ENTERTAINMENT
I
GOING PLACES I
WEEK OF JAN. 8-14
COMEDY
DUFFY'S ON THE LAKE
3133 Union Lake Rd., Union
Lake, Bob Posch and John
Cionca, throughout January,
9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, admission,
reservations, 363-9469.
COMEDY CASTLE AND
NORTHWOOD INN
2593 Woodward, Berkley, Bill
Engvall, 8:30 p.m. Jan. 16,
admission, reservations,
542-9900.
THEATER
Writer Eleanor Bergstein finds success in a film
reminiscing about her youth in the Catskills
AVIVA KEMPNER
Special to The Jewish News
he themes of the movie
Dirty Dancing draw from
its scriptwriter's own
teenage experiences.
Eleanor Bergstein, the
scriptwriter and co-producer along
with Linda Gottlieb, grew up "dirty
dancing" during the school year and
spent her summers with her family at
Grossinger's. Her parents and sister
went off to the golf course and she,
like Baby, the movie's lead character,
spent the summer dancing.
Named after Eleanor Roosevelt,
Bergstein came from a liberal Jewish
family. Her father was a family doc-
tor who used to "under charge: $2 for
home visits and $1 for office ones."
They would plan their summer at
Grossinger's according to the delivery
dates of her father's patients.
Her after-school activities varied
from "ringing doorbells . . . for
Democratic candidates" since the age
of nine to entering dance contests.
She recalls "how shocking it was
when Eisenhower won because no one
remembered having a Republican
president." Her political activities did
not prevent her from pursuing her
other passion. She admitted that "all
(she) cared about was dancing." She
competed in dozens of "dirty dancing
contests and won numerous trophies.
She claimed that her parents did
not object to her dancing obsession as
long as she kept up her grades. Berg-
stein explained, "In those days, we
were not having sex in high school. I
would dance the erotic dances in con-
tests and then just go home." She
regrets that the sexual revolution has
made dancing "less of an event"
today.
In researching the script, Berg-
stein revisited her summer haunts
and talked to those Catskills resort
owners who still remain there. At first
they were very reluctant to talk to her
because they were very worried that
people were only interested in
"satirizing them and making them
look like vulgar fools." They claimed
they would only give her five minutes,
but she won them over and wound up
spending days there. She also con-
sulted with Peter Davis, director of
the documentary The Rise and Fall of
the Borsht Belt, who would show her
the interviews he shot for his film.
FARMINGTON COMMUNITY
CENTER
24705 Farmington Rd.,
Farmington Hills, Murder
Mystery at Longacre, 7 p.m.
Saturday, admission, 477-8404.
RIDGEDALE PLAYERS
Crimes of the Heart Jan. 15
through Jan. 24,
admission, 644-8328.
THE AVON PLAYERS
Avon Playhouse, 1185
Washington Rd., Rochester
Hills, Night Must Fall 8 p.m.
(except Sundays 7:30 p.m.) Friday
through Jan. 30, admission,
656-1130.
SHAW FESTIVAL
Festival Theater in Niagara-on-
the-Lake, Ontario, Salute to the
Arts and Education, Thursday,
admission, 1-416-468-2153.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
Hiliberry Theatre,
Detroit, Tartuffe 8 p.m. Friday,
Saturday, and Thursday,
admission, 557-2972.
BIRMINGHAM THEATRE
211 S. Woodward, Promises,
Promises, now through Jan. 31,
admission. 644-3533.
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE
Oakland University Rochester,
Educating Rita, 8 p.m. now
through Jan. 24, admission.
377-3300.
GREAT LAKES DINNER
PLAYHOUSE
31 N. Walnut, Mt. Clemens,
Showboat, now through Jan. 30,
admission, 463-0340.
THEATRE GROTTESCO
Henry Ford Community College
Adray Auditorium, Dearborn,
today, free, 845-9634.
MUSIC
DETROIT INSTITUTE OF
ARTS
5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit,
Laurence and Judy Liberson,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
57