Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theatre
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! Tonight we're here to tell you a story. It's the story of Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, two kids from little shtetls in the middle of the Ukrainian nowhere who came to America and became the founders and pioneers of the American Yiddish Theater; they also happened to be my grandparents.”Michael Tilson Thomas, The Thomashefskys
The Story
The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater premiered at Carnegie Hall in April 2005, with words and music brought to life for the first time in a century.
The story’s lead characters are Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky, grandparents of Michael Tilson Thomas. Bessie and Boris emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the 1880s and, while still in their teens, began to play major roles in the development of American Yiddish theatre. For Jewish immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th Century who settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Yiddish theatre was central to their lives. It replaced touchstones of Eastern European life – the village marketplace, the temple, the rabbi – and provided a stage for the new ideas that were shaping the psychological, emotional, moral and educational transition to a new, American way of life.
In The Thomashefskys, Michael Tilson Thomas serves as guide through the lives and repertoire of his grandparents. His grandfather died before he was born, but his grandmother lived until he was seventeen. His close relationship with her and many of her colleagues is a source of much of the material in the performance.
“My grandparents became mega-stars,” says Tilson Thomas, “and found themselves smack in the public eye. They were subject to adulation and relentless scrutiny. Legions of crazed fans were obsessed with every detail of their work and their lives. It was a far cry from the simple Jewish family life in the Ukrainian villages of their origins. In the old country, there was already an answer to every question. Now, in a new land of total freedom, new unimagined questions were waiting around every glittering corner.
“They wanted to use their theatre to explore these new questions and serve as a forum to search for possible answers. I marvel at what they attempted and how well they succeeded, from the classics to avant garde dramas, to original productions based on current events and contemporary Jewish life.”
At the height of their influence they owned theatres in and out of New York, published their own magazine, The Yiddish Stage, wrote columns in the popular Yiddish newspapers of the day, sponsored and encouraged new generations of young artists, brought uncountable numbers of Yiddish artists to the United States, tirelessly raised funds for progressive social causes and, through it all, were adventurous trend setters. The end of unrestricted immigration and changing tastes of the first-born American generation caused the diminishing of their world. Nevertheless, in 1939 the New York Times reported that 30,000 people lined the streets of the Lower East Side on the occasion of Boris’ funeral. Bessie lived on until the early 1960s and, from her Hollywood Hotel, wryly witnessed the rises and falls of show business legends.
Tilson Thomas shares the stage with a 30-piece orchestra and four principal performers who bring the repertoire and words of Bessie and Boris to life. All the material is authentic, researched and reconstructed by The Thomashefsky Project. The Project was founded in July 1998 in order to rescue the story of the Thomashefskys and early American Yiddish theatre’s contribution to American cultural life. Through its work, many disintegrating scores have been located and preserved to recreate as true a version of the original works as is possible.
These reclaimed musical treasures present audiences with a musical sound that few have heard, integrating aspects of Eastern European klezmer and cantorial modes with American tones and rhythms. With time these components became more integrated and more American, as Eastern European Jewish composers became more engrossed in their new surroundings, greatly influencing composers like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.
A range of musical numbers performed in the show reflect this new, increasingly American, musical sound. Film clips and projections of archival photographs, posters and other memorabilia enhance the telling of this uniquely American tale.
"The Thomashefskys" on NPR's Fresh Air
Michael Tilson Thomas talks with NPR’s Terry Gross about The Thomashefskys: Music & Memories of Life in the Yiddish Theater in this Fresh Air segment from 2012.
ListenIn everything he does, from conducting the San Francisco Symphony to spearheading that orchestra's multimedia educational project 'Keeping Score, Michael Tilson Thomas brings thorough musicianship sparked with theatrical flair. On Tuesday night an audience that packed Avery Fisher Hall learned about the roots of Mr. Thomas's theatrical instincts when the New York Philharmonic presented 'The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater, directed by Patricia Birch, in the first of two performances.New York Times
Production Photos
As the music director of the San Francisco Symphony for the past ten years, Michael Tilson Thomas hasn't done too badly for himself. His grandparents, though, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, they were really something. They had "hyperstardom."New York Magazine
Archival Photos
Few family scrapbooks cut as deep into the American consciousness as that of Michael Tilson Thomas, known to the world as the esteemed conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, but increasingly identified by his grandfather's surname thanks to The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater, performed Tuesday with film, photos, songs, and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center.Philadelphia Inquirer
Timeline
1866: Boris Thomashefsky born in Asitnyashka, in the Kiev province of the Ukraine.
1873: Bessie Kaufman born in Tarashche, in the Kiev province of the Ukraine.
1878: Bessie’s family emigrates to the United States, moving first to a farming region in southern Maryland before settling in Baltimore.
1879: Boris, at age 11, leaves for Berditchev to sing and train with Nisan Belzer’s renowned synagogue choir.
1881: Boris and his family immigrate to America and Boris goes to work as a soloist in the Henry Street Shul on the Lower East Side of New York City.
1882: At a rented hall on the Lower East Side, Boris produces the first Yiddish Theater presentation in the United States, serving as manager, chorus master and lead female role for Koldunye (The Sorceress)
1885: Boris organizes his own theater troupe and performs in Chicago.
1887: Boris travels to Baltimore with his troupe; they perform his play Aliles Dam (Blood Libel) at Concordia Hall. He meets Bessie Kaufman.
1888: Boris persuades Bessie to join him in New York. He gives Bessie her first starring role in Goldfaden’s Shulamis, which is performed at the Boston Music Hall.
1889: Boris and Bessie marry. Boris organizes a new troupe and opens first Yiddish theater in Philadelphia.
1889: Esther Thomashefsky is born.
1889-1892: Boris and Bessie join Adler in Chicago, where they form a new troupe.
1892-1893: Boris and Bessie perform at the German Thalia Theater in New York City, where Aleksander, der kroyn prints fun yerusholaim (Alexander, Crown Prince of Jerusalem) is produced.
1895: Harry Thomashefsky is born.
1895: Esther Thomashefsky dies of diphtheria.
1897: Milton (Mickey) Thomashefsky is born.
1899: Der yeshive bokher (The Yeshivah Student) premieres at the Windsor Theater in New York City.
1899: Boris helps found the Yiddish Actor’s Union.
1899-1900: Boris becomes Joseph Edelstein’s partner at the People’s Theater, New York City.
1900: Dovidl meshorer (David the Chorister) premieres at the People’s Theater in New York City.
1900: Di emigrantn (The Immigrants) premieres at the People’s Theater.
1901: Boris and Bessie visit Europe and perform at the Berlin Yiddish Theater.
1902: Der farloyrener gan eydn (The Lost Paradise) premieres at the People’s Theater.
July 4, 1904: Theodor Herzl Thomashefsky (Ted Thomas) is born.
1905: Boris establishes theater at Hunter, New York (Catskills), where Dos grine vaybl, oder der yidisher yenki-dudl (The Greenhorn Wife or The Yiddish Yankee Doodle) premieres.
1905: Bessie stars in a ’trouser’ role as Der griner bokher (The Greenhorn Boy) at the People’s Theater.
1906: Di Aktrise (The Actress), written by Boris as a tribute to Bessie, premieres in Hunter, NY.
1907: Shma yisroel (Hear‚ Israel) premieres at the People’s Theater.
1908: Boris publishes his Teater Shriftn (Theatre Works), a series of essays dedicated to Bessie.
1908: Bessie performs at the People’s Theater in the title role of Oscar Wilde’s Salome.
1909: Boris founds Di yidishe bine (The Yiddish Stage), a weekly periodical devoted to all branches of drama and music; it runs through April 1910.
1909: Dos pintele yid (A Little Spark of Jewishness) premieres at the People’s Theater.
1910: Di sheyne amerikanerin (The American Beauty) premieres at the People’s Theater.
1911: Boris tours Europe and performs in London.
1911-1912: Boris and Bessie separate.
1912-1913: Boris performs at Jacob Adler’s People’s Theater. He forms a partnership with Adler; they build a new theater on Houston at 2nd Avenue called the Adler-Thomashefsky National Theater.
1912: di Yidishe kroyn (The Jewish Crown) premieres at the National Theatre.
1912: Bessie joins Sarah Adler and Rudolph Schildkraut at the Brooklyn Novelty Theater. Bessie meets composer Rumshinsky. Their first partnership Khantshe in amerike (Hannah in America) premieres.
1913: Boris goes on tour in Europe and performs in London, Odessa and other cities. An account of his travels is serialized in di Forverts (The Forward).
1914-1915: Bessie joins with Jacob Adler at the People’s Theater. Produces a number of plays focusing on women’s issues, including Vaybershe melukhe (Women’s Kingdom).
1915: Thomashefsky’s National Theater opens, featuring Regina Zuckerberg.
1915: Bessie’s memoirs are serialized in di Varhayt (The Truth).
1916: Bessie takes over management of People’s Theater.
1916: Boris’ memoirs are serialized in Di Forverts (The Forward).
1916: Dos Tsebrokhene fidele (The Broken Fiddle) premieres at Thomashefsky’s National Theatre.
1916: Bessie’s memoirs are published in book form.
1917: Minke di dinstmoyd (Minke the Maid) premieres at Bessie Thomashefsky’s People’s Theatre.
1917: Bessie’s beauty column runs in di Varhayt
1917: Uptown, Downtown premieres at Thomashefsky’s National Theatre.
1919: Vi mener libn (How Men Love) performed at Thomashefsky’s National Theatre.
1923: Bessie begins to perform at English vaudeville houses.
1924: Ted Thomas works as the stage manager on Max Reinhardt’s production of The Miracle with Norman bel Geddes.
1924: Boris takes troupe to perform in Buenos Aires.
1931: The Singing Rabbi opens at the Selwyn Theater.
1933: Boris writes play about Hitler that premieres at Thomashefsky’s Rumanian Village.
1934: Ted Thomas works as the lighting assistant on the premiere of Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts.
1935: Harry Thomashefsky directs the film Bar Mitzvah, starring Boris.
1935: Bessie begins second memoirs, serialized in der Tog (The Day).
1936: Milton (Mickey) Thomashefsky dies.
1937: Ted Thomas works as stage manager for Orson Welles’ premiere of Faustus for the Federal Theater Project.
1937: Ted Thomas works as the stage manager for the premiere of Marc Blitzstein’s musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles for the Federal Theater Project.
1937: Ted Thomas and Roberta Meritzer marry.
1937: Boris publishes his memoirs in book form.
1938: Ted and Roberta Thomas move to Los Angeles.
July 9, 1939: Boris Thomashefsky dies.
1939: Bessie Thomashefsky and Harry Thomashefsky move to Los Angeles.
December 21, 1944: Michael Tilson Thomas born.
June 27, 1950: Judith (Judy) Thomas, daughter of Harry and Vera Thomashefsky, born.
July 6, 1962: Bessie Thomashefsky dies.
October 28, 1992: Theodor Herzl Thomashefsky (Ted Thomas) dies.
January 28, 1993: Harry Thomashefsky dies.
1998: The Thomashefsky Project is created.
April 14, 2005: First performance of The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater at Carnegie Hall.
March 29, 2012: The Thomashefskys airs on PBS Great Performances.
*The above dates represent the best estimates. Neither Bessie nor Boris Thomashefsky’s memoirs contain dates. We began with Zalmen Zylbercweig’s entries in his Lexicon of Yiddish Theatre, then reconciled his dates with events described in the autobiographies, newspaper articles, copyright registrations and numerous other documents.
To say that Michael Tilson Thomas, the celebrated conductor and music director of the San Francisco Symphony, comes from a Yiddish theater family is like saying Caroline Kennedy has a background in politics. That's not the half of it. Though you wouldn't guess it from his patrician-sounding name, which obscures it as deftly as Joseph Conrad hid Jozef Korzeniowski, Tilson Thomas is the grandson of Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, the patriarch and matriarch of American Yiddish theater, figures of towering talent and ambition with ego and temperament to match.Los Angeles Times
The aim of the Yiddish theater, according to Michael Tilson Thomas, was "the entertainment, education and elevation" of its audience. The resourcefully churning engine that made those lofty goals possible was improvisation. If the music gave out before an actor made an entrance, Thomas confides early on in "The Thomashefskys," his delectable tribute to this bygone art form and way of life, the orchestra was expected to "fake something charming.San Francisco Chronicle
Credits
Stage show:
Musical numbers arranged after the originals by Michael Tilson Thomas with orchestrations by Michael Tilson Thomas, Bruce Coughlin and Peter Laurence Gordon.
English lyrics by Ted Thomas and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Readings excerpted from: Kaddish for a Giant by Ted Thomas; Book of My Life by Boris Thomashefsky; The Story of My Life: The Sorrow and Joys of a Yiddish Star Actress by Bessie Thomashefsky; Bessie’s Beauty Column in The Warheit newspaper; Di yidishe bine, the Thomashefskys’ magazine of The Jewish Stage and Thomashefski’s Teater Shriftn, Boris Thomashefsky’s Writings on Theatre.
Translations from the Yiddish by Chana Mlotek, Kalman Weiser, Ronald Robboy, Marc Miller, Dr. Eli Katz and Dr. Chava Lapin.
The Thomashefsky Project acknowledges the significant contribution of the following organizations whose archival materials were used in the research and production of The Thomashefskys:
American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY and Boston, MA
The Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum
Beit Hatfutsot: The Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv
Brown University: John Hay Library
Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York
Corbis Images
The Forward Archives
Getty Images
Harvard College Library
Hebrew University: Israel Goor Theatre Archives, Jerusalem
The Hollywood Museum
Jabotinsky Institute in Israel
The Jewish Museum of Maryland
John E. Allen, Inc.
Library Of Congress: Music and Film Division; African and Middle-Eastern Division
Maryland Historical Society
The Historic Mayfair Archives
Museum of the City Of New York
National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University
National Yiddish Book Center
New York Historical Society: Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections
New York Public Library: Dorot Jewish Division
Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations
The Pasadena Playhouse
Saul Silber Memorial Library at the Hebrew Theological College, Skokie, IL
State Ethnographic Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Streamline Films
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Broadcast
The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater is a production of The Thomashefsky Film Project LLC and THIRTEEN for WNET.
The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater is directed for television by Gary Halvorson. Producers: Joshua Robison, Michael Bronson, and Michael Kantor. For Great Performances, John Walker is producer; Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.
Major funding for the telecast is provided by Arison Arts Foundation, Marcia and John Goldman, Carole and Jeffrey Hays and Lydia and Douglas Shorenstein, Stephen and Sandra Muss, the Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation, the Koret Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Lisa and John Pritzker Fund.