Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

AT THE OPERA 133

cantor:"Yes.We are people too..."

congregation: "Of flesh and blood...

Perhaps it is due to the fact that the composer was a Jew, or to the exceptional harmony of his music, or perhaps to the contents of the opera, but no fragment is so much in demand as the opening theme of

The Huguenots by Meyerbeer.

cantor:"Parisians, leave your homes..."

congregation: "Ding, dong."

cantor: "Dim the lights, don't make a sound."

congregation: "Ding dong."

cantor: "Let the bells ring, bells of the evening

hour..."

Notwithstanding the enormous amount of space within Carre, and its many seats, one opera house is not enough for the Jews of Amsterdam. Filled with a raving hunger for the fine arts, they also stream to the Playhouse in French Lane. Visitors to that theatre are let into the auditorium after having to wander for forty years through a lobby as vast as a desert, where icy winds supply double pneumonia's at half price. The hall itself has a stale smell and between the rows of seats a large stove is burning. The carpets on the floor consist of cheap matting and the chairs are rickety. In that sweltering barn, however, true art is presented.