Like most of America, Saratoga Springs during the period from the 1920's until the 1960's was a city that was segmented, indeed segregated into a patchwork quilt of ethnic and racial neighborhoods.
Within each, individual cultures would incubate and flourish, barely noticed from the perspective of the society that patronized the fashionable shops and relatively expensive hotels on Broadway.
One might venture just a block or so off that main thoroughfare to the West and discover Black, Irish and Italian enclaves. To the East, the neighborhood bordered by Spring, Putnam, Circular Streets and Lake Avenue known as the "gut" or "valley" was the center of Jewish life for both tourists who primarily came up in the summer from New York City to enjoy the healing powers ascribed to the spas and mineral springs, and the year-round Jewish residents who provided the kosher businesses and lodging houses to visitors - places where they were welcomed free from discrimination. In these neighborhoods, the cultural 'food for the soul' was just as important as the food for sustenance.
This neighborhood, circa 1945, is the setting of a new play titled "Gutmusik" which makes its debut right in the heart of the neighborhood at Caffé Lena's Black Box Theater this Saturday afternoon.
1945 was an important year for the United States and the Jewish community; as the dropping of the atomic bomb that preceded the end of World War II brought with it the tragic confirmation of the existence of long-feared Nazi death camps and attempted genocide.
The cast of "gutmusik" is an ensemble with local and national credits. The center of activity is a luncheonette on Phila Street; proprietor Sam (Carl Danna) is the hub that tourists and residents play off of. Included in these characters are Nathan (David Orr), the once self-styled "heartthrob of the Yiddish theatre," Gertie (Sarah Braveman) is a racetrack devotee who has the comic outlook and delivery reminiscent of vaudeville actress Sophie Tucker, Mendel (Victor Cahn,) a street-performing mystical 'illusionist,' and Sarah (Bailey Kerr,) a young woman who is stricken with polio and comes to the Spa seeking the healing properties of the waters. She is accompanied by her mother Essie (Elyssa Phillips,) who has an interesting past with Nathan which is explored as they reconnect once more.
Also, Judy Wyle plays Sam's wife Ida, Michael Barnes is a young GI, and Sky Vogel is a radio announcer and also serves as the narrator. It will be performed in 'workshop' style, with minimal stage direction, costumes and props. The primary method of conveying the atmosphere and rhythm of the neighborhood will be the acting abilities of the cast members and the interplay between them.
Today, the neighborhood still retains its nickname "the Gut", but like the river which once flowed along Putnam Street and the floods that rains brought, much of the original meaning of the term has been paved over by the passage of time and the process of progress, and the memories of that era are mostly relegated to old sepia photographs and museums.
But a historic marker sign near the corner of Phila and Putnam streets was the initial inspiration for Playwright Joe DiPietro during his initial visit here. Mr. DiPietro a former New York City Firefighter who began his playwriting career in 1999, teamed up with longtime local resident and actress Eva Dolan to create this play which explores the spiritual powers of the waters of the spa; and its effects on the lives of people which are interwoven with their faith, hopes and values.
The "good music" that flows through "gutmusik" is the richness reflecting the soul of a people and the spirit of a neighborhood that is buried inside the history of Saratoga Springs like the rings of a sequoia; visible only in cross-section only as one decides to dig deeper. Ms. Dolan and Mr. DiPietro are to be commended for their efforts in that regard.
One might venture just a block or so off that main thoroughfare to the West and discover Black, Irish and Italian enclaves. To the East, the neighborhood bordered by Spring, Putnam, Circular Streets and Lake Avenue known as the "gut" or "valley" was the center of Jewish life for both tourists who primarily came up in the summer from New York City to enjoy the healing powers ascribed to the spas and mineral springs, and the year-round Jewish residents who provided the kosher businesses and lodging houses to visitors - places where they were welcomed free from discrimination. In these neighborhoods, the cultural 'food for the soul' was just as important as the food for sustenance.
This neighborhood, circa 1945, is the setting of a new play titled "Gutmusik" which makes its debut right in the heart of the neighborhood at Caffé Lena's Black Box Theater this Saturday afternoon.
1945 was an important year for the United States and the Jewish community; as the dropping of the atomic bomb that preceded the end of World War II brought with it the tragic confirmation of the existence of long-feared Nazi death camps and attempted genocide.
The cast of "gutmusik" is an ensemble with local and national credits. The center of activity is a luncheonette on Phila Street; proprietor Sam (Carl Danna) is the hub that tourists and residents play off of. Included in these characters are Nathan (David Orr), the once self-styled "heartthrob of the Yiddish theatre," Gertie (Sarah Braveman) is a racetrack devotee who has the comic outlook and delivery reminiscent of vaudeville actress Sophie Tucker, Mendel (Victor Cahn,) a street-performing mystical 'illusionist,' and Sarah (Bailey Kerr,) a young woman who is stricken with polio and comes to the Spa seeking the healing properties of the waters. She is accompanied by her mother Essie (Elyssa Phillips,) who has an interesting past with Nathan which is explored as they reconnect once more.
Also, Judy Wyle plays Sam's wife Ida, Michael Barnes is a young GI, and Sky Vogel is a radio announcer and also serves as the narrator. It will be performed in 'workshop' style, with minimal stage direction, costumes and props. The primary method of conveying the atmosphere and rhythm of the neighborhood will be the acting abilities of the cast members and the interplay between them.
Today, the neighborhood still retains its nickname "the Gut", but like the river which once flowed along Putnam Street and the floods that rains brought, much of the original meaning of the term has been paved over by the passage of time and the process of progress, and the memories of that era are mostly relegated to old sepia photographs and museums.
But a historic marker sign near the corner of Phila and Putnam streets was the initial inspiration for Playwright Joe DiPietro during his initial visit here. Mr. DiPietro a former New York City Firefighter who began his playwriting career in 1999, teamed up with longtime local resident and actress Eva Dolan to create this play which explores the spiritual powers of the waters of the spa; and its effects on the lives of people which are interwoven with their faith, hopes and values.
The "good music" that flows through "gutmusik" is the richness reflecting the soul of a people and the spirit of a neighborhood that is buried inside the history of Saratoga Springs like the rings of a sequoia; visible only in cross-section only as one decides to dig deeper. Ms. Dolan and Mr. DiPietro are to be commended for their efforts in that regard.
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