Feder Sisters (Mimi Sloan, Sylvia Roebuck)

Partial Transcript: [00:00:00]

We're at the Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture, a tropical Yiddish land called South Beach. Today we're interviewing Mimi Sloan and Sylvia Roebuck, the theater sisters, welcome.

Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to you. So tell me where your family came from and where are the inspiration of Yiddishkayt? Well, our father and mother were both in the theater. I'm at the Sangam Polish Opera. Our father studied to be a rabbi and decided to go off on his own and become an actor.

And he joined a company called the Vilna Troupe, V .I .L .N .A. And they came to America and they formed the first Yiddish art theater here with actors, all -time actors, Asura and Alamos and Sholem Tanyin. these are names that probably a lot of people no longer remember, but we remember them.

Our father came to America first with the Vilna Troupe, and then he went back and brought my mother, and then a couple of years later we went back to visit my grandmother, and then I was born in Poland. And of course I became a naturalized American citizen from my parents.

And they played Yiddish theater here, and my sister was born three -and -a -half years later after we came here in Brooklyn, and our parents played theater, and my mother played in McKinley. the McKinley Square Theater, and the Bronx, and the Bronx Art Theater, and Father played with Marie Schwartz, Menasha Skolnick, and all the big time actors of that era. And so we sort of grew up in it, even though our parents separated when we were young kids, but we were already in that life, and we knew a lot of war people in the Yiddish Theater that were wonderful to children, and so we always had an affinity for it.

So as we got a little older, we got a manager who thought we'd be very good as a singing team, and he saw to it that we started singing together.

[00:02:28]

Before we get to that, did your father have a... or your mother had people in their families who were, their parents who were active in the,

No, no, they were the only ones. They were the, except my, no, my mother had a sister, her youngest sister, the 13th child who became an actress in Poland and she wrote her own plays.
For Lusia. Yeah. She wrote her own plays and she was called Nusza Reiches. That was her. her Polish name. She was the only other member of my mother's family that became a performer.

Before we became a team, I played a role in the Parkway Theatre in Brooklyn. They needed a very young girl, very innocent looking, who would be seduced. seduced by a doctor who was drunk that night, the usual story, Jewish drama, and the girl happens to be blind.

So it was a very tragic story, and she has this child, and the child is given up for adoption, and later on he has qualms of conscience, and so his life is unhappy with the the woman that he has married, and he somehow finds the blind, the girl who is blind, and they find the child, and her eyesight is restored, and as usual, there was the happy ending, typical Yiddish drama, which ends happily ever after.

And that was my introduction as a young teen. into the Yiddish Theater. Prior to that, the first time actually that I stepped on the stage, I was six years old. I had to replace another little girl who was in my father's company and she had an attack of appendicitis and I was it. And they stuck me on there and whispered cues in my ear and that was my introduction to it.

So I played children's parts for a long time and it was was the style then also to have little girls play boys' parts. So even though I had long hair, they would pull it all up, stick it under a little cap, put a pair of knickers on me, and I was a boy. So that's how I actually started. And then came the awkward age before I did that blind girl part.

After the blind girl part, I did one season in the chorus, Menasha Skolnik, a show with Menasha Skolnik, I played one season in the chorus, and I never went back.

[00:05:11]

I did it to get some experience dancing. And after that, we formed the Fader Sisters. So Mimi, tell me how you got your start before the Fader Sisters. How I got my start. Well, similar. Similar. Yes. She was a child actress. She played in the circus. certain show. We can't remember the name of it. Too long ago. But she played a role in that. And I also played boys' parts. I had long hair. I had to put it under my cap, a big crown to get all the hair in. And I put on a boy's suit, knickers, and I once forgot my lines, and I was mortified. I said, "What am I going to do? How am I going to get through this?" I did the only thing I could. I whistled. I walked along the stage, and I whistled like a tough kid with my hands in my pockets. Typical boy. That's how I started. a little experience.

Good experience. And we were the Feder Sisters for a long time, for about twenty years or so. What word did that idea come from that you should work together as the Feder Sisters? When did that inspire us? Well, we always used to sing when we were kids and our voices got better as the years went by. by. We studied with a very famous teacher.

He was with the Metropolitan Opera, Fausto Claver was his name. He was a maestro at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. And he took us under his wing and taught us, and we were flattered no end. Oh, and tell him who brought us up to him. Moesha Oesha brought us up to him. And introduced us to him. us to him, and Claver listened to us, and he said, "All right, I take you." And he did, and he taught us marvelous, marvelous, man. It was in the Ansonia Hotel in New York City. He had a suite. He had a round room.

The acoustics were wonderful. We really sounded like opera singers there. He did wonders. He used to take her up to C above high C. It was magnificent. And he used to love to play the Sousa marches. He was in love with Sousa's music. So we had a good time. While we were studying, we also got a concert.

[00:08:06]

When did you officially become the Feder sisters?

Oh, that's-- that was, let's see. God, the year, I think, was, oh, I know, it was right after Akinsofa Coethean. The year was 1943, when we officially -- >> Just a quickie.


When we became the Feder sisters, that was right after I finished with a kins of Harkov and a child friend. for sale. That was 1943. We officially became the Feder sisters, and we were the Feder sisters from that point on until we had our babies. We both had our babies a day apart. My son and her son were born one day apart. So we gave it up for a while, and that was in 1959. 1959. Then, in 1961,
United Artists called us to do an LP, Long Playing Record. And we did an LP with them. And then in 1962,
they asked us to do another one, and we did that. The first one was called "Some Like a Yiddish." The second one was called "Yiddish Maestro, Please Take All." on different titles from movies, music Maestro Please, Some Like It Hot, Some Like It Yiddish. Take off on those titles. And we did that.

And we only stayed together then for a short time. And then our paths led us into different things. She became a one woman show down here. And I became Leo Fuchs' leading lady in a couple of shows, both in New York and down here, and Mimi played a whole lot of places down here in Florida.

And all of the hotels, all of them, big hotels, small hotels. And I did very well. Very well. Give me some of the names of the hotels you played and the performances you had.

Well, the hotels are changed now. I did the Doeville, I did—oh gosh—Carillon—the Carillon—you know,
I— I keep— Borovage. Borovage. I worked there— That was in Bal harbor. I worked there very, very often. And I—I keep hitting the— the hotels down here with the ones and the Catskills.
I'm getting mixed up with them, or they're getting mixed up with me, but I did all of the hotels down here. Singing.

I used to do about an hour, club dates, as we used to call them. I did and now they're kicks. gigs, right. And I used to do the hotels and I had my own accompanist. Some of the hotels had little trios and little outfits and we used to rehearse talkovers we called them.

We never had a play through rehearsal. Talkovers and we used to go on. on stage hoping that all would go well, because sometimes it didn't. Some of the hotels had little trios and little outfits and we used to rehearse talkovers we called them.

It was nice. Fun. Sorry. Go ahead. Finished? Sure. Did you ever hear of Ben Bonas? Yes. Ben Bonas. Well, he produced the show down here with Leo Fuchs when I was his leading lady. That was at the Conover Hotel, which is now called the Castle. Castle. And that ran there for a month, which was quite a run in Florida.

And we were supposed to do another month, and then Ben Bonas died. So the whole thing fell apart. But it was fun working with Leo Fuchs, and when we went on the road with Sing America Sing Company. which we have posters of that we can show you, we were in the company of Jenny Goldstein, Michael Michalesko, Jaime Jacobson. We worked with greats in the Yiddish, like Aaron Lebedev, I'm sure everybody knows Aaron Lebedev, Herman Yablacov, Menasha Skolnick, you know, all of the people. We were known as the younger generation, and we were. I mean, everybody else was at least middle -aged and upward.

And somehow, we eventually were welcomed. In the beginning, a lot of the older actresses who used to play the younger parts because they were such an assessor, they were such a short person. of young actresses resented us, but after a while there was nothing much they could do because the managers wanted younger people and so we were accepted. Herman Yablacov, Menasha Skolnick, you know, all of the people. We were known as the younger generation, and we were. I mean, everybody else was at least middle -aged and upward.

We had to go through a grueling audition at the Hebrew Actors' Union. You couldn't just become a member of the Hebrew Actors' Union. You had to do an audition before the entire entire theatrical family. The Hebrew Actors' Union. And they voted on you. If they voted you in, you became a member. If they didn't vote you in, you were nothing. God forbid. So we went through quite a lot of experiences in the Yiddish theater.

Everything very interesting. But it was a wonderful time for me especially. especially, when I played that part in "I Can't Suffer Cove." And I remember opening night—I'll never forget it—it was one of the most thrilling nights in my life. I was very young. I was still in high school, and here were all these bouquets of flowers being brought up on the stage to me after the show, and then the write -ups. :14:36
But one of the most exciting nights in my life was when I played "I Can't Suffer Cove." there were the Goldbergs and the Jacobs were partners in that theater, Rose Goldberg.

She had been coaching me in the part because I couldn't really let go emotionally at first. I was too young, so she would take me into her home and coach me, and she brought out the emotion until I was screaming, and that was what they wanted. But she said to me, "After all..." opening night, I was so thrilled, and she said, "The Jewish Theater is dying, darling." She says, "Don't stay in the Jewish Theater. Try to get out." I said, "But it's so wonderful." I mean, everybody said the Jewish Theater was dying. If it was dying, it was dying a long death. It didn't just die. It gasped gloriously for quite a while. while, and it's not even really dead now.

Now that you have the folksbeine, which is keeping up a certain tradition, and we even had radio until recently. We had Art Raymond down here, used to play all the records, used to play Mimmy's records and our records, and I don't think it will ever really die out. - There will always be a little smidgen.

Even though it may be translation, but it'll always be part of Yiddish theater. - Yeah, well, it's called Yiddish theater, even though it's in English.

[00:16:10]

What did it mean to you both to be able to perform with all these greats? What did it mean to us both?

To perform with all these greats. It was a thrill. It was—how can you describe it? It was not just a thrill. It was being part of that family. It was like we belonged. We always felt— We always felt that sense of belonging. with all these people. These great names wanting us to perform with them was quite an honor. And these people were so great. They were such artists and they were very creative people.

Do you know Joseph Bullock and Luba Carterson? All right. Luba Carterson's father was a sculptor and he was an actor and a sculptor. And I remember when we were little girls, he used to come to our house and he would take bread, he would take a cornbread, take out the inside and moisten it with water and form little animals for us.

And they would harden up. It was magnificent. And they would harden up and we would put them on a shelf, eventually they all broke with the use. years, but these are the kind of people they were they loved children They took us into the fold from the time we were very young So we always felt like we were a big part of this and our father was in the theater until the day he died We knew these people we what you might call grew up with them So it was a great thing for us to be part of it it, part of the family, as Sil said. Our father played with Skulnick, with Schwartz, Marie Schwartz. He was a very, very desirable cast member. They used to look together. Great character actor.

Excellent. And he had a wonderful voice, a wonderful baritone voice. The mother was a lyric soprano. soprano, and she sang in Poland, as I said, in the "Hazomir," which was a Polish opera. Q. And you mentioned that your father played in the first Yiddish theater in New York? A. The Vilna Troupe.

The Vilna Troupe, and then he performed in the first Yiddish theater in New York. A. They originally came here—well, Boris Tomaszewski was already here, and then the Vilna Troupe formed, and they came here. And then they— they—Azra broke away. He was in—he formed the Vilna troupe—what was his first name?
Alexander Azra, I think it was—and he broke away and formed the Yiddishar Theater. And but the Vilna troupe went on, and I used to have a picture of them when they came to America.

I couldn't find that. Where did the Vilna troupe go to to perform? Well, they performed on 2nd Avenue. They performed—there were theaters then, the Lyric Theater that my father performed in, which was no longer in existence when we went into the theater. It was called the Lyric Theater. Those were famous theaters. And then there was this theater on 12th Street and 2nd Avenue.

Oh, not folks' theaters. the Folk's Theater, 2nd Avenue Theater, National Theater. Well, National came later on, but there was a lot doing then. There was also the road. They used to go touring. After you did a show in New York, you took it on the road.

When it ended, it's run in New York. So, there was work. There was a lot of work. there was always work. Not so today. Very different. Well, it's a different kind of theater today. Right. It's mostly gigs and mostly Vaudeville. Speaking of Vaudeville, we worked with Smith and Dale.

Oh. [Laughter] Most of them forget that. Tell us about that. That was in their much later years. They were old men, so to speak. They were old men then. They used to try to break us up on stage. They used to do—excuse me, don't—they were famous for the Dr. Cronkite bit. I don't know if you ever heard of it.
They used to do a— Very famous. They used to do the doctor's office, and they used to pull funny lines, and they had a nurse, and they'd have a woman walk in. to be examined. She was the nurse, and I was the woman that walked in in this particular show. And then we did a number, and then we came out and did a fate assist this number. - They wanted us-- - Do you remember one of the skits that you can sort of-- - Well, Dr. Cronkite. - Dr. Cronkite. - And, oh. - They did the-- - Take off the coat, my boy. - Take off the coat. - Take off the coat. - Bye. off the coat, the coat is off. ♪ Funny. They used to try to break us up, as I said, and we were too disciplined in theater. We would never, never let them break us up. The last night of our performance with them, I decided maybe I'm going to break them up.

So, I... blackened a tooth, a front tooth, and I kept my mouth closed. I didn't show them. And at the end, near the curtain, I smiled very broadly, and this black, horrible tooth showed, and they laughed. They laughed. It was very unexpected. unexpected. Fun. They were a marvelous team. They were nice guys to work with. We worked with theaters with them, the RKO on 86th Street and the big theater in— Academy. Oh, that was the academy. The RKO. And the one on— Low State. The Low State Theater.

That's where we worked with them. They hated each other. They really did not like each other. They really got— got—remember the shutters, Sunshine Boys? That was about Smith and Dale and how they disliked each other. It was very true. They hated each other. They were always arguing, but on stage they were fantastic. Such talent.

Such talent they were. We had our experiences, not only with the Yiddish Theater and of course Victor Borga. We worked— Marvelous man. He was wonderful to us. What did you prefer? perform with him? It was the All -Star Review, it was called. Kellogg's? Kellogg's All -Star Review. Kellogg's was the sponsor. And we were recommended to him and we got on there and we did Orange Colored Sky in German.

He was doing—in fact, we have a video of it. And we—he needed us to do it. Orange Colour Sky in German for a German television show that they were portraying. And I was then married to a very famous Yiddish actor, Max Kletter, and Max wrote a German version of Orange Colour Sky for us, which cracked up the audience. audience, and we had wonderful write -offs on it. It was a very funny bit that we did. And then he used this again for a subsequent show where we played Chiquita Banana,

you know, one of those things. We worked on the shows with Borga Witt. We did a couple of shows with him. Vera's Arena, Loret's Melchior. Melchior was on those shows.
And comics who were there. well known, not stars, but they -- >> Art Carney was on one of the shows. Art Carney was on one of the shows with us.

He died, what does it know, about two or three years? And he came down here a few years ago. down about two years before then, about five years ago. And we brought him the program from the Kellogg's show, which I have. And he looked at it, and he embraced us, you know, and brought back such memories. He was so happy to see us. He remembered everything. He's a wonderful guy.

Oh, these, I mean, you know, we can think of some of them. many things that would take hours. Things come back. Tell us about the audience reaction, what it meant to the people who came to you, to the theater, how many people were in the theater, what age groups? The audience reactions were wonderful. The Rumchinsky number, for instance. Oh, yes. Joseph Rumchinsky. We played "Not Big Ascent" with Molly. Molly Picon, which was her famous show. At the Second Avenue Theater. And we played two sisters.

Strange typecasting. And Romchinski wrote a number for us, a big, what they used to call, what kind of a number of production number. Oh, yes. He did a production number for us. We didn't have much faith in the number, and we were telling him, "I don't know if this number's going to go." And he said.
"He used to talk to trust me. Trust me. It's alright. It's alright." And so we did the number, and the first night, opening night, we were told by Jacob Coller, Collich, Molly Picon's husband, absolutely no on -course, because the show was running over time.

It was a long show. Absolutely no on -course tonight. I don't care what happens, no on -course. Well, we did our number, and the response from the audience was so great that every time we walked off, they wouldn't stop applauding. We literally stopped the show. show. And Molly was waiting backstage for us in the wings of stage.

And when we walked off, she stood there with her arms open and embraced us. And then she said, "Go back." Go back. Go back. Yeah. And so we had to go back and do an encore, even though it was not permitted. And it never failed. It never failed. Every time. after that. And Rumshinsky was right.

- A big ascent. - The title song. - And Rumshinsky was right. It had Madame Butterfly in it. - She did a piece of Madame Butterfly and I did summer time.
- Different things. - And we let, this all led into the theme song of the show which was done very, very well by Rumshinsky. And after that night, we loved Rumshinsky. the song. We loved it. - It was a showstopper. - No, no, no, no. - It was a real show. - There's too much. - "Asoy Vidaebus" was the theme of it.
♪ Azoy Vidaebus ♪ ♪ Asoy solsticein' ♪ ♪ Dynan slay 'em solsticein' ♪ ♪ Pink Vidaebus ♪ ♪ Pink Vidaebus ♪ as time." Too many different things in that, even in that one number, different ways of singing it. Well, that was just the end of it. And when we did that part of it, he had to spend in actually to the audience, you know, sing to them which they loved. The audience loves that. That was a good number. That was a wonderful season that we had with Abiga since. As a matter of fact.

Molly Pican has a book out, Molly. I have it here. And we're listed on the program and the book. So that's a nice keepsake, too. We did another one at the second avenue, too, with Sadie. Sadie is a lady. That was the same season, but that was called a repertoire show. We did another stint with her. And she was wonderful. She was lovely to us.

She was wonderful. so nice to us. And we loved her. And Collif was so nice to us. Collif was very nice.
And to show our appreciation, we knitted him a cashmere sweater. We said, "We used to sit backstage and knitted." You knitted him. We couldn't boast. No, you did the back and I did the front. Oh, I did. I don't remember. Thank you. And we knitted him a cashmere sweater. this, and he tried it on, and it was down to his mid -calf, cashmere. And we didn't know enough at the time to mix it with another kind of wool that wouldn't stretch. But he loved it. He was very happy. He wore it as a nightgown. Well, it's funny. just some of the experiences. Fun years.

[00:29:43]

So tell me more about your radio programs that you did.

Oh, on WEVT, from Maxwell House. Maxwell House and Duff's Mixes. Duff's Mixes. Cake mix. You take it. Take it. Yes. Maxwell House Coffee, which was very successive for us, a, a, a, a good one. for us.
Twice a week. It was twice a week, correct. And we enjoyed it. And -- Sammy Medoff. Sammy Medoff was at the piano. Dick Manning was his name later on. And Harry Lubin, which was a very famous name -- David Opatachu.

David Opatachu. David Opatachu. That name you know. Svi -Skuller. Svi -Skuller. He was Aranasi. And take it. Sammy Medoff became—he changed his name professionally to Tick Manning. And he later on wrote, "Remember Papa loves mumbo.

Mama loves mumbo. Da -da -da -da." -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da. Stick Manning and he also wrote the Pussycat song, "Coming out, coming out, coming out, my pretty kitten." He did numbers like that. We used to do those numbers on the show for him. He would come in and not rehearse with us,
let's say a half hour. before, which is proper because we did five or six numbers on the show. He would come in five minutes before airtime and say, "Okay, next." That's how he would rehearse with us. And we were scared stiff. How could we possibly do it?

We did it. Did you know in advance what you were going to do? He told you. Oh, no. We knew. We knew what songs we were going to do, but we didn't get a real rehearsal. There was no time.

He would come in kind of late, you know. But we got through it. We did it. And we did that show for about two years, I think. And we also did a show called "A Caravan of Stars" on WMJM. "WMJM" and that was with all the big comics of the day.

They would have us as the singing portion of the show and they would have us as the singing portion of "A Caravan of Stars" and "WMJM" and "WMJM". talking about the American, the Borsch Belt comics, the one whose wife is now a gossip columnist. Oh, Joey Adams.

Joey Adams and Julie Bishop, these were all the people we were on with on the Caravan of Stars. And they had a full orchestra. Full orchestra. Marvelous. Marvelous. Beautiful. That was a lot of experiences. What can I tell you? How long did that go on for?

Well, that was a show. Before we went on the show, it was still, it was in existence. They had different people. Long time. It was a very successful program. Well, we were on for about eight weeks. Mmm -hmm. They had a song not inside. succession. We did, I think, the first two weeks in a row.

And because I found some letters, you know, with the dates. I don't know where they are now, don't ask me. But I had found some letters with the dates. And then a couple of weeks would pass and they'd bring us back again. So all in all, we did about eight weeks of that. Very, very interesting. There's a wonderful time. Another happy time. We had a lot of happy times.

[00:33:54]

What was the first song that you both did together?

Oh. The first song? Do you remember the first song? Oh, you can't. You can't mean that. How could we remember that? No. Oh, that was the one that Jack put together for us. Oh, a medley of Yiddish folk songs. It went on. It started here and it ended here. here. All the things that I can't send out, them is in Goiskegaden, them is in Goiskegaden. Cut! Thank you! Thank you, audience. Thank you. Do we get another booking? How many years? How many years? Oh. Oh. God. Oh. I'll tell you. Well, we started singing together.

I told you in 1943. This medley won. on forever. This is it's it's no end. It's one of those no -ending numbers That was fun We were taken to around two agencies on Broadway Beckman and Pransky do you know that man Charlie rap You know Charlie rap agency his nephew Yeah, nephew nephew or that's his nephew or it was his father who worked for up in the Catskills. We used to do the Borscht Belt up in the Catskills. Every summer, every summer, we'd go up there and do all the hotels. The big hotels, the small hotels, everything. And we did a synth for a short time at Lakewood. They also had shows there. But Lakewood had three hotels on every block. Oh, it was great. Not too many. Well, it wasn't like the Catskills. Lakewood was not like the Catskills.

It was small. New Jersey. Lakewood, New Jersey.

[00:37:07]

So what brought you to Miami Beach? Did you both come at the same time?

Mimi was here first. Mimi came here first. I don't know what happened to those—I had pictures of that,
too. Tina, what are you— that was? Yes. That was in 1947. I know because it was the year before we got married. I got married in 1948, so it was in '47. And then my husband and I used to come down here every winter, and I would do club day. dates, and for a long time, for quite a few years. Well, that was many years later. Many years later, yeah. But we used to do a couple of dates here, you and I. We did a kind of benefit date or something here. We were no longer working together down here.

No, but we just did so. So, with Max that year, we came. came one other time the following year, and that was it. Kelly: Then when I came down, I started to work. My husband and I would stay down here. We'd get an apartment down here for the winter, and I would do shows. I was a snooper. I had an apartment in this very building, a smaller apartment, and later on, when my present husband and I got married, he's wonderful, by the way. My present husband. He's a man like no other man.

He's great. He's wonderful. My Norman. We moved into this apartment. apartment and we go to see shows, we go to see Bruce Sadler, we go to see—wherever we see a Jewish show advertised, we go to see it. We went to see the Klezmer show. We were jumping in our seats. Bruce Sadler.

In the winter as you said you were coming down here. By myself or with my husband? Both. Well, I came down here with my husband. husband a long time ago. I don't remember the year, really, pardon me, well, when my son died, when our son died, we couldn't live in our house anymore in the Catskills.

We had a beautiful home in Locke's Sheldrake, half a mile away from Browns, but we could no longer live there. It was very difficult. So we came down here and we lived down here after he died and I worked.
I did a lot of work. And then, hmm, after my husband died twelve years ago, I came down here and got my present apartment five minutes away from her. her, and that's it. I've been down here a long time.

[00:40:40]

Tell me about your memories of the Miami Beach theatrical performances. How different were they than New York and how were the Miami Beach performances different down here than in New York?

Yeah. No different. Vaudeville was Vaudeville, whether it was down here or in New York? Yiddish. Yiddish American. That's what it was. But you didn't do just Yiddish. No, I did. But that was what they preferred. In the Vaudeville theaters, yes, they preferred it. In Vaudeville I didn't do English because that's not what they wanted. But in my club dates I did English, international, yeah. I sang in Russian, Polish, Spanish, French, Italian, Hebrew, Yiddish of course, English. I sang in quite a few. As a team we did that too. Kazunas, yeah. team, we sang in all those languages. We used to have medleys, different medleys, international medleys. The last time I worked down here was at the—my last professional work was down here in the Conover. That was in 1982, with Longtime. Leo. Leo Fuchs. Longtime. Do you remember the performance that was? To I remember— What the performance was? What the performance?

Yeah, the name of the show. Oh, the show. Oh, that was, um, "Eins und Rechts," one of a kind. And prior to that, I had worked with Leo in the Anderson Theater in New York in a family Mishmash. It was great to work with. with. He was a very professional man, a very good performer. Kelly: Nice man. Kagan: Yeah. And Minna Byrne was in that company down here. Well, Ben Bonus was the producer of the show. And Ben had—well, in New York, they took over the National Theatre. and they hired me.

After I had finished working with Sill, they hired me and they didn't even audition me. And I said, "Ben, Minna, you don't even want to listen to me, how do you know how I sound?" And they said, "We know, don't worry." And I worked there very, very often for them. And they were like, "Well, I don't want to listen to you, I don't want to listen to you, good shows, a lot of good performers. It was a good time. What were your memories, Mimi, of the Beach Theater and the Cinema Theater,

like with Leon Schachter and Gidl Stein? What were my memories of the Beach Theater, the Lincoln Theater, the Cinema Theater? I did, I think, one or two shows at the cinema. I didn't do many. And at the beach theater, I was at the beach theater very, very often, very often with some big names. I co -starred with Myron as I said. Myron Cohen on one of the shows. And oh, some more people. Comics. Max Perlman at the beach, and the Lincoln Theater. I can't remember who there were so many really, I can't remember with whom, but they were very good performers, good shows, and the people flocked to the theaters.

They stood in line outside in the heat and sometimes it got cold down here and they stood in line and when the doors opened they ran in to get the best seats because they weren't reserved actually.

They wanted a little Yiddishkayt.

Oh a lot of Yiddishkayt, not little. And the theaters were usually packed? Packed. Packed. Weekends. Weekends only. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A lot of that audience is gone now. Oh, sure. Sure. Passing parade. Well, so many of the performers are gone. Very few of them left. Nothing left but memories. But they're nice memories. Mac Reibans was a fond of the comics. comics. He died a few years ago.

It's heartbreaking to think of those who have gone. Do you remember the Barton? Did you ever hear of the Barton brothers? Of course, Eddie Barton. Well, one of them was down here until recently.

He died. Eddie Barton. We knew them. They also were Catskill actors. Yeah, bye -bye, bye -bye, yeah, bye -bye, bye -bye. -bye. W -B -V -D. I swing it's sister. They were a very good team. Yeah, the Yiddish culture-- Culture? --and folk singers, of course, that used to perform a lot. Oh, sure. Sure.
uh, uh, uh, Mlotyk had, uh, well in New York, he had the, uh, a gizangstverein. Uh, forget what they were called. I must be getting old. Mlotyk, Mlotyk played, uh, for me, uh, an Avery Fish Hole salmon,
uh, when Ben Bonas put on a pageant there. and I was part of it, and that was when I first met him. I knew his father. His father was very well known.

His father, as a matter of fact, was one of the producers of that show, and Zalman played it, and it was an Avery Fisher Hall. I worked. worked, I had a show every year for a few years, one in Carnegie Hall, An Afternoon of Stars, it was called Mimi Sloan, and Town Hall, same thing. And I had big names on the shows.

And people, the place was packed, Carnegie Hall. Hall. Imagine packing every seat in Carnegie Hall and Town Hall. What a thrill. What a thrill. I used to sing my theme song from one of my records. What would I do without you?

How could I—when I said, "What would I do?" The applause started because people used to listen. and they knew it. And when the curtains parted and that spotlight hit me, "What a thrill. Imagine," I said to myself, "I'm in Carnegie Hall or I'm in Town Hall." Tremendous thrill.

Very successful. So what would you say to people who are in Carnegie Hall? being exposed to Yiddish right, hoping to connect to Judaism now, about the value of what you were part of, the Yiddish cultural life? Well, I would say, I'm sorry, I would say to people who were not exposed to the Yiddish or the cultural Yiddish down here or anywhere. what a shame. What a shame that they were not taught. But there are different resources that they can look into and learn about it and it would be a wonderful experience for them.

Right. But there's nothing like speaking. But you have to want to know it. You have to be drawn to it. It has to. as a matter of fact, I think if those people gave themselves half a chance and started in it, I think they would become drawn to it because it's so rich. It has to give you a tip.

It's such a rich culture. There is so much in it to benefit from. Look at all the Yiddish words that have come into the English language.

Careful now. I'm not saying a word. I'm just mentioning it. Let's hear some of the clean ones. Well, I can't remember the clean ones.

Oh, shlamil. Shlamil shlamazil. Nudnik. Yes, Nudnik. Nudnik, Schmendrik, Kibitzel, yes, so many. If we were to sit down and think of all the Yiddish words that have come into the English language,

I'm sure there would be hundreds. There would have to be hundreds.

[00:51:02]

How does Yiddish culture connect people to the soul of Judaism?

How does the Yiddish culture connect to people's souls? It's an inheritance. You were born with it. It's a feeling. It's a great feeling. when even people who haven't learned to speak Yiddish know it's a feeling, a great feeling. You have a movement now where a lot of Hollywood, a number of Hollywood stars are studying Kabbalah. Yes. So there you go. I mean, there's something that's drawing them to it, they're finding something there that feeds their souls. even though they're not Jewish. Madonna?

Oh, yes. And who else? Was it, I think, Cher? Was it Cher that was studying Cabala? No, I don't know if it's Cher. A few others that I had read about that were studying Kabbalah.

That's something. Why would a young person today want to... learn some of the old guitar songs? Or even come and watch some of the performances of the Feder sisters? Have a good time. Why would young people want to learn why should they? Why not? Tradition.

Tradition. That's right. Yeah. yeah. It's something that they should and they want to. It's something that shouldn't go lost. To identify with.

It would be a pity for it to go lost and I don't think it will. And you know, I admire the Hasidic people because they are the only ones that are keeping the Yiddish language alive.

The Lubavitch, yeah. yes. >> When I see a Hasidic person, I'm always very, very eager to walk over and speak to them. And I usually do, I find an excuse to speak Yiddish with them. Because there's so few people that speak Yiddish anymore. >> The Lubavitch movement. >> I have two children. I have a son and a daughter. My son knows almost no Yiddish. My daughter. daughter, on the other hand, has always asked me from the time she was very small, "Mom, what does this mean? Mom, what does that mean?" And so she has picked up a little bit.

And to this day she does that with me. She'll ask me what things mean. She's very interested, very. She sings, by the way. Beautiful voice. She's an artist.

She's one. There are two paintings. of hers over there on the bottom. She won a competition. And she tried singing professionally many years ago when she was very young and she said it was too competitive and she gave it up.

And she's a wonderful artist, but she lost interest in that. And she has no children. She has two dogs and loves them so much she became a dog trainer, believe it or not. She's not very good at it. very well being a dog trainer. My son is in the printing business. He lives down here. My son lives here. My daughter lives in New Jersey.

Well, getting back to the Hasidim, tell me why you think Hasidim was successful in transplanting Yiddish culture or at least the Yiddish language to your children, where some of the more other aspects. they have been able to pass it on, because they're a very close -knit group, you know, they're a sect by themselves. Are you talking about Hasidim or Lubavitch? Hasidim. All right. Hasidim or all that way, whether they're Lubavitch or not.

Lubavitch especially, yes. Well, but the Hasidim, they are a close knit family and they're a close knit community. They are a separate community and everything is passed on.
And the Yiddish has been passed on from then to their children, to their children's children. I hear them speaking Yiddish, they walk with their little kids and they're speaking Yiddish with them. It's so cute, the little children. children, four or five children, they learn that in school, but they also keep the whole language. They walk with their yarmulkes, which is, I think, wonderful. And they hold the children by the hand. They're wonderful parents. They go from this height, this one, five or six children. It's beautiful. to see.

[00:56:03]

Tell me some more stories. I don't know what Vaudeville really meant. Maybe I didn't hear an explanation in the beginning. But what was the essence of Vaudeville?

Vaudeville was different performers in shows. There were different acts. One was a dog act.
One was a whistler. One was a-- Spoons. Playing the spoons. A dance act.
It's the same as Variety. That's what it was called. Vaudeville was-- It was a Variety show. And the same as today, when you see it, it's-- called a review or a variety show,

it's the same thing. You have different types of acts, but it's essentially the same thing. You go on a cruise, you see boarder -lacks, wonderful shows, boarder -lacks, different performers, comedians, dog actors, singers, dancers, tap dancers, ice skaters. different performers.

And that's what vaudeville was, a marvelous way to make a living. And acts did make a living until it sort of dwindled out. Well, but it takes on different shapes. Yes. But there's still on cruises, right? You have the cruises, and you have the gigs. and I think, you know, who has suffered a lot? Musicians have suffered a great deal. Because of the MOOC, you know, and the— And tapes? And the keyboards, and one -man music, you know, with different functions. I remember when we used to do club dates, they always had an orchestra. orchestra. They always had an orchestra, whether it was three or four or five, or sometimes seven at a big affair, a big wedding, with seven musicians. But they always had a combo orchestra, and now those people are out of work. And different performers, when they do club dates, bring their own tape music. and they sing to that. Well, it's called progress, but progress sometimes hurts a lot of people.

Of course, a lot of it, so it can't—it's not the vibrance of band performances. That's why he became an orchestra leader. He formed his own orchestra, became a band leader, played a lot of Jewish gigs, you know, some stuff. Different. hotels. He felt there was a diminishing of availability for him.

I'll tell you, when I thought of it, when the hotels down here changed, they modernized, they became big places. places, instead of little places, each little place became a bigger place, and the audiences changed, and performers changed. Kelly: Well, it's became South Beach now. That's South Beach. What about the—are you familiar with all the redevelopment that pushed out so many of the people?

[0:59:39]

yes, wherever you go, there's construction, towering, towering buildings. >> Mm -hm. >> Mm -hm. >> Everything, the whole face of South Florida has been changing for the past decade, no longer than the past decade. The Motel Row on Collins Avenue is now becoming multi -millionaire row. There isn't a building there that's selling under a million dollars in an apartment.

The whole face is changing like South Beach changed. I remember when I stayed at the Raleigh Hotel many years ago. And now, I mean, it's exclusive. They let me in years ago. ago. And we didn't tell you about the movies, the Jewish movies. We made a picture at the Young Scab Hotel up in the Catskills. Where was it again?

Youngsville. Something like that. The Young Scab Hotel. Up in the Catskills in 19-- 1951, and it was called Catskill Honeymoon. And in that movie was Bruce Sadler's mother, Henrietta Jacobson, and his father, Julius Sadler, his uncle, Jaime Jacobson, who wrote our number for the picture and who wrote the score. scores for all the music and Dinah Goldberg and Irving Grossman were in it They later on put Bobby Colton to it.

I believe they inserted him insert it later on jambard I don't know if you know jambard, but jambard was in it bus and bus shava like the canter and And this was shown all over the country, not only over the country, but it was shown internationally too, I understand. There were a lot of countries that showed that famous Catskill honeymoon. We have a video of it, so that was fun making that.

[01:02:12]

Any stories that came out of the filming of that movie? movie?

Yes, but I don't think we can tell you. Which one was that?
What? What was—a story about what? About what came out of the movie, yeah, some nasty things. That's why I said, "I don't think we can tell you." That came out of the movie?
Yeah. Well, some relationships that were not very pleasant. Life. That's what happens. That's what happens in the best of places. But it's also that was another very good experience that we had. We enjoyed it.

We used to enjoy going on tour, going on the road, visiting different places. At that time, that was the only way we traveled. By train most. And mostly by train.

We would meet at Penn Station under the clock. They would say we'll all meet at an appointed hour under the clock Famous clock. That was Grand Central.

Yeah. Yeah Penn Station was different Oh, well we worked for several agents there was I Don't know how many acts had one, but we had Beckman and Pransky, which— Kelly Cervantes: And Charlie Rapp. Kelly Cervantes: And Charlie Rapp, two famous names— Kelly Cervantes: Mike Hammer, old, old, timer, way back. Kelly Cervantes: And Morris Kurtz. Morris Kurtz, Morris Blimeyman, what was the other one?

Metzger, all nice people, nice guys, agents. You didn't work for just one. You couldn't make a living just from one. You worked for many. Well, we made our comeback. We were managed by Bobby Bernard. He heard our recording for United Artists.

And did you ever hear of the comic Dick Sean? He was very famous at one time, before your time. And he managed him. He made him. And so when he heard our recording this, Bobby Bernard, he looked us up and he managed it. But it was only a short time. It was just before we stopped singing together.

So we were under his management for a while. Management and agents. Two different things. things, of course.

[01:04:50]

There was one song that sort of summed up the essence of the "Feder Sisters" which song would that be?

I don't think there is one. I'm thinking of the songs Max wrote for us. Like "Get's My Ingle" Oh yeah, well there were several. "Get's My Ingle" which was a comic song that we did.

That Max wrote for us. us and we used to do oh the anniversary song in Yiddish we have a wonderful one that's on that tape that I was showing you before oh Yiddish women of song Yiddil mitn fidl that was Molly Picons and I mean you know Molly Picons wrote the lyrics to that and we did an arrangement with a bell sign on that that we love if it that I think that I I think was the best.

Yeah, all around. >> It's a needle, needle, needle, needle, needle. >> Hey, the salami is such a tough task. >> We have it on tape. It'll sound much better. >> Of course. You know, it comes at a time when the lyric escapes.

>> Well, we did it. We did it with the sound effects, with the horse's hoofs, because it starts out where you're riding on a wagon of hay. [ Singing ] That's when it goes into it, but the record will remember it better. A marvelous, marvelous arrangement. Yeah, I would say that's about the best one we did.

We did a very good number that we liked. liked, that first number that we did. >> Shalom town? >> No, the first number that we opened, the Hebrew number that we opened up with on some like a Jewish. >> Hebrew number? >> Yeah,

We did. Yemenite. >> Tel Aviv. >> No, we didn't do in Tel Aviv. No, it was called something else. [BLANK _AUDIO] >> You can tell we don't listen to our recordings very much.

>> We don't play them that much anymore. >> Well, thank you both so much. I really appreciate it. >> Oh, our pleasure. We enjoyed it very much. >> Thank you. >> You made us recall some very nice moments in our lives.

[01:07:57]

And we appreciate that. >> We have one question. seems to me that the songs are very emotional lot of nostalgia

There were also very romantic Yiddish songs, like, "Ich hofde ich sie verlieb." "I love you much, too much." >> Which became very famous. >> Very famous. >> In English. >> In English. >> Alexander Olszonecki, a number that Max Kletter wrote for me, "venn ich sol dich verlieb," if I should ever lose you." He wrote that especially for her. And very romantic songs, "Mir sol sein ver dir" which is a beautiful Yiddish number I don't know if you've ever heard of these things, but such pretty melodies. "Mir sol sein ver dir, mir sol sein ver dir, mir va deines Seine." And we went back to work, and we would sing this, "Mies au sein fadir." I would cry because it would remind me of my son, how I felt about him, Nona, and I tried to hold it back. I was yingling. I was yingling. Yingling. That's right. I'm sorry.

I'm mixing things up. I'm sorry. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It was our pleasure and an honor. Very much so. Yes. That's funny,

I thought it was music. Well, I used to cry with that, too. [singing] - She got that.

- You got it. Oh dear, oh dear. - Very impromptu. Very impromptu. Like a candid camera. This is a picture of our father, Moshe Vader, and another actor, Shulam Tanyin. My father is on the right, and this picture was taken a couple of years after he came here from Europe with the Vilna troupe.
It was taken in California, where he stayed at the time. And from there he played Yiddish theater. And that was, I think, in 1930 or '31 around that time. This left to right, my sister Mimi, my mother Sabina Fader, my father Moishe Fader, and myself was taken at an event. We all posed for this picture together.
That was in 1955. 55. This is our mother, Sabina Fader, and she was appearing at the time at the McKinley Square Theatre in the Bronx, and I believe the year was 1934 or 1935.

This picture was from her. Catskill Honeymoon, which was filmed in 1951 at the Young Scab Hotel up in the Catskill Mountains. We were doing a number which Jaime Jacobson arranged for us.

This is one of our earlier publicity shots. It was made for distribution to the various agents. agents, and this was done in, I believe, 1946 or '47, around that time. This is another one of our publicity shots. around the middle 40s again. This was a shot from the Victor Borgher show that we did in 1952 and the theme of the show was television done in German and in Germany.

So we did a translation of a then popular number called Orange Colour Sky. We did it in German and of course we sort of kitted around in it, and it was very, very successful. It was a riot. The audience loved it. And I had my eyes crossed for effect. She's not naturally that way.

No, not anymore. I had my eyes fixed. Oh, this is with the B. Calmas, who had a radio show from Jack Silverman's old Romania. It was a restaurant, a Romanian restaurant, and she's in the center interviewing us. I'm on the left, Sil is on the right, and she was a very lovely lady. Oh, dear. This is an interview hosted by B. Kalmas from Jack Silverman's Romanian restaurant.

It was a restaurant. She had her show emanating from there and it was done right after we did our recordings for United Artists. in 1961, it was promoting the record. Oh, even later on, when it became the castle, it was a theater for a while, but they had different acts in there. I don't know, I don't remember how long it lasted.

I know we were there for just a little over a month. This was from a show where I was the leading lady for Leo Fuchs. This is Sylvia, Sylvia Feder. And it was at the Conover Theatre in the Conover Hotel down on Collins Avenue. And it was in 1982, and the show ran there for a bit over a month. month. It would have run longer but then the producer died and we discontinued the show.

But it was very successful and the write -ups were very, very good. We had wonderful notices. This is another show that I played opposite Leo Fuchs in, in the Anderson Theatre on Second Avenue in New York, and that was in 1959. And there's also a very successful show called Family Mishmash.

He was a great performer and it was a delight to work with him. This was the first Victor Borger show that Mimi and I appeared in 1951.

It was sponsored by Kellogg's as a show name. on the program, and we did that orange -colored sky number in this one. And he was just wonderful to us.

Victor Borger was a terrific person, as well as, of course, a wonderful artist. And we felt we were an excellent company and very thankful for it. it. This was the playbill from the George Abbott production of the education of Hyman Kaplan, which was on Broadway in 1968, and unfortunately, it ran only three and a half weeks because the night that we opened was the night that Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4th.

We were all heartbroken, but that's, as they say, that show biz. This was a show written by Max Kledder,
a wedding in Cuba, Hassanin. a gassene in Cuba, and we performed it at the Lincoln Theater in Philadelphia, and the year was the early 50s, 50 or 51, I believe. That was Misha and Lucy Gariman on the bottom right, who were very notable Yiddish actors. They were in the show. It only ran for a short while, I don't remember exactly how long, but the music was written as well as the lyrics and the libretto that was all written by Max Kleder.

Are these the two of you? Yes. This picture was taken in 1959.
It was taken to be put up in the lobby of the Anderson Theater in New York City on Second Avenue in which I was appearing with Leo Fuchs and a family mishmash. Mishmash. I was taking just...

That's me, Mimi, and that's one of my head shots. taken. I think the year might have been in 1949, just before we did Abigazette with Molly Picon. I believe that was it. This was our first LP long playing album for United Artists, which we did in 1961. A. Bellstein did all the musical arrangements for us, and he was terrific. He did wonderful things with the song.

And the album was very, very successful. When you've made it it's too bad.
We don't have any pictures of her. Yeah, you know, I never thought of yeah Yeah, but the write -ups, if you want to use, I don't know, you said it wasn't very good for copying.

And we have those posters, you know. what you were seeing America sing that was before or after that was was after— After a big ascent. After a big ascent. Okay. This is the second long -playing album we made for United Artists. and that was the following year, in 1962, Do you want me to say it again?

This was our second LP for United Artists, and we made that in 1962. This, I believe, was the first LP that I made for Tickva Records, and it was all of Meyshe -Oyshe's melodies, not all of them, but a good, a good many, and successful. And that's, the inset is a picture of Moisha Oisha in makeup.

That, of course, is Fiddler on the Roof, a show that ran for a little while and it was very successful,
the recording I mean, and I enjoy doing that so much, all the music from Fiddler. Where was it?

Did you record it or did you just, uh, was it part of a show that was on? No, no, this is a recording, an LP album. Do you remember what year? Ah, it was 60 something. Middle 60s, safe. Right, right. No, I didn't really remember. The way I'm posed on that plaque, the photographer made me look like a flamenco dancer or a Spanish dancer, and that, of course, is another Moesha Melodies album.

In the sixties. In the sixties, yes. yes.
Tere you go. We toured with this company, Mimi and I toured with the Sing America Sing Company. In 1951, it was a coast -to -coast tour with some of the greats of the Irish theater, Jenny Goldstein, Michal Michalesko, Leo Fuchs, Jaime Jacobson. Thank you for watching. It was a very successful tour. We did this for about a month. We were away about a month touring the United States.

It was a vaudeville performance. Do you remember where you went? Well, this was in California, the Mayan Theater.

I believe it was in California. We went to Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto. Toronto, almost every state where was spoken. The names are on there, the names are on there. Yeah, the names are on there. Oh, okay. Jenny Goldstein. Oh, she's in the middle. Yeah. Levy. Lebedev? Yeah, next to Jenny, I believe. Yeah, that's Levy. Yes, I didn't mention him. You can see them better, you mentioned them, but I can't move them, so I can't see them. Move over. Don't touch it.

Let's move this. Go ahead. You can talk anytime because that's really doesn't make a difference.

That's Michalesco. Michal Michalesco? Yes, Michalesco. That's Leby. Aaron Lebedev. Jenny Goldstein. Well, she's not recording. That's how I mentioned it. Yes, she is. Remember the year of that one. Sylvie Feeney. Miriam Steele. I think that was in '48 or something like that, it was before we did the tour, I know that. All right, '48. This was my first serious role as a blind girl who was seduced by a young handsome drunk doctor one night and has a child out of wedlock, a very serious role. I was very young when I played her, but that's what they wanted me for in the starring role. They needed someone that the audience would believe could be seduced.

Since I was so young, I was still in high school. I used to come from school to the rehearsals and the audience audience really believed me, so it was a wonderful experience for me. It was a very taxing role, but I made it, and the write -ups were great, and it was one of the highlights of my theatrical career.

You're both the same picture? Oh yeah, but maybe it gives you more information. information. He's trying to be out of the way. Is he sitting?

Oh, you mean talk about it? Yes. OK. This was a radio program that we had on WEVD for Duff's mixes.
And I don't remember the year, do you? Maxwell House Coffee. And we had Maxwell House Coffee, same thing, 1950, okay. We did Duff's Mixes for quite a while, and so did we do on Maxwell House. Two very good programs, twice a week for each one, and we had a lot of fun doing them.


So do you want us to say something again? If you have anything else to say? Oh yes, yes, something else I can think of. Our accompanist on this show on WEVD was Sammy Medoff from the famous Yiddish theatrical Medoff family. H later changed his name professionally to Dick Manning. He wrote such popular songs as Mamboop. Loves Mambo, Mama Loves Mambo, The Pussycat Song, and he was a terrific musician, and he accompanied us on our WEVD show, and we just loved it.

[01:41:00]

Keywords: yiddish culture; yiddish radio; yiddish stars; yiddish theatre; jewish culture