Jewish Hollywood – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Picture: Louis Burgess

Jewish Hollywood continues at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London until 17 April 2022.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

A solo saxophone wails the opening bars of George Gershwin (Jacob Gershwine)’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. A musical hint of what’s to come in this high-octane revue. Chris Burgess’ informative and entertaining script takes a two-pronged approach, music from the early part of the 20th century that saw the creation of the movies and the Hollywood industry, and later works that comment on those decades.

The American Dream and Greenhorns ushers in the early East European Jewish immigrants. Discriminated against on arrival, they took poorly paid menial work, but dared to dream big. As flickering peepshows grew in popularity, affordable to those for whom theatre and vaudeville were not, they saw an opportunity. The move into projected images and the first movies instigated a move west to a climate more conducive to film making, and these poor immigrants grew rich and successful.

Early attempts at movies that incorporated Jewish themes, like the short Yiddisher Cowboy were a flop, and Jewish artists in Hollywood had to content themselves with musical expression.

Country people in their homelands, they were mocked for their ways and lack of etiquette, epitomised in the song ‘He Had Refinement’, hilariously sung by Sue Kelvin. Songs like ‘Hava Nagila’ with its Hebrew text and pulsing rhythm grew popular.

Then came the first hybrid talkie The Jazz Singer, a tale of a man who wants to sing jazz and not follow in the footsteps of his cantor father. A very funny potted version of the film is played, but bottles out of mentioning that the lead, as in the original play, sang in Blackface as in the minstrel shows of the time, a performance style rightly condemned today.

However, against this background of popular success was an insidious anti-semitism, promoting stereotypes and criticism which left writers like Russian Jew Irving Berlin (Israel Beilin) anglicising their names and attempting to gain respectability by composing paeans to a fantasy America, symbolised by ‘God Bless America’, and satirised by Sondheim’s ‘Little White House’.

As the power and wealth of the Hollywood moguls grew, Jewish themed films were still absent, and actors like Lauren Bacall, Edward G Robinson and Kirk Douglas were compelled to accept anglicised names.

Chaplin’s The Great Dictator makes an appearance, the crude stereotypes of Jewish success in Kander and Ebb’s ‘Money, Money’ and the coming war in Europe and the growth of fascism, a powerful rendition of ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Me’, close the first half.

Musically the war is represented by lighter fare such as the Andrews Sisters’ ‘Over There’, and ‘Say a Prayer For the Boys Over There’, though we do get Der Fuehrer’s Face.

As the Second World War drew to a close, film of the atrocities of the Holocaust emerged, and films like Judgement at Nuremberg were a commercial, award-winning success.

Darryl F Zanuck fought the studios to make Gentleman’s Agreement about a Gentile who poses as a Jew to reveal anti-semitism. The House Committee On Un-American Activities that sought to counter the ‘Commie threat’ saw some eminent names betray their friends, though others like Lillian Hellman paid the penalty for standing their ground.

Then in 1958 came the novel Exodus, the biggest bestseller since Gone With the Wind, and its subsequent film. A potted version with a caricatured foreign secretary Balfour also takes a humorous  dig at the casting of Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan. Blue-eyed and blonde he might have been, but he was in fact half Jewish, and the hit song ‘Exodus’ proves potent, exploited by many of the great singers of the time.

As the studio moguls’ power began to wane, writers Woody Allen, Neil Simon and Mel Brooks and actors like Streisand and Hoffman entered the scene, proudly celebrating their Jewish heritage and its characteristic humour.

From this point on the show turns celebratory, popular songs associated with Jewish films and artists. ‘Tradition’, ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ and ‘Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn’, the latter ironically a hit in Berlin in its German version. Comic songs like ‘Some of My Best Friends Are Jews’ and yearning for a less discriminatory existence, ‘Somewhere’ and ‘The Impossible Dream’. Finally, the 37-song evening ends with Brooks’ satirical ‘Springtime For Hitler’, and an emotional look back, ‘The Way We Were’.

Musically this is an evening of riches. Howard Samuels, a veteran of London musical theatre, bounds around in various guises, deploying a still beautiful voice with great effect. Sue Kelvin, very funny in her archetypal Jewish momma parts, also sings a moving ‘My Yiddishe Momme’. Mackenzie Mellen, in her professional debut, has a powerful belt and a lyric soprano voice, and has a good stab at the Streisand material. A more relaxed approach would have an even greater impact. And then there’s Jack Reitman. A casual, twinkling stage presence, dancing not as a show dancer but with unique charm. And a rich velvet voice that can swing through ‘Blue Heaven’ then soar operatically in ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Me’. Remarkable.

Amir Shoenfeld leading a four-piece band from the keyboard, swings through Andy Collyer’s arrangements. Sound by Clare Packham is well balanced, lyrics crystal clear. Cressida Carré’s direction is taut and focuses the intent, effectively lit by Joseph Ed Thomas.

Musically fulfilling, laugh out loud funny and stirring, it’s a fine, entertaining tribute to the men and women of that Golden Age of Hollywood who bore the opprobrium of racism and were often compelled to suppress their heritage to practise their art and find success.

Leon Ferguson