The Jazz Singer (play)
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by Samson Raphaelson
| The Jazz Singer | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Samson Raphaelson |
| Based on | "The Day of Atonement" by Samson Raphaelson |
| Date premiered | September 14, 1925 |
| Place premiered | Fulton Theatre |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | New York City |
The Jazz Singer is a play written by Samson Raphaelson, based on his short story "The Day of Atonement". Producers Albert Lewis and Max Gordon staged it on Broadway, where it debuted at the Fulton Theatre in 1925. A highly influential movie adaptation was released in 1927.
Jakie Rabinowitz, the son of Jewish immigrants, has launched a career as a jazz singer, performing in blackface under the name Jack Robin. His father, a cantor for an Orthodox synagogue on the East Side of Manhattan, disapproves of Jack's choices. In the first act, Jack visits on his father's 60th birthday. They argue, and Jack is thrown out. In the second act, Jack is preparing for his Broadway debut, which he expects to be a breakthrough for his career. Jack learns that father is seriously ill, but he first refuses to leave his rehearsals. In the third act, Jack visits his parents' home before his show, but his father has been taken to a hospital, where he dies. Rather than returning to the show, Jack goes to the synagogue to take his father's place for the Yom Kippur services.
History
On April 25, 1917, Samson Raphaelson, a native of New York City's Lower East Side and a University of Illinois undergraduate, attended a performance of the musical Robinson Crusoe, Jr. in Champaign, Illinois. The star of the show was a thirty-year-old singer, Al Jolson, a Russian-born Jew who performed in blackface.[1] In a 1927 interview, Raphaelson described the experience: "I shall never forget the first five minutes of Jolson—his velocity, the amazing fluidity with which he shifted from a tremendous absorption in his audience to a tremendous absorption in his song." He explained that he had seen emotional intensity like Jolson's only among synagogue cantors.[1] A few years later, pursuing a professional literary career, Raphaelson wrote "The Day of Atonement", a short story about a young Jew named Jakie Rabinowitz, based on Jolson's real life. The story was published in January 1922 in Everybody's Magazine.[2]
Raphaelson then rewrote the story as a play, which he sold in May 1925 to the producing team of Albert Lewis and Max Gordon. After previews in several cities, the Broadway production opened at the Fulton Theatre on September 14, 1925. The play ran at the Fulton for two months, then transferred to the Cort Theatre, where it ran until June 5, 1926. The production had a total of 303 performances between the two theaters.[3]
In 1927, a revival production was staged at the Century Theatre, which ran for 16 performances.
Cast and characters
The characters and cast from the Broadway debut at the Fulton Theatre are given below:
| Character | Broadway cast |
|---|---|
| Gene | Ted Athey |
| Irma | Irma Block |
| Franklyn Forbes | Paul Byron |
| Rita | Rita Crane |
| Frances | Frances Dippel |
| Eddie Carter | Barney Fagan |
| Mary Dale | Phoebe Foster |
| Levy | Nathaniel Freyer |
| Grace | Grace Fuller |
| Ruth | Ruth Holden |
| Avery Jordan | Joseph Hopkins |
| Harry Lee | Arthur Stuart Hull |
| Yudelson | Sam Jaffe |
| Mildred | Mildred Jay |
| Jack Robin | George Jessel |
| Stage Doorman | Tom Johnstone |
| Dr. O'Shaughnessy | Tony Kennedy |
| Sam Post | Arthur Lane |
| Cantor Rabinowtiz | Howard Lang |
| Miss Glynn | Mildred Leaf |
| Randolph Dillings | Richard Mansfield |
| Sara Rabinowitz | Dorothy Raymond |
| Clarence Kahn | Robert Russell |
| Eleanor | Eleanor Ryan |
| Moey | George Schaeffer |
| Betty | Betty Wilton |