Hope,
Work, a Song, and a Dance
by Beate Hein Bennett
"Amerike - The Golden Land"
Written by Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek.
Directed by Bryne Wasserman
July 4 – August 20, 2017
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
Admission: $35 to $60,
For information about performance dates and times and tickets,
go to www.nytf.org or call 212-213-2120, ext. 206
Reviewed by Beate Hein Bennett July 10, 2017
 |
| AMERIKE
- THE GOLDEN LAND -- Alexandra Frohlinger. Photo by Victor Nechay. |
Shakespeare’s line “If music be the food of love, play
on” could very well be the guiding motto for the revival of
Folksbiene’s musical journey through 20th century Jewish immigration
to America-- New York to be specific—that takes us into Yiddishkeit
and Yiddishland with all the requisite humor and pathos embedded
in the Jewish psyche. Moishe Rosenfeld, the librettist and Zalmen
Mlotek, the Artistic Director of NYTF and Music Director/Conductor
created a panoramic tapestry of Jewish immigrant life with its origins
in Russia and Eastern Europe where poverty and pogroms drove the
young to seek a better fortune in “Amerike, de goldene medine.”
However, the mythical golden land proved to be not so golden but
a rather thorny, bumpy, crowded alien place where a new identity
had to be forged in order to survive. (A famous joke: A Jew asked
by a stern Ellis Island officer about his name, his befuddled response
“shon farghesn” makes Itshik into Sean Ferguson.) Originally
created and produced in 1982 on the occasion of the 85th anniversary
of the Yiddish newspaper Forward, the musical has had several incarnations.
This production, directed by Bryne Wasserman, was first performed
at Baruch Performing Arts Center in 2012, but has been further developed
and adapted for the space at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the
present performance home of NYTF.
Scenic designer Jason Lee Courson provides a variable performance
space with movable side panels and a back panel on which projections
illustrate a specific period and place or abstract illumination
creates a certain mood. Yael Lubetzky’s lighting design enhances
the sculptural effect of the actors. Handsome period appropriate
costumes, designed by Izzie Fields, allow actors to execute Merete
Muenter’s lively choreography freely. Bryne Wasserman’s
direction delineates for each actor a distinct personality in each
scene and yet shapes the ensemble into flexible groupings that underscore
the social aspect of Jewish immigrant experience through the different
epochs ranging from before World War I through the gay 1920s, the
Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, and Rebirth. All scenes
are arranged chronologically around popular songs from Yiddish theater
and folklore or popular topical mainstream songs, some in Yiddish
translation. References to historical events are presented through
specific situations and character sketches, some humorous, such
as the 1920s Yiddish WEVD radio hour, replete with commercials and
a Yiddish weatherman, some tragic, such as the 1911 Triangle Sweatshop
Fire, the songs at times being ironic counterpoints. One stunning
example is the famous “Roumania, Roumania” which Daniel
Kahn sings with an intensely bitter irony after a reference to the
1941 pogrom in Iasi, Romania where 12,000 Jews were murdered in
the course of a weekend. This is part of a series of scenes that
portray the painful reality during World War II when American immigrant
Jews were losing their relatives “back home” to the
ravages of the Holocaust while America had closed its borders.
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| AMERIKE
- THE GOLDEN LAND --(clockwise from far left) Alexander Kosmowski;
Isabel Nesti; Alexandra Frohlinger; Danie L Kahn; David Perlman;
Stephanie Lynne Mason; Bobby Underwood; Grant Richards; Raquel
Nobile. Photo by Victor Nechay. |
The cast is an ensemble of accomplished actors who sing, dance,
and portray an array of Jewish characters. Glenn Seven Allen plays
Oppenheimer, who becomes a successful makher. Alexandra Frohlinger
plays Sadie as she grows from a pixie child, physically reminiscent
of Molly Picon, to a smart independent working woman. Joe, the rebel
rouser and union man, always ready with the accordion to make music,
is played with particular passion by Daniel Kahn who launches into
the union song “Motl Der Operayter” with a provocative
Brechtian gusto. Dani Marcus portrays Fannie with delicate sensibility
that is contrasted by luscious and gutsy Gussie played by Stephanie
Lynne Mason. David Perlman is a mercurial Itshik/Izzie, aka Sean
Ferguson, never missing an opportunity to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time, a sure source of humor. They are supported by
a chorus of energetic actor/singer/dancers: Maya Jacobson, Alexander
Kosmowski, Isabel Nesti, Raquel Nobile, Grant Richards, and Bobby
Underwood.
Hidden from view but integral to the work is the superb orchestra
under Zalmen Mlotek’s energetic direction as the musical director/conductor/pianist.
He is supported by the phenomenal clarinetist/reed player Dmitri
Zisl Slepovitch, a Klezmer musician to the core, originally from
Minsk –he is also a musicologist of Yiddish folk music. Katsumi
Ferguson on violin, trumpet player Jordan Hirsch and trombonist
Daniel Linden, bass player Dmitry Ishenko and percussionist Sean
Perham complete the sound. At the end of the performance the audience
receives a special treat when the orchestra comes out on stage and
plays a jam session of unrivalled joyous Klezmer music. The journey
through the turbulent life of Yiddishland comes thus to an end and
the audience like a huge family reunion is on its feet with joy—thus
connecting the Museum of Jewish Heritage to the living spirit of
Yiddishkeit.
LAND OF EXILES
By Glenda Frank
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| Photo by: VICTOR NECHAY/Properpix.com |
“Amerike – The Golden Land, ” a
musical by Zalmen Mlotek and Moishe Rosenfeld. Directed by Bryna
Wasserman.
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) at the Museum of Jewish
Heritage, 36 Battery Place, NYC.
July 4 – Aug. 20, 2017.
Sun., Wed. Thurs., 2 PM; Mon., Thurs., 7:30 PM; Fri., 12 PM; Sun.,
6. $35-60.
For tickets and information, contact 212-213-2120, ext. 206,
866-811-4111 or or www.nytf.org.
Reviewed by Glenda Frank
From 1880 until 1924 almost two million Jewish emigrants fled the
poverty and pogroms of Eastern Europe to travel, mostly in steerage
like my great-grandmother and her four year old daughter, to the
Golden Land. “Amerike” (which includes the 1940s) is
their musical, a gorgeous tribute to their joys, fears and struggles
in a strange land. Don’t miss it.
The narrative, with its personal voices rising out of the shared
experience, begins with fear and hope in half a dozen cities in
Europe. The snow falls (set and projections by Jason Lee Courson)
and the cast sings “Mir Furn” (We’re Going to
America) and “Vi Shver S’iz Tsu Sheydn” (How Hard
It Is to Leave the Old Home). As the company sings in Yiddish and
dances, English and Russian translations are projected overhead.
The Ellis Island segment is fraught with the anxiety of anyone
who must pass a test over which they have little control. One man,
convinced he will impress the immigration official with a new name,
practices has a melt down when questioned. He explains that he forgot
his name. The official nods and writes down “Ferguson,”
Yiddish for “forget” (“fargesn”) but to
the rest of the world an Irish name. The story of a single father
separated from his children, who are earmarked for return, is gut-wrenching
(“Lozt Arayn,” Let Them in). How do you explain when
no one speaks your language? The songs, mostly popular numbers by
period lyricists and composers, have been orchestrated by Pete Sokolow
and Zalmen Mlotek to delight the contemporary ear.
The new world is dangerous, with thieves, challenges to the immigrants’
core beliefs and family ties, and little opportunity to find the
promised gold in the streets (“Dem Pedlers Brivele,”
A Peddler’s Letter). The company warns “Vatch Your Step”
with words by the legendary Yiddish heart-throb Boris Thomashefsky
(1868-1939) of the People’s Theatre. Working conditions are
brutal (“Shnel Loyfn Di Reder,” The Wheels Turn Quickly)
and sometimes fatal: “Ballad of the Triangle [Factory] Fire,”
where 146 girls burned to death because the owners had locked the
doors and the elevator was too small. The subsequent protests –
choral lament “Bread and Roses” and “Oy Vey Kindenyu,”
in which a mother (Stephanie Lynne Mason)n mourns her 16 year old
daughter – fired the nascent union movement in New York.
Consolation comes from welcoming the Sabbath with candle lighting
and family – ”Lekho Dodi,” a traditional song,
and “Fraytyik Oyf Der Nakht” (Friday Night). From celebrating
a peaceful world: “Zumer Bay Nakht Oyd Di Dekher” (Summer
Nights on the Roof) and “Amerike Hurrah For Onkl Sem.”
And entertainment -- the Yiddish Theatre (“Roumania, Roumania”
and “In a Kleyn Shtibele”), radio and film, media the
immigrants embraced and molded.
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| From video |
The arc and songs are familiar. What makes this review stand out
is the brevity in identifying later obstacles, the very compression
speaking volumes. The explorations of the Depression (“Vi
Nemt Men Parnuse,” How Do I Make a Living), the blatant discrimination
in colleges and upscale hotels, and rumors of the Holocaust. The
community has become a person, its experience in America a lifetime,
and so the poignancy is not just historical but personal. “Amerike”
is the story of every character on stage, who talks to us singly,
in duets, in counterpoint or chorus. It is very moving when Sadie
(Alexandra Frohlinger) sings “Am Yisruel Khay” (The
Jewish People Live) because we feel it: the community has presented
the fullness of life by embraced the joys of life, food, wine, relatives,
laughter, song, disappointment, sorrow and a deep contentment and
pride. It would not be a Yiddish revue without the laughter. The
radio meteorologist tells us the weather is neither here nor there.
So take a sweater just in case.
In 1984 when the musical premiered, the language was English, not
the Mameh Loschen. Yiddish is the language that unified the millions
of immigrants from hundreds of towns and village, some of whom had
never traveled anywhere before. Yiddish theatre and newspapers,
like Abraham Cahan’s “The Daily Forward,” formed
them into a community and taught them how to thrive. The theatre
brought them Shakespeare and entertainment. Uptown critics with
no Yiddish were enthralled and the talent (like the Adlers) made
its way to Broadway and Hollywood, reshaping as it went.
Thanks to technology and a healthy budget for the NYTF in its 103
consecutive season, “Amerike” can come to us in Yiddish
with supertitles. The performers are among the best young talent:
Glenn Seven Allen (“The Light in the Piazza” at Lincoln
Center), Alexandra Frohlinger (“Soul Doctor”), Stephanie
Lynne Mason (“Fiddler on the Roof”) and David Perlman
(“Baby It’s You!) have played Broadway. Daniel Kahn,
who fronts the band The Painted Bird, is a leader in the current
Yiddish cultural revival. Director Bryna Wasserman has won Drama
Desk nominations for her staging of NYTF’s “The Golden
Bride” in 2016, “The Golden Land” in 2013, and
“On Second Avenue” in 2005. The high-energy seven-piece
klezmer band, not having to share the stage with the actors, closes
the show with panache. NYTF co-produced “Indecent, ”
inspired by “God of Vengeance” by Sholem Asch, at the
Cort Theatre, which won two Tony awards.
As Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of NYTF, observed, “The
show is more than just a metaphor for the Jewish migratory experience;
it is a metaphor for America as the land of opportunity and freedom.”
