Synopsis

In this new musical, Jewish refugee musicians fleeing the Nazis are thrust together with Chinese living under a brutal Japanese occupation in the Jewish Ghetto of Shanghai in the 1940’s. A Jewish violinist takes on a troubled Chinese teenager as his student, a connection that helps both of them overcome their traumas and survive the war. The unifying power of music brings together these two cultures, who eventually find connections—both humorous and romantic—and grow in their appreciation of both Chinese and Western classical music, setting ripples in motion that carry through to this day.

Shanghai Sonatas features a variety of musical genres befitting its setting and story, including Broadway-style musical, jazz, classical music, Chinese music, and klezmer.

Setting

The story takes place in Shanghai, China from 1939 to 1946 and in the present day.

Creators' notes

During this time of division, war, and racial violence, Shanghai Sonatas, a new American musical, a work in progress since 2018, tells a lesser-known Holocaust story.

Violence against Jewish families in Germany and Austria increased in the late 1930s. For two days after November 9, 1938 (“Kristallnacht” or “Night of the Broken Glass”), Nazi rioters burned or damaged more than 1,000 synagogues and ransacked and broke the windows of more than 7,500 Jewish businesses. Jews were being rounded up and sent to concentration camps. More than 18,000 German and Austrian Jews, as well as hundreds of The Mirrer Yeshiva Jews in Poland escaped by boat to Shanghai, China, the one location that did not require a visa for entry. The refugees (including more than 400 mostly Jewish musicians) were grateful for a safe haven but were now stateless and penniless in a strange new place rife with overcrowding and disease. Not long after the “Rape of Nanjing” in 1937, during which the Japanese invading army massacred more than 300,000 Chinese civilians in the nearby city of Nanjing, the Jewish refugees were confined by occupying Japanese authorities to the Hong Kou (AKA Hongkew) Ghetto.

This musical theater work, based on first-person accounts, tells the true story of daily life for musicians from Europe who used their optimism, humor, and musical talents to survive, forging friendships with their Chinese neighbors who had helped to save their lives until Allied forces including the American and Chinese armies brought freedom to the region in 1945.

During WWII, six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, and 20 million Chinese died, many while fighting alongside Allied forces against the Japanese invaders. The impact of some Shanghai Jewish refugee musicians and musicians who arrived in China prior who taught Western classical music to Chinese children continues today.

While pursuing their goal of developing a full Broadway production, the creators have created a concert production, Songs of Shanghai Sonatas, to travel to concert halls and theaters in order for new audiences to learn about the inspiring Shanghai Jewish Ghetto musical stories.

Shanghai Sonatas Educational Residency (SSER)

SSER’ s lectures, open discussions, showcases, workshops, and exhibitions at museums and schools will allow students to meet and work with scholars, historians, Shanghai ghetto survivors, the creative team, and performers. The experts will also work with educators in the fields of history, creative writing, classical music, theatre, and Jewish studies to gain new context for debates and reflection on untold stories and historical events.