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Page 22 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 12, 1986
Arts & Entertainment
Yiddish music with a Latin-American beat
by Marlene Goldman
NEW YORK (JTA)-As the
Yiddish theater in Argentina was
drawing its last breath some 20
years ago, Jackie Jacob began
reviving tired Yiddish show
tunes with his Latin-American
beat.
Jacob’s reasoning was quite
simple. With the decline of the
Yiddish language in Argentina
and the rest of the world, the only
way to save the songs and culture
was to attract a younger audi
ence. The best means of reaching
that group was to break the ste-
reotvpe of the slow, sentimental
Yiddish song and back it with a
dance-inspiring rhythm.
During the 1960s, Jacob began
experimenting with this Spanish
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Yiddish flavor in his native
Montevideo. Uruguay. He first
introduced his combination to a
different culture in 1969 when he
played baskethall for Uruguay in
the Maccabee Games in Israel.
He recalls his friends persuad
ing him to sing one night at a club
in Jaffa. When he informed the
band that he wanted to perform
Yiddish songs and then requested
a Latin beat, they were a hit con
fused. “Everyone thinks Yiddish
songs are for the old and to make
you cry,” Jacob said. “But w hen
they hear the new rhythms, peo
ple dance."
Jacob impressed the audience
and owner of the nightclub so
much that he was asked to sing
regularly there, and he wound up
staying in Israel for six months.
“1 was a big success,” Jacob,
46. said with a heavy Spanish
accent. Even though most of his
selections were traditional Yid
dish songs or from Yiddish musi
cals, Jacob’s updated sound was
what he called the “first revolu
tion about Jewish music.”
After his stint in Israel and a
brief side trip to perform on a
cruise ship in Greece, Jacob
settled in Buenos Aires, Argen
tina. Here he found Yiddish
theater on its deathbed, as it was
in the rest of the world. Gone
were the days of the fierce com
petition in Argentina's Yiddish
theater, when the four major
playhouses, the Mitre, Excelcior,
Soleil and Ombu presented shows
simultaneously, each starring
famed American and European
Yiddish actors and each selling
out their 1,500-seat auditoriums.
In 1974. Jacob landed a job
entertaining in Yiddish at a small
club near Buenos Aires. Between
1974 and 1985. Jacob performed
in 22 plays for the Jewish Span
ish theater speaking Spanish
and singing Yiddish.
After achieving success in
Argentina, including sold-out
shows along the Corrientes, the
Broadway of Buenos Aires, Jacob
was contacted last year by He-
braica. the Jewish-Latin Ameri
can Institution based in several
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Jacob was asked to perform in
Miami and found it difficult to
gather enough Yiddish-speaking
supporting actors. Instead, he
taught the Yiddish songs to non-
Jews who, he said, chanted a
“perfect Yiddish.” His perfor
mance in America turned out to
be the catalyst for his permanent
move.
Right after Florida, Jacob was
contracted to entertain at the
Hebraica in Houston. Much to
his surprise, the Hebraica planned
tw'o shows, one in Spanish and
the other completely in Yiddish.
“1 never do shows in Yiddish."
Jacob said. “I only speak a street
Yiddish.” But the show was al
ready sold out and Jacob had to
spend eight hours translating the
Spanish to Yiddish.
He explained to the audience
that he did not speak a word of
English and only a broken Yid
dish. When the show was fin
ished “they upped,” Jacob said,
gesturing with his hands. “I
thought they will kill me.” he
continued, but they had risen to
give him a standing ovation. The
scenario was repeated in Beverly
Hills and after the second show
Jacob phoned his wife to tell her
to pack.
It was not easy for Jacob, his
wife and two sons to leave Argen
tina. While he was preparing to
emigrate, he sold out three fare
well shows, finishing each with
his own rendition of “My Way"
in a few languages.
“People cried,” Jacob said.
“They said “please, we don’t want
you to go.’ 1 cried. But I am a
professional and there are more
opportunities in the United
States.”
When he first mined to the
U.S. and settled in Miami, he had
no producers or promoters and
began performing a one-man
show at hotels in the Miami area.
After earning some money, Jacob
coordinated his international
Jewish revue called “1.’Chaim to
Life,” and performed to some
35,000 people between January
and March in various theaters in
Florida.
Now “L’Chaim to Life" is in
the hands of Broadway profes
sionals, at the Town Hall theater.
The revue, which features Jacob
and New York Yiddish theater
stars Leon Liebgold and Mina
Bern, comprises sketches, a var
iety of old and new Yiddish songs,
a dramatization of a work by
Martin Buber about a Hasidic
rabbi, Yiddish rock-and-roll,
Rumanian dancing, acrobatics
and a Yiddish tango.
Jacob, who has learned an
almost fluent English in his first
year here, hopes his show w ill be
a hit on Broadway but delights in
just being there. “1 feel like a box
ing champion,” he said.
He is also optimistic he can
revive a dormant Yiddish theater.
In America, Jacob believes Jews
are hungry for a Yiddish theater,
but there is not food. “1 have the
food," Jacob said, “and this is the
right country.”
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