'', was listed as finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s

Heideman Award The Heideman Award is given each year to the winner of the National Ten-Minute Play Contest, a competition hosted by Actors Theatre of Louisville. The $1,000 cash prize award was established in 1979 by Louisville, Kentucky native Ted Heideman. P ...

Adaptations and Translations

Reissa was commissioned to adapt the story ''The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer'' (also known as

Hershel of Ostropol Hershel of Ostropol ( yi, הערשעלע אסטראפאלער, translit=Hershele Ostropoler, Little Hersh of Ostropol; 1757–1811) is a prominent figure in Jewish humor. Hershel was a prankster from Ostropol, Crown Poland (now Ukraine), who live ...

) as a musical for the National Yiddish Theatre, Folksbiene, where it was played for two consecutive seasons, starring

Mike Burstyn Michael Burstein ( he, מייק בורשטיין; born July 1, 1945) is an Israeli-American actor known onstage as Mike Burstyn. He was born in New York City to the late Yiddish-language actors, Pesach Burstein and Lillian Lux. His first cous ...

. It was then performed in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Yiddishpiel Yiddishpiel (combination of "Yiddish" and "spiel" - "play"), is a Yiddish theatre in Tel Aviv, Israel. The theatre was established in 1987 at the initiative of former Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat, Chairman of Mercantile Discount Bank Moshe Noiderfe ...

, the same location where it was nominated for the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

as well. After this, Reissa was also commissioned by Yiddishpiel to adapt the 1937 film, '' Yidl Mitn Fidl'' to a stage musical in 2014, where it has a successful run. In 2019, Reissa also received a commission by the National Yiddish Theatre, Folksbiene to translate

Paddy Chayevsky Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was ...

’s ''The Tenth Man'', into Yiddish (with Harvey Varga), which was slated for the 2020 season with her as director. She also worked on the libretto for the opera ''Taibele and Her Demon'', based on the short story by

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

, with composer,

Judd Greenstein Judd Greenstein (born 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music, and an avid promoter of new music in New York City. He is also a co-director of New Amsterdam Records. Life and career Judd Greenstein was born and raised in Manh ...

''The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey''

After the death of her mother, Reissa found letters sent by her father, a survivor of Auschwitz, in the late 1940s to her mother, a survivor of a slave labor camp in Uzbekistan. She eventually had them translated and traveled to Germany, later writing ''The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey'', which was published by Post Hill Press in 2022.

Directing

Theater acting (partial list)

Film and television acting (partial list)

Music/recordings list

* ''Pearls of Yiddish Song'' (1990) * ''Remember the Children'' (1991) * ''Going Home: Gems of Yiddish Song'' (1992) * ''Songs in the Key of Yiddish'' (2002) * ''Just Add Water'' with Di Boyess (2015) * ''Wild Ecstasy (Vilde Mekhaye) with

(2017)

References

External links

* * Eleanor Reissa a
Broadway World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reissa, Eleanor Actresses from New York City Singers from New York City Yiddish-language singers of the United States American theatre directors American women theatre directors Jewish theatre directors 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights Jewish American dramatists and playwrights American women dramatists and playwrights American musical theatre librettists American women choreographers American choreographers American translators Broadway theatre directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Brooklyn College alumni 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American Jews Jewish women singers American people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish translators