New musical has a ‘Yiddishen tam’
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Print![]() | Jeff Keller as Marcus Rose, Rachel Kurland as the Rebbetzen, Ben Rauch as Shloyme, Steve Sterner as Benjamin Rose, and Clifton Lewis as the Rebbe in ‘Meester Amerika’ at the Garage Theatre Group photo by Justin Bias |
No matter how much time goes by and how far removed American Jews are from the old Second Avenue, we seem never to tire of stories about the Yiddish theater. Maybe it’s the hokum, maybe it’s the extravagant emotions, maybe it’s the reminder of how far we’ve come artistically from those very modest beginnings; whatever the reasons, we can’t resist the old dame. A new valentine to the rouged and bewigged frump is being presented by the Garage Theatre Group at the Becton Theatre on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, and like the Yiddish theater itself, the show’s good humor and heart make up for a lack of polish and finesse.
Written by Jennifer Berman, “Meester Amerika” cleverly turns the plot of “The Jazz Singer” inside out and tells the story of handsome Joey Rose, the son of theater owner and manager Marcus (Menasha) Rose, who wants to leave show business and become a cantor. While his father dreams of his son’s crossing over and moving uptown into the big time, Joey longs to daven all day long. To complicate matters, and to keep the show humming along, Joey falls in love with a religious girl whose pious father certainly wouldn’t approve of the family’s theatrical goings-on. And then there’s Aunt Yetta, another member of the family troupe, who lost her beloved fiancé in the war and has been pining ever since. Not to forget Uncle Benjamin, who likes to dress in drag whenever necessary. Several more characters add to the storyline in amusing if fairly predictable ways, and while the show doesn’t surprise, it does entertain.
A musical, “Meester Amerika” combines a tuneful original score by composer Artie Bressler and lyricist Michael Colby with adaptations of familiar Yiddish theater songs, such as “Papirosen.” This heartbreaker is the Yiddish version of “The Little Match Girl” — or maybe it was the other way around. The talented Steve Sterner — a regular with the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater — does the classic Menasha Skulnick bit “It Shouldn’t Happen to a Dog.” And what tribute to Yiddish entertainment would be complete without the heartrending “Rozhinkes mit Mandlen”? Over-the-top sentimentality is a compliment in this world.
The Garage Theatre boasts a professional cast, and most of the performers do a fine job with their roles. They sing, they clown, they even act a little. Where the show falls a bit short is in the direction. “Meester Amerika” is a farce, and so needs a quick, energetic pace, with actors moving briskly and the show spinning like a top. Unfortunately, the pace of “Meester Amerika” is often plodding, which undermines scenes that could be much funnier. In too many instances, actors are standing still, just watching their colleagues say their lines, an effect that gives the show an amateurish feel.
Despite that drawback, “Meester Amerika” is a lot of fun, and the performers are clearly enjoying themselves. David Perlman as Joey, Jeff Keller as Marcus, Melissa Shoenberg as Simma, Joey’s beloved, and Amy London, who plays Yetta, all have fine singing voices, and they deliver the original and adapted material with a Yiddishen tam. You could do a lot worse.
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