Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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 cf? • Birthday Parties • Receptions • Bar/Bat Mitzvas • Full-Service Caterers TIIE PAVILLIOX 255-9035 Inquires: Marty Bloom-Sheryl Buppert 6521 Roswell Rd.. Atlanta. Ga 30328/255-9035 TRADITION You Can Count On It! AMERICAN HOTEL For personalized assistance call: DORIS J. PERMAN Catering Director 688-8600 Fine Kosher Catering Bar Mitzvah Conventions Bat Mitzvah Special Events Wedding Receptions < Theme Parties Dr. Marvin C. Goldstein, President SPRING STREET AT INTERNATIONAL ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 r We Welcome All Organizations, Meetings and Luncheons. REDUCED PARKING AVAIL ABLE. 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 SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT CERTIFICATES (Yivr someone >011 loven $?r> Mill (( 'Eii 1 it <ur u) liiu i just the rkjht INTI IKK )R 1 )I ISK i\HK tor your home or off ire Designer Referral Service ror more information or an appointment call (404) 233-5099 major cities in the United States. 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.” UnlbadWky AT WORK