Backstreet: The Musical, presented by Actor’s Repertory Theatre as part of the Playhouse Jewish Heritage Series, plays Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 6 pm (in rep with two-one acts, The Boor and The Bald Soprano, which play Fri., 8 pm; through June 20. Tickets: $25. Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 4th St., Santa Monica; 310.394.9779, ext. 1, or santamonicaplayhouse.com.

In celebration of its 50^th anniversary, Santa Monica Playhouse invites audiences once again to question their own roots and define how the word “respectable” colors societal norms.

Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie

Backstreet: The Musical is one of the 500 original works (*see end of article) the Santa Monica Playhouse’s dynamic duo Evelyn Rudie and Chris DeCarlo’s have written since becoming co-artistic directors in 1973. With co-author and lyricist Matthew Wrather (a student who grew up at the Playhouse), the show made its world premiere in 1998 as part of SMP’s Jewish Heritage Series.  Both Rudie and DeCarlo starred in the original cast and, 12 years later, are once again onstage in the world of the Jewish backstreet.

The show revolves around the lives of a group of Jewish women immigrants who inhabit the backstreets of the New York ghetto as “working girls” in order to make their way in America, circa 1905. Trapped by sexual servitude to Uncle, the owner of the brothel, each woman searches for a way to be viewed with respect in a new country that is blind to her past life, culture, education and overall humanity.

As Uncle runs the whorehouse he simultaneously seeks “the perfect match” for his own Jewish daughter in order to make reparation for the sin of his profession. As the story leads his daughter to an unexpected and less perfect match, at least in Uncle’s eyes, the audience experiences the rush of young love and the pain of choosing between one’s family heritage and personal happiness.  Ultimately we are led on a journey that begs a reinvention of the definition of family and how this new structure functions within society.

Top Row: Vanessa Cate, Arielle Max Davidson; Front Row: Lauren Marr, Melissa Gentry

The musical is rife with witty numbers and Yiddish lingo but Rudie says the Playhouse brought it back for a multitude of reasons. “We revived Backstreet in our 50^th Anniversary Festival because it was one of the shows high on the list that audiences requested. And one we felt really explored issues close to us like Jewish roots and the women’s movement.”

Not only are these issues close to Rudie and DeCarlo’s hearts but the origins and makings of the play itself deeply connect the husband and wife team to the material. Rudie’s inspiration for the show stems from within her own family roots. Half Jewish on her mother’s side, Rudie received the foundation for Backstreet from her grandfather. A deeply committed artist, her grandfather was a writer, producer and director living in Germany.

“When I was a teenager, my mother told me about my grandpa’s notes for a play. Ever since then the idea for Backstreet has been bubbling around in my head,” says Rudie. Along with Rudie’s familial tie to the play, both she and DeCarlo were inspired by the work of the legendary Yiddish author and playwright Sholem Aleichem.  Although he wrote many plays in his lifetime, he is perhaps best known for the musical Fiddler on the Roof, which was based on his stories about Tevye the Milkman.

Back row: Vanessa Cate, Lauren Marr; Front row: Arielle Max Davidson, Melissa Gentry

“We have done a quintology of Sholem Aleichem,” says DeCarlo, who also directs Backstreet. “We explored a lot of the Jewish heritage he embodied through his stories.” With inspiration from greats before them, the couple did months of research and interviews with immigrants to get a better sense of historical context and accuracy.

“We listened to migration tales and explored what life was like in New York for Jewish American immigrants,” says DeCarlo. “A lot of what we wrote was influenced by the migration. It’s been a big influence to these people and we don’t always see it.”

DeCarlo believes Backstreet unveils a lot of what is surrounding us in society that we may not always see. Although it is heavy with Jewish culture and symbolism, its message is for all. “Jewish culture is universal; it’s about surviving. It is a reminder to be respectful of all members of humanity whether they are men or women, or second class.  Their story is not often told and it is worth being told.”

The storyline of women’s struggles is particularly poignant within the piece because it is one of the untold stories both Rudie and DeCarlo have come to see as a persistent problem in society. “Even 12 years later, there are still problems, perhaps more subtle, but still there with women’s stories not being told and acknowledged,” says Rudie. “The older I get the more I see how important it is to discuss women and the struggle they have faced and continue to face today.”

The show also asks for introspection of our own heritage and family. “It asks you to challenge your own roots and what you chose to keep or give up,” says DeCarlo.

Serena Dolinsky and Brad Geyer

Raised by a single mom, DeCarlo says he can personally relate to the constant battle for respect that society has constructed. “I grew up with my mom working as a cocktail waitress, which at the time was equivalent to someone working as a prostitute, in a second class profession. But what I learned from that is humans are not innately evil; it is the circumstance, that struggle for survival, they are put in that inherently creates prejudice,” says DeCarlo.

As Rudie and DeCarlo bring Backstreet to life once more, they delight in playing new characters, working with a new cast and reexamining the show.  Joining them onstage are Vanessa Cate, Carolyn Freeman Champ, Arielle Davidsohn, Melissa Gentry, Brad Geyer, James Hassett, Lauren Marr and Serena Dolinsky as Rivkele. Ultimately this revival is a second chance for both the cast and the audiences to contemplate the questions of the piece with time, perspective and open minds.

*The 500 number is correct, by the way. The number includes all of the Original Family Theatre Musicals, plus the original plays penned and produced as Evening shows, Summer Stock Shows, International Touring Shows, Youth Conservatory Productions, Teen Lab Productions as well as shows created for Our Theatre in the Schools program and Our Bi-Lingual Playbuilt Productions.

Feature image of Carolyn Freeman Champ, Vanessa Cate, James Hassett, Lauren Marr, Arielle Max Davidson and Melissa Gentry and production photos by C. Moore

Article by Greta McAnany