My Fair Sadie
Last Thursday night we went to a performance by LOGON (the Light Opera Group of the Negev) at the Cultural Center in Netanya of "My Fair Lady." They did an extremely creditable job for an amateur company, they put on an excellent show with a large cast. The principals were great, especially Alfred Dolittle and Eliza. She was played by Ruth Cohen, a young woman who was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in Japan where her father was stationed with the US forces, studied in Colorado, lived in New Zealand, visited Israel and fell in love here and married. She speaks Spanish, Japanese and now Hebrew, and sings beautifully in Cockney. I have a particularly soft spot for "My Fair Lady," since I grew up speaking Cockney English just like her. It took years of training and pressure from my Mum to get me to speak normal middle-class English. My Dad didn't care, he was working class and proud of it!
But, instead, I envisage the story of a Jewish girl named Sadie Streisand growing up poor in Brooklyn and sitting outside the Radio City Music Hall selling shmattes. She speaks English with such an appalling Yiddish accent that hardly anyone can understand her. Professor Putz comes by and can tell that she's of Polish origin, from the district of Lodz, that speaks the wurst Yiddish. He by contrast is from Lithuania and speaks a fluent, literary Yiddish. His friend and fellow linguist Prof. Schmendrick who specializes in English dialects meets him and they concoct a challenge to teach this girl perfect American English within three months, so that she could pass at an Ivy League coming out ball as a true schikse. Of course, the girl is delighted to be given the opportunity and sings "All I want is a schmooze somewhere..."
After much hard work and training Sadie learns her "i, o, u's" and can pronounce "The dreck in Spain goes mainly down the drain..." The Professors are happy with her progress and bring her to meet Mother, but she utters a bad word "This yenta is a kvetch... " So she goes back for more training, "Poor Professor Putz..." and ends up at the Ball in Yale, New Haven, dressed in a marvellous gown and passes muster with the Master of the College, the well-known schlemiel Daniel Kaye, who it turns out had changed his name from Kaminsky, then she sings the love song "I threw a custard in his face..." and so they live happily ever after.
What a shpiel!
But, instead, I envisage the story of a Jewish girl named Sadie Streisand growing up poor in Brooklyn and sitting outside the Radio City Music Hall selling shmattes. She speaks English with such an appalling Yiddish accent that hardly anyone can understand her. Professor Putz comes by and can tell that she's of Polish origin, from the district of Lodz, that speaks the wurst Yiddish. He by contrast is from Lithuania and speaks a fluent, literary Yiddish. His friend and fellow linguist Prof. Schmendrick who specializes in English dialects meets him and they concoct a challenge to teach this girl perfect American English within three months, so that she could pass at an Ivy League coming out ball as a true schikse. Of course, the girl is delighted to be given the opportunity and sings "All I want is a schmooze somewhere..."
After much hard work and training Sadie learns her "i, o, u's" and can pronounce "The dreck in Spain goes mainly down the drain..." The Professors are happy with her progress and bring her to meet Mother, but she utters a bad word "This yenta is a kvetch... " So she goes back for more training, "Poor Professor Putz..." and ends up at the Ball in Yale, New Haven, dressed in a marvellous gown and passes muster with the Master of the College, the well-known schlemiel Daniel Kaye, who it turns out had changed his name from Kaminsky, then she sings the love song "I threw a custard in his face..." and so they live happily ever after.
What a shpiel!
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:01 AM
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