Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers (33 page)

And the most impressive scenery you use

You may have dancing mana e mano

You may bring on a piano

But they will not give a damn-o

If you don’t have any Jews

You may fill your play with gays

Have Nigerian girls in stays

WOMEN: You may even have some shiksas making stews!

ROBIN AND MEN: You haven’t got a clue

If you don’t have a Jew

All of your investments you are going to lose

There’s a very small percentile

Who enjoys a dancing gentile

I’m sad to be the one with this bad news

ALL: Never mind your swordplay

You just won’t succeed on Broadway

You just won’t succeed on Broadway if you

don’t have any Jews.

Papa, can you hear me?

To get along on Broadway

To sing your song on Broadway

To hit the top on Broadway and not lose

I tell you, Arthur King there is one essential thing

There simply must be, simply must be Jews.

There simply must be, Arthur trust me

Simply must be Jews.

Ironically, other than Mike Nichols, there were not many Jews associated with the hit musical
Spamalot
(other than some of the producers), which debuted on Broadway in 2005 and ran for over 1,500 performances. Nonetheless, the song was widely received in the good humor in which it was intended and was certainly inspired by the Jewish contribution to Broadway.

192

8. The New Millennium Sees Broadway Breakthroughs

Setting the Stage for the Future

As we enter the second decade of the new century, I’m happy to see that Jewish themes continue to provide fodder for clever playwrights, and many such shows have been thriving Off Broadway.

One such show is
Zero Hour
which is not a Jewish story per se, but instead, not unlike
Funny Girl
, tells the story of a legendary Jewish performer, in this case, Zero Mostel. The show recounts Mostel’s life from his early upbringing on the Lower East Side to his days as a stand up comic and on to his illustrious Broadway career. His near-fatal bus accident and his blacklisting during the anti–Communist scourge are also included.
Zero Hour
was created by Jim Brochu, who stars as Mostel in the one-man show, which has generated tremendous critical acclaim.

Brochu had previously written and starred in the award-winning musicals
The Last Session
and
The Big Voice: God or Merman?
In fact, it was seeing Merman in
Gypsy
in 1959 that inspired the Brooklyn-born Brochu to pursue a career in the theater. Once he became a fan of theater, Brochu also became one of the many who appreciated the incredible talents of Mostel, hence bringing the show to fruition.

Jewish humor and culture is also evident in Yisrael Campbell’s Off Broadway one-man comedy
Circumcise Me
. Campbell, a converted Jew, presented the semi-autobiographical tale of a Catholic man who becomes a Jerusalem Jew, while crossing the typical boundaries of comedy by approaching some serious issues with a comedic bent.

Another recent one-man Jewish comedy featured Steve Solomon in
My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy
. Also writing from his personal experiences, Solomon, in true Sid Caesar–style, packed some 30 characters into his 90-minute show that went from Off Broadway to a run on Broadway in 2006. Having honed his skills on the comedy club circuit, Solomon brought back some of the Catskills-style humor in the culture-crossing comedy that tackles kosher cooking by non–Jews and other such interfaith themes.

Then there are the plays of Daniel Goldfarb, the Jewish playwright and graduate of both The Juilliard School and New York University. “It’s difficult to think of a playwright of Mr. Goldfarb’s generation who has written about Jewish themes for mainstream theater audiences more consistently than he has,”7 noted Jason Zinoman in the
New York Times
.

193

Jews on Broadway

Gold farb ushered in the new decade with his first play,
Adam Baum and
the Jew Movie
about a non–Jew trying to write a movie about anti–Semitism in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Goldfarb also wrote the Off Broad way show
Modern Orthodox
about a secular Jewish couple that takes in an Orthodox Jewish man. The show focuses on the impact of modern secular Jews on the life of the Orthodox Jew.

A more recent show by Goldfarb,
The Retributionists
, took a similar storyline to the film
Inglorious Basterds
(which came out roughly at the same time).
The Retributionists
explored the little-known underground Jew ish revolutionaries who sought revenge upon the Germans after the war, pledging to kill one German for every Jew who was killed.

While Goldfarb does not want to become known solely as a Jewish playwright, his works have expanded the ever-growing library of Jewish theater works that have emerged in recent years.

Another modern Jewish playwright, Alan Brody, who also serves as a Professor of Theater Arts at MIT, produced
The Company of Angels
Off Broadway, about a group of young actors in the Yiddish theater who find each other after the Holocaust to create a touring company. They then proceed to bring culture and a message of hope back to the surviving Jews of Poland. Brody’s more recent drama also featured Jewish characters.
The Housewives of Mannheim
is about four Jewish women in the Flat bush section of Brooklyn during World War II. One of the women is a more worldly, recently widowed concert pianist who shakes up the sedate lifestyle of her neighbors, resulting in questions about their relationships, their roles as women and their sexuality.

Other shows like
Jewtopia
— a very successful Off Broadway comedy about two young men, one Jewish and one Gentile, who are teaching one another how to win over women of the opposite religion — have enjoyed long runs Off Broadway with secular audiences.

It’s important to take notice of such new plays and playwrights as we emerge into the second decade of the century. It is these young talents and their commitment to exploring modern, historical and traditional Jewish culture that will continue the Jewish contribution to theater and to Broadway well into the 21st century.

194

Epilogue

Our country is still young and our cultural contribution to the world is just beginning. The Jewish participation in the last century reflected the opportunity, growth, social responsibility and diversity that only a new democratic republic could offer. As such, Jewish involvement in the fabric of American theater is so interwoven that you cannot tear them apart. One question I set out to answer in this book is why the Jewish community was so active in the American theater? Could it be as Ellen Adler suggested to me, in our interview, that the culture, music and literature were such an intrinsic part of Jewish life that they spilled over into this new American way of life? Or perhaps it is as Tovah Feldshuh said to me, that America offered a society and financial environment based on meritocracy. If you had the talent, you reaped the rewards and there were opportunities in America that were not available to Jews in other parts of the globe.

Historically, Charles Strouse felt the world of music and theater had been exclusively the domain of the wealthy, elite or royalty. The Italian, German, Austrian and French people had their opera, but there were no Jewish composers at the court of Franz Josef or Napoleon Bonaparte.

When a new form of “mass” entertainment was created, like the American musical (a totally American creation along with jazz music), the Jews par ticipated. Unlike other professions, many of which excluded Jews, this was an opportunity for the Jewish people to excel, and they did, becoming experts.

Similarly, the African American community, once liberated, has also become a force in American theater. Our English cousins and the Irish have also been major contributors to 20th century American theater.

195

Epilogue

Likewise, going forward, as the makeup of our country changes, it should be reflected in our culture. All this notwithstanding, the Jewish contribution to American theater continues to reshape and redefine us as a people and as Americans.

196

Chapter Notes

Chapter 1

2. John Kenrick, “A History of The

Musical. Vaudeville — Part II,” http://

1. Edna Nahshon, “The Golden

www. musi cals 101.com/vaude2.htm.

Epoch of Yiddish Theatre in America: A

Brief Historical Overview,” http://www.

jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_dis-

Chapter 3

play.aspx?article ID = 14 11.

2. Nahma Sandrow,
Vagabond Stars:

1. Jerry Klinger, “America was dif fer -

A World History of Yiddish Theater
(Syra-

ent. America is different.” http://www.

cuse, NY: Syracuse University Press,

jewish mag. com/86mag/usa10/usa10.htm.

1995).

2. Michael Palomino, “Jews in the

3.
Ibid.

‘USA’ 06: 1929–1939,” http://www. ges chi

4.
Ibid.

ch tein chro nologie.ch/ USA/ Enc Jud _ juden

5.
Ibid.

- in-USA06_1929–1939.html.

6. Adler Family, www.eilatgordinlevi

3. “The Dearborn Independent,” http:

tan.com/kurenets/k_pages/adler.html.

//freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/dear

7. Nahma Sandrow, personal inter-

born. html.

view, October 2009, New York City.

4. Klinger, “America was different.”

8.
Ibid.

5. Ellen Adler, personal interview, Oc-

9. Ellen Adler, personal interview,

tober 2009, New York City.

October 2009, New York City.

6. Nate Bloom, “Irving Berlin, Ellin

10.
Ibid.

Mac Kay and White Christmas,
”
http://

11. Sandrow,
Vagabond Stars
.

www. interfaithfamily. com/arts_and_en-

12. Anastasia Tsioulcas, “Michael Til -

ter tainment/popular_ culture/ Irving_ Ber

son Thomas invites you to meet his

lin_Ellin_McKay_ and_White_Christm-

grand parents — the amazing Thomashef-

as. shtml.

skys” http:// www.jewish-theatre.com/ vis-

7. Richard Reublin, “Irving Berlin, the

itor/article_ display. aspx?articleID=1434.

Dean of American Songwriters,” http:

//par lorsongs.com/bios/berlin/iberlin.php.

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

1. Wayne Keyser, “Vaudeville & Bur-

1. Ellen Adler, personal interview, Oc-

lesque History & Lingo,” http:// www.

tober 2009, New York City.

good magic. com/carny/vaud.htm.

2. Tom Oppenheim, Speech delivered

197

Chapter Notes

to the Jewish Historical Society of New

Chapter 7

York, October, 2009, New York City.

3. “About Us,” http:www.stella adler.

1. R.J. Donovan, “Family Matters,”

com/ about.html.

http://www.onstageboston.com/Articles/

4. Oppenheim, Speech.

2005/ 11/ November/revrosen.html.

5. Janine Parker, “Jerome Robbins

2. Frank Rich, “Stage: The Musical

(1918–1998),” http://www.boston phoenix.

‘Cage Aux Folles,’” http://www.nytimes.

com/ archive/ dance/98/08/06/ JER OME_

com/ 19 83/ 08/22/arts/stage-the-musical-

ROBBINS.html.

cage-aux-Folles.html.

6. Ellen Schrecker,
The Age of Mc -

Car thyism: A Brief History with Documents

(New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1994).

Chapter 8

Chapter 5

1. Dennis Brown, “Jersey Boys writer

Marshall Brickman is no career counse -

1. Lillian Hellman, http://www. quo

lor — but he’s a great interview,” http: //

ta tions page.com/quotes/Lillian_Hellman.

www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-04-23/

2. Zero Mostel biography, http://

culture/too-good-to-be-true-jersey-boys-

www.imdb.com/name/nm0609216/bio.

writer-marshall-brickman-is-no-career-

3. Bill Blankenship, “Inherit the

counselor-mdash-but-he-s-a-great-inter

Con troversy,” http://cjonline.com/stories/

view/.

030201/ wee _inherit.shtml.

2. Michael Elkin, “‘Light’ of His Life?:

4. Stewart F. Lane,
Let’s Put On a

Composer Adam Guettel settles the score

Show
(Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

on an important and revealing question:

Hein e mann Publishing, 2007).

Who has impacted him the most?,” http:

//www.jew ish exponent.com/article/ 200

Chapter 6

15.

3.
Ibid.

1. Ellen Adler, personal interview,

4. Anna Sobering, “Q&A with Jeff

October 2009, New York City.

Marx, Co-creator of Broadway musical

2. Charles Strouse, personal inter -

‘Avenue Q.’” http://www.kansan.com/

view, April 2010, New York City.

news / 2010/mar/11/q-jeff-marx-co-creator-

3.
Ibid.

broad way-musical-avenue-q/.

4.
Ibid.

5. Mervyn Rothstein, “A Life in the

5.
Ibid.

Theatre: Carole Shorenstein Hays,” http:

6. Tovah Feldshuh, personal inter-

// www. playbill.com/news/article/140734-

view, May 2010, New York City.

A-Life-in-the-Theatre-Carole-Shoren

7.
Ibid.

stein-Hays.

8.
Ibid.

6. “Jewish Recipients of the Antoi nette

9.
Ibid.

Perry (Tony) Award for Best Musical Pro-

10.
Ibid.

duction,” http://www.jinfo.org/

Tony_

11. Howard Kissel and Jay Maeder,

Award_Musical.html.