(MTT extreme trivia: One of his grandfathers was the mighty Yiddish actor Boris Thomashefsky, who gets a shoutout in the Gershwins' Let 'Em Eat Cake, which MTT conducted/recorded in 1987. He must have found that amusing.)

bsky.app/profile/actu... This is because I found a newspaper article calling Boris Thomashefsky the Yiddish Francis X. Bushman

Somehow I only learned this morning that Michael Tilson Thomas is the grandson of Boris Thomashefsky

#OTD “5 Thespians Due on Broadway”, 1931

Ft. Paul Kelly, Sylvia Field, Boris Thomashefsky, Harry Ellerbe, and Jack Haley

For Baltimore Day (August 8) we did a silly little mini-photoshoot with the Lord Baltimore statue*—I know I need a haircut badly, pls don't judge

*aka the Anglo Boris Thomashefsky. Don't know what this means? Come on my new tour soon!

Michael Tilson Thomas was the grandson of Bessie & Boris Thomashefsky, Yiddish theater stars who were also distantly part of my life—my grandfather would use “Thomashefsky” as a term meaning you were being overly dramatic. My mother tells me she was often given the moniker.

Michael Tilson Thomas was a grandson of Boris Thomashefsky, a leading figure in Yiddish theatre, referred to in the Gershwin satire "Let 'em Eat Cake", when political agitator Kruger whose motto is "Down with everything that's up!" sings "Down with Boris Thomashefsky!"

youtu.be/oc_DxICiK5k?...

This recording of the number is conducted by Tilson Thomas himself (not a picture), so of course the chorus sings "Thomashefsky!" with added spin.

Sad to hear this news about Michael Tilson Thomas.

Years ago, when I was just starting out as a Yiddishist, I had the privilege of attending his tribute to his grandparents, Yiddish theatre stars Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky. What an incredible project.
michaeltilsonthomas.com/projects/the...

Oh! And I just remembered that everyone thought it was so cute that one of the lyrics namechecks MTT's grandfather Boris Thomashefsky.

Petite women also got in on the act (as was the case with most Peter Pans). Yiddish theater superstar Bessie Thomashefsky, on the other hand, took on trouser parts as married woman and had the time of her life. I don't think she ever played the role but I would have like to have seen her Pan.

R.I.P., Michael Tilson #Thomas [°Dec. 21, 1944 – Apr. 22, 2026]🕯️😔🌹

#SanFranciscoSymphony #NewWorldSymphony #LondonSymphonyOrchestra #YiddishTheater #JaschaHeifetz #GregorPiatigorsky #WilliamSteinberg #ConstanceShuman #LeonardBernstein #Thomashefsky #RobertaMeritzer #MTT #MichaelTilsonThomas

In that case, UP with Boris Thomashefsky!

אידיש ליד יעדען טאָג: ״איך בין אַ לײדי״ אױפגעפירט פון דזײן פּעפּלער

Yiddish Song of the Day: "I Am A Lady" performed by Jane Pepler #Yiddish

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd-Q...

From Bessie Thomashefsky’s memoirs; on performing Shakespeare in Yiddish in 19th-century New York

Thanks for posting that, appreciated. Re-posted.

Michael Tilson?

I remember Michael Tilson Thomas, the conducter.

He was the grandson of a famous actor from the Yiddish (Jewish) theater...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_T...

Grand (re)opening of such a restaurant on Allen street which was owned by Thomashefsky earlier on. With entertainment Jack Boogich (1889–1950, violinist born in Iași to the Bughici fam.), John Stein (?) and Meyer Libavits (probably Max Leibowitz, 1884–1942, well-known klezmer violinist born in Iași)