Adaptation of "The Rothschilds" Coming to Off-Broadway in October

 

Hal Linden as Mayer Rothschild in the Original Cast

If there was a Tony Award for Best Musical on a Jewish Theme, we would have given it to The Rothschilds, a 1970 Broadway show that ran for 505 performances. 

The words and music were written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, who wrote the words and music for Fiddler on the Roof. Hal Linden had the leading role as Mayer Rothschild. The musical was revived in an off-Broadway version featuring Mike Burstyn in 1980. But it hasn't been heard from since.

Now, 35 years later, it's returning in an adaptation called Rothschild and Sons. It will be performed at The York Theatre from October 6 through November 1 and tickets are already on sale for all performances.

As Andrew R. Chow wrote in The New York Times,

The new adaptation is being directed by Jeffrey Moss and was created with the involvement of Mr. Harnick, who wrote the lyrics, Sherman Yellen, who wrote the book, and the estate of Mr. Bock, who wrote the songs. The reconstructed story centers on the relationship between the Jewish banker Mayer Rothschild, played by Robert Cuccioli (“Jekyll and Hyde”), and his family. Mr. Cuccioli appeared in the 1990 revival of “The Rothschilds” as Mayer’s son, Nathan.

According to Mr. Moss, the idea to restructure the story stemmed from a comment made by Mr. Bock’s 12-year-old son after seeing the original for the first time. “I think there’s a story buried in this show that hasn’t been told yet,” Mr. Moss said. “This is a love story between a father and his sons.”

Songs from the original cast are hard to find today, but here is Sons, one of the best songs in the original show.

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to Eita Latkin for bringing this news to our attention.)