Introduction: Great Ladies of the Yiddish Theatre

At the inception of Yiddish theatre in Europe, it was atypical for a woman to participate as an actress on stage. Often, men or young boys assumed a role that would ordinarily be given to a woman.

This eventually did change, and in America many Yiddish actresses were given the preponderance of central female character roles, and this greatly enhanced the quality of the Yiddish theatre production.

When Yiddish theatre was most popular, the plays that were staged in America often reflected Jewish life -- its complications and its many hardships. Many plays were staged that had to do with the Jewish family, which was very important to the immigrant who had come here to America and had to assimilate. 

With the advent of the Yiddish operetta, Jewish women on stage in America were given musical roles and sang songs, often as soubrettes and prima donnas.

The wonderful Bertha Kalish, who begins this exhibition, was an important Yiddish actress and found much praise among the theatre critics. She was well known for her singing of the song, “Eli, Eli,” which was most often associated with the great Cantor Josef Rosenblatt

Bessie Thomashefsky, who married the famed Boris Thomashefsky, could often be found on the Yiddish stage in a variety of roles. She was not only a fine dramatic actress, but she excelled in comedy too. She not only acted, but she produced and directed Yiddish theatre productions and ran her own Yiddish theatre.

Celia Adler, the daughter of the actor Jacob P Adler, enjoyed a long and illustrious career and excelled in her work on the Yiddish stage. Her sister, Stella, also had a fine career in the Yiddish and American Theatre. She later on opened a popular actor’s studio in New York City.

Jennie Goldstein was a marvelous actress who played for decades on the Yiddish stage, often playing lonely, vulnerable women in melodramatic roles.

Bina Abramowitz, often called "the Mother of the Yiddish Theatre," was a fine character actress who acted in many plays on the Yiddish stage, especially as a troupe member of Maurice Schwartz’s Yiddish Art Theatre.

There were many Jewish women who made their mark on the Yiddish stage, whether as a dramatic actress, or in comedy or song. This exhibition, “Great Ladies of the Yiddish Stage,” represents just some of them, some of our very best.

Let’s begin our tour, shall we?