ENTERTAINMENT
110% OFF TOTAL FOOD BILL
Ermanno & Liz Lazzari
"I love the Linguine
Buconiera" .. .
Jack McCarthy,
Channel 7 "Friday Feast"
(,1
e(4.*
Family Dining
Italian & American Cuisine
Banquet Facilities
666-2570
6610 Highland Rd.
L Waterford, MI
THE BRASS POINTE
z
SPECIALS
11 45
OR
BAR-B-Q CHICKEN FOR 2 $795
BAR-B-Q SLAB FOR 2.. $
DINE4N OR CARRY-OUT
We Serve Beer, Wine and Cocktails
Expires 10-14-88
JN
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK FROM 11 a.m.
476-1377
24234 Orchard Lake Rd. at 10 Mile
7618 Woodward Ave.
871-1590
SPECIAL QUALITY PARTIES
UP TO 200
Specializing In: Bar Mitzvahs, Sweet 16s,
Showers, Anniversaries, Retirement
Parties, Birthdays, Weddings, Etc.
Special Appetizer Parties Available
(OF'
CALL ERNIE . . . AND ASK
ABOUT OUR LOW BANQUET RATES
FOR ALL OCCASIONS.
Restaurant
>
n
6066 W. MAPLE RD.
North of Orchard Lake Rd.
851-6577
CARRY-OUT DEPT.
NEXT DOOR TO OUR FULL-SERVICE RESTAURANT
Featuring
• Pizza • Ribs • Greek Salads • Lasagna
• Chicken'• Sandwiches • Etc.
OUTDOOR & INDOOR CATERING FOR ALL OCCASIONS
r --- TortTpTmi ---
ToTiFTDIT
r" —
$2 OFF DINNER
BUY 1 PIZZA
FOR 2
GET SECOND SAME
PIZZA FREE
SLAB OF RIBS
INCLUDES GREEK SALAD & BAG
OF BREAD STICKS
CARRY-OUT LOCATION ONLY Expires 10-27-88 JN
64
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1988
CARRY-OUT LOCATION ONLY
L Expires 10-27-88
Change
Continued from preceding page
performed by the Ridgedale
Players in 1983. Since then,
she's performed in Once Upon
a Mattress, Fiddler on the
Roof and Tribute for the
Ridgedale Community
Theater group. Last year, she
played in Brigadoon again —
this time in the lead — for the
First Theater Guild in Bir-
mingham. Now, she's busy
with Fiddler again.
Not bad for somebody who
was too timid and shy to per-
form or even to join a theater
group on her own just six
years ago.
Growing up in Oak Park,
Marcus had been enamored of
the theater since junior high
school days when she often at-
tended Ridgedale perfor-
mances along with her
parents, Allen and Anne. She
remembers that she never
believed herself capable of
performing onstage, however.
All that changed in 1982
when a friend, sensing Mar-
cus' frustrated dreams of per-
forming, talked her into join-
ing the Ridgedale Players,
then based in Pleasant Ridge
(and now in Troy).
"Michelle one day just said
to me, 'Come on, let's join, "
recalls Marcus. "She had no
real interest in community
theater, but she knew I'd
never (join) on my own. She
stayed on a year, and then
quit. But all I needed was to
get my feet wet and, from that
point on, I just took off, and
got very involved.
"There's a wonderful fami-
ly atmosphere in community
theater groups, and it's a
rewarding social experience,"
she says. "But I joined main-
ly because I wanted to get on
that stage. I didn't think I'd
ever do it, but I really wanted
to try."
For a year, she worked
backstage, in lighting, sound,
make-up, props and scenery.
Finally, she worked up the
nerve to audition for a spot in
the chorus of Brigadoon. Not
only did she win a spot in the
chorus, but was asked to play
a small speaking role as well.
"My first role was a very
small one, but it was a very
distinct character. The au-
dience reacted to me and this
self-centered, spoiled
character, Jane Ashton, that
I created. And I was hooked."
Though she would progress
from that small role in Briga-
doon to the lead in the same
show 41/2 years later, the road
to "stardom" wasn't always
smooth. There were the usual
miscues, the "blanking out"
on lines (once, Marcus spoke
the same line three times
before she could move on to
the next one), the persistent
stage fright.
Then, there was the matter
of her singing voice.
Elissa Marcus is joined on stage by fellow cast member Rob Friese as
their movements are blocked by the director.
When she first landed the
role of Chava in Fiddler on
the Roof two years ago, she
was required, for the first
time, to do some solo vocaliz-
ing. With a natural talent for
singing, but no formal vocal
training (and vestiges of
shyness still around), she
found herself unable to "let
go" when she was required to
sing solo.
"I'd always been yelled at
by my family and friends to
take vocal lessons, but I never
had any real desire to," she
says. "I was a closet singer, a
shower singer. Whenever I'd
get in front of a crowd, I'd on-
ly sing in this meek little
voice.
"So, one night before we
opened Fiddler on the Roof
my sister-in-law, Nancy, who's
done community theater
herself, locked me in the base-
ment, and wouldn't unlock
the door until she forced me,
through drilling me over and
over, to let my voice open out."
At the next rehearsal, cast
and crew were astonished at
the difference in her vocal
delivery, Marcus recalls.
"After that, the shyness
about singing was totally
gone," she says. "Ever since,
I've always been able to belt
it out."
As part of her new approach
to singing, she finally began
twice-monthly lessons last
summer with vocal coach,
Rob Morisi.
"I held off taking vocal
lessons because I didn't want
anybody to change my style of
singing," she says. "But I
realize now that Rob is not go-
ing to change me — he's going
to make me better, and he's
going to improve my range. I
have a very high soprano
voice and a belting alto. I
want him to connect the two
— that middle area is what's
difficult for ma"
As for dance lessons, she's
only had "a couple of years"
of lessons when whe was in
grade school. If a part calls for
dancing, she says she picks up
the steps simply by watching
the choreographer go through
the routine a few times.
"When I was little, our
whole family would go down
in the basement, put on some
music and dance. My father
taught me a lot about dance
and rhythm." (Neither of
Marcus' parents are
performers.)
The busy actress never had
an acting lesson and has no
plans or desire for any right
now, although there may
come a time when she'd like
to go in that direction.
"It's not something I've
definitely written off," she
says.
Surprisingly, she does not
spend much of her time atten-