Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers (2 page)

In the Pages That Follow

Through the next eight chapters, we take a look at the Jewish experience as it pertains not just to theater, but to Broadway, which came to be accepted in the early part of the century as the apex of American theater.

The Jewish theatrical story in America begins with immigration to the land of hope and freedom and with the evolution of Yiddish theater in America which, during its heyday, was every bit as noteworthy and successful as Broadway.

In the coming chapters we will travel with the Jewish performers, playwrights, composers and lyricists from Yiddish theater to the next generation of vaudeville performers and then on to the years leading up 4

Introduction

to the Second World War. We will take a chapter to pay tribute to the immense contributions of a handful of composers and lyricists that redefined the American musical forever. Then we will explore The Group Theater and the dramas that depicted life during the Great Depression amid the growing anti–Semitism that existed prior to World War II.

Following the patriotism of the war years and the many plays and musicals that depicted life during and after wartime, we will take a look at the Communist trials of the 1950s, which affected many Jews in theater.

Finally, in the 1960s and ’70s Jewish themed shows made their way to Broadway, and assimilation was complete. By the 1990s gay Jewish playwrights were stepping up in an attempt to gain their own acceptance and promote their own social concerns including HIV/AIDS. And finally, we take a peek at the new crop of Broadway talent and even possibly at the future.

Featured in the upcoming pages are many great talents, their stories, their accomplishments and in some cases how they held onto and even brought their Jewishness into their craft. Jacob Adler, Boris Thomashefsky, Oscar Hammerstein, Fannie Brice, Al Jolson, Irving Berlin, the Gersh wins, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Clifford Odets, Stella Adler, Com den and Green, Arthur Miller, Zero Mostel, Neil Simon, David Mer rick, Tony Kushner, Wendy Wasserstein, Alan Menken and Mel Brooks are all included in the Jewish contribution to Broadway ... along with many others.

Also, throughout the chapters, I have tried to include the changes in Jewish life, culture and acceptance as it paralleled that which took place onstage. After all, the productions and the people behind them typically reflected the Jewish experience in America and abroad. From those who changed their names because they were fearful of being “too Jewish” to those who clamored to play Tevye in
Fiddler on the Roof
, the acceptance of the Jewish people in theater and in society has certainly changed, and such changes were also reflected on Broadway.

Hopefully the melting pot that has been, and still is, Broadway theater can serve as an example to society at large.

5

This page intentionally left blank

1

Immigration, Yiddish Theater

and Building Broadway

If there is any definitive starting point for the Jewish impact on theater in America, it is the Yiddish theater of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Between 1880 and 1914, the Jewish population in America grew from 250,000 to 2.5 million, as the Jews fled persecution, primarily from East ern Europe. They landed at Ellis Island in New York Harbor and settled nearby in what would become the overcrowded ghettos of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Many brought with them little more than the clothes on their backs, or perhaps their few worldly possessions. However, they also brought with them an indelible spirit, a strong sense of community and the desire to build a better life for themselves and for their children. Particularly important to these immigrants were both tradition and culture, which included a relatively new form of entertainment known as Yiddish theater. This new form of theater had emerged in the 1870s in Eastern Europe and then in London.

As a means of retaining Jewish cultural roots and sense of community and embracing their newfound freedom of expression, Yiddish theater in America was born. From its emergence in the 1880s, Yiddish theater grew as a phenomenon for the immigrants, producing star performers and generating a “buzz” that spread beyond the Lower East Side of Manhattan into other cities, and even outside of the Jewish community. But for those on the Lower East Side, most of whom were working in sweat shops by day, or as laborers, the theater was a significant bond that held the community together. Drama critic and founder of the Group Theater of the 1930s, Harold Clurman was first inspired by Yiddish theater as a child. He noted in 1968 that “even more than the syn-7

Jews on Broadway

agogue or the lodge, [it] became the meeting place and the forum of the Jewish Community in America between 1888 and the early 1920s.”1

Yiddish theater was more than what we know of today as “community theater,” much more. It included featured performers who made their way to the United States for the purpose of acting without the restraints imposed by foreign governments. Boris Thomashefsky and Jacob P. Adler, whose daughter Stella would become one of the legendary acting teachers of the 20th century, were two of the most celebrated national figures of this magical era. A wide range of material from melodramas to comedies was presented, often inspired by the culture and the life of the European Jews, especially those emigrating from Russia.

The appeal of the many shows presented in large theaters, some housing over 2,000 people, crossed socio-economic boundaries and made theater a rich part of the lifestyle of the Jewish people in America. However, to better appreciate the impact of Yiddish theater as the foundation for Jewish involvement in American theater, it is important to look back briefly at the emergence of Yiddish theater in the 1870s in Europe.

The Father of Yiddish Theater

Abraham Goldfadn, born in Starokonstantinov, Russia, in 1840, was heralded as the father of Yiddish theater. It was Goldfadn, a Russian intellectual, who wrote and produced the first Yiddish theater productions in Jassy, Romania, in 1876. Nahma Sandrow, author of the book
Vagabond Stars: A World His tory of Yiddish Theater,
describes Goldfadn as a “folk singer and folk poet, product of the popular Yiddish cultural tradition of the townlets of Eastern European countryside.”2 She goes on to expand upon his reputation as a jack of many trades, adding that Goldfadn was “a trouper, an artist, a dreamer, an intellectual, a hustler, a scrapper, a con man, a romantic, a dandy, an optimist and a one man band.”3 This was exemplified by his various careers, which included shop owner and editor of several newspapers, all of which eventually failed.

He was also a songwriter for some of the Broder singers of the era, who were flashy, somewhat flamboyant life-of-the-party entertainers.

In fact, it was one such Broder singer, a Lithuanian Jew named Israel Grodner, who inspired Goldfadn to start writing and producing 8

1. Immigration, Yiddish Theater and Building Broadway
plays that would incorporate a story along with the music of the era.

According to Sandrow, there are many versions of how the first Yiddish theater production came to be. Whether Goldfadn came to see Grodner perform, or Grodner summoned Goldfadn and suggested that he use the music in play form, remains debatable, but what is known for sure is that Goldfadn first took the stage to perform sophisticated poems and essentially bombed. Grodner, however, saved the show with his comedy and lighthearted songs. Upon seeing the response of the audience to Grod ner’s performance, Goldfadn was hooked. He would write musical numbers into his plays and then produce them.

Yiddish Theater Was Born

The songs, the humor and the storylines were all provided by Goldfadn, who made sure his actors, usually two in a performance (which was all he could afford to pay), understood exactly what was expected of them. He did not write out most of the dialogue but had the actors impro vise based on the storyline. While the shows lacked the precision of a Shakespearian play, they brought together important elements in Jew ish culture, including song and humor. They were neither compli-cated nor scholarly, but met the demands of an audience that simply sought out good entertainment. While he did receive his share of criticism from those who thought he could provide more substance and sophistication in his works, Goldfadn learned quickly the importance of “giving the people what they wanted.” And with that in mind, he kept the songs light and humorous, simple and relevant to the performances, at least until the audiences became more familiar with the idea of theater.

Sandrow also points out in her book that Goldfadn began what would become a tradition in Yiddish theater, known as the curtain speech. This occurred at the end of the show when Goldfadn would come out and talk to the audience. “He was a combination teacher, elo-cutionist and barker,” she explains.4

Early comedies, including
Shmendrik
and the
Two Kumi-Lemls
, were based on simple premises, such as arranged marriages, and were immediately hits. Another popular show,
The Witch
, was about superstition.

Soon other shows emerged about a wide range of familiar topics, each a 9

Jews on Broadway

hit. As Goldfadn’s legacy grew, so did Yiddish theater and his own company. His performers included Broder singers, cantors, cabaret performers, local workers, drifters, gamblers and yes, even actors ... some of the best of the time, including Jacob P. Adler.

Goldfadn maintained tight control over everything from the venues to the costumes and the scenery to the props. He was steadfast in his ways and wanted everything to meet his wishes. Despite his control and his rising stardom, he was still unable to make very much money. Goldfadn was constantly promoting the shows to anyone who would listen, sometimes with great success and other times resulting in small turnouts.

Long engagements were uncommon, and the company remained on the road for months at a stretch. As the overall popularity of Yiddish theater grew, other companies appeared. Some, like Goldfadn’s, were a diverse mix of talent, while others were family troupes. Some worked long hours to put on a first-rate production while others loosely organized a show and hoped for the best. There was little regard for copyright law, which was rarely enforced, so troupes that enjoyed the work of Goldfadn simply performed the same plays in another town or city. Often perform -

ers who had worked with Goldfadn would leave his company and start their own. There was no great loyalty among most of the performers who often just wanted to keep working. Acting was then, as it is today, a difficult career choice.

In a short time, Yiddish theater, in one form or another, was emerging as a cultural phenomenon throughout Eastern Europe. For the Jewish people, theater was becoming a way of life, providing entertainment and, as plays became more sophisticated, providing food for thought. It would all come to an abrupt end, however, with the assassination of Czar Alex -

ander II, who had allowed great freedom for the Jewish people. Under his successor, Czar Alexander III, organized religious persecution against the Jewish people swelled throughout all of Eastern Europe. The Jewish people were forced into ghetto life, few were allowed to study or own land, and theater was all but eliminated. As Sandrow writes in her book,

“The entire communities of Moscow, St. Peters burg and Kharkov were marched in manacles to the railway stations and expelled.”5

Many of the Jewish actors fled to London, which would soon emerge as the new home of Yiddish theater. Israel Grodner, Jacob P. Adler and Anna Held were among the performers who settled in London’s Jewish 10

1. Immigration, Yiddish Theater and Building Broadway
section to take part in any of several Yiddish theater productions. The Jewish immigrants who had fled the persecution of Eastern Europe were thrilled to once again have the cultural connection that came from Yiddish theater. Shows were plen tiful, even in rooms adjacent to taverns, which were established as theater clubs. Jacob P. Adler once wrote of the Yiddish theater experience in London, “If Yiddish theater was destined to go through its infancy in Russia, and in America grew to manhood and success, then London was its school.”6 Adler was correct in acknowledging that the Jewish thespians were able to hone their craft without fear of religious persecution. Of course, in observance of the Sabbath, plays were not performed on Friday nights or until sundown on Saturdays.

In a few years, however, there were more performers than shows in which to appear. Additionally, London had its own English-speaking the aters already established, thus creating more competition as the immigrants also began exploring the established theater. London’s East End was a poor neighborhood to begin with, so the influx of Jewish immigrants, including the many actors, was taking its toll on the inhabitants.

Adding to the overcrowded living conditions were strict fire laws that were also imposed on the theaters. This made it more difficult for performers to find work on the stages of London. While Yiddish theater would continue successfully in London for several decades, it was destined to find a new home on the other side of the pond, so to speak, in America.

Coming to America

Along with many immigrants heading to the United States directly from Eastern Europe, many of London’s Jewish immigrants, includ ing some of the top performers on the Yiddish stages, boarded ships for America. Ellis Island was the final stop for millions of immigrants, including the Irish, the Italians, and the Jews, among others, seeking a better life in this new land of hope. Starting in 1881, some 1.3 million Jews would immigrate to America over a span of 22 years. While it was hard to find jobs and the living conditions on the Lower East Side were difficult and overcrowded, the freedom afforded to the Jewish people was better 11

Jews on Broadway

than life in Russia, Romania or Poland, along with slightly more living space and more job opportunities than in London.

In 1882, Yiddish theater would first appear in America. It would blossom very quickly and become the cultural explosion of the era. “The Yiddish theater stars quickly became matinee idols, generating fanfare wherever they went. These were among the most influential actors of their time and they would go on to influence Jewish, and non–Jewish, per formers and playwrights for decades,” explains Nahma Sandrow.7