Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers
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The pair ended the 1990s with a revival of the historic musical 1776
and a revival of the tragedy Electra before making their mark by bringing four shows to Broadway in 2000, The Real Thing, The Music Man, A Moon for the Misbegotten, and The Wild Party. The shows combined for two-dozen Tony Award nominations. They added two more in 2001
includ ing the hit Noises Off, followed by five more over the next couple 186
8. The New Millennium Sees Broadway Breakthroughs
of years, topping even the prolific David Merrick who launched shows at a frenetic pace in the 1960s. In 2004 they were behind the original musical Bombay Dreams about a boy from India who dreams of escaping the slums for movie stardom in Bollywood. The musical ran for 284 performances.
In recent years, Waxman and Williams have gone their separate ways, but you can anticipate that they will continue to have a hand in upcoming Broadway productions. In fact, Anita Waxman, as of the writing of this book, is involved in the forthcoming stage production of An Officer and a Gentleman, based on the popular film starring Richard Gere.
CAROLE SHORENSTEIN HAYS
Another prominent producer in recent years is Carole Shorenstein Hays, born and raised in San Francisco. Seeing musicals with her parents in the 1950s got Hays hooked on theater. She would later follow her dreams to New York City where she attended New York University.
Carole’s dad, a successful real estate mogul, was friends with George Steinbrenner and Jimmy Nederlander, who mentored Carole from a young age. “When it comes to theatre,” she says, “I learned everything from Jimmy Nederlander. He is masterful. There’s no better theater person.”5
Her first taste of Broadway was in 1979 when she worked with me on Jerry Herman’s The Grand Tour. A few shows later she was on her own producing Fences in 1987. After producing a string of Broadway shows including Take Me Out; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Caroline, or Change; and Doubt; and amassing five Tony awards, Hays went full circle bringing Fences back to Broadway in 2010. Knowing and working with Hays over the years, I can attest to the fact that she is, not unlike myself, always thinking about the next potential hit show.
DARYL ROTH
Another of the most celebrated women behind the scenes on Broadway is Daryl Roth, who was named by Crain’s magazine as one of the
“100 Most Influential Women in Business.”
Roth grew up in a Jewish home in Wayne, New Jersey. Being within an hour of the city, her parents took her and her sister to see Broadway 187
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shows often during the 1950s. Despite her love of Broadway, she followed a different career path, establishing herself as an interior decorator before venturing into the theater as a producer in her 40s with the 1989 Richard Maltby, Jr., David Shire show Closer Than Ever, an award-winning Off Broadway musical revue. Just two years later, she would get a taste of Broadway with Nick and Nora, which, unfortunately lasted less than two weeks. Since her inauspicious Broadway debut, Roth has emerged as a prolific producer with more than her fair share of successful shows including Proof, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, Curtains, August: Osage County and Caroline, or Change.
While producing a string of Broadway hits over the past 20 years and bringing six Pulitzer Prize–winners to the stage, Roth also found the time to revive a landmark building on 15th Street in Manhattan, in the heart of Union Square, where she established the Daryl Roth Theater.
The Off Broadway venue opened in 1996 with the seven-year run of De La Guarda. She has since expanded and added DR2, which has featured children’s theater.
Among Others
The new century marked a marvelous opportunity for young Jewish playwrights, lyricists and composers to make their way to Broadway. Lisa Lambert, an actress and writer from Washington, D.C., made her mark on Broadway and won Tony Awards for Best Composer and Best Lyri -
cist for her work on The Drowsy Chaperone in 2006. Chaperone spoofed musicals of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s with a show-within-a-show dream sequence featuring the infamous Man in the Chair, who serves as the narrator of this original musical comedy that first gained momentum in Toronto over several years.
Another Tony Award–winning Jewish-born newcomer to Broadway in recent years, Rachel Sheinkin, won the prestigious honor for writing the book to the quirky comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Sheinkin’s road to Broadway began with her graduating with a master of fine arts from Yale University and continued with her fellowship at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Spelling Bee originated from an improvisational work of actress Rebecca Friedman in an improv workshop. Little 188
8. The New Millennium Sees Broadway Breakthroughs
by little, the show grew and Sheinkin was brought in to help transform improv into an actual script with the help of James Lapine and William Finn. From Massachusetts workshops to Off Broadway success and on to a lengthy Broadway run, the musical highlighted the writing of Shein -
kin while still including opportunities for improvisational material.
The Addams Family : Funny, They Don’t Look Jewish
Unlike The Producers or Wicked, the reviews for The Addams Family were not good. But unlike days of old where such negative press would have instantly sunk a new show, the modern era of technology and promotion, plus a very popular television family, coupled with a few stars including Nathan Lane, and a few Jews who believed in the project (Marshall Brickman, Jimmy Nederlander and Jerry Zaks) have made The Addams Family a box office hit grossing over $6.5 million in the first six weeks.
One of the reasons for such success, and certainly not a target of the critic’s wrath, is Bebe Neuwirth. When Beatrice “Bebe” Neuwirth stepped into the role of Morticia Addams, she bridged the two media in which she is best known, television and Broadway.
The daughter of a mathematician and an artist, the Jewish-born actress hails from Newark, New Jersey, where she took up dancing at the age of five and went on to train in both dance and music at the famed The Juilliard School. She made it to Broadway in the 1980s in A Chorus Line followed by the revivals of Little Me and Sweet Charity, winning her first of two Tony Awards for the latter. Despite her highly acclaimed Broad way skills, she became forever known as Lilith Crane from her role on the top-rated television series Cheers, which spilled over to occasional appearances on the spin-off Frasier. She also won two Emmys for her role as Lilith and even brought some of her Jewish identity to the role.
Lilith turned out to be Jewish somewhere during the long run of Cheers, to the surprise of even Bebe Neuwirth. The name Lilith also turned out to have a historical reference in Jewish folklore as the demonic first wife of Adam. For those who recall the sitcom character Lilith, there were those on each series ( Cheers and Frasier) who also thought Lilith to be somewhat demonic.
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Returning to Broadway in the mid–1990s, Neuwirth won a Tony Award for her role in the revival of Damn Yankees. But it was in the musi cal revival of Chicago that she was finally able to establish her Broadway identity and move away from being forever known as “Lilith.” Neu -
wirth would appear in the revival first in 1996 and then return in 2006, after mounting her own Off Broadway production called Here Lies Jenny in 2005, inspired by the music of Kurt Weill. Now in her third decade on Broadway, Bebe Neuwirth has proven herself to be a legitimate multi-talented stage performer.
It might also be noted that Neuwirth appeared in Barry Levinson’s film Liberty Heights, playing the Jewish mother in a semi-autobiographical story about a family growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s.
Bring On the Jews
From the Yiddish theater that started the 20th century to The Producers that ushered in the 21st century, the Jewish people have never stopped contributing to Broadway in a major way. Since the Tony Awards were first given out in 1947, 69 percent of composers, 70 percent of lyricists and 56 percent of librettists have been Jewish.6 Add to this total the numerous awards for d
irecting, acting, choreography and playwriting as well as the many Jewish producers stepping up to accept awards for Best Musical or Best Play, and you have an unprecedented contribution to Broadway.
But perhaps it was the song in the comedic musical hit Spamalot that best summed up the Jewish influence on Broadway:
You Won’t Succeed on Broadway
by Eric Idle and John Du Prez
(used by permission)
ARTHUR: Have you heard of this “Broadway”?
ROBIN: Yes sire ... and we don’t stand a chance there.
ARTHUR: Why not?
ROBIN: Because Broadway is a very special place,
filled with very special people, people who
can sing and dance often at the same time.
They are a different people, a multi-talented
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people, a people who need people and who are
in many ways the luckiest people in the
world. I’m sorry Sire, we don’t have a chance.
ARTHUR: But why?
ROBIN: Well ... let me put it like this....
In any great adventure
If you don’t want to lose
Victory depends upon
The people that you choose
So, listen, Arthur darling
Closely to this news
We won’t succeed on Broadway
If we don’t have any Jews.
You may have the finest sets
Fill the stage with Penthouse pets
You may have the loveliest costumes and best shoes
You may dance and you may sing
But I’m sorry Arthur King
You’ll hear no cheers just lots and lots of boos
ENSEMBLE: Boo!
ROBIN: You may have butch men by the score
Whom the audience adore
You may even have some animals from zoos
Though you’ve Poles and Krauts instead
You may have unleavened bread
But I tell you, you are dead
If you don’t have any Jews
They won’t care if it’s witty
or everything looks pretty
They’ll simply say it’s shitty and refuse.
Nobody will go, sir
If it’s not kosher, then no show sir
Even goyim won’t be dim enough to choose
Put on shows that make men stare
With lots of girls in underwear
You may even have the finest of reviews
MINSTREL: You’re doin’ great!
ROBIN: But the audience won’t care sir
As long as you don’t dare sir
To open up on Broadway
ARTHUR/PATSY: If you don’t have any Jews
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ROBIN : You may have dramatic lighting
Or lots of horrid fighting
You may even have some white men sing the blues
Your knights might be nice boys
But sadly we’re all goys
And that noise that you call singing you must lose.
So, despite your pretty lights
Naughty girls in nasty tights
And the most impressive scenery you use
You may have dancing mana e mano
You may bring on a piano
But they will not give a damn-o
If you don’t have any Jews
You may fill your play with gays
Have Nigerian girls in stays
WOMEN: You may even have some shiksas making stews!
ROBIN AND MEN: You haven’t got a clue
If you don’t have a Jew
All of your investments you are going to lose
There’s a very small percentile
Who enjoys a dancing gentile
I’m sad to be the one with this bad news
ALL: Never mind your swordplay
You just won’t succeed on Broadway
You just won’t succeed on Broadway if you
don’t have any Jews.
Papa, can you hear me?
To get along on Broadway
To sing your song on Broadway
To hit the top on Broadway and not lose
I tell you, Arthur King there is one essential thing
There simply must be, simply must be Jews.
There simply must be, Arthur trust me
Simply must be Jews.
Ironically, other than Mike Nichols, there were not many Jews associated with the hit musical Spamalot (other than some of the producers), which debuted on Broadway in 2005 and ran for over 1,500 performances. Nonetheless, the song was widely received in the good humor in which it was intended and was certainly inspired by the Jewish contribution to Broadway.
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Setting the Stage for the Future
As we enter the second decade of the new century, I’m happy to see that Jewish themes continue to provide fodder for clever playwrights, and many such shows have been thriving Off Broadway.
One such show is Zero Hour which is not a Jewish story per se, but instead, not unlike Funny Girl, tells the story of a legendary Jewish performer, in this case, Zero Mostel. The show recounts Mostel’s life from his early upbringing on the Lower East Side to his days as a stand up comic and on to his illustrious Broadway career. His near-fatal bus accident and his blacklisting during the anti–Communist scourge are also included. Zero Hour was created by Jim Brochu, who stars as Mostel in the one-man show, which has generated tremendous critical acclaim.
Brochu had previously written and starred in the award-winning musicals The Last Session and The Big Voice: God or Merman? In fact, it was seeing Merman in Gypsy in 1959 that inspired the Brooklyn-born Brochu to pursue a career in the theater. Once he became a fan of theater, Brochu also became one of the many who appreciated the incredible talents of Mostel, hence bringing the show to fruition.
Jewish humor and culture is also evident in Yisrael Campbell’s Off Broadway one-man comedy Circumcise Me. Campbell, a converted Jew, presented the semi-autobiographical tale of a Catholic man who becomes a Jerusalem Jew, while crossing the typical boundaries of comedy by approaching some serious issues with a comedic bent.
Another recent one-man Jewish comedy featured Steve Solomon in My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy. Also writing from his personal experiences, Solomon, in true Sid Caesar–style, packed some 30 characters into his 90-minute show that went from Off Broadway to a run on Broadway in 2006. Having honed his skills on the comedy club circuit, Solomon brought back some of the Catskills-style humor in the culture-crossing comedy that tackles kosher cooking by non–Jews and other such interfaith themes.
Then there are the plays of Daniel Goldfarb, the Jewish playwright and graduate of both The Juilliard School and New York University. “It’s difficult to think of a playwright of Mr. Goldfarb’s generation who has written about Jewish themes for mainstream theater audiences more consistently than he has,”7 noted Jason Zinoman in the New York Times.
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Gold farb ushered in the new decade with his first play, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie about a non–Jew trying to write a movie about anti–Semitism in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Goldfarb also wrote the Off Broad way show Modern Orthodox about a secular Jewish couple that takes in an Orthodox Jewish man. The show focuses on the impact of modern secular Jews on the life of the Orthodox Jew.
A more recent show by Goldfarb, The Retributionists, took a similar storyline to the film Inglorious Basterds (which came out roughly at the same time). The Retributionists explored the little-known underground Jew ish revolutionaries who sought revenge upon the Germans after the war, pledging to kill one German for every Jew who was killed.
While Goldfarb does not want to become known solely as a Jewish playwright, his works have e
xpanded the ever-growing library of Jewish theater works that have emerged in recent years.
Another modern Jewish playwright, Alan Brody, who also serves as a Professor of Theater Arts at MIT, produced The Company of Angels Off Broadway, about a group of young actors in the Yiddish theater who find each other after the Holocaust to create a touring company. They then proceed to bring culture and a message of hope back to the surviving Jews of Poland. Brody’s more recent drama also featured Jewish characters. The Housewives of Mannheim is about four Jewish women in the Flat bush section of Brooklyn during World War II. One of the women is a more worldly, recently widowed concert pianist who shakes up the sedate lifestyle of her neighbors, resulting in questions about their relationships, their roles as women and their sexuality.
Other shows like Jewtopia— a very successful Off Broadway comedy about two young men, one Jewish and one Gentile, who are teaching one another how to win over women of the opposite religion — have enjoyed long runs Off Broadway with secular audiences.
It’s important to take notice of such new plays and playwrights as we emerge into the second decade of the century. It is these young talents and their commitment to exploring modern, historical and traditional Jewish culture that will continue the Jewish contribution to theater and to Broadway well into the 21st century.
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Epilogue
Our country is still young and our cultural contribution to the world is just beginning. The Jewish participation in the last century reflected the opportunity, growth, social responsibility and diversity that only a new democratic republic could offer. As such, Jewish involvement in the fabric of American theater is so interwoven that you cannot tear them apart. One question I set out to answer in this book is why the Jewish community was so active in the American theater? Could it be as Ellen Adler suggested to me, in our interview, that the culture, music and literature were such an intrinsic part of Jewish life that they spilled over into this new American way of life? Or perhaps it is as Tovah Feldshuh said to me, that America offered a society and financial environment based on meritocracy. If you had the talent, you reaped the rewards and there were opportunities in America that were not available to Jews in other parts of the globe.
Historically, Charles Strouse felt the world of music and theater had been exclusively the domain of the wealthy, elite or royalty. The Italian, German, Austrian and French people had their opera, but there were no Jewish composers at the court of Franz Josef or Napoleon Bonaparte.