Yiddish theatrical standards in Europe today are very low, the Yiddish theatres on the other side being on a much lower level than the theatres over here, declared Abraham Ellstein, New York Jewish composer and director of Yiddish theatrical orchestras, upon his return from Europe. Mr. Ellstein had gone to Europe together with Ludwig Satz and his troupe for a ten week engagement, having played in the two largest Jewish centers of Europe, Warsaw and London.
Yiddish troupes in Europe, said Mr. Ellstein, are forced to play in old, dilapidated and unsanitary buildings. Scenery and costumes are antiquated, while lighting effects are unheard of. Orchestras are in a terrible condition, while acting still follows the old-time melodramatic style, he stated. Most of the plays presented in European Yiddish theatres are adapted from American Yiddish plays, declared Mr. Ellstein, and the Yiddish theatrical public over there demands either cheap melodramatic clap-trap or vaudeville and jazz pieces.
Mr. Ellstein has been engaged by the Public Theatre on Second Avenue for the coming Yiddish theatrical season.
The upper West Side of Manhattan, a large proportion of whose population is Jewish, will have a Yiddish theatre during the coming season, as a result of the leasing of the Shubert-Riviera Theatre, Broadway and 96th St., by Nathan Goldberg, Yiddish thatrical director and actor. Mr. Goldberg, who had been running a Yiddish theatre in the Bronx during the past season, will present Yiddish musical comedies and melodramas in his new theatre on the Upper West Side.
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.
