ENTERTAINMENT

ION
PO 113
The Jewish
Ensemble
Theatre

I GOING PLACES

WEEK OF
JAN.26-FEB.1

JEWISH EVENTS

JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER
6600 W. Maple Road,
West Bloomfield, Joseph
and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat,
through Jan. 27,
admission, 661-1000.

SPECIAL EVENTS

CIVIC CENTER
26000 Evergreen Road,
Southfield, "Southfield
Winterfest Circus
Spectacular," 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26, admission,
354-4717.

COMEDY

MISS KITTY'S
595 N. Lapeer, Oxford,
Willie Farrell, Jan. 26-27,
admission, 628-6500.

THEATER

Artistic Director Evelyn Orbach prepares for a great season.

The Man in the Glass
Booth' opens Feb. 7 at the
Aaron DeRoy Theatre.

KENNETH JONES

Special to The Jewish News

heater people like
to believe the old
saying that the
essential things
needed for great
theater are "two planks and
a passion" — a space to play
on and the courage and com-
mitment to perform.
The Jewish Ensemble
Theatre, metropolitan
Detroit's newest non-profit
professional theater company,
subscribes to the plank-and-
passion theory, but organizers
of JET say "purpose" is just
as fundamental to the group.
"Many theaters start as an
outgrowth of certain artistic
individuals' needs to present
a platform for themselves,"
says Bryant M. Frank, a
member of the theater's foun-
ding board of directors. "We're
a little different: We are here
at the behest of, and to meet
the needs of, the community."
According to artistic direc-
tor Evelyn Orbach, JET is, in
part, a result of a study spon-
sored by the Jewish Welfare
Federation's Commission on

Identity and Affiliation. The
commission recommended an
increase in cultural programs
to reach unaffiliated Jews and
enrich the quality of Jewish
life.
"The point of the study was
that cultural events to
stimulate thought and evoke
feelings of Jewish identity
were things that could bring
the community together as a
whole," says Frank, who also
serves as legal counsel for the
theater.
"This was not conceived
because we needed another
platform for actors, even
though I am an actor, and
other people involved are ac-
tors," says Orbach, known for
her performances at various
theaters in Detroit. "This
theater's roots are closer to
that study than anything
else."
The idea of a resident pro-
fessional theater being the
vehicle to foster cultural life
didn't come about until the
summer of 1987, Orbach says.
At that time, Dr. Morton Plot-
nick, executive director of the
Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield, approached

Orbach with the notion of for-
ming some kind of theater ac-
tivity — perhaps acting
classes or workshops — at the
JCC.
Orbach suggested starting
a professional theater, and
the idea was explored. That
exploration included in-
vestigating other Jewish pro-
fessional theaters throughout
North America, and collec-
ting a core group of people
who were passionate about
theater and committed to im-
proving the quality of Jewish
life in metro Detroit.
The theater's inaugural
season opens officially Feb. 7
(following previews Jan. 31
through Feb. 4) with Robert
Shaw's The Man in the Glass
Booth, directed by Nick
Calanni. The drama, the first
of three plays this season, will
run through Feb. 25 at the
Aaron DeRoy Theatre at the
Jewish Community Center.
The final catalyst for the
theater came last summer
when the results of a feasibili-
ty study showed respondents
reacting favorably to the idea
of a professional Jewish
theater. People in the Jewish

community — potential
theatergoers — were asked if
they would attend, if there
was a need, how much tickets
should cost, and similar
questions.
Orbach and her board of
directors decided to schedule
an opening for November, but
that date was later postponed
to Jan. 31 — now the date of
The Man in the Glass Booth's
first preview performance.
"Because some other things
took longer to happen, we
decided to detain that open-
ing so we could get the word
out," Orbach says.
Meanwhile, word was
already leaking out about the
JET, and outstate calls came
into the company's tiny office
in the lower level of the
Jewish Community Center.
"We've had calls from
Grand Rapids, Flint and
Kalamazoo to see if we would
bring our productions there,"
says Orbach. "The call from
Flint came in August, we
didn't really know if we were
having a season."
With a pleased laugh, Or-
bach continues, "We said
`This is a bit premature; we

FISHER
Detroit, The Unsinkable
Molly Brown, through
Feb. 18, admission,
872-1000.
ATTIC THEATER
2990 W. Grand
Boulevard, Detroit, A
Shayna Maidel, Jan. 31
through Feb. 25,
admission, 875-8284.
VILLAGE PLAYERS
Birmingham, The Trip to
Bountiful, through Feb. 4,
admission, 644-2075.
RIDGEDALE
PLAYERS
205 W. Long Lake, Troy,
Greater Tuna, through
Jan. 28, admission,
644-8328.
PLAYERS GUILD
OF DEARBORN
21730 Madison, Murder
Among Friends, through
Feb. 3, admission,
561-TKTS.
DETROIT
REPERTORY
13103 Woodrow Wilson,
Detroit, Fences, through
March 18, admission,
868-1347.
MEADOW BROOK
Oakland University,
Rochester, Dial M for
Murder, through Jan. 28;
A Walk in the Woods, Feb.
1-25, admission,
370-3300.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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