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In the Rolland Theatre Aaron Lebedeff is not
playing in Shlomo Steinberg's operetta with the name of "The Rabbi's
Temptation," with music by Sholom Secunda.
From the name
itself, one can easily guess that we are dealing with a Hasidic
world, which is not painted with too-light colors and which is not
sung with special praise songs. When they speak about a rabbi's
"temptation," they don't mean his desire to learn, or of the next
world, but they mean his sinful desire, his simple desire for this
world.
An old Hasidic rabbi, R' Nisele, a gray-green
widower, is looking forward to marrying in his old age, with
Tsirele, the young, beautiful daughter of Gedaliah the tailor. The
same girl, however, is very much in love with the rabbi's son, a
tsadik, who escaped secretly from the yeshiva and became a
helper for Gedaliah the tailor, of course, all because of Tsirele.
In the time when the rabbi, the Olam Haza'nik, prepares to
test his marriage with the tailor's daughter, and when he dreams
after that about the happy moments that he will experience with her,
his clever son Itzik works out a bitter plan, how to destroy his
father's delayed love dreams. He includes the swearing against
the father, the rabbi's gabai and the bride herself, and
together with them he destroys the father's wedding on the very day
of the wedding ceremony.
He thinks of a libel, that the
bride
must first become a mother; and the rabbi loves his "temptation"; he
barely shakes off the sinful girl with whom Itzik alone then
marries, to the rabbi's great surprise.
About the content of
the operetta, one can see that it has in it quite a bit of peppery
moments; but the author and the director have made such sharp
moments and scenes even more peppery. People keep talking about the
rabbi's delayed and impotent desire for the young girl; people make
fun of it. The sinful rabbi pours out sweat every time he approaches
the girl. They don't make various hints, they wink too
mischievously with their eyes on the rabbi. And a strange, unhealthy
mood is created in the theatre momentarily, a mood that is often
felt in a burlesque theatre.
But at the same time we see for
ourselves in the new operetta interesting scenes and images that
could be turned into artistic scenes, when they are carried out in
the right way.
There is, for example, an interesting
scene where the Hasidim renew the moon. If the scene would have been
performed in half-dark lighting, with quiet singing, with the
necessary movements, it would have created a good mood in the
theatre. However, it was staged with a sharp, cutting movements and
with screams, and the effect is lost.
The same is also with
the first interesting scene, where the tailor-apprentices are
working and by the way singing folk songs. Also here too, the right
mood was not created, which could have been created if the light
effects and the necessary lighting were used correctly.
The
general furnishings of the operetta is not bad at all, and there are
some quite impressive images and scenes.
Secunda's music here is a guess; he generally has a feeling for folk-motifs,
and he weaves them together in a successful way in the operetta.
Several melodies, although far from original, are very pleasing,
and they are easily remembered, for example, the songs "Forget Me
Not," and "Vi a khoylem vi a feyl fun boygen" have in them a melodic
charm.
Israel Rosenberg's lyrics here are better than the
average lyrics of an operetta.
And the acting of one
participant is better this time than when it is different.
Jacob Zanger, as if exaggerating is not in his performance, has created
here with sharp strokes a comic type of an alert, temperamental high
gabbai, in whom the soul does not rest. He often falls into
a burlesque tone, a farce, but when can such a type be taken
seriously in an operetta? It's just a fun, light act, no more, and
he's quite restrained in his light playfulness.
A little lighter is Abraham Lax in the role of
the shemash, but also he shows here humor and fun.
Lucy Levine here, perhaps, she is a bit too spoiled to be the
daughter of a tailor; but every time it is pleasant to see and to
hear her on the stage, even when the type that she portrays, does not mean as much as we
may imagine.
The rabbi's outward appearance gives Leon Blank, his handsome, dignified appearance, his
haughty face, but it is too spiritual for his clumsy, earthly
passion. And his movements are a bit too lively, too much for
such an old Hasidic rabbi.
Aaron Lebedeff plays, you see, the
young Itzik, the rabbi's son. Here he is the same smart happy young
guy as in other such young roles that he has played. And entirely
touching is Bertha Hart in the role of the presiding maid, the
rabbi's niece.
Henrietta Jacobon here doesn't have much to
play, but in the few moments she is lively and cheerful, and she
amuses the audience.
The audience accepts the rabbi's
"temptation" very warmly; they laugh for the rabbi; they laugh from
the jokes and words; people still follow the exciting scenes with
interest and the sentimental religious melodies.
And when the
curtain falls, the romantic song still rings in the ears: "Forget Me
Not! Forget Me Not!"
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