אַ ניקל פֿאַר זיי, אַ ניקל פֿאַר מיר

[sovay]

Apparently I can no longer re-toast myself a signature half pastrami, half corned beef sandwich from Mamaleh's without spending the rest of the evening singing the same-named hit from a 1917 American Yiddish musical. The Folksbiene never seems to have revived it and if the rest of the score was as catchy, they really should. (I am charmed that the composer clearly found the nickel conceit tempting enough to revisit in a later show, but that line quoted about the First Lady, didn't I just ask the twentieth century to stay where we left it?)

At the other end of the musical spectrum, spatch maintains it is not American-normal to be able to sing the Holst setting of "In the Bleak Midwinter," which until last night I had assumed was just such seasonal wallpaper that I had absorbed it by unavoidable dint of Christmas—it's one of the carols I can't remember learning, unlike others which have identifiable vectors in generally movies, madrigals, or folk LPs. Opinions?

Thanks to lunisolar snapback, Hanukkah like every other holiday this year seems to have sprung up out of nowhere, but we managed to get hold of candles last night and tomorrow will engage in the mitzvah of last-minute cleaning the menorah.

P.S. I fell down a slight rabbit hole of Bruce Adler and now feel I have spent an evening at a Yiddish vaudeville house on the Lower East Side circa 1926.

Comments

[alexxkay]

I first became aware of "In the Bleak Midwinter" when Kenneth Branagh titled a film that (rather puzzlingly).

[sovay]

I first became aware of "In the Bleak Midwinter" when Kenneth Branagh titled a film that (rather puzzlingly).

I am currently resenting the absence of that film from Kanopy or Tubi or any other of my normal streaming services! From what I know of the premise, it makes sense to me as a title.

[lauradi7dw]

It got re-titled Midwinter's Tale for US release. This would seem to imply that the distributors thought the more clever title would be lost on US audiences, but that doesn't make sense to me. I knew it from my childhood United Church of Christ upbringing in the US South ("The Pilgrim Hymnal") and besides, people who go to a movie theater to see a B & W Branagh flick might be presumed to be more british knowledgeable than some. But alexxkay is an obvious counterpoint, so maybe they were correct.
It's available through the MLN, but that won't be instant gratification.

[sovay]

I knew it from my childhood United Church of Christ upbringing in the US South ("The Pilgrim Hymnal")

That's another useful data point because spatch was also raised UCC. His father only retired from active ministry a couple of years ago.

It's available through the MLN, but that won't be instant gratification.

I appreciate the thought! I looked into it and it would have been on the shelf of an easily accessible library, except someone else requested it first and now it's in transit. It's not like I don't have other movies I need to get out of my head, assuming I ever sleep enough to be able to think like a person again.

[nineweaving]

It's a favorite of mine, on my short shelf of disatrous theatre flicks. The audition montage is a gem.

Nine