RE: Yiddish Musical Theatre/Info. needed

[Trudi Goodman <goobietheg...>]

   Jacob/Reyzl:
   I've got a couple of ideas....one is to query the Acting Department at 
Brandeis University. I seem to remember that they have some background with 
Yiddish Theatre. I know that they have had donations from the Muni Estate.
   The other is that does the National Yiddish Book Center have a person to 
get in touch with? I, for one would be more than happy, as an actor to 
donate my time to help with this.  If more actors and people who love 
theatre know, I'm sure that they would too. After all, a great many of us 
performers are influenced by the Yiddish Greats!! I'm just wondering if 
there's a person, or a name that I go to at National Yiddish Book Center?
   Please let me know.
   Trudi Goodman
    trudigoodman (at) yahoo(dot)com


>From: bloom (at) gis(dot)net (Bloom)
>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Subject: RE: Yiddish musical theater books
>Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2000 23:00:27 -0500 (EST)
>
>Reyzl,
>
>Regarding the Hebrew Actors Union archive:
>
>The National Yiddish Book Center might be willing to take on the job of
>raising $100,000 to preserve the archive.  They seem to be very good at
>raising whatever it takes to keep Yiddish culture from disappearing, under
>desperate conditions.
>
>Of course, if some other organization is willing to take on the job, that's
>fine with me, as long as the archive is saved, and then made available.
>I'm willing to make a contribution to the cause.
>
>Jacob Bloom
>
>
>Reyzl wrote:
>
>Judy,
>
> >There are very few works that provide _musical analysis_ as well as
>history
> >of who wrote what title or show. There is a lot of work to be done and 
>the
> >history of Yiddish musical theater in America --a worthwhile project is
> >awaiting someone.
>
>Secunda really did this in his serialized biography in the Yiddish Forwards
>during the 1960's, but when his daughter in law, writer Victoria Secunda,
>reworked the articles to construct an English version biography, she left
>much of the knitty gritty details out.  But then, of course, Secunda wrote
>only about his music and only about the plays he composed for.
>
>However, the Hebrew Actors Union archive, an extraordinary treasure trove
>of primary source material, has all the actual original books, notes,
>scores, pads, scripts, notations, music, scraps,.... from all the Yiddish
>shows.  The president of the union, the great star and historian of the
>Yiddish theater, Seymour Rexite, is willing to donate the collection to a
>major library, but the catch is that he will do so only if are willing to
>personally pay him $100,000 so that he will sit with a scholar and explain
>the material and annotate it for you.  Anyone got a library which will pay
>$100,000 for this extraordinary collection?  I was recently at a dinner
>party with a theater department chairperson of a New York college who was
>working on getting the treasure trove, but it was a no go.
>
>
>

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