Museum of the Yiddish Theatre

JACOB P. ADLER,

... Adler loved everything that was tall, big and beautiful -- tall actors, a big pencil or fountain pen, and going on stage beautifully dressed, even when he was playing a beggar.

DAVID KESSLER,

... Kessler was a humble man and a gentle father and seldom became angry at home. He does, however, vent his anger on the actors both during rehearsals and during performances.

SIGMUND MOGULESKO,

... Mogulesko, who was the most important and greatest force in the Yiddish theatre, so that every manager used to feel happy to catch up with him, and he always walked around with worry and fear. However, he will not be hired for the coming season.

BORIS THOMASHEFSKY,

... Thomashefsky knew how to play a scene in the most natural way, with all the features of a great, realistic actor, and he will play the same scene the next day in an unnatural way, with the most beautiful, Dutch, Hamletian tenor.

KENI LIPZIN,

... On Madame Keni Lipzin the role of "Mirele Efros" had such an effect on her that she also kept herself in private life, both in walking and speaking, as "Mirele Efros."

BERTA KALICH,

... Madame Kalich first performed on the stage as a quite young girl, with a black artist (a magician). He used to lay her down on a table, and she used to rise in the air.

REGINA PRAGER,

... Madame Prager does not come to rehearsals on Friday, and she will not be on Shabbat, even when she comes out to do it on stage in a role, for example, lighting a candle, or tearing something up.

JACOB KALICH,

... Jacob Kalich often forgets for once about all his virtues.

MOLLY PICON,

... Molly Picon played child roles with her sister, who is not currently in my household/economy [hoyz-virtshaft]. The sister was then a talent and Molly, later, a "cripple."

MAURICE SCHWARTZ,

... Maurice Schwartz finds himself ambitious in a role in which he can sing cantorial sevivons (dreidlekh) and Yiddish folk songs.

LEON BLANK,

... Leon Blank in his younger years liked to play tricks on the stage with the actors. He used to pour water into his pocket, peel off a sticky nose or beard, and often after such tricks. He used to do it in front of an audience, and even in a serious scene. He did, however, send it in such a way that the public would not notice at all.

LUDWIG SATZ,

... Ludwig Satz, in the beginning of his career in America, played in Philadelphia. He was doing very badly, and he decided to leave the Yiddish stage and look for another source of income. He went to look for a position as a messenger boy.

SAM KASTEN,

... Sam Kasten, the comic, deals more with a serious scene, than with a comical one. He plays a comical scene as one would say: "What I will not say will make the public laugh." But he works out a serious scene and prepares it carefully.

IRVING GROSSMAN,

... Irving Grossman, when he came to Chicago, the first thing he did was run to the public school that he had learned at as a young boy and sat on the same bench which he sat on as a child.

MISHA GERMAN,

... Misha German is considered the quietest man in the Yiddish theatre.

LAZAR FREED,

... Lazar Freed still gets red from an ambiguous joke.

JENNIE GOLDSTEIN,

... Jennie Goldstein, who deals mostly with melodrama, spends her time in her private life singing music that is played in the operetta theatres.

MAX GABEL,

... Max Gabel, who is an actor, playwright and stage director, loves to hear from all the compliments, that he is a wise man.

ALEXANDER OLSHANETSKY,

... Alexander Olshanetsky has never been angry at any language other than Russian.

JACOB JACOBS,

... Jacob Jacobs is certain that the lyrics are the main thing of an operetta.

MARK SCHWEID,

... Mark Schweid, actor and man of letters, in the old country attended a dance school and strove to become a dance master.

BERTA GERSTIN,

... Berta Gerstin is a Yiddishist. She loves to speak a pure Yiddish. However, she has trouble with wages. She has yet to receive any appropriate Yiddish expression.

CELIA ADLER,

... Celia Adler reminds us most of all that she is her father's daughter, when she is on the stage and playing theatre.

AARON LEBEDEFF,

... Aaron Lebedeff in life is as he is on the stage; he speaks Litvish, dances underneath [?], and sings songs.

LUCY LEVIN,

... Lucy Levin, before became an American, played the organ in a motion picture theatre.

BETTY SIMONOFF,

... Betty Simonoff, who sings the best cantorial compositions and never was in a school, rarely has heard a cantor.

BELLA MYSELL,

... Bella Mysell, the prima donna, writes poems in her private life.

SAMUEL GOLDINBURG,

... Samuel Goldinburg loves to read books, but the best book that he has enjoyed is his bank book.

MICHAL MICHALESKO,

... Michal Michalesko, who loves to sing cantorials and also has a tendency toward acting in women's roles, looks for a play in which a cantor's daughter is a cabaret singer. He wants to play both roles, as the cantor, and as the cabaret singer.

LUCY GERMAN,

... Lucy German has a desire to look for the comical and the melodrama, and the most serious in an operetta.

MAX WILNER,

... Max Wilner, the actor, never was in Vilna. He was born a Galitsianer.

BORIS ROSENTHAL,

... Boris Rosenthal spends the entire time of his summer vacation writing lyrics, and reads and sings for the borders of the hotel in which he stays.

WILLIAM SCHWARTZ,

... William Schwartz loves to sing Italian arias and speaks of vocational training for those who know nothing about it.

BETTIE JACOBS,

... Bettie Jacobs, who has excelled in the role of Yente Telebende and mainly with her curse, has in private life never given any curse.

ABE SINCOFF,

... Abe Sincoff mentions the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance at least ten or twelve times a day.

PETER GRAF,

... Peter Graf is very proud of his Galitsianer countrymen, mainly in the day of his benefit.

REUBEN GUSKIN,

... Reuben Guskin becomes more and more convinced at every meeting of the Actors' Union that he did not say that in the Actors' Union he did not have any great competitors from any of the actors as a speaker.