"Di goldene kale" (The Golden Bride), a 1923 Yiddish-American Operetta by Joseph Rumshinsky: A Full-Score Critical Edition

FAIN: FB-58034-15

Michael Ochs
Unaffiliated Independent Scholar (New York, NY 10128-1171)

This project will yield the first-ever complete full-score edition of any work from the vast repertoire of Yiddish-American musicals. "Di goldene kale" brilliantly reflects how one particular immigrant group became acculturated to America and its values. The music was written by Joseph Rumshinsky, the leading composer for the Yiddish stage, and the work was carefully tailored to its audience; yet it exemplifies a style of music that demonstrably influenced wider Broadway practice. A 60,000-word interpretive essay will place the work in the context of Yiddish theater in the U.S. at a crucial transitional time, when mass immigration from eastern Europe was being severely curtailed. The edition and essay will provide a foundational resource for scholars in social history, theater, music, and ethnic studies. No less important, they will enable college, community, and professional theater groups to mount informed performances of the work, allowing new audiences to experience it first-hand.

Media Coverage

Review: ‘The Golden Bride’ Walks Down the Aisle Again (Review)
Author(s): Laura Collins-Hughes
Publication: New York Times
Date: 12/9/2015
Abstract: A farcical, tuneful romance that’s part old-fashioned musical comedy, part straight-up opera, “The Golden Bride” (“Di Goldene Kale”) is an immigrant fantasy that looks as fondly on Mother Russia as on Uncle Sam. With music by Joseph Rumshinsky, lyrics by Louis Gilrod and a libretto by Frieda Freiman — immigrants all — it was a hit when it opened in 1923. In a handsome new large-cast production, presented by the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, it’s still deeply satisfying.
URL: http://http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/theater/review-the-golden-bride-walks-down-the-aisle-again.html