ENTERTAINMENT
I GOING PLACES I
WEEK OF NOV.18-24
SPECIAL EVENTS
LITTLE CAESAR'S
CHAMPIONSHIP TENNIS
Cobo Arena, men's tennis
tournament, now through
Sunday, admission. 567-6000.
BERKLEY ARTS AND
CRAFTS FAIR
Berkley High School, Saturday
and Sunday.
THEATER
Dr. Leonard Portner's "Ask the Doctor" radio show has been on the air for eight years.
Radio Doctor
Physician Leonard Portner dispenses medical
advice in his own inimitable way
MAIDA PORTNOY
Special to The Jewish News
ello, Mable, get off the
table. That money ain't for
you, it's for beer.' Re-
member that old Black
Label ad?"
Leonard J. Portner, the humorous
host of WXYT's daily two-hour "Ask
The Doctor" radio program, has just
greeted a woman caller named Mabel.
Allergic to milk, she wants to know
what other sources of calcium are
available.
Portner will get to the problem at
hand but first the 46-year-old Birm-
ingham physician, who loves to talk
about anything and everything, would
rather discuss her accent. He tells her
she's probably from Kentucky. She
tells him Thnnessee. He guesses she's
lived in Michigan 25 years. She
anwers 36.
As for her medicaal dilemma,
Portner suggests that green leafy
H
vegetables, sardines (she groans at
this one) and almonds will provide
calcium and three Tunis a day could
do the trick. With thoughts of her bir-
thplace still in mind, he ends their-
phone encounter by asking, "Do you
eat tomato gravy?" Disappointed that
she doesn't, he concedes that they pro-
bably eat tomato gravy in states like
Louisiana.
Next, Joe from Warren calls. He's
trying to lower his cholesterol and
would like to substitute Metamucil
for oat bran because it would be
easier.
"It's easier to take out blondes too
but that don't mean it's going to lower
your cholesterol. Take the oat bran;'
advises Portner who appears to inten-
tionally murder English grammar at
times and often sprinkles his reac-
tions with Yiddish expressions and
words like "azoy."
Hardly the pristine, ivory tower
medical authority or an anxious pa-
tient's dreams but then again, that's
precisely why his program has en-
joyed eight years of unwavering suc-
cess while other well known WXYT
talk show hosts like Sonya Friedman,
Mark Scott and Kevin Joyce have
moved on to other locations in media
land.
"Leonard isn't your regular run-
of-the-mill doctor and that's why he's
on the air;' says Joe Bacarella Sr.,
WXYT station manager. Considering
that public speaking for him as a
young adult created the sweaty-palms
syndrome, the loquacius radio host
has indeed come a long way. As
ratings reveal, 34,000 people listen to
him per quarter hour.
One of those listeners is Carol
Jacoby who recently moved from
Grand Blanc to Farmington Hills.
While others select physicians by
referral or even by taking the prover-
bial walk through the Yellow Pages,
she found her physician on the radio.
"I have been listening to Dr. Port-
ner at least three times a week for the
BIRMINGHAM THEATER
211 S. Woodward, Birmingham,
I'm Not Rappaport, today,
admission. 644-3533.
HILBERRY AND
BONSTELI THEATERS
Wayne St. University, Detroit,
Georgia Peach, about former
Detroit Tiger star Ty Cobb, now
through Dec. 9, Hilberry; A Life
in the Theater, now through Dec.
15, Hilberry; admission.
577-2972.
MEADOW BROOK THEATER
Oakland Urdversity, Rochester,
The Comedy of Errors, now
through Nov. 27, admission.
377-3300.
THE THEATER COMPANY
Smith Theater, University of
Detroit, Total Abandon, now
through Sunday, admission.
927-1130.
MICHIGAN OPERA
THEATER
Fisher Theater, Detroit, The
Pirates of Penzance, now through
Sunday, admission. 874-7878.
STAGECRAFTERS
415 S Lafayette, Royal Oak,
Baby, today through Sunday,
admission. 541-6430.
FARMINGTON PLAYERS
32332 W 12 Mile, Farmington
Hills, The Foreigner, today,
admission. 5384670.
ATTIC THEATER
7339 Third Ave., Detroit, Ten
November, now through Sunday,
admission. 875-8284.
OAKLAND UNIVERSITY
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Varner Studio, Rochester, Little
Shop of Horrors, today and
Saturday, admission. 370-3013.
AVON PLAYERS
1185 Washington, Rochester
Hills, Something's Afoot, today
and Saturday, admission.
656-1130.
UNIVERSITY
PRODUCTIONS
Trueblood Theater, Ann Arbor,
The Mighty Gents, now through
Sunday, admission. 764 0450.
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Continued on Page 75
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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