Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers Read Online Free PDF Page A
Author: Stewart F. Lane
Tags: Drama, United States, General, History, 20th Century, Theater, New York, New York (State), Performing Arts, Jewish, Jews in Popular Culture - United States, Theater - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Jewish Entertainers, Jews in Popular Culture, Jewish Entertainers - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Musicals - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Musicals, Broadway (New York; N.Y.), Jews in the Performing Arts, Jews in the Performing Arts - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century
but adapted for the audience. Most of the immigrants were denied much education in their homelands, so, while some shows were enlightening, many were simply entertaining. The audiences could enjoy and discuss their theater experience with their neighbors ... and did they ever. The shows and the stars were the talk of the Lower East Side, and in time, throughout Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn and other parts of New York City. Quite devoted to their favorite stars, some fans even got into fights, literally, when debating which celebrity was the better performer.
THE ACTRESSES
As Nahma Sandrow describes in her book, the actresses in Yiddish theater fell into several categories. They were “vivacious spubrette or hoyden, stately prima donna, emotional heroine, character comedienne or villainess. They all had to have good voices, and usually they had to be able to dance. In looks, the public favored flavored flashing eyes, ador -
able smiles, and zaftik (juicy) figures.”11
Bessie Thomashefsky, Boris’ wife, was a leading star of the era. Bes -
sie and Boris were the preeminent couple in show business of their time.
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor and grandson of the Thoma shef skys, recreated the legendary couple on stage at Carnegie Hall’s Zan kel Hall in New York City. Tilson Thomas would comment that they were “the Rich ard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor of their time,” based on their notoriety, their wealth and their adoring public.12 Together they would perform in numerous shows in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chi -
cago. Bessie’s versatility on stage allowed her to take a on a great range 18
1. Immigration, Yiddish Theater and Building Broadway of roles. She could play the diva, take on comical roles with a Fanny Brice flair for wisecracks, or perform a dramatic role as well as any actress of her generation. When the couple eventually separated, her career continued with what was often considered her greatest, most highly acclaimed role as the seductive lead in Oscar Wilde’s Salomé . She would also go on to manage her own Lower East Side theater troupe and revive some of her favorite roles. An independent woman, Bessie would even take on the leading role in a play called Chantzhe [Hannah] in Amerika, about a woman who wanted nothing more than to be a chauffeur, something that was unheard of at the time, in what still remains a heavily male-dominated field.
Among the Yiddish actresses of the era was Bertha Kalish, an immigrant from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She had moved to Romania and become a star of Yiddish theater before making her way to America where she grew to prominence in a Yiddish version of Henrik Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House, as well as in Fedora and The Kreutzer Sonata. In fact, she was so highly acclaimed in The Kreut zer Sonata that she would play the role on Broadway in 1906. Kalish would go on to play various other significant roles in both Yiddish and English and was always described as being a beautiful woman with a magnificent voice.
There were other women of the Yiddish theater, such as Jenny Goldstein, known as the reigning queen of melodrama, musical tearjerkers and full-blown musical spectaculars. Sara Adler, Jacob’s wife, who began her American stage career as Sara Heine, the wife of Maurice Heine, another Yiddish actor, was featured in nearly 300 roles. Sara, who spoke Russian, supposedly learned Yiddish while being in Yiddish theater.
Although many of her performances were with her husband Jacob, she also performed across the river from the Lower East Side, in Brooklyn, presenting the works of Ibsen and Shaw to Yid dish- speaking audiences.
The legendary Molly Picon, discussed in greater length in Chapter Two (during her days in vaudeville), also honed her skills in Yiddish theater. Fanny Thomashefsky taught her piano, Michael Thomashefsky put her on stage at 15 (in his Yiddish repertory troupe at the Arch Street The ater) and she performed in Boris
THE ACTRESSES
As Nahma Sandrow describes in her book, the actresses in Yiddish theater fell into several categories. They were “vivacious spubrette or hoyden, stately prima donna, emotional heroine, character comedienne or villainess. They all had to have good voices, and usually they had to be able to dance. In looks, the public favored flavored flashing eyes, ador -
able smiles, and zaftik (juicy) figures.”11
Bessie Thomashefsky, Boris’ wife, was a leading star of the era. Bes -
sie and Boris were the preeminent couple in show business of their time.
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor and grandson of the Thoma shef skys, recreated the legendary couple on stage at Carnegie Hall’s Zan kel Hall in New York City. Tilson Thomas would comment that they were “the Rich ard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor of their time,” based on their notoriety, their wealth and their adoring public.12 Together they would perform in numerous shows in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chi -
cago. Bessie’s versatility on stage allowed her to take a on a great range 18
1. Immigration, Yiddish Theater and Building Broadway of roles. She could play the diva, take on comical roles with a Fanny Brice flair for wisecracks, or perform a dramatic role as well as any actress of her generation. When the couple eventually separated, her career continued with what was often considered her greatest, most highly acclaimed role as the seductive lead in Oscar Wilde’s Salomé . She would also go on to manage her own Lower East Side theater troupe and revive some of her favorite roles. An independent woman, Bessie would even take on the leading role in a play called Chantzhe [Hannah] in Amerika, about a woman who wanted nothing more than to be a chauffeur, something that was unheard of at the time, in what still remains a heavily male-dominated field.
Among the Yiddish actresses of the era was Bertha Kalish, an immigrant from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She had moved to Romania and become a star of Yiddish theater before making her way to America where she grew to prominence in a Yiddish version of Henrik Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House, as well as in Fedora and The Kreutzer Sonata. In fact, she was so highly acclaimed in The Kreut zer Sonata that she would play the role on Broadway in 1906. Kalish would go on to play various other significant roles in both Yiddish and English and was always described as being a beautiful woman with a magnificent voice.
There were other women of the Yiddish theater, such as Jenny Goldstein, known as the reigning queen of melodrama, musical tearjerkers and full-blown musical spectaculars. Sara Adler, Jacob’s wife, who began her American stage career as Sara Heine, the wife of Maurice Heine, another Yiddish actor, was featured in nearly 300 roles. Sara, who spoke Russian, supposedly learned Yiddish while being in Yiddish theater.
Although many of her performances were with her husband Jacob, she also performed across the river from the Lower East Side, in Brooklyn, presenting the works of Ibsen and Shaw to Yid dish- speaking audiences.
The legendary Molly Picon, discussed in greater length in Chapter Two (during her days in vaudeville), also honed her skills in Yiddish theater. Fanny Thomashefsky taught her piano, Michael Thomashefsky put her on stage at 15 (in his Yiddish repertory troupe at the Arch Street The ater) and she performed in Boris
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