LOWER EAST SIDE — A Lower East Side racketeer is the center of a new "radio play" created by screenwriter Emil Stern, his brother Sigmund Stern and “Hangover” star Justin Bartha.
“King of the Egg Cream” is loosely based on the story of Harry Dolowich, a Lower East Side native who ran a soda fountain syrup ring during the Great Depression, said Emil Stern.
The tale unfolds in 10 episodes — 20-minutes each — that play like the serialized radio shows that were popular at the time, Stern said. The production features voices by Bartha and “Girls” actor Alex Karpovsky as well as Lewis Black, Ellen Barkin, Richard Kind, Bobby Cannavale, and Ari Graynor.
“It’s really funny and different and fresh and it has this really spectacular cast,” Stern said of the project, which was produced by Tablet Magazine and Bon Apetit. “In some ways, it’s like this throwback to a golden age of entertainment.”
Dolowich turned to racketeering not long after graduating with a law degree, Stern said. His syrup scheme included the creation of an association that let members raise prices, divide up new customers and fight competition, according to the New York Times.
By 1931, Dolowich controlled more than half of all the soda syrup sold in the state, the paper wrote.
Eventually, small mom-and-pop businesses fought back and Dolowich was arrested and jailed at the Welfare Island Penitentiary before moving to Philadelphia, according to the Times.
“King of the Egg Cream” stays faithful to Dolowich’s career trajectory, Stern said, but the writers filled in and embellished other aspects of his life.
“The real story is great but there’s very scant detail about his life,” he said, explaining that they “invented a whole constellation of people around him.”
Karpovsky, for example, plays a fictionalized rival for the affections of Charlotte Lefkowitz, who Dolowich eventually married, Stern said. Black, meanwhile, provides comedic relief as the “old-time annoying Jewish uncle who drives the main character crazy.”
“I think people will really fall in love with the characters and their situations,” Stern said.
The play will be available on Nov. 20, Stern said. Listeners can either stream it or purchase a CD with all 10 episodes from Tablet Magazine’s website. “King of the Egg Cream” will also be available to download from iTunes for $9.99.
