London’s East End is losing another of its famous old landmarks and the Yiddish theatre one of its oldest homes when the wreckers start early next month the work of demolishing the old Pavilion Theatre in Mile End, for the last fifty years the home of Yiddish entertainment.
Where the Pavilion stands today there will soon be erected a huge cinema house and the shadowy stars of Hollywood and Elstree will hold the rapt attention of audiences where, for a half century, the stars of the Yiddish drama and musical comedy have trod the boards.
The old architectural monstrosity with its odd little tower and its drab, dingy, draughty interior—the last permanent home of the Yiddish theatre in England, will soon be replaced by a modern, glittering picture house on the American model and young Whitechapel Jews will take their girls to see Hollywood films where their fathers took their mothers to see the current offerings of Yiddish dramatists.
The last Yiddish production in the old house was “A Gedulla Off Der Bubbeh,” (Grandma’s Pride and Joy) by Moses Broderson and H. Rubin, presented by a typical Yiddish stage troupe visiting from Poland. It was to have a run of three weeks, on the completion of which the wreckers were to take over the theatre.
So, as an old actor takes his last bow smiling, the old Pavilion will take hers to laughter, rather than the quick tears which the Yiddish theatre is so adept at providing.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
