ENTERTAINMENT GOING PLACES WEEK OF FEB.2-FEB.8 JEWISH EVENTS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, "Let Us Entertain You" series, Mike Burstyn, 8 p.m. Feb. 3, admission, 661-1000. B'NAI B'RITH HILLEL 1429 Hill. Street, Ann Arbor, Voice of the Turtle: Great Early Jewish Music 8 p.m. Feb. 3; movie Ashes and Diamonds, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Feb. 4, admission, 769-0500. THEATER BLOOMFIELD PLAYERS Andover High School, The Music Man, through Feb. 4, admission, 433-0885. Barry Rosenberg, Erin Schwartz, Erika Pone, Niev Traison, Mark Blitz and Abbie Schwartzberg, along with their classmates. Curtain Call! STEVE HARTZ Special to The Jewish News M any moons ago (circa 1958), in a far-off place lived a Heb- rew day school principal with a gloomy face, for he couldn't stage a senior class musical. So, he sighed alas, and he pined, alas. By 1967, his school — Hillel — was alive with the sound of music. The musical that year, My Fair Lady, was performed at the then-Oak Park-based parochial school by its 9th graders, the graduating class of 5727 (that's the Heb- rew year). Since then, 23 musical productions have been pro- duced at Hillel Day School, which made the move to Farmington Hills in 1970. Those musicals include Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, Oklahoma, Bye Bye Birdie and last year's Annie. The money earned from the plays goes to tzedakah, Hillel is alive with the sound of music as its senior class says farewell. Hillel scholarship fund and defrays the cost for senior trips. In June, the senior class, comprised of 31 8th graders, will visit Toronto. But first they will travel back to the medieval days as they per- form the musical Once Upon a Mattress 7 p.m. March 18 and 3:45 p.m. March 19. The show is directed by Sharon Schwartz, a former drama teacher at Hillel, and produced by Robin Beth Lash, who has been teaching drama at Hillel since Schwartz's departure last year. "It's a team effort," said Lash, who also does the music directing. "The kids are fun to work with. They really do well. Students also do all the jobs, whether it's make-up or costumes or put- ting together the programs. And our art teacher, Carol Knoll, is working with some students on the set." The musical is based on the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea and was in- troduced on Broadway in 1959 as Once Upon a Mat- tress, starring a young and upcoming comedienne — Carol Burnett. Burnett brought to life Princess Winnefred the Woebegone. In Hillel's production, Erika Pone will star as Win- nefred. "I like performing," said Pone, who has acted in other plays produced by Lash, in- cluding To live Another Summer and To Pass An- other Winter, at Congrega- tion Shaarey Zedek. The other female leads belong to Erin Schwartz, who will play Lady Larken, and Abbie Schwarzberg, who will take on the role of Queen Aggravain. "My role is more on the obnoxious side," Schwarz- berg said. "The queen is really mean." One of the characters the queen chooses to pick on is Lady Larken. "Larken wants to get mar- ried to Sir Harry, and to do that he has to find a princess for Prince Dauntless (per the queen's orders)," Schwartz said. Niev Traison plays the over-protected prince, Dauntless. "I enjoy the sing- ing and acting, but I don't like all the preparation," said Traison, who hasn't ap- peared in a play since 2nd grade. "I feel very honored to be one of the leads." The other leading males are Mark Blitz, who portrays the speechless king, David Rosemberg, who narrates the musical as the minstrel, and Barry Rosenberg, who plays Sir Harry. "The last big play I was in ROSEDALE COMMUNITY PLAYERS The Upstage, 21728 Grand River, Detroit, - Barefoot in the Park, Feb. 9-24, admission, 534-4010. FARMINGTON PLAYERS Farmington Players Barn, Farmington Hills, Waiting for the Parade, through Feb. 24, admission, 538-1670. FISHER Detroit, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, through Feb. 18, admission, 872-1000. ATTIC THEATER 2990 W. Grand Boulevard, Detroit, A Shayna Maidel, through Feb. 25, admission, 875-8284. VILLAGE PLAYERS Birmingham, The Trip to Bountiful, through Feb. 4, admission, 644-2075. 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. • BIRMINGHAM 211 S. Woodward, Oh Kay!, through Feb. 4, admission, 644-3533. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 65