Unlike the Greeks, Jews do not have a history of stage productions. There is no mention of theater in the Bible. So
how did we go from no theatrical experience to the top of Broadway and Hollywood ? Jewish theatre's roots include the plays traditionally performed during Purim (Purimspiels) and
pageants, and entertainment at Jewish weddings.

Abraham Goldfaden is generally considered the founder of the first Yiddish theatre troupe in 1854 Romania. In the early twentieth century, a teenage Boris Thomaschevsky, in the above photo, used the songs that he and his co-workers sang in a cigarette sweatshop to compose the first presentation of the Yiddish Theatre in New York. Later on, a wealthy impresario, Boris Thomaschevsky, brought the stars of the Yiddish Theatre to the Catskills every summer launching the tradition of resort entertainment that was adopted by Las Vegas, Miami and Havana.

The Yiddish Theatre was the stage where highly popular, charismatic stars such as Aaron Lebedeff, Jennie Goldstein, and Molly Picon performed to sold-out audiences. This lecture explores this joyous world with sound clips of the most famous songs and great photos and memorabilia.