Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The summer remount of the rarely-performed Yiddish operetta THE GOLDEN BRIDE charms in its own old-fashioned way

• By drediman
• July 17, 2016
• No Comments

Oftentimes, shows come and go before many us even know about them. This past theater season, a good example of this unfortunate reality was the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s revival – more of a reconstruction, really – of the very-rarely performed Yiddish operetta The Golden Bride. Luckily for those of us who missed it the first time around, the Drama Desk-nominated production is being remounted for a relatively lengthy summer run at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

The Golden Bride tells the old-fashioned rags-to-riches story of a young heroine who comes into money and love, but not without some rather melodramatic turn of events, including a jarring move from a Russian shtetl to America. If a Yiddish version of Cinderella comes to mind from this description, that’s exactly what this is.

The sweet and tuneful score by Joseph Rumshinsky (music) and Louis Gilrod (lyrics) is awash in nostalgia; one need not look further than Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow for an ideal point of comparison. In this production, the good humored lyrics and libretto – by Fried Freiman – are primarily performed in Yiddish (with English surtitles).

The score is lovingly performed by a substantial 14-piece orchestra, under the warm and spirited baton of Zalmen Mlotek, and a cast of 15. Granted, the cast is comprised of actors who are, for the most part, better singers than actors. However, this is a minor quibble given the melodramatic tendencies of the piece. The four leads (Cameron Johsnon, Glenn Seven Allen, Rachel Zatcoff, and Rachel Policar), in particular, were in spectacular voice at the performance I attended, if a bit wooden in the acting department.

RECOMMENDED

THE GOLDEN BRIDE
Off-Broadway, Musical
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through August 28