Bordello

Abstract

The 1920s was a time of great social challenge in terms of immigration, unemployment, white slavery and political corruption. From the late 1800s to the 1930s, an Orthodox Jewish mafia (known as the Zwi Migdal) trafficked in white slavery on three continents. This organization owned over 3000 brothels in Buenos Aires alone - mostly populated by the ignorant Jewish girls whose parents had been deceived that their daughters were going to Argentina for respectable jobs and/or marriage. In researching the context of the times, I discovered a rich historical backdrop and chose the format of a dramatic musical to tell the story of a young prostitute and an aspiring poet who was determined to tell the Argentines about the desperate plight of these women. As a consequence, his poems changed the hearts of the elite community.