Shulamith (play)

Shulamith, or Daughter of Jerusalem () is an operetta ("musical melodrama") in four acts by Abraham Goldfaden.OPERETTA: 'SHULAMITH' BY GOLDFADEN, The New York Times, October 28, 1982"Shulamis, oder, Bas-Yerusholayim eyne muziḳalishe melodramma in ferzen ...", Internet ArchiveShulamis, oder, bas yerusholayim

Musicologist Susan M. Filler asserts that Shulamith is the best known Goldfaden's work and the most familiar number from the play is "Raisins and Almonds".Susan M. Filler, "Jewish Nationalism in Opera", Studia Musicologica, Vol. 52, No. 1/4, pp. 499-506,

Plot sketch Shulamith falls into a well, Absalom rescues her and they vow to marry each other. However, Absalom breaks his vow by marrying Abigail. Their two children tragically die. Absalom thinks this was because the broken vow, leaves his wife, sets to find Abigail, an all comes to a kind of a happy end.

History It was written in 1880, first staged in 1882 in a Yiddish theater in New York and published in Odessa, 1883; Warsaw, 1886; New York, 1893.Goldfaden, Avrom, Leksikon Fun Der Nayer Yidisher Literatur It was translated to Hebrew by (Warsaw, 1921) as (Shulamith: A Vision from Ancient Times)שולמי אברהם גולדפדן תרגום: יעקב לרנר (מיידיש) (full text; public domain). In 1957, two versions of Shulamith were staged, at the Ohel Theatre and at Do-Re-Mi in Tel Aviv. Both theaters decided to make the play closer to the modern Israel and added several new numbers.שולמיס מול שולה, Davar, September 6, 1957 שתים אוחזות ב"שולמית", Herut, September 6, 1957Nathan Shahar, Shoshana Damari At Do-Re-Mi, the songs were added by Moshe Wilensky, the part of Shulamith was played by the star of the time, Shoshana Damari, the play was very successful and was dubbed "the first Hebrew musical".שושנה דמארי | "שולמית" - בתיאטרון "דו-רה-מי"

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