ENTERTAINMENT EASTER RUNCH Radisson Plaza Hotel at Town Center Spectacular Champagne Easter Brunch Buffet at the elegant Radisson Plaza, with live music for your entertainment. Bonnie Franklin Stars At Birmingham Theatre STEVE HARTZ Special to The Jewish News Menu Fresh Fruit and International Cheese Display Fresh Vegetable Crudités with Assorted Dips Array of Salads with Dressings Pate Display, Deli Meats Lox, Fresh Bagels and Cream Cheese Chef-carved Rounds of Beef and Legs of Spring Lamb Belgian Waffles and Gourmet Omelettes made to order Tri-Colored Tortellini, Sauteed Green Beans Scrambled Eggs with White Wine and Gruyere Cheese Blintzes with Strawberry Sauce, Brandied Peach Crepes Seafood Casserole, Bacon and Sausage Baked Chicken with Tomato Vinaigrette Luscious Homemade Desserts, Pastries and Breads Brunch served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations suggested. $16.95 for adults, $7.95 for children under 10 years of age. Free sheltered parking for guests. Call 827-1382 for reservations. Radisson Plaza Hotel ) At Town Center 1500 Town Center Southfield, Michigan 48075 AL WINKLER'S (AR. orr 12 & EVERGREEN 557-8899 EVERGREEN SHOPPING PLAZA Heartily Wishes Everyone A Very Happy and Healthy Passover We Will Close Mon., April 9 at 3 p.m. And Reopen Fri., April 13 at 11 a.m. Resuming Our Regular Hours Orders Taken For Passover • Complete Dinners • Soups • Fish •Desserts • Etc. FAX: 557-8941 557-8899 Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354-6060 80 FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1990 W hen she was a little girl she tapped her way onto televi- sion's "Colgate Comedy Hour," dancing with Donald O'Connor. Over the years, she has starred on- and off- Broadway in several produc- tions, including Applause, Your Own Thing, Dames at Sea, George M, Peter Pan and Carousel. But Bonnie Franklin's most recognized role was not as a tap dancer or stage per- former. She is best known as Ann Romano, the divorced mother trying to raise two daughters (Valerie Ber- tinelli and MacKenzie Phillips) in the CBS- television comedy "One Day at a Time." The show premiered in 1976 and ran for nine years with reruns still in syndication. Today, Franklin's life has taken a haunting turn as she stars as Susy Hendrix in Wait Until Dark at the Birm- ingham Theatre. The show runs through May 6. "I play a blind woman who is terrorized; it's a very frightening play," Franklin said. "She is brave, intuitive and inventive. I never played a blind person before, so the role is a real challenge." To make her performance believable, Franklin attend- ed a Braille institute. Born in Santa Monica, Calif., Franklin grew up in Hermosa Beach and then moved to Beverly Hills, "so I would date Jewish boys." No longer dating, she has been married for the past 10 years to TV producer Marvin Minoff. Since "One Day at a Time," Franklin has kept active. "I've made a tap dancing video (Let's Tap) and a cou- ple movies of the week," she said. "We just took a trip to Thailand. It was incredible. So, I'm never bored, and I'm never not busy." Franklin, who received the Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty Award in 1983 and its Woman of Achievement Award in 1987, said her acting career didn't start until 1968 when she starred in Your Own Thing, a musical version of Twelfth Night, in San Fran- cisco. "Before Your Own Thing, `I have no idea what the future holds.' performing was just fun and an avocation. But the reality all started with that show." She said her favorite role was as Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune in New York last year. Although she enjoyed star- ring in "One Day at a Time," Franklin said, "I always wanted to do musical theater. That was my dream as a 10-year-old girl, but (several years later) when I got to New York it was like, `This is it. This is what I really want.' " Franklin said she was challenged with her role on "One Day at a Time." "The character was very different from me. I didn't have children. I wasn't divorced. The series was about a woman trying to find herself as well as raising two kids. "For its time, it was very new and very experimental. There had never been a series like that on television, based on the issue of divorce and what it does to kids and families. Fourteen years ago, it was shocking to a lot of people. Now, it's old hat." After playing an Italian mother for nearly a decade, Franklin has been eager to learn more about her Jewish roots. She and her family attend- ed Brandeis Institute (a Jew- ish education center for adults in Los Angeles) and participated in numerous programs, including a "Kibbutz." She also did a TV special, "Bonnie and the Franklins," a tribute to her family, which includes her parents, Sam and Claire, and her four siblings. She ended the show by performing a Jewish song. After the curtain closes for the Birmingham Theatre's "For its time, it was very new and very experimental. There had never been a series like that on television." Bonnie Franklin Wait Until Dark, Franklin will return to California and appear .in Love and Guilt, and the Meaning of Life, a musical concert reading of the works of Judith Viorst, a contemporary humorist and poet. And then what's next? "I have no idea what the future holds. Maybe I'll change careers altogether. This is a very strange busi- ness, a very difficult busi- ness; it's a roller coaster, and you just have to decide if and when you want to get off."