Wandering Stars (novel)
Encyclopedia
Wandering Stars is a novel by Sholem Aleichem, serialized in Warsaw
newspapers from 1909 to 1911. In it, Leibel, the son of a wealthy shtetl
family, falls in love with cantor
's daughter Reizel, and both fall for a traveling Yiddish theatre
group. Separating and becoming successful performers in the West, under the names of Leo Rafalesco and Rosa Spivak, they eventually find each other again in America.
Two English translations of the novel exist: a 1952 abridged version by Frances Butwin (Wandering Star), and a 2009 unabridged version by Aliza Shevrin (with a foreword by Tony Kushner
).
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
newspapers from 1909 to 1911. In it, Leibel, the son of a wealthy shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
family, falls in love with cantor
Cantor
Cantor is surname of:* Andrés Cantor , Spanish-language soccer announcer* Anthony Cantor , British diplomat* Arthur Cantor , American theatrical producer* Aviva Cantor , American journalist, lecturer and author...
's daughter Reizel, and both fall for a traveling Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
group. Separating and becoming successful performers in the West, under the names of Leo Rafalesco and Rosa Spivak, they eventually find each other again in America.
Two English translations of the novel exist: a 1952 abridged version by Frances Butwin (Wandering Star), and a 2009 unabridged version by Aliza Shevrin (with a foreword by Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
).