Jewface

Fagin, Funny Girl, and Antisemitism

Oy vey. We live in such tedious, tedious times. In the arts especially, we’re all so precious. So hyper-vigilant of any slight, slur, or scurrility we—or anyone else—might commit against an ever-expanding panoply of marginalized identity groups, and the myriad exotic intersections thereof. There’s so much rushing of people to the margins these days, our culture looks like an intrusion of cockroaches, scattering from the center of the room as the kitchen light snaps on. (Yeah, that’s what you call a big mass of cockroaches—an intrusion. Isn’t that fab?)

Yes. You’re right. I’m dripping with sarcasm here. Because, all too often, I see these nice sensitivities applied selectively (often with political and/or mercenary intent, in my view.) Luckily, according to the Woke gospel, impact is more important than intent, right? So, let’s discuss the impacts of the appropriation of Jewish culture, and the casting of non-Jewish actors in Jewish roles.

Oh…let’s.

Comedy is still alive and there are still funny people. Jews are still overrepresented in comedy and psychiatry, and underrepresented in the priesthood. That immigrant Jewish humor is still with us.

—Robert Kline

I was recently asked by a colleague how I felt about the casting of Cuban-American actor Katerina McCrimmon in the role of Fanny Brice for the tour of Funny Girl. “I don’t know her work,” I replied. “Is she good?” My friend said, “No…I meant, because she’s not Jewish.” Now, it’s no secret that I’m a Jew, and that I feel a deep connection with my Jewish heritage, and the culture—especially the humor—of my people. After all, I’m second generation: the son of the daughter of immigrants from Eastern Europe. So, in these days of acute political correctness, it’s a natural question to have been asked. I don’t, however, have a simple, one-size-fits-all response to such inquiries. Nor is it up to me. But since they asked…

We have lots of film and audio recordings of the great Jewish comedienne and singer, Fanny Brice. If McCrimmon does her work as an actor: studying Brice, capturing her style of comedy, infusing all of it with the flavor, the cadences, and the timing of Jewish humor—and if she can sing that demanding score…? The issue is moot. Honestly, you gotta be a star to play that part, no matter what your background. Conversely, if this actor presents a derogatory, shallow stereotype of a Jew…then yeah, I got issues. Oh, yes—and frankly, if she can’t pronounce chutzpah properly. It’s always the giveaway when a gentile does Jewish: “Hutzpah.” It comes off the way a non-smoking actor does when made to hold a cigarette—which they can’t—and then smoke it—without inhaling. It’s hack work.

So go get ‘em, Katerina. Don’t let anyone rain on your parade. Just be a mensch, honor Fanny Brice, and don’t make a shanda for the goyim.

Katerina McCrimmon, the new Fanny in Funny Girl

But seriously, can non-Jewish actors acceptably play Jewish? Of course. I think so. Must Jewish actors play all Jewish roles because…”Wokeness?” Don’t be a schmuck.

As one who’s strived, from the age of twelve, to become a 19th-century style character actor, mastering makeup and disguise, physical and vocal elasticity, tackling myriad dialects and accents, in my chameleonic work for the stage, I simply can’t support the idea of a complete moratorium on actors portraying characters outside their race or ethnicity, or gender; playing someone with a different sexual orientation or religious background. It’s called ACTING. I could go off on a rant here about the “casting police,” but the great Bill Maher got there first, and said it best, in his New Rules on the subject.

Now, does this mean we allow the kind of repugnant blackface and yellowface performances we see in films made in the decades before the Hollywood Production Code was abolished? Of course not. Duh. It’s something of a simplification, but I think of it like that old comment—from some statesman whose name escapes me—about pornography. I think we know it when we see it. We know when something is distasteful or grotesque, insensitive or offensive. That we know this, feel this, innately, however, matters not a whit in a culture incapable of a proportional response. We’ve fetishized the detecting and rooting out of slurs and slights, such that our baseline comprehension of what is truly inappropriate has been obscured. We’ve lost an implicit sense of propriety and good taste I believe we once had. But for some, good taste, as a concept, is patriarchal, “colonialist” bunk.

Like I said. Tedious AF.

So, to be clear. Judaism is a faith; an ancient religion. Jews are a race. When my mother had her DNA tested, the report came back: 97% Ashkenazi. I don’t remember what all of the remaining 3% was, but I do recall that 1.7% of it was East Indian—this indicates a little bit of Romani blood. To quote a Cole Porter song: “there’s a little gypsy in me.” My point is, Ashkenazi Jews are a race of people with an ancient bloodline and a rich cultural heritage—and our own racial category for purposes of DNA. We’re the Eastern European Jews. The Sephardim hail from Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East. My great-grandparents immigrated in the early 20th century, and became part of the vibrant Jewish community of New York City. I’ve written, in a previous post, about my great grandmother Jennie, who escaped the Kishinev pogroms, emigrating to the States at fifteen. Jennie’s four younger brothers, Jules, Abe, Morris and Hymie Prizant, all became performers in the Yiddish Theatre on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They worked with the Thomashefskys, and Molly Picon, and all the greats of the era. My great uncle Hymie is famous for having written one of the most beloved klezmer classics of all time, played perennially at Jewish weddings: Die Grine Kuzine (My Greenhorn Cousin). It was even recorded by The Barry Sisters.

My great uncle, Hyman Prizant, circa 1910

Seated, my great uncle Abe Prizant, and standing upstage of him, great uncle Jules, hamming it up in some Yiddish comedy, circa 1910

Clearly, the blood of the Jewish vaudevillian runs in my veins. My mother raised me with a great affection for Yiddish, the mamaloshen…Jewish sketch comedy, and all the great comedians…the music, the folklore…the food. So, there’s plenty of nature and lots of nurture at work. And would you know it? I’ve rarely gotten to play Jewish! I’ve never done Fiddler on the Roof, for example. Every time I’ve gone out for it, the feedback has always been that I “don’t look Jewish enough.” Well, I suppose that’s the DNA from my Dad’s side at work. I look a lot like him, and my paternal line is very much Olde English. I guess it gives me a goyishe punim.

But what is this Jewish look? There are some, especially those of Sephardic extraction, who have olive complexions, dark eyes and hair, and prominent noses. These attributes were seized upon, distorted into ugly stereotypes, and utilized in antisemitic propaganda for centuries. These images made Jews “foreign,” which in Europe translated, basically, to non-Aryan, or non-white. I do take umbrage when I’m told—as a Jew—that I’m not “Jewish looking” enough.

That’s antisemitic. Jews are a race. Antisemitism is Racism. Full stop.

If you follow me on “the socials,” you’ll know that I’m in my first week of rehearsals for Oliver!, the musical based on Oliver Twist, out here in bucolic Sharon, Connecticut. I’m playing an iconic role: the comic villain, Fagin. It’s a dream part, and, after Shylock, he’s arguably the most famous Jewish role in all of English literature. Charles Dickens rejected the idea that antisemitism had influenced his creation; nevertheless, Fagin’s characterization does seem to owe much to ethnic stereotypes. He’s hideous, leering, avaricious. He’s more often referred to as “the Jew” than by his name. However, Fagin is more than an antisemitic cameo. He’s a richly drawn, vibrant character; the embodiment of a certain kind of amoral villain. Fagin is described as a “loathsome reptile” and as having “fangs such as should have been a dog’s or rat’s.” Characters occasionally refer to him as “the old one,” a popular nickname for the devil.

1880s poster art for Oliver Twist, based on Cruikshank’s illustrations of Fagin—”The Jew"

Lionel Bart, the writer of Oliver!, softens Fagin’s nightmarish qualities, assigning to Bill Sikes the role of “resident evil.” Bart’s Fagin is more vaudevillian than villain. He takes on all the jauntiness of the British Music Hall, in his colorful numbers with his gang of pickpockets. Fagin becomes less a figure of darkness and more a lovable rascal—and audiences love him. At the end of the musical, rather than sitting in a dank cell terrified, on his way to the gallows, as in Dickens’ novel, Fagin escapes as the orchestra swells and the curtain falls. Such is his rehabilitation from Victorian antisemitic grotesque to crowd-pleasing, song-and-dance rogue. Ah, musical theatre.

It’s a fabulous role, one I’ve longed to play. In the weeks before we started our rehearsals, I had conversations with our director, Michael Kevin Baldwin, about the character and his story, and my ideas as to how my Fagin might look and behave. I was eager to design a makeup based on the traditional Fagin images created by the illustrator Cruikshank. This was, for many years, part of the fun for great British actors—transforming into a sort of Jewish gargoyle, with the massive hooked nose, rotting teeth, scraggly beard and wig. The most grotesque example is Alec Guinness in David Lean’s 1948 film of Oliver Twist, in an over-the-top makeup designed by Stuart Freeborn. Freeborn gives Guinness a gigantic proboscis that mimics Cruikshank’s caricatures…but there’s no escaping the antisemitic connotations.

Stuart Freeborn making up Alec Guinness as Fagin.

Alec Guinness as Fagin, Oliver Twist, 1948

It should come as no surprise when I tell you that my conscientious director was very squeamish about the idea of my evoking a similar image for Fagin, or bringing any stereotypical Jewish attributes to my performance. Michael was relieved, somewhat, to learn that I’m legit Jewish (I guess he too was fooled by the goyishe punim), and I assured him that the touches I would bring come from an honest place—my lived experience, to use a popular term. But he cautioned me that the hooked nose, the exaggerated Jewish inflections—these might give offense to some, and we must tread lightly, so as not to lose the audience. Especially since it’s clear that Lionel Bart’s Fagin should bring the laughs, and ultimately win their love.

Am I disappointed that I can’t build up my nose and go full Cruikshank? You know—I’m not. I will certainly transform myself, with the help of terrific wig and costume design, and my skills as a makeup artist, and create my own Fagin. The blood of the Jewish vaudevillian runs in my veins. I’ve been steeped in the richness of Jewish culture and comedy my entire life. This will inform everything I bring to the part in an authentic and organic way. It’s not possible to divorce Fagin from “the Jew,” and we shouldn’t try. That’s who Fagin is. But it’s not everything he is.

City Center Encores, an annual series of concert versions of musicals, recently produced Oliver!. They cast Raúl Esparza as Fagin. Another Cuban-American taking on an iconic Jewish part. Hmm. Is there something vaguely antisemitic at work? Could we make a connection between the old stereotypes of swarthy, dark-eyed Jews and the casting of swarthy, dark-eyed Latinos in Jewish parts? Perhaps there’s some “unconscious bias” at play…? Or is this just another example of Diversity and Inclusion, giving Latino actors chances to play roles outside of their racial and ethnic identities? And if this is the goal, well, then, shouldn’t Jewish actors—not this one, perhaps, with my goyishe punim, LOL, but ones who have a Sephardic look: olive skin, dark eyes, strong noses—be allowed to portray Latino characters, without being accused of racism? Doesn’t that seem fair, or equitable? Food for thought. Our industry, and the culture in general, in my opinion, should be doing the work of—to quote Fagin—reviewing the situation.

I’m very proud of being Jewish. It means I have a good work ethic, and you get Jewish humor, and you’re allowed to tell Jewish jokes.
—Daniel Radcliffe