Mandy Patinkin knew only a few words of Yiddish at the beginning of the '90s, when the late Joe Papp eked a promise from the actor-singer to learn the repertoire. So he did, and this helzapoppin' collection of traditional Yiddish tunes and Yiddish translations of English songs by Jewish composers is the overblown, symphonically orchestrated result. Patinkin plays to the third balcony on "Mamaloshen" ("mother tongue"), squeezing every iota of feeling out of songs you might have heard on Grandma's knee, and turning each guttural consonant into a virtual phlegm fest. Nostalgia can be nice, but things get weird when Patinkin makes with Yiddish versions of such showstoppers as "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," Paul Simon's "American Tune," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and--oy vey ist mir!--even "The Hokey Pokey," their inclusion justified on assimilationist principles. --Richard Gehr
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