Moyshe Nadir

Messiah in America Moyshe Nadir

In Moyshe Nadir's 1932 satire, we meet a shyster producer who has decided to bring the Messiah. He casts his assistant's uncle-fresh off the boat from the old country-in the role and proceeds to fleece the faithful with seven shows a week plus matinees on Shabbos and Sundays and redemption on an instalment plan. His competition, a Coney Island sideshow man, decides to bring his own Messiah: a young, hip Messiah who can play football and dance the Black Bottom: "Our Messiah won't come riding no ass. Our Messiah'll come riding a motorcycle at 70 mph." And so, the Messiah Wars are under way.