"A Hole in the Heart"
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"A Hole in the Heart" |
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Theater in KeidanMemories by Julius LeeOf all the old memories that are engraved on my mind I want to share one episode. This was in that era when I and my friends were emerging from our boyish years, growing weary of adventures such as fighting wars between one side of town and the other, wrestling with our enemies while swimming underwater in the Skongale, playing with the local girls near Totleben's castle and the Borer Woods and so forth. Feeling that we had outgrown these former pastimes, we decided to turn our hands to the field of drama.Since Keidan had never seen much beyond such Biblical pageants as "The Sacrifice of Isaac" or "The Selling of Joseph" we elected to perform one of Goldfaden's plays, namely "Kabtsenson un Hungerman" ("Pauper and Urchin"). The ensemble consisted of me, Motke Rabinowitz, Tsemke Pick, Yankele Feinberg and Tsemke Romm. My teacher (now Doctor Pick) helped us with the sets, music and stage-managing. We used Wolfowitz's lumber warehouse as a theater. The evening of the performance arrived. The house was so packed people could scarcely breathe. Dovid's orchestra launched into an overture, "Atoy Khoyneyn". The curtain (made from a bed sheet) went up. We performed the first act, which met with plenty of enthusiastic applause. We began the second, which featured Rabinowitz and me in the leading roles. I, dressed as a lady, and he as a tramp, together had to seduce and swindle a rich man. We were singing a duet when suddenly -- crash! -- an uproar and a scream. A tumult in the crowd. A catastrophe! or so we thought. But soon it emerged that the interruption had been caused by Rabinowitz's little sister. Seeing her brother made up as a tramp, with old clothes and a face smeared with grease, had so upset her that she wanted to stop the show. When things calmed down we continued the play, but soon came another disaster. Romm's family was scandalized to learn their son had become an actor, and had come armed with a stick to chase him home. Luckily, we were able to warn him in time to hide between the boards under the stage, from where he made a dramatic escape. Thus overcoming all obstacles, we finally finished with more than passing success, and were invited to put on another performance for all the biggest wheels in town at the home of Fraulein Zhupovitz, the lady dentist in German Street. I, especially, received rave reviews from members of the fairer sex, who insisted that I would undoubtedly develop into a major talent. I thus should have ended up in Hollywood, competing with Paul Muni and the other stars!
What a chance missed! |