JUST REVIEWED

SHOLEM ALEICHEM: LAUGHTER THROUGH TEARS

Theodore Bikel's one-man show Sholem Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears is an amalgamation of tales by the famed Yiddish storyteller with some incidental material about Aleichem's history and Bikel's as well, along with nine Yiddish songs. The theme of the show seems to be about preservation of the past--of traditional Jewish ways and values and of the Yiddish language. I'm not sure that Aleichem or Bikel finally make a very compelling case for this position, however.