ENTERTAINMENT
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dining room, carry-out and trays
• breakfast • lunch • dinner
• after-theater • kiddie menu
open tuesdays thru sundays
10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
t.
968-0022
lincoln shopping center, 101/2 mile & greenfield, oak park
Deli Unique
25290 GREENFIELD North of 10 Mile Rd.
967-39991
CATERING FOR ALL OCCASIONS
GOLDEN BOWL
Restaurant
221I COOLIDGE AT 9 MILE In A & P Shopping Center
398-5502 or 398-5503
DINE IN & CARRY-OUT
SZECHUAN, MANDARIN, CANTONESE & AMERICAN CUISINE
OPEN 7 DAYS-Mon.-Thurs. 11-10, Fri. & Sat. 11-11, Sun. & Holidays 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Your Chef: FRANK ENG
• Banquet Facilities
THE GOLD CORI
OPEN 7 DAYS — YOUR HOST: HOWARD LEW
SZECHUAN, MANDARIN, CANTONESE
COMPLETE
CARRY-OUT
AVAILABLE
NEW A LA CARTE DINNERS UNDER S5
24480 W. 10 MILE (IN TEL-EX PLAZA)
West of Telegraph
353-7848
ThE GPEAT WM1
SERVING YOUR FAVORITE EXOTIC
DRINKS & CHOICE COCKTAILS
I
PRIVATE DINING ROOM
• BANQUETS • PARTIES • BUSINESS MEETINGS
Your host . . . HENRY LUM
Businessmen's Luncheons • Carry-outs • Catering
476-9181
(Drakeshire Shopping Center) • 35135 Grand River
KABOB GRILL
Authentic Lebanese Cuisine
I CARRY-OUT & CATERING AVAILABLE
29702 SOUTHFIELD AT 121/2 MILE (In Southfield Plaza)
557-5990
MON.-THURS. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. FRI. & SAT. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
CLOSED SUNDAYS
HOA KOW INN
Specializing In Cantonese, Szechuan & Mandarin Foods
Open Daily 11 to 10:30, Sat. 11 to 12 Mid., Sun. 12 to 10:30
— Carry-Out Service —
13715 W. 9 MILE, W. of Coolidge • Oak Park • 547-4663
ENJOY DINNER OUT
AT ONE OF THE
JEWISH NEWS
RESTAURANT ADVERTISERS
72
FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1990
Now, Claire Barry Spends
'A Night In The Catskills'
RITA CHARLESTON
Special to The Jewish News
F
or the Bagelman
family, it was one of
the most exciting op-
portunities to come into their
lives.
Mama Bagelman, sitting in
her tenament in New York Ci-
ty, listening to children sing-
ing little Yiddish songs every
Sunday on the Jewish
Children's Show over radio
station WEVD, decided that if
they could do it, her little
Claire could do it, too.
Although nine-year-old
Claire had no musical
knowledge or training, Mama
took care of that by teaching
her daughter a popular Yid-
dish song. Papa Bagleman
corrected the pronunciation.
And a childhood pal taught
her the melody on the piano.
Rehearsed, and to everyone's
surprise but Mr. and Mrs.
Bagelman's, little Claire
auditioned and won a spot on
a popular children's show.
"I didn't want to do it. I was
too busy playing with my
friends," remembers Claire
Bagelman, who later adopted
the name of Barry when she
began a singing partnership
with her sister Merna. "But
I knew it made my mother
very happy and so I did it."
What made Mama doubly
happy when her younger
daughter Merna also began
singing, displaying a tremen-
dous ear for harmony. Soon,
the singing sisters were both
on the radio and beginning
what would become an ex-
tremely close personal and
professional association.
"We became so close that
when people heard us sing
they would think there was a
third voice there somewhere.
That's how brilliant Merna
was with harmony," Claire
recalls.
Through the years, the
Barry sisters, who were often
considered the Jewish An-
drew Sisters, hit their stride.
Stardom was finally theirs.
They appeared more than 30
times on "The Ed Sullivan
Show," recorded dozens of hit
records and were invited to
perform all over the world,
from Russia to Israel and
back in the States again.
With recognition assured,
by the mid-'70s, on the brink
of what Barry calls "achiev-
ing several major and long-
dreamed about successes,"
tragedy struck. In 1976, dur-
ing a rehearsal session, Mer-
na complained of a headache.
Singer Claire Barry.
The vibrant, outspoken and
' outgoing woman, who was
"never sick a day in her life,"
died of brain cancer five
weeks later.
Claire Barry, devastated by
the loss of her sister as well
as her best friend, withdrew
into seclusion and despair.
"I didn't think I'd ever per-
form again," she says, "and
certainly never alone without
Merna. But I have a wonder-
ful husband who's very sup-
portive. So when listeners to
WEVD started sending en-
couraging leters to the sta-
tion, my husband collected
them all in a shoe box and
suggested that I read them.
After a few months I did take
out one letter and that one
letter really did it for me. It
said my sister would want me
to continue. I believed that
was true. So I got together
with my musical director and
decided to give it a shot."
Lacking confidence, Barry
turned that first solo date in-
to a fiasco. Performing at a
country club on Long Island,
she began to sing and, mike
in hand, walk through the
audience.
"But I could hear people go-
ing `tsk, tsk.' I think I did
about three songs and ran off
the stage. It took me quite
awhile to decide to go back
out and ever risk that again.
I eventually did play small
dates here and there, but
every time I came off stage I
was hysterical. I missed my
sister so very much and real-
ly believed I was no good
alone without her."
One day, Barry was booked
into the Concord Hotel in the
Catskills. To her, that was big
time for her solo engagement
and she got the feeling she
was really getting back her
stride. But at the end of her
performance she looked out
into the audience only to see
people standing as if to leave.
"I went crying into the
wings, and my husband ask-
ed me what was wrong," she
says. "I told him people were
walking out on me, and he
said no they weren't; they
were giving me a standing
ovation. I really think that
was the real turning point for
me."
Since then, Barry, who has
now been in the business
almost five decades, as con-
tinued her climb, singing in
nine languages, including
hits from today's contem-
porary writers. She is looking
forward to getting back to
where she once was and even
adding something more.
Barry is touring a new
show, conceived and produced
by Bernie Lawrence, brother
of singer Steve Lawrence, titl-
ed "A Night In The Cat-
skills." After opening to ac-
claim last year in Los
Angeles, the production is
currently being staged at the
Trump Plaza Hotel and
Casino in Atlantic City where
Barry, along with violinist
Sascha Torma and comedian
Bobby Shields, pays tribute to
those heydays of New York's
Borscht Belt era.
"The next thing I'd like to
do in my life," she admits, "is