Lives in the Yiddish Theatre
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE Yiddish THEATRE
aS DESCRIBED IN zALMEN zYLBERCWEIG'S "lEKSIKON FUN YIDISHN TEATER"

1931-1969
 

Jonah Spivak
 

He came from Rumania.

When he was young he came to America and maintained a pub on Eldridge Street in New York.

To attract guests to his pub, he managed the pushcart stalls and carriages for the street vendors, in the background for his pub in a hall (may) where he put away tishlekh un benklekh and there was one of the first Jewish vaudeville houses in New York.

In the beginning, the numbers were only musical performances through an orchestra. Gradually he began to engage actors for singing, and dance numbers.  Almost the large part of the actors, who were there performing, remained unknown, because they had remained on the stage for a long time .

The largest income for the actors in the vaudeville houses was eight dollars a week.

The first time there wasn't any admission fee paid; one only needed to buy a glass of beer.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 2, page 1536.
 

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