Avi Hoffman In Celebrating 'Yosl': Remembering Joe Papp - A Live And Streaming Concert Event Featuring Celebrity Video Testimonials Presented By Love Jewish

“The single most creative and controversial figure in American theater” – Newsweek

Joseph Papp (1921-1991), born ‘Yosl Papirofsky’, revolutionized modern theater as we know it. This theatrical icon – winner of 28 Tony Awards - will be the subject of a memorial concert on what would have been his 104th birthday on Sunday, June 22nd at 1:00 pm. This tribute will be presented by Love Jewish (a division of Yiddishkayt Initiative) at the Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street, New York, New York 10023.

The concert event will also feature pre-recorded celebrity testimonials from Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, F. Murray Abraham, Blythe Danner, John Lithgow, Estelle Parsons, and many others.

Joe Papp’s vision led him in 1957 to establish the “Shakespeare in the Park” free theatrical productions. Ten years later, he founded The Public Theater in the building that had formerly housed the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), a haven for newly arrived refugees fleeing persecution. The building was saved from demolition through Mr. Papp’s efforts after a long negotiation with the City of New York. It became the permanent home of the New York Shakespeare Festival/Joseph Papp Public Theatre (The Public) and is currently designated as a New York City Historical Landmark.

Hair, A Chorus Line, and Runaways, are among the most famous shows to evolve from his ‘workshops’, along with over 700 other shows Papp nurtured and/or produced. Modern blockbusters like Hamilton were also developed at The Public. He championed the cause of multi-ethnic casting and socially relevant topics and was a social activist who also helped develop other off-Broadway experimental theaters. He worked to preserve the historic Broadway Theatre District and was considered one of the most philanthropic providers of inner-city access to the arts, believing that “if public libraries were free, public theatre should be free as well.”

Celebrating Yosl is a tribute that features YI Founder and CEO, Drama Desk Award nominee (Death of a Salesman) and world-renowned actor and Jewish Cultural Activist Avi Hoffman, who Joe Papp mentored in the 1980’s with the creation of the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theatre.

Avi Hoffman was recently awarded Congressional recognition, invited to the Vatican to meet the late Pope Francis, and was inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame for his lifetime dedication to advancing Jewish culture, Yiddishkayt, and Holocaust Awareness. He is best known for his Too Jewish Trilogy: Award-winning, one-man shows Too Jewish, Too Jewish, Too! (PBS, Performer of the Year '95 - NY Press Magazine; L.A. OVATION award - Best Actor In a Musical 2001; NY Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award nominations) and Still Jewish After All These Years. On TV, he was featured as Sid Raskin in the Starz TV series Magic City, as well as on Netflix’s Bloodline, A&E’s The Glades, and on the NBC series Law and Order. He has recently starred in several indie films: You Will Not Play Wagner and the International Award-winning short Yiddish Films: Shehita (Best Thriller - HollyShorts Festival), Boxed, and the motion picture – The Imported Bridegroom. Avi has performed all over the world, has numerous acting and directing credits, and has received many awards and nominations.

To purchase Streaming ($18/$36) Tickets, visit: https://furshmedia.stellartickets.com/events/avi-hoffman/occurrences/643fb77d-820e-4d33-a489-5dd7449009aa

About

YI Love Jewish is a division of Yiddishkayt Initiative (YI), a 501(c) (3) Not-For-Profit Organization that builds Jewish engagement and forges multi-cultural connections through an immersive and varied range of programming for audiences around the globe. YI offers a global clearinghouse of Jewish culture and entertainment staffed by experts in subject matter and production. The organization works with a wide range of organizations, including the University of Miami’s Sue and Leonard Miller Center and the George Feldenkreis Program in Contemporary Judaic Studies. YI partners with local Jewish Federations, JCCs, synagogues, Hadassah chapters, Hillel chapters, men’s groups, women’s guilds, special interest clubs, youth groups, summer camp programs and educational institutions worldwide.