Actors
In many respects the Yiddish theatre belonged to its actors. From the early days of the professional Yiddish stage, the most popular actors were treated like gods, and theatre troupes brought more than one playwright to heel. While Yiddish performers often had a reputation for emotive performances, the best of them were considered the equals of their most esteemed colleagues performing in other languages.
December 12, 2024
Bertha Kalich [Kalish], My Life: An Autobiography, pt. 1
Published in “Der Tog/ The Day” – March 7-Nov. 14, 1925 Translated by Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel BERTHA KALICH (1874-1939) was a renowned actress on the Yiddish and English language stage. Born in Lviv, Ukraine, she began her career as a chorus girl in the Skarbek Polish theatre, becoming an early prima donna in Gimpel’s Theatre […]
October 19, 2024
When Boris Met Mendele: An Episode from Thomashefsky’s 1913 European Tour
Forverts (Forward, New York), December 7 and 14, 1913 Translated by Zachary M. Baker Translator’s Introduction. The stars of the Yiddish theatre in its heyday spent a lot of time on the road—and at least two of them chronicled their overseas travels in the pages of the New York Forverts. Boris Thomashefsky’s account of his […]
May 24, 2023
Excerpts from In Fayer un Flamen: Togbukh fun a Yidisher Shoyshpilerin (In Fire and Flames: Diary of a Yiddish Actress) by Shoshana Kahan (Part II)
Translated and introduced by Sheva Zucker, edited by Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel for Women on the Yiddish Stage/Digital Yiddish Theatre Project.
May 14, 2023
fun a Yidisher Shoyshpilerin (In Fire and Flames: Diary of a Yiddish Actress) by Shoshana Kahan (Part I)
Translated and introduced by Sheva Zucker, edited by Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel for Women on the Yiddish Stage/Digital Yiddish Theatre Project.
January 5, 2023
Osherowitch and Rumshinsky on the Piety of Regina Prager
Regina Prager was one of the first leading ladies of the Yiddish stage, known for her extraordinary operatic voice and her continued Jewish observance throughout her life.
June 20, 2022
How I Got Five Thousand Dollars from a Theatre Customer
In his memoirs, Menashe Skulnik recalled the many years when he performed in cities outside of New York – including six years in Philadelphia, which he considered to be a theatrical purgatory.