Al Grand
active 1970s–2000s
Retired New York City schoolteacher who put Gilbert and Sullivan into Yiddish — and wrote a singable Yiddish “Over the Rainbow.”
is a retired New York City schoolteacher and lifelong Gilbert and Sullivan fan, long based on Long Island (North Bellmore). He is known for full Yiddish translations of the Savoy operas — especially Di Yam Gazlonim (The Pirates of Penzance) — performed with the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island. In his spare time he also Yiddishized American popular songs. The Forward printed his “Iber a sheynem regnboygn” on June 13, 2003; he asked that the lyric not be used without permission. He also posted his own recording of the Yiddish “Over the Rainbow” to his YouTube channel, and recorded the translation in Westhampton, Massachusetts, in 2016.