20 Friday, March 18, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
SAVE°
Two Novels Center on Yiddish Theater
By LEA D. FIELD
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Two novels using the
early Yiddish theater in
America for the background
of their stories have re-
cently been published.
The more noteworthy,
"Glorious Morning" by
Julie Ellis, published by
Arbor House, tells a warm,
passionate story about
Jewish life in America at
the turn of the century with
special emphasis on the
Yiddish theater.
- Rissa Lindowski, at 14,
finds herself miraculously
the only survivor of a horri-
ble and brutal pogrom that
swept their shtetl. She feels
that destiny has spared her
for a purpose and vows to
make the name Of Lin-
dowski a glorious memorial
to honor her slaughtered
parents.
Fleeing on foot to Mos-
cow, a chance meeting
with a- Jewish theatrical
family sweeps her into
the primitive Yiddish
theater that then pre-
vailed in small halls or
barns doubling as theat-
ers.
Her youth, her budding
beauty and unexpected ta-
' lent finds her firmly
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entrenched in the troupe
and so her pattern is set.
She will henceforth be an
actress.
She falls in love with a
young, attractive visitor on
vacation who brings her to
London. There she. loses her
village innocence and naiv-
ete and is heart-broken and
disillusioned when she dis-
covers that he is the son of
an English lord and never
meant to marry her. She
vows that henceforth she
will Make her own way and
depend only on herself.
Coming to America, and
making the rounds of the
Yiddish theater, her youth,
her beauty and natural ta-
lent are of no avail against
the newly-formed "Hebrew
Actors Protective Union" in
the early years of 1900 (be-
fore Actors Equity was
dreamed of). While it was a
boon to the actors who
under its laws were guaran-
teed a living wage and a
concern for those left
stranded out of town, its
rules were so stringent that
it was almost impossible for
a young aspirant to find
work.
As one seasoned ac-
tress told Rissa, "the
unions won't let anyone
in until somebody al-
ready in, dies, and it's a
shame when an actress —
a `bubbr already — plays
a 15-year-old on the
stage."
But there was always the
variety stage and music
halls, whose unions were
most , lenient. From here,
Rissa finally climbs to a
brilliant career on the Yid-
dish stage on. the Lower
East Side. With a devoted
and loving husband as her
director and manager, he
guides her progress until
one day she is a star with a
theater of her own and feels
a thrill, that at last, Mama's
and Papa's name has mean-
ing.
Her stardom and acclaim
and her devotion to the Yid-
dish theater bring
heartbreak as well. Her
husband, seeking an iden-
tity of his own through
movies in Hollywood,
creates dissension, a diver-
Sity of interest and marital
conflict and once again, sor-
row and pain.
Here the reader is treated
to a most vivid picture of
.early movie-making, its re-
cklessness, its utter lack of
morals and its complete re-
liance on the "star" system.
Rissa is anxious to pre-
sent the plays of Gordin,
Anski and the like but the
audiences show their
disapproval until, like
Thomashevsky, Adler
and Kessler in the early
days, she, too, must re-
sort to "shund" or trash.
As her friend, Shirley
protests, "People come to
America from pogroms,
from being kicked and
starved. Here, they work 14,
16, 18 hours a day. They
come to the theater to forget
their `tsoris.' They need to
laugh, Rissa. For a few
hours, once a week, they
need to forget."
Twice disappointed in
.
NURA
EM SELECI1ON
IMPORTED KEDEM WIneco.. NelkYORK, N.Y.
LEA FIELD
love, she comes to realize
one "glorious morning" that
with her career, her own
theater and her family, and
her deep commitment to the
Yiddish theater, her dreams
have been fulfilled and life
is good.
Julie Ellis weaves a
spell-binding tale of the love
and commitment of a warm,
proud, courageous woman,
who makes a deep' vow — to
survive! Her style is direct,
forthright, intense and
flowing. Once started,
"Glorious Morning" will be
hard to put down. Julie Ellis
is also the author of "The
Hampton Heritage" and
"The Hampton Women."
Of entirely another
kind is the second book,
"Hungry Hearts" by
Francine Prose, pub-
lished by Pantheon
Books. It is written in the
first person by Dinah
Rappoport, principal ac-
tress of the Yiddish Art
Theater of the early 1920s
— 60 years later. Stravis-
laysky was their God and
Dalashinsky, the direc-
tor, was his prophet. His
word was law.
The "star" system Was
abandoned and "ensemble"
and reportory theater was
the order of the day. No
more were lunches allowed
or loud talking while plays
were in progress as in the
Second Avenue Theaters.
No more "ad-libbing" or
"playing to the balcony" for
laughs. Only pure art and
plays worthy of an art thea-
ter were presented.
The entire book is cen-
tered around the play "The
Dybbuk" by S. Anski with
its theme of thwarted love
and demonic possession.
Reminiscing on the gal-
vanizing effect of the play
on her own life, Dinah tells
the story of her three wed-
dings, all to the same man,
as well as life backstage
with its jealousies, its con-
flicts and money difficul-
ties.
But the author really dis-
plays her wit and humor
when the troupe goes on
their South American tour.
There, Dinah, playing the
part of Leah so realistically,
becomes so transfixed that a
dybbuk of another sort has
entered her life. To exorcise
this intruder, a psychiat-
rist, an earthy rabbi, the
kabala together with tango
dancers and mystical
chants are all called into ac-
tion to the delight of the
reader. Deapite all these
difficulties the story ends
happily and all is well. _
Francine Prose is a
brilliant and imaginative
storyteller. She sweeps
the reader along in her
dramatic but
deceptively-sim.ple man-
ner and on the way asks
some basic questions
about what it is to love
and to be possessed —
and not just by a dybbuji.
This is Francine Prose's
sixth novel and her most
ambitious. She has been
awarded the Jewish Book
Council Award for her first,
"Judah, the Pious," and has
attracted wide,spread criti-
cal acclaim.
AZYF Offers Variety
of Summer Israel Tours
NEW YORK — A variety
of summer touring oppor-
tunities-especially geared to
the interests of high school
and college-age students is
being offered by the Ameri-
can Zionist Youth Founda-
tion (AZYF) Israel Program
Center.
For high school students,
the AZYF is sponsoring Is-
rael Summer Happening,
40 days of travel designed to
provide a stimulating, in-
depth introduction to Israel.
The itinerary includes tour-
ing in Jerusalem, Galilee,
the Negev and Tel Aviv.
Students will participate`in
seminars, experience a na-
ture study center, and camp
in tents in the Galilee.
The Israel Graduate
Summer Hapenning is a
similar tour for students
who will graduate from
high school in the spring of
1983 with extra activities.
geared to students who are
entering college in the fall.
The college program is
designed to provide
college-age students with
an in-depth perspective
of Israel and a better
,
understanding of the
endurance of the Jewish
people throughout his-
tory.
For students interested in
archaelogy, some programs
include five days of partici-
pation in a dig and guest
seminars. For college stu-
dents with limited time, the
Student August Tour is a
three-week introduction to
Israel which yields insights
into the vitality and spirit of
the country.
For an application or in-
formation on these pro-
grams, contact the AZYF,
515 Park Ave., New York,
N.Y. 10022.
Youth Mission
to Washington
NEW YORK — Some 100
United' Synagogue Youth
leaders from New York and
New Jersey' will attend a
day of briefings in Washing-
ton, D.C. on March 31.
The day-long mission will
include meetings at the
State Department, the Is-
rael Embassy and the
American Israel t'ublic Af-
fairs Committee.