News Digest
CURTAIN TIME FOR AMERICA
At the time Jewish movie moguls invented Hollywood, their peers on
Broadway helped turn on the footlights of the modern American stage. The
showmanship of Jewish theatrical producers grew dramatically in
substance and appeal. Among the most influential were Florenz Ziegfeld
(1869-1932) who showcased 24 sensational annual reviews, and Sol Hurok
(1890-1974), who in his prime was the nation's leading manager of
performing artists and cultural events.
Billy Rose (1899 1 966) was the Broadway producer who pioneered
bringing showbiz celebrities to supper club stages. The Shubert Family
mounted more than 500 productions featuring rising stars of the musical
world. And more recently, David Merrick (1912-), a dominant producer
for a quarter-century, collected a record number of Tony nominations and
awards. Several before them also lit up the Great White Way.
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OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN I
( 1847-1919) b. Berlin, Germany The cigar maker
turned millionaire--after emigrating to the U.S. in
1863--also met success as a composer, inventor
and journalist. But his compelling passion was
grand opera, for which he tried but failed to win
large audiences in England. His adopted
homeland offered more promise when, in 1906,
the doors of his Manhattan Opera House opened
to a rousing reception (the Harlem Opera House, his first venture, was
established in the 1880s).
Building the institution with more than brick and mortar,
Hammerstein produced brilliant contemporary works with new talent that
almost demolished the reputation and box office revenues of the stodgy
Metropolitan Opera Company. He was bought out by the Met in 1910 for
a reputed $2 million. With New York as the hub of his musical dynasty,
the impresario built ten opera houses and theaters in the city, and one each
in Philadelphia and London. Although not all of his enterprises
consistently played to SRO audiences, the great popularizer staged exciting
productions which set lasting standards for grand opera worldwide.
Sharin'g his grandfather's obsession with the musical stage, Oscar
Hammerstein II (1895-1960) composed the stylish librettos of Oklahoma,
Carousel, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Show Boat and a dozen other
hits. He had collaborated with composers Jerome Kern, Sigmund
Romberg and Rudolf Friml before entering a permanent 1943 partnership
with Richard Rodgers which was the most productive of them all.
.
11/22
2002
32
DAVID BELASCO
(1853-1931) b. San Francisco, CA American
theater has seldom, if ever, seen his like. Belasco
was the outstanding theatrical personality,
producer and dramatist of his time; his name
alone drew huge crowds to his more than 370
exotic and lavish productions. The son of an
English Jew and gypsy mother had toured mining
camps as a child actor. He later settled in New
York City (1882), served as stage manager of the Madison Square and
Lyceum theaters, and wrote several well-received plays.
In 1906, Belasco built the New York theater which bore his name,
and introduced what became a trademark--spectacular staging and
astounding effects in sight and sound. The first director to widely employ
spotlighting, he also devised dramatic settings and stunning realism that
earned world renown for innovative stagecraft. Belasco was also notable
for discovering and nurturing fresh talent, for lifting young playwrights and
actors to stardom.
While critics sometimes questioned the literary merit of his work
and mocked his flamboyant staging, he helped theater in America gain
status as a popular cultural form. At the outset of his career, Belasco also
wrote and staged Madame Butterfly (1900) and The Girl of the Golden
West (1905), both of which were transformed into operas by Giacomo
Puccini. •
- Saul Stadtmauer
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Noa And Daniel
Top Name List
Jerusalem/JTA — Noa and Daniel
were the most popular names for
Israeli babies born last year.
According to the Central Bureau of
Statistics, 137,000 babies were born in
Israel last year, 51.4 percent of them
boys and 48.6 percent girls. Of the total,
91,000 were Jewish and 36,000 Muslim.
More Israelis
Marry Abroad
Jerusalem/JTA — The number of
*Israelis marrying in civil ceremonies in
Cyprus has increased sharply in the
past decade.
Some 1,400 Israelis couples were
married in Cyprus in 2000, compared
to fewer than 200 in 1990, according
to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The
phenomenon of civil marriages abroad
has been linked to the influx of immi-
grants from the former Soviet Union
during the 1990s, according to the
Jerusalem Post. Many immigrants claim
no religious affiliation, and only reli-
gious weddings are conducted in Israel.
Web Site Center
For Jewish Learning
New York/JTA — Philanthropists
Edgar Bronfman and Lynn
Schusterman are backing a multimil-
lion-dollar Web initiative to teach
Jewish religion, history and culture.
The site, MyJewishLearning.com
is being co-produced by Hebrew
College in Boston and Jewish Family
& Life, an online publisher.
Bronfman, who is putting several
million dollars into the venture, said it
may be "the most important" donation
he has ever made in Jewish life.
The site, which launched this week,
aims to introduce Jews to Jewish reli-
gious practice, allows users to create per-
sonalized learning areas and involves a
range of Jewish organizations.
Bush Signs
`God Bill'
Washington/JTA — President Bush
signed into law a bill reaffirming refer-
ences to God in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
The law signed Nov. 13 also supports
"In God We Trust" as the national motto.
Congress gave near-unanimous sup-
port for the bill after a U.S. appeals court
ruled in June that the phrase "under
God" in the pledge violated the constitu-
tional separation of church and state.
Student's Killer
Is Sentenced
Pittsburgh/JTA — A man who killed a
Canadian rabbinical student because he
looked Jewish was sentenced Nov. 13 in
Pittsburgh to 10 to 20 years in prison.
Steven Tielsch received the maxi-
mum sentence for third-degree murder
under guidelines in effect in April
1986, when Neal Rosenblum was shot
five times after leaving a synagogue,
the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors had sought a first-degree
murder conviction at Tielsch's fourth trial
for the slaying. Three earlier juries were
unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
JDL Leader
Dies At 57
Los Angeles/JTA — Jewish Defense
League leader Iry Rubin died in a Los
Angeles hospital Nov. 13 ar 57.
He had been in a coma since Nov.
4, when he attempted to commit sui-
cide in jail, authorities said.
Jewish Journalist
Dies At 99
New York/JTA — David Horowitz,
who from 1969 to 1972 served as
managing editor of the American
Examiner, a forerunner of the New
York Jewish Week, died recently at 99.
Horowitz also reported from the
United Nations for 50 years.
At the start of his career, he wrote
for the United Israel Bulletin, the jour-
nal of the United Israel World Union.
Man Sentenced
In Shul Threat
Providence/JTA — A man was sen-
tenced to jail for threatening to blow
up a historic U.S. synagogue.
Joseph Nixon was sentenced to two
years and nine months in jail after
pleading guilty to charges he mailed a
threatening letter to the Touro
Synagogue in Newport, R.I.
While in custody, Nixon, 25, sent a
second letter threatening an attack on
a temple in Providence.