the right
• ATTITUDE • TIME •PLACE • PRICE
Teens Take A Shot
At The JET Spotlight
AMY J. MEHLER
Staff Writer
C
alling all 13-year-old-
boys. Calling all 16-
year-old girls. The
Jewish Ensemble Theater is
looking for you.
More than 50 boys and
girls answered that call. JET
held its first set of youth
auditions last week for its
next production, First Is
Supper.
There are four teen slots
available in Shelley Ber-
man's play, a drama about
the adjustments a Jewish
immigrant family in 1919
makes when it moves to the
west side of Chicago.
Daniel Kahn, 13, the lead
in last season's, A Rosen By
Any Other Name, returned
this season to audition for
the part of 10-year-old Solly.
"I had the best time last
year," said Daniel a seventh-
grader at Roeper Elemen-
tary School in Birmingham
"Now I have enough Equity
points to qualify as a can-
didate for the Actors Equity
Association."
The teens who showed up
Sept. 26 to audition know all
about Equity points and
different acting methodology.
They also have glossy head
shots and full-page acting
resumes that could rival any
professional actor.
Miriam Weisfeld, 11, an-
other Roeper student, isn't
sure about being a profes-
sional actress when she
grows up, but she loves be-
ing in plays and performing.
Miriam, from Lafayette
Park in Detroit, was a mem-
ber of the Paradime Theater-
cast and most recently the
Lathrup Youth Theatre,
where she appeared in such
productions as Peace Child,
where she was "just a
reporter," and in Narnia and
Mark Twain.
Last Thursday, Miriam sat
alongside Daniel, Matthew
Schwartz, 11, Judy Kadoura,
11, and Rebecca Fried, 12,
all students at Roeper. In all,
about 12 Roeper students
came to audition, thanks to
the prodding of their drama
teacher, Dean Acheson. He
drove the group to the Jew-
ish Community Center in
West Bloomfield.
You could taste the tension
on the bench. The hallway
was buzzing with young
actors and actresses. Each
was handed a thick script
and was told he or she would
be solely responsible for its
return. While some did
homework while they waited
to read, others discussed the
pros and cons of being ac-
cepted.
"You mean you gave up
Wolverine?," exclaimed
Judy Kadoura, a veteran ac-
tress of several school plays
who referred to a winter
camp used by several area
school districts.
Daniel, who spent all his
free time last season with
the play, doesn't regret it.
"I got to meet real actors
and talk to them," he said.
"It was the best experience
of my life. I remember when
I got the call that I got the
part. I said, 'Great.' Then I
sat down, and I jumped up
and down and started
screaming. It didn't hit me
at first."
Miriam took a more
pragmatic approach.
"It's an opportunity that
doesn't come very often in
your life, and you can always
go back to do the things you
did when it's over," she said.
Rebecca, who takes tennis
lessons, babysits, plays with
her cousins, goes to art class
and Hebrew school, already
has a full schedule.
"I could give a lot of it up if
I got the part," she said. "My
mom schedules it all for me
anyway."
Evelyn Orbach, aristic di-
rector, said what she's look-
ing for is commitment.
"I have to see if they ap-
proach the character that
I'm looking for," said Mrs.
Orbach, a professional ac-
tress and director. "Second, I
need to see if I could work
with them to bring them to
the level of the professional
actors they'd be working
with."
JET, a professional Jewish
theater, is in its third sea-
son. Crossing Delancey, by
Susan Sandler, has just fin-
ished its run. Flight, by
David Lan, and An Evening
of Schisgal, by Murray
Schisgal, will be performed
later this season.
Rehearsals for First Is
Supper, begin Nov. 14 and
will last about 3Y2 weeks.
Opening night is scheduled
for Dec. 8, with four
previews beginning Dec. 4.
"I auditioned about 60
kids," Mrs. Orbach said. "I
was very impressed with the
talent and ability I saw.
They were all very serious
about what they wanted to
do and why they were
there."
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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