ENTERTAINMENT

Actress
Mayim Bialik,
left, shines
with her
performance
as the young
Bette Midler,
above, in
Beaches.

A

SURE BETTE!

STEVEN M. HARTZ

Jewish News Intern

U

nder the boardwalk in Atlan-
tic City lounges an 11-year-
old, red-headed, brown-eyed
vamp sporting a lit cigarette,
bedecked in a rose satin
bodysuit, black fishnet hose, a feather
boa and tap shoes. She is none other
than Mayim Bialik acting as the
young C.C. Bloom, the multi-talented,
Brooklyn-born entertainer who gets
her start singing at her father's dry-
cleaning conventions and grows up to
be a big star played by Bette Midler.

Bialik, however, doesn't actually
look like the character she portrayed;
she's a 13-year-old young lady who
lives in California and has dark

blonde hair, green eyes and doesn't
smoke. And although she only stands
4'7 1/2", she quipped, "I am small but
mighty."
Playing the young C.C. Bloom in-
Beaches was quite an experience for
Bialik. "It was a lot of fun playing the
young Bette Midler," said Bialik. "It
wasn't very hard. I went to every audi-
tion with cigarettes and rehearsed a
lot with my mom and dad. I just did
my best!'
Doing impressions of Rod Stewart
and mimicking other celebrities since
she was little, Bialik has been serious-
ly pursuing an acting career since
1987. "I was always in school plays,"
she noted. "I liked acting so much. I
played Jane in Mary Poppins and a
couple of years ago, I played the real-
ly furry white cat in Cats."

However, Bialik wanted to act in
more than just her school's produc-
tions. "I asked my parents if I could
really do it," said Bialik. Her family
was really supportive of her desire
to act professionally. Bialik's father,
Barry, teaches English and drama at
a California junior high school and
her mother, Beverly, who was a
teacher and the nursery school direc-
tor at Temple Israel of Hollywood
where the Bialiks belong, stopped
working two years ago to devote her
time to helping Bialik live out a
dream.
Mrs. Bialik sent letters to dif-
ferent agents billing her daughter as
"a combination of Bette Midler and
Barbra Streisand." Soon after, Bialik
settled with an agent and received
her first movie role in the film, Pum-
pkin Head.
After getting a taste of the silver
screen in Pumpkin Head, Bialik then
tried her hand at acting on television.
She soon appeared on an episode of
"Beauty and the Beast!" Last year,
she received a starring role in a new
"Facts of Life" pilot which was aired
last April, but it was eventually re-
jected by the network.
Getting right back on her feet
that month, Bialik landed the adoles-
cent Bette Midler role. "I met Bette
Midler at the last audition and the
day after, they made me an offer,"
noted Bialik. "It was a lot of fun audi-
tioning in front of Bette, but I was
very nervous!'
She didn't see too much of Midler
or Barbara Hershey, who played C.C's
best friend, Hillary, on the set
because, "they were usually busy
filming their other scenes!' Bialik
said, "My relationship with Bette was
basically on a professional level. She
coached me with my dance routine."
Bialik said the one person whom
she did see much of was Lainie
Kazan, the woman who played Leona,
her movie mom. "Lainie was wonder-
ful," she said. "One thing I can say
about her is that she's very profes-
sional. She's not anything like the
character she played, and that helped
me realize that I don't have to be like
C.C. in order to play C.C." However,
Bialik admitted, "All of the
characters I play are a little like me!'
After Beaches, Bialik returned to
television. "This year, I sang
`Somewhere Over The Rainbow' at
the 'Golden Globe Awards, and I have
done eight episodes of 'Webster'
which is in its final season!' noted
Bialik.
Working with Emmanuel Lewis
(Webster) was exciting for her. "He's
very intelligent, and he's genuine!'
Bialik said of Lewis. "He was really
a pleasure to work with." The
episodes, in which Bialik plays the
role of Freida, Webster's close friend,
began airing last week.
Acting was not everything Bialik

GOING PLACES I

WEEK OF
MARCH 3-MARCH 9

SPECIAL EVENTS

ROYAL HANNEFORD
CIRCUS
The Palace, 3777 Lapeer Rd.,
Auburn Hills, Thursday through
March 11, admission. 377-0100.
EASTER SEAL TELETHON
"Through the Years" is the
theme, Saturday and Sunday on
WDIV TV, Mort Crim and Gary
Danielson, 19-1/2 hour telethon-
begins at 11:30 p.m.

-

COMEDY

COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley, Steve
and Leo, Saturday, Dennis
Wolfberg, Tuesday through
March 11, admission. 542-9900.

THEATER

SOUTHFIELD LATHRUP
HIGH SCHOOL
19301 W. Twelve Mile,
Southfield,Little Shop of Horrors,
today and Saturday, 8 p.m.,
admission. 746-7200.
HILBERRY AND
BONSTELLE THEATRES
Wayne St. University, Detroit,
Wild Honey, today and
Saturday; The Scarlet Pimpernel,
now through April 15;
Sarcophagus, (Bonstelle) today
through Sunday; Macbeth,
(Bonstelle) Wednesday through
Saturday; Apart From George,
(Bonstelle) Thursday through
Saturday, admission. 577-2972.
BIRMINGHAM THEATRE
211 S. Woodward, Birmingham,
Company, now through March
19, admission. 644-3533.
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE
Oakland University, Rochester,
The Road to Mecca, now through
March 26, admission. 377-3300.
PERFORMANCE NETWORK
408 W. Washington, Ann Arbor,
Wowie Kazowie, now through
March 12, admission. 663-0681.
GREENFIELD VILLAGE
Dearborn, The Solid Gold
Cadillac,Fridays and Saturdays
through March 18, admission.
271-1620.
STAGECRAFTERS
Baldwin Theater, 415 S.
Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, Move
Over, Mrs. Markham now
through March 19, admission.
541-6430.
SMITH THEATER
University of Detroit, Enter
Laughing, today through Sunday,

Continued on Page 65

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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