Irena's Vow: Broadway Opening Night Video

By Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine

The real life story of Irena Gut Opdyke is being brought to life in the new Broadway play Irena's Vow, starring Tovah Feldshuh. Broadway.tv and Broadway Magazine were there on the red carpet and at the opening night party to bring you the excitement of this significant opening night on a stormy evening in Manhattan. In the show, Tovah Feldshuh portrays Irena, a Polish Catholic who helped to hide Jews from the Germans while she working as a housekeeper for a Nazi officer. The inspiring true story has won the praise of both critics and audiences. On the red carpet, stars like Patrick Wilson, Elaine Stritch, Ally Sheedy, Jackie Hoffman, David Hyde Pierce, David Morse, Judith Light, and Megan Hilty took time to share their enthusiasm for the opening night performance.

Broadway Show: Irena's Vow

On the red carpet, playwright Dan Gordon was clearly thrilled to be seeing the show arrive on Broadway for very personal reasons. "The fact that I kept a promise to Irena Gut Opdyke, and told her that this would happen. I know that somewhere she is looking down on us right now and smiling," Mr. Gordon tells Broawday.tv and Broadway Magazine.

"Tovah is a friend and I'm delighted to be invited tonight," smiles the always-captivating Blythe Danner.

"It's the season for openings and its just nice to see some great theater, and Tovah is such an unbelievable actress, so to see her and the combination of her in this play should be really exciting," film and Broadway star Patrick Wilson tells Broadway.tv on the red carpet.

"I don't know anything about this play. I know Tovah Feldshuh and she's a wonderful actress," shares David Hyde-Pierce, who will be opening soon on Broadway in the comedy Accent On Youth, "I'm looking forward to seeing her performance and the rest of the cast, and finding out what happens."

On the red carpet, other stars were excited to see Tovah Feldshuh in the production.

"We worked once together a year ago. I just think she's dynamite in every way. I'm ready to fall in love with her all over again," smiles Ally Sheedy.

"She's hard-core. She's great," says Jackie Hoffman, who is earning praise for her work in the current revival of Guys and Dolls.

"There's only one person to look forward to, isn't there? Isn't this a one-woman show? I heard it was a two-woman show but she got rid of the other broad. I think this is terrific. I just said to my friend, 'she knows how to rob a train, right!?" laughs the brilliantly candid Broadway legend Elaine Stritch.

"Tovah is pretty darn amazing, she has a lot going on," reflects the talented actor David Morse, "She has to play a young girl, and she has to play someone older, and everything in between."

"There's nobody like her," offers star Judith Light succinctly.

With her arms overflowing with roses, the spry Ms. Feldshuh stood triumphant as the opening night ovations echoed out into the street beside the Walter Kerr Theatre. After the opening, the cast and creative team gathered at Tao to celebrate the shows long journey to Broadway.

At the party, Jeannie Opdyke Smith, the daughter of Irena spoke candidly about how she first learned of her mother's extraordinary at the age of 14. According to the New York Daily News, Irena was the random recipient of a call from a college student doing a survey about the Holocaust. During that call, her daughter heard her mother speaking for the first time of what had happened to her.

"She realized that all those years that she kept silent and hadn't talked about her experiences, she was allowing the enemy to win. And that the people who are eyewitness, they have to speak out, they have to share their stories, otherwise history will repeat itself. It was from that point on that she began sharing her story," Jeannine Opdyke Smith tells Broadway.tv.

"We've been championing this play for about three or four years now. And this play was nowhere, it was just a conversation over a cup of coffee. So to take the incredible journey we've taken from this cup of coffee, late-night, to hear is an incredible odyssey and a dream come true," shares Irena's Vow star John Stanisci.

"During the talk-back with Jeannie, Irena's daughter, a woman stood up and said: 'You're mother had obviously great faith, she was a Catholic and she believed, where do you think she got this faith?' As that came out of her mouth, a gigantic thundercloud burst. The audience was hysterical, it was like God was answering her, you know," says an awed Thomas Ryan, who is earning critical praise for his work in the production.

"It's a thrill to be on Broadway. I mean, I'm born here. I was born 90th and Lexington. This is my home town. I love it. I'm honored," Tovah Feldshuh shares with Broadway.tv. With accolades for her performance rolling in, Ms. Feldshuh has every reason to be proud. How does she feel on her opening night?

"I feel similar to playing Irena Gut Opdyke the way I felt in my twenties playing Juliet for Jack O'Brien at the Old Globe. It's wonderful to visit my youth again. It's wonderful to weigh what I weighed in ninth grade. It's wonderful to run around that stage like a kid, and I can still do it. I'm so grateful to be able to do this at this time in my life," smiles the brilliant actress, as she can be certain she has helped to bring an extraordinary story to Broadway.

For more of the conversations with Tovah Feldshuh, opening night video of Irena's Vow, and the Broadway red carpet, check out the complete video right here on Broadway.tv.