Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers by Stewart F. Lane Read Free Book Online Page A

and songs with barbed satire and topical humor. By the end of the century the term “vaudevire” had emerged, which later became vaudeville.1
    Unlike the traditional and secular works found on the stages of Yiddish theater, vaudeville was the epitome of the great American melting pot, welcoming immigrants of all nationalities. The phenomenon had begun in the late 1870s and had gained enormous acceptance throughout the United States. Vaudeville was culled from various sources including the Barnum and Bailey Circus, with the idea of presenting numerous, 30
    2. Part of the Melting Pot
    diverse acts of all types in one show. There were vestiges of minstrel shows, complete with blackface and street performers, who had sung and danced for coins, now earning money and having a roof over their heads.
    Having moved much of mainstream entertainment out of saloons and into respectable theaters, vaudeville was billed as entertainment for the masses. It was run by shrewd entrepreneurs who served as managers and knew how to work the “bottom line” and make money by giving the public a bevy of performers on one bill. Between seven and fifteen acts might perform on a given night, including jugglers, acrobats, song and dance teams, musicians, solo singers, comedy teams, novelty acts, and even the occasional animal act. In recent memory, the entertainment closest to mainstream vaudeville-esque harkens back to The Ed Sullivan Show , which ran on CBS television from 1948 through 1971, presenting a similar diverse mix of variety acts.
    For the second generation of Jewish immigrants, vaudeville offered an opportunity to assimilate into the mainstream. The potential payoff was greater than Yiddish theater as vaudeville had a wider presence with many more venues all throughout the country. Vaudeville theater had opened in cities such as Boston, Chicago and even out west in San Francisco. It was the ideal place in which to sing and/or perform comedy, and both music and humor were (and remain) staples of Jewish life and Jewish culture.
    Music and Laughter Lead to Vaudeville
    The study of music was part of the Jewish upbringing in Europe and was emphasized from an early age in America as well. Song was part of Jewish festivals, religious gatherings and of Yiddish theater. Even a young Oscar Hammerstein, who had left Germany, running away from his family in 1863 at the age of 16, was already versed in piano, flute and violin when he landed on American shores.
    By the age of nine or ten, most of the Jewish soon-to-be vaudevillians were fluent on a musical instrument, and many sang as well. Jewish humor, meanwhile, was unique unto itself, exploring life as it unfolded, while often helping to ease the brunt of persecution and in America, ghetto living conditions. Jewish humor often asks the question “Why?,”
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    Jews on Broadway
    as in, “Why do we act in a particular manner or behave in such a way?”
    or “Why must we suffer?” Self-reflective and even self-deprecating, such humor would translate well into mainstream vaudeville. However, unlike the Jewish monologists of years to come, with their exploration of family, of life, love, relationships and of simply “being Jewish,” vaudeville humor was largely based on stereotypes, most of which would be considered anything but politically correct today.
    In vaudeville, each ethnic group had their own stereotypical characters, or caricatures, and they were not always portrayed by performers of that ethnicity. The Jewish characters in vaudeville were taken in part from characters in other literature, such as Shakespeare’s Shylock, and in part from the ghetto, with an exaggerated Yiddish accent. Being dis-honest and frugal when it came to dealings with money, for example, would manifest itself onstage in a humorous routine or a comedy skit, as they were called. While the depictions of Jews in this manner perpetuated the stereotypes, the Jewish entertainers were welcomed into prominence as part