Dear colleagues (apologies for cross-posting), I am in the throes of preparing a full-score edition of Joseph Rumshinsky's 1923 Yiddish-American operetta Di goldene kale (The Golden Bride; further information at https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/musa/forthcoming/di-goldene-kale). A concert performance of the work, in Yiddish with English and Russian supertitles, was held in New York on Tuesday, May 27, by the longest functioning Yiddish theater company in the world, the 99-year-old National Yiddish Theater - Folksbiene. By all accounts the evening was a resounding success. The hall was filled to capacity---some 220 seats---and the audience was genuinely (dare I say wildly?) enthusiastic, laughing at all the right places and hanging around afterwards not wanting to leave. The cast of 12 sang beautifully under Zalmen Mlotek's musical direction, and director Motl Didner expertly introduced enough bits of acting to bring out the work's comic and poignant moments. (And I had a walk-on---my stage debut at age 77!) There have already been several serious inquiries from colleges for repeat performances, and other possible presentations are contemplated. My dream is to see a fully staged production that would spark a revival of interest in the Yiddish-American musical theater, which played an important role in the development of the American musical (Irving Berlin, Yip Harburg, and the Gershwins, among many other Broadway and Tin Pan Alley personalities, regularly attended Yiddish theater shows).
A staged performance with orchestra, sets, costumes, lighting, etc., etc., would require some hefty financial support. I'm hoping to turn to foundations and individual donors that might be interested in underwriting such a venture, so any help in the form of ideas and, especially, personal connections along those lines would be much appreciated. A hartsigen grus far a gutn zumer, Michael Ochs
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