Adath Israel does Broadway

PERTH AMBOY EVENING NEWS MAGAZINE SECTION March 28, 1959
With the New York stage in the midst of its biggest Oriental cycle in many decades, the Adath Israel Players of Woodbridge, one of the major theatrical groups in this area, will be right in line with the Oriental theme
behind the footlights with this year's production of "Teahouse of the August Moon."
In fact, the production will be authentic down to the last detail, thanks to the collaboration for the Japanese elements of a Japanese resident of Perth Amboy, Mrs. Haruko Mizenko of 757 Mary St. Through the use of a tape-recorder, Mrs. Mizenko has taught the players with Japanese roles their full parts in Japanese. In the play, much of the dialogue is in Japanese, explained to the audience through one of the actors, Sakini, played by Dr. Albert Richman of Woodbridge.
By memorizing Mrs. Mizenko's reading of their lines, the players with Japanese roles will be able to produce authentic Japanese dialogue for the four performances of the play, April 11 and 12 and also on April 18 and 19. Some of Mrs. Mizenko's Japanese articles will also lend an authentic note to the drama.
The play centers about the efforts of American occupation forces to bring Democ racy to Okinawa and to integrate the natives. The result, to a degree, is that the Americans are integrated by the Okinawans, rather than vice versa.
Mrs. Mizenko, a graduate of Tsuda College in Tokyo, was employed in liaison communications work by the U.S. Army in Japan after World War II. during which time she met
and married Anert Mizenko of Perth Amboy. At that time he was engaged in setting up lines of communication in Japan and Korea for the U.S. government. He is now an educational specialist at Fort Monmouth.
When Mrs. Mizenko began teaching the Japanese dialogue to those Adath Israel Players with Japanese-speaking parts in "Teahouse," she found she had to be especially careful of her interpretations as a result of word she has received from Japan.
Mrs. Mizenko communicates with friends in Japan by recording "letters" on tape and sending them to Japan. Her friends send back similar tape-recorded "letters." In one of these a Japanese friend noted that after eight years in the United States, Mrs. Mizenko was beginning to speak Japanese with an American accent.
"Teahouse" will be the 22nd production in the 15-year history of the Adath Israel Players organization and will be presented at the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge. It is being produced by Emanuel Goldfarb and Mrs. Henry A. Belafsky and involves such unusual cast members as a goat and crickets, the latter being traditional good-luck syml)ols in Okinawa.
An added note of authenticity to the production, the use of some of Mrs. Mizenko's kimonos, was declined when the producers learned how fragile these standard items of japanese apparel are. They learned with some surprise that Japanese kimonos are never cleaned as a unit, as would be the case for any American dress or suit.
In is the practice in Japan, Mrs. Mizenko pointed out, to completely disassemble every panel and piece of the kimono, taking out all the stitches, and reducing the kimono to its original sections of cloth. These are then cleaned individually, blocked and ironed individually, and the kimono is then resewn patiently back together. Concerned over the extreme delicacy of these traditional Oriental robes, the producers and cast decided to use theatrical costumes, lest any harm befall Mrs. Mizenko's silken treasures.
--My father says these productions were great money-makers for Adath Israel. Both he and Jack Gottdenker now live at Seabrook in Tinton Falls, NJ.
My mother always painted the flats, which members of the Congregation sometimes took home afterward and displayed as art. You can read more about her work at http://harvey-s-cohen.com .