ENTERTAINMENT
-
I GOING PLACES
SPECIAL EVENTS
PALACE
One Championship Drive,
Auburn Hills, Detroit
Pistons vs. New York
Knicks, 8 p.m. exhibition
game, admission, 377-
0100.
GREENFIELD
VILLAGE
Dearborn, "Fifty Years of
TV," through Jan. 2,
admission, 271-1620.
THEATER
Nancy Gurwin and
her Jefs and
Sharks prepare for
opening night.
Something's Conlin
. . . And Nancy Gurwin says it's a
`West Side' special — Story, that is
STEVEN HARTZ
Special to The Jewish News
I
n the words of Stephen
Sondheim . . ."There's
something due any
day. I will know right
away, soon as it shows.
It may come cannonballing
down through the sky, gleam
in its eye, bright as a rose.
Who knows?"
Nancy Gurwin knows, and
so will the rest of Detroit as
West Side Story snaps' its
way onto the Jewish Com-
munity Center's DeRoy
Theater stage 7:30 p.m.
Thursday. The show runs
through Nov. 5.
Danny Gurwin and Dawn
Hamblin will portray the
Romeo and Juliet pair, Tony
and Maria — reprisal roles
for both. Gurwin starred in
the Southfield-Lathrup High
School production two years
ago, and Hamblin played the
lead in Oakland Community
College's Summer Arts pro-
duction this past summer.
"The reason I chose West
Side was because I really
wanted it to be a special sea-
son," said Nancy Gurwin,
owner and producer of Nan-
cy Gurwin Productions
(NGP), which is in its 13th"
season. "West Side is very
modern; it's the kind of show
that I think people will want
to see over and over again.
The music is sensational."
Leonard Bernstein wrote
the music, and Sondheim
penned the lyrics to "Cool,"
Feel Pretty," "Maria,"
"Somewhere," "Tonight,"
"One Hand, One Heart,"
"America" and
"Something's Coming," to
name a few.
"It's enjoyable," said
Danny Gurwin of appearing
in one of his mother's pro-
ductions. "It's as intense as
any professional theater
production could be. Except
here, when something funny
happens during rehearsals,
you're allowed to laugh at it
without worrying about los-
ing your job. But we take it
seriously, and we work
hard."
Gurwin, 16, cut his acting
teeth eight years ago when
he portrayed Little Jake in
the NGP Annie Get Your
Gun. Since then, he has ap-
peared in theaters all over
Detroit — including the
Fisher. There, he performed
in the opera I Pagliacci.
While on stage at Meadow
Brook, he starred as Har-
rison in the operetta Har-
rison Loved His Umbrella.
West Side's other lead,
Hamblin, is a senior at
Oakland University and has
appeared in her school's pro-
ductions of Jesus Christ
,Superstdr and A Midsummer
Night's Dream. In addition
to portraying Maria this
summer, she worked for a
local production agency
where she sang and danced
at a theme park in Allen-
town, Pa. West Side marks
her first appearance in a
Nancy Gurwin Production.
"You can tell it's a profes-
sional production," she said.
"The choreographer, music
directors and producers are
excellent. They are not only
professionals, but it's ob-
vious they have also worked
together before, and you can
see there was a lot of
thought before putting on
West Side; they are so
organized."
Donna Zatkin of
Southfield is one of the peo-
Director Kathi Bush.
ple to whom Hamblin
was referring. Working at
the old Jewish Community
Center in Detroit 13 years
ago, Zatkin met Nancy and
has been her sidekick ever
since.
"She asked me then if I'd
be interested in helping her,
and I said yeah. I co-produce
with Nancy, and when she's
on stage, then I just take
over as producer," Zatkin
said. "It's completely
different from what I do all
day long." which is working
as fiscal manager for a com-
pany involved with the
JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER
6600 W. Maple Road,
West Bloomfield, West
Side Story, Thursday
Nov. 5, admission, 661-
1000.
RIDGEDALE
PLAYERS
205 W. Long Lake Road,
Troy, The Prisoner of
Second Avenue, Nov. 3-19,
admission, 644-8328.
MICHIGAN THEATER
603 E. Liberty Street,
Ann Arbor, Driving Miss
• Daisy, Tuesday,
admission, 668-8397.
OAKLAND
COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
2480 Opdyke Rd.,
Bullshot Crummond,
through Oct. 28,
admission, 471-7700.
AVON PLAYERS
Rochester, Perfect Frank,
through Saturday,
admission, 375-1390.
- ROSEDALE PLAYERS
21728 Grand River,
Detroit, Sandwiched
Light, through Oct. 28,
admission, 537-4010. .
FARMINGTON
PLAYERS
32332 W. 12 Mile Road,
Farmington Hills, Mr.
Roberts, through Nov. 18,
admission, 538-1670.
'BILBERRY THEATER
Wayne State University,
Detroit, The Philadelphia
Story, through Nov. 11;
Wenceslas Square,
through Nov. 8,
admission, 577-2972.
MARQUIS THEATER
135 E. Main Street,
Northville, The Desert
Song, through Oct. 29,
admission, 349-8110.
STAGECRAFTERS
415 S. Lafayette Avenue,
Royal Oak, Carousel,
through Sunday,
admission, 541-6430.
Continued on Page 73
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
67