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O Say, can you see…?

Bronx National Anthem

Singing the Anthem at the Bronx Half-Marathon

Oh, what a beautiful morning…!!

I woke up at the crack of dawn today (4am… gevalt!) and scooted myself up to The Bronx to sing the US National Anthem for the NY Road Runners Bronx Half Marathon!   Really…!  With a 7AM start, I was chirping and warming up the whole trip!

But it was definitely worth losing a lil’ bit of sleep.  What a privilege to sing for literally thousands of runners about to embark on their 13 mile journey around the borough of my forbears… my ancestral home, da Bronix!  So, pitch pipe in hand, I did my best to inspire.  I even met a couple of Bronx City Council Politicos…  Apparently, this event is touted as the only NYRR event on the Mainland.  Go figure!!

Click here to see a video of my Anthem performance, courtesy of Salmini Films.  (1000 thanks,  Ambrose!)  And if you can’t get enough, here’s a little home video as well… Special thanks to Corey Witmer of NYRR for inviting me to sing, and to Ed Kalegi for recommending me!

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave…

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Local Girl makes good…

Gimme an "S"!!! (photo by Jesse Ritz)

I have arrived!!

I’ve hit the Big Time!!

Yes, after years of obscurity, I’ve finally reached hometown hero status!  Idina Menzel, Natalie Portman and… ME!!

Ursula Moore, a journalist from the Syosset Patch discovered me right here on www.JoanneBorts.com!!  Who knew?  I’m getting farklemt…

Check out this article:

Borts Has More Than a Song in Her Heart

I’m totally tickled!

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Fare thee well, Fiddler…

Arrivederci Anatevka!

My dear Fellow Fiddler Voyagers…

How do I sum up what has taken 18 months, 40 different cities and 463 performances to experience? We’ve been explorers together, shared hundreds of Sabbaths, and had so many surprising and excellent adventures…

I can’t thank you enough…  I never thought I’d tour again, but it was worth it to have had the chance to work with each of you.  You came into my life at a fascinating time, and we all dove into this journey head-first ~ And when we meet again in NY or Vegas or wherever our paths lead us, we’ll know that we all shared something unique and remarkable.

Now that our wild ride has faced its final curtain, I hope that we will have the opportunity to tell more stories together… perhaps we’ll meet in Glocca Morra?  Or Ancient Greece… or Oz…?  No matter where and when, I’m grateful for this time, and I will miss each and every one of you ~ and this life ~and our little village of Anatevka.

Mazel Tov!  Good luck in all your future endeavors and may we meet only on Happy Occasions!!

L’chaim!!

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“It’s a Major Award!!”

With the "Leg Lamp" in Cleveland!

Can you name that movie?  It was filmed here in Cleveland, Ohio!!

Wow… Fiddler on the Roof is coming in for a landing — One more week here in Cleveland at the Palace Theatre,  then we’re all on to greener pastures… We’ve covered the country back and forth several times, and now we’re here in the mid-west for our last hurrah!!  Huzzah!!!

Our Nachum, the Begger – Rick Passagno – asked a favor of the company.  He’s teaching a Theatre Class for college students, and he asked us to contribute our 2 cents about our experiences on tour.  This produced a little something I’m excited to share.

Click here to read Life-Lessons from the Road!  What started out as a quick reply email turned into a valuable exercise for me… and I hope others might enjoy it as well…

Just a little food for thought!  Buon Appetito!!

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A Concert with Lorin Sklamberg

Performing with Lorin Sklamberg at the YIVO Heritage Dinner

On April 26th, I had the opportunity to perform at the 9th Annual YIVO Heritage Dinner in New York City.   As always, working with Lorin Sklamberg is just a dream… We sang a wide range of songs, including the Barry Sisters’ “Prost un Pushet” (Plain and Simple) ,  “Regnboygn” (Rainbow) from Kids & Yiddish and The Klezmatics’ version of Chava Alberstein’s “Di Krenitse” (The Well).

After 15 months on the road with Fiddler on the Roof, it was a pleasure to take my day off to sing those beautiful Yiddish words on the stage with one of my favorite collaborators.  Our program, “Harts un Soul” has been patiently waiting for us to put voice to it again, and what better place than the Institute for Jewish research.

And the next day, I was back in Washington, DC at the National Theatre with Fiddler.  Harvey’s back in the show, and as usual, we’re getting rave reviews and selling out.  So what could be bad?

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