Tovah Feldshuh will not perform the evening performance of Irena’s Vow on April 8 in order to observe Passover with friends and family. Feldshuh’s standby, Tina Benko, will appear for the performance as the title character, World War II heroine Irena Gut Opdyke. Feldshuh will still perform at the 2pm matinee.
Irena’s Vow marks Feldshuh’s first Broadway appearance since her Tony Award-nominated turn as Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony, Broadway’s longest-running one-woman show. Her other New York stage credits include Cyrano, Rodgers & Hart, Sarava, Yentl, Dreyfus in Rehearsal, She Stoops to Conquer, Mistress of the Inn, Three Sisters, Tallulah Hallelujah!, Full Gallop, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. On film, she’s appeared in Lady in the Water, Just My Luck, Kissing Jessica Stein, A Walk on the Moon, Happy Accidents, The Corruptor, Daniel and The Idolmaker, among others. Feldshuh has also performed two other one-woman shows, Tovah!: Out of Her Mind and Mining Golda: My Journey to Golda Meir.
Written by Dan Gordon, Irena’s Vow is the story of a Polish Catholic woman who risks her life to protect the lives of 12 Jewish refugees whom she secretly took under her care while working as head housekeeper for a prominent German major. After a successful off-Broadway run, the play moved to Broadway and began previews on March 10 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it opened on March 29.