Seite - 65 - in Entangled Entertainers - Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

Jewish Volkssänger and Musical Performers in Vienna around 1900 | 65 were specifi cally Jewish establishments. Rather, they positioned themselves in an interstitial space that made clear demarcations between Jewish and non-Jewish impossible. My analysis here underscores how the divisions between Jewish and non- Jewish Volkssänger groups remained ambiguous. But we should not fi nd this surprising. Instead, we must question the validity of seeking to identify a clear distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish ensembles. Such an approach is of- ten based on a framework that involves binary categories, which consequently makes it diffi cult to discover the overlap between the two. Sometimes, this per- ceived need to seek out a contrast between Jewish and non-Jewish is the result of particular publication motives. For example, a study on Jewish popular cultural entertainment will hardly meet the expectations if its thesis argues that such a distinction cannot be made because the defi nition of Jewish is indeterminate.103 Th e Apollo and Danzer’s Orpheum At any rate, the diverse interrelations between Jewish and non-Jewish Volkssänger ensembles make it somewhat diffi cult to identify particular groups as Jewish. Th is kind of classifi cation is entirely impossible in the case of the vaudeville act (vari- eté). Th e fact t hat a group performed individual jargon pieces and/or had a Jewish director is not enough to consider it Jewish. Otherwise, we would have to catego- rize the Ronacher in the fi nal decade of the nineteenth century as a Jewish insti- tution, because Josef Modl was the big star there. Th e problem of categorization is particularly evident when we take into consideration the Apollo Th eater an d Danzer’s Orpheum, which were both directed by Jews. Th e Apollo was opened in September 1904. Ben Tieber (1867–1925 ), who was born in Bratislava, not far from Vienna, took over as manager.104 Tieber traveled to America at a young age, and he was in charge of vaudeville shows in New York and other cities. He may have also spent time in South Africa engaged in similar activities, but the historical evidence for this is not as solid.105 While he was abroad, Tieber acquired skills in business, which came in handy when he returned to Vienna. Upon his return, he fi rst oversaw the Colosseum, before he took over management of the Apollo in 1904, serving as director there until 1923. After this time, illness forced him to lease out the space to another company.106 On account of his entrepre- neurial acumen, Tieber quickly succeeded in bringing in enough profi t to acquire the Apollo one year after taking it over by means of a lease agreement. With an attractive lineup that not only brought internationally acclaimed productions to Vienna, but also vaunted its original performances, Tieber’s Apollo was soon able to outstrip the Ronacher as the most prominent entertainment establishment.107 His booming success also had something to do with appearances made by scant- ily clad dancers, earning Tieber the nickname “nudist specialist.”108 This open access edition has been made available under a CC BY 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched.