Bordello, the Musical is a brand-new musical inspired by historical events that tells the immigrant story of one heroic Polish woman who is forced into prostitution and risks everything to bring an international Jewish sex-trafficking ring to justice.
It has a vast musical palette that includes tango and klezmer, evoking the sounds of 1920s Buenos Aires. Bordello, the Musical will present two workshop performances at the Royal Academy of Dance on Thursday 20 & Friday 21 March where audiences will have the opportunity to see this brand-new work in development, with all tickets at £10.
Barbara Bellman is the co-book writer and lyricist behind Bordello, the Musical, we talk to her about the development of this brand-new musical…
How did you come about the real-life story that inspired Bordello, the Musical?
When I was getting my MFA, I had a class assignment to find a poet whose work I could translate into English. Since I had a planned trip to Argentina, I thought I should find an Argentine poet. I discovered a collection of poems allegedly written by a Jewish prostitute but when I researched further, I realized that the poems were published under the name of Clara Beter, they actually were written by a young man called Cesar Tiempo.
As I followed his story, I became completely fascinated to learn about the huge wave of immigration from Eastern Europe from people fleeing pogroms. Their desperation created opportunity for those willing to exploit the women from the shtetls, and found devious ways to harvest the women as merchandise once they arrived in Buenos Aires. It was a challenge to find the truth, because in Argentina, no one wanted to discuss this dark part of their history. They were embarrassed by it.
Cesar Tiempo’s poems led me to Raquel Liberman, a Polish woman who emigrated to Buenos Aires to reunite with her husband. Shortly after her arrival in Buenos Aires, her husband died of tuberculosis and left her penniless and alone. Because options for employment for women at that time were essentially none, prostitution was the only vehicle for survival.
What was it about this story that made it ideally suited for a musical?
Initially I thought this story should be a dramatic play, but as I was writing it, I found that the story kept pushing me, saying, this needs to be sung – mere words cannot tell this story. The emotion behind trafficking is a universal theme of vulnerable women – especially immigrants – that still happens throughout the world. I wanted to explore the pain of that experience and music is a perfect medium for that.
I found my terrific musical collaborator, Emiliano Messiez, who is an Argentine composer and world renowned Tango composer. Although he grew up in Buenos Aires, he had never heard of Raquel’s story but when he started researching Raquel’s journey, he became equally fascinated. We started working in earnest in 2018 and the story has just gotten richer and richer. In 2023 Joan Ross Sorkin joined our team to co-write the book and provide input on lyrics.
We decided that the rich flavors of Tango and Klezmer would provide a unique musical palate to support the show. If you listen to tango today you can sometimes hear where tango leaves off and klezmer emerges.
What would you describe as the main themes of Bordello, the Musical?
One theme is the exploitation of vulnerable people, especially immigrants. Another is survival and the choices people make to survive when they have no good options. The third theme focuses on courage, revealing the strength some people demonstrate as they take a stand against their oppressors. Raquel Liberman was a courageous woman during a time when courage was in short supply.
How did you approach the more difficult aspects of this story while keeping a sense of hope?
The Jewish people have used humour as a survival mechanism forever, and this was no different. Sometimes in the darkest moments, you can find the most ironic humour, so we peppered the show with these moments. It’s not a comedy, it’s a serious subject that we’re dealing with, but we wanted to showcase the nuances of these personalities, and we have some very interesting characters in the show. Nobody is all good or all bad. We have villains. We have heroes. Sometimes they’re both.
What are you most looking forward to about presenting this story in a public workshop?
Every time someone hears about this story, this part of history, their reaction is always the same. “I never heard this story!” This is why we want to tell it. With this Workshop, we have the opportunity to see what this show really is, and learn how to make it better.
This is an immigrant story about exploitation and survival. Though our villains and heroes happen to be Jewish, we know that within every ethnic population, there are good actors and bad, depending on circumstances. We decided to not shy away from telling this story; to be as brave as Raquel Liberman in standing up to evil to expose the truth.
For tickets for Bordello, the Musical visit bordellothemusical.com