Shanghai Angel
Love, detainment and a lie.
With $2.50 in her pocket, Rosa Ginsberg left her family behind in Shanghai, China, in 1940 for an uncertain future in the United States. The 18-year-old native of Vienna landed at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, site of a U.S. immigration station that processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants from 1910 through 1940. She left Angel Island for the mainland on the basis of a mostly true story.
Original songs, arrangements and interrogation.
with Bruce Bierman; officer, director/choreographer
Joshua Horowitz; arrangements/piano
Shanghai Angel performance at Temple Sinai. Dir a Nickel (you a nickel)
Articles from the premiere
Hey Alma KQED
J WEEKLY
SF Classical Voice
Contemporary Jewish Museum Premiere
“In December 2024, the Dallas Jewish Historical Society had the profound honor of presenting Heather Klein’s Shanghai Angel—a soul-stirring musical that brought tears, hope, and remembrance to our community. Through hauntingly beautiful Yiddish melodies and deeply personal storytelling, Klein shared the extraordinary journey of her grandmother, Rose Ginsberg, who fled Nazi-occupied Vienna and found refuge in Shanghai. This performance was more than a musical—it was a living memory, a tribute to courage, survival, and the enduring strength of family. It reminded us that even in the darkest times, the human spirit can sing.””