“Eleanor Reissa Sings the Very Best Songs in English and Yiddish at the Schorr Family Firehouse Stage One Weekend Only!

“Eleanor Reissa Sings the Very Best Songs in English and Yiddish at the Schorr Family Firehouse Stage One Weekend Only!



Johnson City- NY- “The Very Best Songs Sung in English & Yiddish”, featuring the compelling Manhattan Cabaret artist; Eleanor Reissa is the next show of a four part Cabaret Series offered at the Schorr Family Firehouse Stage on November 21st and 22nd. The 2009-10 season Cabaret Series is sponsored by Mondorf and Fenwick CPAs. The New York Times is quoted as saying that Reissa “resembles the young Barbara Streisand”. Reissa will play for one weekend only November 21, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 22 at 2:00 p.m.

ELEANOR REISSA is a born and bred Brooklyn girl and a proud product of the New York City public school system. She received her BA from Brooklyn College, graduating cum laude, majoring in Speech and Theatre. Eleanor's parents were Holocaust survivors, which accounts for Eleanor's fluency in Yiddish and love of Yiddishkeit. Both of her parents worked in sweat shops and their form of childcare while they were working was sending her to ballet school at age 3. She danced ballet for over 10 years, working on pointe and dancing recitals at Little Carnegie in Manhattan.

Since her young age Eleanor has acted, sung and danced in theaters all around the United States including on and off Broadway shows and as well as Festivals around the world. In 1989 she began directing and choreographing. Her first venture on Broadway got her a Tony nomination for Best Director of a Musical for the show, THOSE WERE THE DAYS. In 1996 she began writing plays. Her first play, THE LAST SURVIVOR was selected for a number of play festivals and was produced by Northlight Theatre in 1997.

She has received a Playwriting Fellowship to the Bogliasco Foundation in Genoa, Italy, where she worked on her second play, WISHFUL THINKING and has since been made a Permanent Fellow at Bogliasco. She was invited to the American Academy in Rome as a Visiting Artist, where she wrote poetry and worked on her third play, THICKER THAN WATER. In 2000 WISHFUL THINKING won the Dorothy Silver Playwriting Competition.


As an actress, most recently she starred in the title role of YENTL to tremendous critical acclaim. She performed her one woman show, HIP HEYMISH AND HOT to sold out audiences at the Houseman Theatre in New York City, and all over the country. She is very proud of her new CD, SONGS IN THE KEY OF YIDDISH. Eleanor enjoys a career as an actor, singer, recording artist, director, choreographer and playwright

“We are very excited to be bringing this accomplished artist to the Schorr family firehouse Stage this year” says Goodwill Theatre Inc. Executive Director, Naima Kradjian. ”We hope to be able to forge an ongoing relationship with Ms. Reissa since she is so multitalented. Good actresses make popular songs come alive and give them a new perspective. We look forward to the unique interpretations that she will give her repertoire. We are also very excited about hearing the Yiddish pieces. It is fun to hear songs in French and Spanish so why not branch out and hear some in Yiddish? Yiddish is such an amazing, colorful and expressive language that just about anyone can figure out the intent when listening to it. We are really looking forward to this show!” adds Kradjian.



“Eleanor Reissa: The best of English and Yiddish” performs one weekend only, November 21st at 8:00 p.m and November 22nd at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and students. Reservations are highly encouraged. Tickets, if still available, will be sold at the door one hour before show time. All major credit cards are accepted. Ask how to save 20% by purchasing a Cabaret Series Subscription!



The Schorr Family Firehouse Stage is the first performance venue of the Goodwill Theatre Performing Arts Complex & Professional Training Facility. It is located on the corner of Corliss Avenue and Willow Street in Johnson City. Enter the facility through the parking lot on Corliss Avenue. Parking is available in a small lot at the theatre, on-street and in various Village municipal lots within two blocks of the theatre.



For further information, or to get tickets or group sales, please call (607) 772-2404,ext. 1. Doors open one hour prior to show time. Snacks and beverages will be sold before the show and at intermission.