In 1887, 14-year-old Bessie met her future husband when she went backstage at a Baltimore production of "Aliles Dam" (""Blood Libel"") by a Yiddish touring company to meet the beautiful young "actress" she had seen on stage, only to discover that "she" was the 19-year-old Boris Thomashefsky, and that he was also the manager of the company. In 1888, Bessie ran away from home to join the Thomashefsky Players, and was given an ingenue role starring in Abraham Goldfaden’s "Shulamith", which was performed at the Boston Music Hall. Boris moved to romantic male leads.