When History Belonged to the Opera Writers

My first real-life encounter with Fyvush Finkel coincided roughly with my entry into the world of New York Yiddish theatre.

Reviews of Avrom Goldfaden’s productions are notorious for critics’ snarky pot-shots, huffy asides, and sniffy evaluations.

Michael Ochs on rediscovering the 1923 Yiddish operetta Di goldene kale by Joseph Rumshinsky.

Adapting to the abundance of the New World, Passover developed into a secular festival for shopping and entertainment.

. Why would it be a problem if someone went to a music hall simply to have some fun? In the early 1900s, the answer was complicated.

Among the dusty heaps of thousands of documents sat a tall pile of Yiddish theatre manuscripts from first half of the 20th century.

In 1912, a Jewish tailor left Imperial Russia for Denmark.

“My Uncle Ed was a Yiddish theatre impresario,” my friend Martha mentioned casually, as we were busy prepping for an event at our local Yiddish organization.

Arnold Zable is an award winning writer, storyteller, educator, and human rights advocate.

A few years ago, while roaming the open stacks of the Stanford University Libraries, I came across a copy of Thomashefsky’s memoir.