ENTERTAINMENT

WEEK OF DEC, 9-15

SPECIAL EVENTS

PERFORMANCE NETWORK

408 W. Washington, Royal Oak,
variety show fundraiser, buffet
reception and showcase, today
and Saturday, open house and
dance party, Saturday,
admission. 663-0681.

CITY OF
SOUTHFIELD/WDIV
Southfield Civic Center Ice
Arena, "Gala on Ice," with Peter
Oppergard and Jill Watson,
Saturday, benefits Ronald .
McDonald House, admission.
745-5911 or 354-9357.

COMEDY

COMEDY CASTLE

2593 Woodward, Berkley, Bruce
Baum, today and Saturday;
Carol Siskind, Tuesday through
Dec. 17, admission. 542-9900.

Behind that demure
exterior, comedienne
Rita Rudner is a
real sharpie!

RITA CHARLESTON

THEATER

Rita Rudner had more designs on dancing than college because she "hated sitting down."

Special to The Jewish News

oor little thing.
On stage, comedienne
Rita Rudner's voice is so
gentle, her delivery so soft
and lady-like, she appears as
fragile as a flower.
But in real life, she's one tough
lady, a gal who had her eye on becom-
ing a dancer and who left her home
in Miami at the age of 15 to fulfill a
dream.
"As I look back now I think I must
have been crazy," Rudner reveals by
telephone from her current home in
Los Angeles. "But at the time, all I
wanted to do was dance. That's all I
ever talked about. So, after I
graduated from high school at the age
of 15, my father moved me to the Bar-
bizon Hotel for Women in New York
and told me to do whatever made me
happy. Within three months I had my
first professional job and was on my
way to doing just that."
As an only child, Rudner began
studying dance at the age of 4. "I
never even considered going to col-
lege," she says. "I was a dancer. I
hated sitting down."
Once settled in New York, she

soon landed a role in the national
touring company of Zorba, and went
on to appear in The Magic Show,
Mack and Mabel, Follies and Pro-
mises, Promises on Broadway.
But after years of sharing the
footlights with others, Rudner tired of
the enormous and endless competi-
tion that went with the job, and
started looking around for another
career in show business, one that of-
fered good opportunities for women.
"I was doing my sixth show and
I'd had it. I was 25 years old and had
been doing Broadway for about 10
years. I decided I just didn't want to
do it anymore. It was so competitive.
Five hundred people would come out
to audition for one role. So I looked
around for an area of show business
where there weren't too many
women."
What she came up with was
stand-up comedy. "It turned out I had
some kind • of latent talent for it
because after I latched on to it I found
out I loved it as much as I had loved
dancing.
"I remember hearing a joke and
thinking I could figure out how to do
that;' she continues. "So I started go-

ing to the library and getting out all
kinds of comedy albums and reading
every kind of book on comedy writing
I could get my hands on. I also began
watching old Jack Benny tapes at the
Museum of Broadcasting in Manhat-
tan. I remember my dad telling me I
could do anything I thought I could.
So I guess because I thought I could
do comedy, I did!"
However, Rudner admits when
she first started in the business of
stand-up not all of her audience was
thrilled with her performance. "When
I first started, about eight years ago,
men were very threatened when a
woman got up on stage, unless it was
a fat woman or some woman who was
always putting herself down. Then
they listened. But when someone
presentable got on stage, men weren't
used to it and they got a little defen-
sive. But now it's all turned around.
Now the male comedy audience has
really evolved. I recently played a club
in San Francisco and the person who
opened for me was a woman. Four or
five years ago, I. think comedy club
owners would never have allowed
that. They would say you can't have
a woman follow a woman, although

HILBERRY AND
BONSTELLE THEATERS
Wayne St. University, Detroit,
Georgia Peach, about former
Detroit Tiger star Ty Cobb,
today, Hilberry; A Life in the
Theater, now through Thursday,
Hilberry; Romeo and Juliet, now
through Jan. 28; A Christmas
Carol, now through Dec. 18,
admission. 577-2972.
THE THEATER COMPANY
Smith Theater, University of
Detroit, Servant of Two Masters,
now through Sunday, Thursday
through Dec. 18, admission.
927-1130.
VAN DYKE HOTEL
31800 Van Dyke, Warren, dinner
theater, An Old-Fashioned
Holiday Revue, Saturdays
through Dec. 24, admission.
939-2860.
FISHER THEATRE
Fisher Bldg., Detroit, Lily
Ibmlin, "The Search for Signs of
Intelligent Life in the Universe,"
now through Dec. 22, admission.
872-1000.
OAKLAND COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
Smith Theater, 27055 Orchard
Lake Rd., Farmington Hills, The
Dining Room, Saturday, Sunday,
admission. 471-7596.
GREENFIELD VILLAGE
Dearborn, The Wizard of Oz,
Saturday through Dec. 30,
admission. 271-1620.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
SOCIETY
Mendelssohn Theatre, Ann

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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