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Aug. 4th, 2011 10:36 amA couple reviews I've read of Stefan Kanfer's Stardust Lost: The Triumph, Tragedy and Meshugas of Yiddish Theater in America have said that this book, while entertainingly written, is not the most well-researched or error-free text on the subject. And this is quite possibly true, and something I should probably care about more than I do, because I am about to recommend this book wholeheartedly regardless!
Now that that caveat is out of the way: I AM RECOMMENDING THIS BOOK WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
I knew going in that from the 1880s to the 1940s, Second Avenue in NYC had such a flourishing Yiddish-language theater scene that it was known as the Yiddish Broadway - but that was about all I knew. Reading this book made me desperately wish that I had a.) a working knowledge of Yiddish and b.) a time machine so I could go see, for example, the Yiddish cross-dressed Hamlet, or the nineteenth-century Yiddish rom-coms. AMAZING. Every show was like a midnight movie in terms of audience engagement! King Lear apparently generally got at least one shouted-out invitation per night to leave those no-good daughters and come home to have a nice dinner with an audience member's family.
The best part is the first half that focuses on the early founding fathers of Yiddish theater; honestly I would have read it just for the story of Boris "Sexy Legs" Thomashefsky and it would have been worth it. Some notable facts about Boris Thomashefsky:
- he founded one of the first Yiddish theater companies in NYC at the age of thirteen
- . . . and was promptly blackballed by the entire upscale Jewish community for putting on plays that they decided were bad for the Jewish image!
- he met his future wife when she came backstage to meet the glamorous heroine of one of his company's plays, starstruck by the actress' beauty and charm. The glamorous actress took off her wig and was like "hey hey hot stuff, I think you've got a career in the theater. >:D" HELLO BORIS.
- this was of course after the time during his very first show when the actress who was supposed to play the heroine claimed that she was sick and couldn't show up. Boris was all "NO PROBLEM, I GOT THIS." A star is born!
- after he switched over to playing male leads, he was famous for having the sexiest legs on Second Avenue, so he wore different multicolored tights in every performance to show them off! Hamlet? TIGHTS. Julius Caesar? TIGHTS. Russian Jews on the run from pogroms? TOTALLY TIGHTS.
- . . . which led to nice turn-of-the-century Jewish ladies stripping in the aisles for him!
- for a while his family lived in an apartment right above one of his greatest rivals and his family. Every morning, his rival would open the flue, shout up curses on Boris' name for two minutes, and then go back to whatever he was doing. Boris was all, "I just couldn't start the day without that kick!"
- when he found out his actress baby sister was having an affair with a middle-aged, married member of the company, Boris advertised for a mysterious special event at the end of one of his plays, waited for a hugely sold-out house, and then pulled her out after the curtain call and made her swear in front of basically the entire Jewish community ("ten times ten a minyan!") that she would never see the guy again. This is a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE THING to do to your sister and it serves him right that she eloped with the guy that very night, but . . . as a publicity stunt, dang, that's chutzpah!
Other dramatic highlights of the history of Yiddish theater include rivalries! riots! affairs! murders! hijinks! cunning disguises! people shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theater! THE LIST GOES ON. I still want a time machine.
As the book moves forward in time things get less dramatic and more depressing with the shrinking of the Yiddish-speaking population and attendant decline of the theater scene. But I'm glad this is a bit of history I know more about now. (And seriously, when are we getting a Boris Thomashefsky biopic, because it needs to be YESTERDAY.)
Now that that caveat is out of the way: I AM RECOMMENDING THIS BOOK WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
I knew going in that from the 1880s to the 1940s, Second Avenue in NYC had such a flourishing Yiddish-language theater scene that it was known as the Yiddish Broadway - but that was about all I knew. Reading this book made me desperately wish that I had a.) a working knowledge of Yiddish and b.) a time machine so I could go see, for example, the Yiddish cross-dressed Hamlet, or the nineteenth-century Yiddish rom-coms. AMAZING. Every show was like a midnight movie in terms of audience engagement! King Lear apparently generally got at least one shouted-out invitation per night to leave those no-good daughters and come home to have a nice dinner with an audience member's family.
The best part is the first half that focuses on the early founding fathers of Yiddish theater; honestly I would have read it just for the story of Boris "Sexy Legs" Thomashefsky and it would have been worth it. Some notable facts about Boris Thomashefsky:
- he founded one of the first Yiddish theater companies in NYC at the age of thirteen
- . . . and was promptly blackballed by the entire upscale Jewish community for putting on plays that they decided were bad for the Jewish image!
- he met his future wife when she came backstage to meet the glamorous heroine of one of his company's plays, starstruck by the actress' beauty and charm. The glamorous actress took off her wig and was like "hey hey hot stuff, I think you've got a career in the theater. >:D" HELLO BORIS.
- this was of course after the time during his very first show when the actress who was supposed to play the heroine claimed that she was sick and couldn't show up. Boris was all "NO PROBLEM, I GOT THIS." A star is born!
- after he switched over to playing male leads, he was famous for having the sexiest legs on Second Avenue, so he wore different multicolored tights in every performance to show them off! Hamlet? TIGHTS. Julius Caesar? TIGHTS. Russian Jews on the run from pogroms? TOTALLY TIGHTS.
- . . . which led to nice turn-of-the-century Jewish ladies stripping in the aisles for him!
- for a while his family lived in an apartment right above one of his greatest rivals and his family. Every morning, his rival would open the flue, shout up curses on Boris' name for two minutes, and then go back to whatever he was doing. Boris was all, "I just couldn't start the day without that kick!"
- when he found out his actress baby sister was having an affair with a middle-aged, married member of the company, Boris advertised for a mysterious special event at the end of one of his plays, waited for a hugely sold-out house, and then pulled her out after the curtain call and made her swear in front of basically the entire Jewish community ("ten times ten a minyan!") that she would never see the guy again. This is a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE THING to do to your sister and it serves him right that she eloped with the guy that very night, but . . . as a publicity stunt, dang, that's chutzpah!
Other dramatic highlights of the history of Yiddish theater include rivalries! riots! affairs! murders! hijinks! cunning disguises! people shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theater! THE LIST GOES ON. I still want a time machine.
As the book moves forward in time things get less dramatic and more depressing with the shrinking of the Yiddish-speaking population and attendant decline of the theater scene. But I'm glad this is a bit of history I know more about now. (And seriously, when are we getting a Boris Thomashefsky biopic, because it needs to be YESTERDAY.)
