Read Online Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers by Stewart F. Lane - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stewart F. Lane
Tags: Drama, United States, General, History, 20th Century, Theater, New York, New York (State), Performing Arts, Jewish, Jews in Popular Culture - United States, Theater - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Jewish Entertainers, Jews in Popular Culture, Jewish Entertainers - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Musicals - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Musicals, Broadway (New York; N.Y.), Jews in the Performing Arts, Jews in the Performing Arts - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century
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decades, even long after his death in 1950.
Meanwhile Back on the Vaudeville Stages
As one generation forged ahead to Broadway and soon to the newer media, such as radio and film, the years following the First World War brought the next breed of Jewish talent to the numerous nationwide stages of vaudeville.
The format remained much the same, with performers now being booked on well-established circuits while traveling from one city to the next. However, the “shtick” that was once very ethnic was now giving way to a more diverse mix of song and hijinks, much of which focused on the social and political climate of the post–World War I era.
It was during this time that four of five Jewish brothers would emerge as one of the funniest comedy troupes to ever take the stage. This was largely due to the persistence of their mother, who served as their manager. Minnie Marx, who immigrated to the United States with her family as a teenager in 1888, was part of a show business family. Her brother Al Sheen was a comic, her father a ventriloquist, her mother a harpist and Minnie herself was a singer. Only her husband was not in the business, instead working as a somewhat unsuccessful tailor, one who refused to measure anything or anyone.
Minnie’s boys, later the name of a Broadway show (in 1970), began as a singing group called The Nightingales. In time, they would take on various configurations and change their stage name, as other performers would come and go (even mom and their aunt would join the act), but most significantly, the Marx Brothers would start to improvise and introduce comedy into the performances.
Soon, the brothers, all of whom had musical talent, would switch 42
2. Part of the Melting Pot
from a musical show to what was primarily a comedy show with some music. By the 1920s the vaudeville shows of the Marx Brothers were second to none. With the help of their uncle Al Sheen, now a vaudeville star, the Four Marx Brothers, as they were billed, created and established their own identities and played off one another with impeccable timing.
Although Jewish, the Marx Brothers’ on-stage personalities belied their ethnic background. In fact, Chico had such a thick Yiddish accent, that he, like Houdini, opted to go Italian, taking on the character that would forever be his stage persona. In time, thanks to Chico’s Italian accent, Groucho was quoted as saying, when asked about being Jewish performers, “Most people think we’re Italian.”
In the 1920s the Marx Brothers took their madcap comedy routines to Broadway with three shows, I’ll Say She Is , The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers , the latter two also becoming a couple of their celebrated films.
With music by Irving Berlin and a book by George S. Kaufman, The Cocoa nuts was probably the most celebrated of the three musicals and ran for nearly 300 performances at the Lyric Theater.
During their formative years, the Marx Brothers crossed paths, in 1911, with a young violinist, the son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania.
He happened to be playing in the same theaters as the “then” singing brothers. The young performer, Jack Kubelsky, would become close friends with Zeppo Marx and in time accompany him to a family Pass -
over Seder where he would meet, and later marry, the Marx Brothers’
cousin Sadie. Changing his name to the less ethnic Jack Benny, he would soon enjoy his own vaudeville career, which evolved much in the same manner as the Marx Brothers’, from music to comedy. By the 1920s the fiddle would play second fiddle to his comedy routines. Along with Sadie, who changed her name to Mary Livingston, Benny would go on to vaudeville success that launched his illustrious comedy career.
At the same time that Benny was taking his mild-mannered approach to success on the vaudeville circuit, another son of a Jewish immigrant was teaming up with an Irish clog dancer to form one of the most prolific comedy teams of all time. George Burns and
Meanwhile Back on the Vaudeville Stages
As one generation forged ahead to Broadway and soon to the newer media, such as radio and film, the years following the First World War brought the next breed of Jewish talent to the numerous nationwide stages of vaudeville.
The format remained much the same, with performers now being booked on well-established circuits while traveling from one city to the next. However, the “shtick” that was once very ethnic was now giving way to a more diverse mix of song and hijinks, much of which focused on the social and political climate of the post–World War I era.
It was during this time that four of five Jewish brothers would emerge as one of the funniest comedy troupes to ever take the stage. This was largely due to the persistence of their mother, who served as their manager. Minnie Marx, who immigrated to the United States with her family as a teenager in 1888, was part of a show business family. Her brother Al Sheen was a comic, her father a ventriloquist, her mother a harpist and Minnie herself was a singer. Only her husband was not in the business, instead working as a somewhat unsuccessful tailor, one who refused to measure anything or anyone.
Minnie’s boys, later the name of a Broadway show (in 1970), began as a singing group called The Nightingales. In time, they would take on various configurations and change their stage name, as other performers would come and go (even mom and their aunt would join the act), but most significantly, the Marx Brothers would start to improvise and introduce comedy into the performances.
Soon, the brothers, all of whom had musical talent, would switch 42
2. Part of the Melting Pot
from a musical show to what was primarily a comedy show with some music. By the 1920s the vaudeville shows of the Marx Brothers were second to none. With the help of their uncle Al Sheen, now a vaudeville star, the Four Marx Brothers, as they were billed, created and established their own identities and played off one another with impeccable timing.
Although Jewish, the Marx Brothers’ on-stage personalities belied their ethnic background. In fact, Chico had such a thick Yiddish accent, that he, like Houdini, opted to go Italian, taking on the character that would forever be his stage persona. In time, thanks to Chico’s Italian accent, Groucho was quoted as saying, when asked about being Jewish performers, “Most people think we’re Italian.”
In the 1920s the Marx Brothers took their madcap comedy routines to Broadway with three shows, I’ll Say She Is , The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers , the latter two also becoming a couple of their celebrated films.
With music by Irving Berlin and a book by George S. Kaufman, The Cocoa nuts was probably the most celebrated of the three musicals and ran for nearly 300 performances at the Lyric Theater.
During their formative years, the Marx Brothers crossed paths, in 1911, with a young violinist, the son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania.
He happened to be playing in the same theaters as the “then” singing brothers. The young performer, Jack Kubelsky, would become close friends with Zeppo Marx and in time accompany him to a family Pass -
over Seder where he would meet, and later marry, the Marx Brothers’
cousin Sadie. Changing his name to the less ethnic Jack Benny, he would soon enjoy his own vaudeville career, which evolved much in the same manner as the Marx Brothers’, from music to comedy. By the 1920s the fiddle would play second fiddle to his comedy routines. Along with Sadie, who changed her name to Mary Livingston, Benny would go on to vaudeville success that launched his illustrious comedy career.
At the same time that Benny was taking his mild-mannered approach to success on the vaudeville circuit, another son of a Jewish immigrant was teaming up with an Irish clog dancer to form one of the most prolific comedy teams of all time. George Burns and
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