Office: Fine Arts 433,
Phone: (415) 338 1331,
E-mail: jschech@sfsu.edu

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from the May 11th, 2001 issue of the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California:

Conniving messiahs romp in SFSU Yiddish comedy
JOE ESKENAZI
Bulletin Staff

If ever there were a way for a director to draw hordes of theatergoers to his play, it would be to claim "it's just like 'The Producers.'"

Director Joel Schechter, however, avoids this ploy. His upcoming presentation of "Messiah in America" at San Francisco State University is more like "The Proto-Producers."

While it does indeed feature a pair of Jewish, New York theatrical producers conspiring to hoodwink the public, Moishe Nadir's Yiddish-language play was penned in 1928 -- a few years before "Springtime for Hitler in Germany."

And, unlike the hottest play on Broadway, "Messiah in America" has never been staged before in its entirety -- in Yiddish or English. "It may be a world premiere," predicted Schechter of the play's Thursday evening opening. "It's very different than other Yiddish comedies; it doesn't have some of the traditional depictions of immigrants. It's satiric, and in some ways critical of not just Jews, but those who would worship false idols and celebrities. It also mocks the theater."

Schechter, a professor in SFSU's theater department, isn't sure why the staging of Nadir's play required 73 years and a translation to English. But he speculates that the author's revolutionary politics may have kept his works off the stage. "He spent part of his life as an anarchist and communist," said Schechter, who learned to read Yiddish in order to read the play in its native language. "Though he broke with the communists when Stalin made his pact with Hitler, earlier in his life he lost some friends because he supported the Communist Party and its views."

Nadir's play revolves around the lives of two unscrupulous, competing producers -- Broadway's Menachem Yosef and Coney Island's Zipkin (a takeoff of the P.T. Barnum sideshow freak Zip the Human Riddle).

Desperate to put rear ends in seats, both producers decide to announce the coming of the Messiah -- to their theaters -- and sell tickets to those seeking salvation.

The culmination of an SFSU Yiddish theater course, the play is cast with students from both theater arts and Jewish studies departments. Co-sponsored by both departments, the play will be performed four times between Thursday and Sunday at SFSU's Studio Theatre.

"When I was growing up, my grandmother would use endearing terms like shayna maydel [pretty girl]. I grew up around Yiddish speech," said SFSU junior Alexandra Ackerman, who plays Menachem Yosef's conniving secretary, Jackie the Bluffer. "I grew up hearing the words, but not knowing what they meant. I wanted to take a class to extend my knowledge, and since I'm a theater arts major, what better way to learn than to actually put on a play? It's a double bonus."

While Ackerman is Jewish, the vast majority of the cast is not. "I know the woman singing the lead part isn't Jewish," said klezmer musician and musical consultant Gerry Tenney with a laugh, "because she wears a cross."

That will probably be gone by the end of dress rehearsals. Tenney and Yiddish comedy consultant Sara Felder have helped transform Nadir's play into a musical. In addition to three traditional Yiddish tunes, the pair penned three more original songs, including one sung to the tune of "Heartbreak Hotel":

They call him the messiah
The truth to you he'll tell
You see he comes from heaven even though he looks like hell...

"Messiah in America" will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19 and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20 at the Studio Theatre in San Francisco State's Creative Arts Building, 1600 Holloway Ave. Admission is free but seating is limited. Information: SFSU theater arts department, (415) 338-1341.