Yoni Eilat ( he, יוני אילת; November 5, 1975) is an Israeli actor and singer. Eilat is a graduate of

Beit Zvi Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts, and a Theater ( he, בית צבי) is an acting school, and a theater located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, established in 1950. History Beit Zvi is the country's first theater school ...

, the Academy of Performing Arts in Israel. He has been performing since 2001 in different theater productions, children's plays and musicals. He is best known for his solo performances of

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 ...

and Israeli songs ("shira betzibur"), which he performed throughout Israel and the world. He is an ensemble member at Yiddishpiel Theater - the Israeli National Yiddish Theater. For his contribution to the Yiddish culture he is a winner of three Yiddishpiel Awards. In 2010, Eilat released his first album, ''Zigayner Neshume'' (, Gypsy Soul): 11 Yiddish versions of

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

folk music. The songs were performed by Eilat as part of the 2011 International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam. In 2012, he was in Poland when he participated in the joint Israeli-Polish production “Szpera 42” at the Chorea Theater. In 2013 he directed and played in Yiddishpiel's production "The Kishke Monologues". The play, that described as a "musical-culinary journey" was based mainly on texts from cookbooks and included monologues in Hebrew and Yiddish songs. For his work Yoni was nominated as a director of the year at Israeli theater award. In 2015 the show took part at the Kulturfest in NYC, and in 2016 at the

Festival of Jewish Culture in Warsaw Festival of Jewish Culture in Warsaw – "Singer's Warsaw" is an annual celebration of Jewish culture that has been held in Warsaw since 2004. The Festival includes Jewish (both Hebrew and Yiddish) theater, music, films, exhibits and expositions. ...

. In 2015 he directed and played in another Yiddishpiel's production: "Zigayner Neshume", based on the songs from his album by that name. In 2016 he directed "Will he return" - a play based on songs composed by

Manos Hadjidakis Manos may refer to: Films * ''The Hands'' (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film * '' Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film Music * Manos (band), German Black metal band * ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes Other use ...

, which was performed at The Goodman Acting School of the Negev. In 2017, he directed and participated a third Yiddishpiel play: "A Yiddishe Mameh", a musical dealing with the image of the Jewish mother in theater, films and music.

External links

Yoni Eilat's YouTube channel

"Gypsy Soul with a Jewish Flavor"
''The Jerusalem Post'', 8 October 2010
"A bisl Yiddish: A Yiddish speaking Sabra?"
''The Jerusalem Post'', 1 January 2013
"A Yiddish kitchen-sink drama"
''Haaretz'', Jul.29, 2013
"Joseph and the amazing technicolor shtetl"
''Haaretz'', May 12, 2013
"A Yiddish play that speaks from the gut"
''The Times of Israel'', May 28, 2014

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eilat, Yoni Israeli male musical theatre actors 21st-century Israeli male singers Yiddish-language singers Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts alumni