Revisiting the archives of Yiddish theater, Amerike utilizes popular songs of the time period to tell the story of an immigrant people as they confront the challenges of living in early 20th-century New York City.
Originally titled The Golden Land, the piece was first performed in June 1982 as a concert by Avi Hoffman, Eleanor Reissa, Phyllis Berk and Moishe Rosenfeld.
A production at the American Music Theater Festival original musical based on Yiddish theater songs by Zalman Mlotek and Moishe Rosenfeld, directed by Jacques Levy (with Bruce Adler and the Golden Land Klezmer Band) moved to New York, largely intact, premiering Off-Broadway on October 28, 1985, for a 9-month run at the Second Avenue Theatre produced by Sherwin Goldman.
[7] The musical was soon after developed to an expanded version retitled Amerike the Golden Land (current title) and presented in 2017 as the National Yiddish Theater – Folksbiene's seasonal mainstage production at Museum of Jewish Heritage, again under the direction of Bryna Wasserman.
[8] The cast featured Glenn Seven Allen, Alexandra Frohlinger, Jessica Rose Futran, Daniel Kahn, Dani Marcus, Stephanie Lynne Mason, David Perlman, and Christopher Tefft.