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THE JEWISH NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

My Fair
Lady

uperwoman
really does exist. She's alive and
well and living in West Bloomfield,
and her name is Shirley Benyas.
Perhaps best-known for her
award-winning dramatic perform-
ances in Detroit theatre, Benyas is
also a professional singer, a part-
time music teacher (just retired from
27 years of teaching full-time in De-
troit Public Schools), and a proud
mother of two sons — Mark, 29, a
Chicago attorney, and Eddie, 23, a
musician and University of Michi-
gan law student.
She plays the violin and the
piano, speaks four languages, does
television commercials, voice-overs,
industrial films and dramatic
readings. She's been married to De-

troit photographer, Bob Benyas, for
35 years, plays a mean game of table
tennis, and likes to garden, swim,
sew, knit, cycle, and travel. When
not performing, she's an ardent
playgoer and dedicated opera
aficionado.
"My first love, I think, is
music," said the 60-ish, Detroit na-
tive during a recent day off from re-
hearsals of the Michigan Opera
Theatre's My Fair Lady, in which.
she's appearing as Henry Higgins'
housekeeper. (The play runs through
Dec. 7 at the Fisher Theater.)
"I've been interested in music
for as long as I can remember," she _
said. "Several in my family played
the violin, and my whole family was
interested in music. My mother,

though she had no education in any
of it, introduced me to all of the arts.
We used to walk to the Detroit Insti-
tute of Arts, to the Fisher (when it
was a movie theater), the Cass, the
Shubert-Lafayette. I started taking
violin lessons when I was 8, and
voice when I was about 14. The
piano I began at Wayne, when I was
17. When I went to Wayne, I got my
degrees in music education and
music theory. It never really oc-
curred to me that one could just go
and study music in order to become
a performer."
But performing was something
Shirley Benyas (then Shirley Zaft)
was determined to do and, eventu-
ally, she would spend as many hours

Shirley Benyas
marks an acting
achievement with
her current role
in 'My Fair
Lady'

VICTORIA BELYEU DIAZ

Special to The Jewish News

Continued on next page

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 4

PLACES

G O 1 N G

LISTINGS WELCOME

2

Performing a pas de deux?
Screening a film? Staging a
play? If so, The Jewish News
wants to hear about it in our
new entertainment calendar,
Going Places. Send concert,
film, dance, comedy, club
and other entertainment ac-
tivity listings to Entertain-
ment Calendar, The Jewish
News, 20300 Civic Center Dr.,
Suite 240, Southfield 48076.
Items must be typed,
double-spaced and include
the time, date, place, admis-
sion charge of each event
and a name and phone
number of someone to call
during business hours. List-
ings must be received at
least two weeks prior to pub-
lication.

FAMILIES

DETROIT YOUTHEATRE: De-
troit Institute of Arts, 5200
Woodward, Detroit, East Meets
West, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Saturday, admission, 832-
2730.

HENRY FORD MUSEUM AND
GREENFIELD VILLAGE:
Dearborn, Living in America
and Working in America, now
through Dec. 5, admission to
museum, 271-1620.

CHILDREN

PEANUT BUTTER PLAYERS:
Austin Hall, 18000 Warren, De-
troit, Cinderella, noon lunch,

show at 1 p.m., Saturdays,
through Dec. 7; admission,
reservations, 559-6727.

COMEDY

COMEDY CROSSING: 23055
Telegraph, Southfield, lower
level of Red Cedars, Ron
Coden and Co., 8:30 and 11
p.m. today and Saturday; open
mike night, 8 p.m. Wednes-
day; admission, reservations,
353-3798.

HOLLY HOTEL: 110 Battle Al-
ley, Holly, Norma Zager, Bill
Thomas and Ted Norkey,
today and Saturday, Hap Cole
and Craig McCart, Thursday
through Dec. 6; shows at 9
p.m. Thursdays, 8:30 and

10:30 p.m. Fridays and 8:30
and 10:30 p.m. Saturdays,
admission, reservations, 634-
1891.

COMEDY CASTLE AND CAFE:
2593 Woodward, Berkley,
Mitchell Walters, 8:30 and 11
p.m. today and Saturday, Mike
Ridley, Tuesday through
Thursday in the front lounge;
admission, reservations, 542-
9900.

THEATER

HYATT REGENCY DEAR-
BORN: Second Level, The
Club, original Neil Simon
classic, The Odd Couple, by
Jimmy Launce Productions,
8:30 p.m., now through Jan.

10, admission, reservations,
593-1234, ext. 2323.
BIRMINGHAM THEATER: 211
S. Woodward, Birmingham,
The Odd Couple, featuring Jo
Anne Worley and Sandy De-
'finis, 8 p.m. today, and Satur-
day, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sun-
day; admission, 644-3533.

MEADOW BROOK THEATER:
Oakland University, Foxfire, 8
p.m. today, through Sunday;
admission, 377-3300.

DINNER
SOMERSET
Lower Level,
THEATRE:
Somerset Mall, Squabbles, by
Jimmy Launce Productions;
8:15 p.m. today, through Jan.
17, admission, reservations,
649-6629.

Continued on Page 68