eIN Entertainment
Tiny Tots Jam
To The Classics
lassical music has never been
particularly popular among the
3- to 6-year-old demographic. But
Rheda Becker might give the
"Barney" theme song a run for its money
tomorrow.
Becker is a Baltimore-based musical
narrator and the host of the Detroit Sym-
phony Orchestra's new Tiny Tots concert
series for 1996. The program, as she de-
C
them laugh, it can make them sad and re-
flective," says Becker, who designed and
narrates the education concert series for
young people at the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra. It's also a learning experience
on a more tangible level: Children evolve
into knowledgeable concertgoers, know-
ing when to applaud, when the concert-
scribes it, is "designed to introduce the glo- Mussorgsky/Ravel's "Ballet of the Un- master and conductor appear and what
ries of symphonic music to a child" and do hatched Chicks" from Pictures at an Ex- roles they play.
"All this becomes a marvelous ritual
so without lulling the roomful of preschool- hibition. The program's centerpiece is
Poulenc's The Story of Babar: The Little that these kids come to expect," she adds.
ers to sleep.
Becker has practiced the art of musical
The first concert in the series, Saturday Elephant, which the conductor wrote af-
at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, ter a visit to his niece's house. (The book's narration for more than 20 years, per-
is titled "The DSO Goes to the Zoo," and illustrations will be projected onto a screen forming works by composers from the
14th- to 20th-centuries. She distinguish-
features, not surprisingly, music with an- as Becker narrates and the DSO plays.)
"More than anything, what (music) does es her profession from theater acting in
imal themes: Anderson's "The Waltzing
Cat," Gershwin's "Walking the Dog," is arouse emotions in children: it can make that narrators must know how to read mu-
sic, take cues from the conductor and even
speak in a certain pitch
It's acing to be a Zoo at times. "You are part
Saturday at the Tiny
of the musical tapes-
Tots performance
try," she says.
with the DSO.
Becker will also host
the remaining two programs in the Tiny
Tots series (April 13 and June 15) and has
plans to return in the spring of 1997. In
the meantime, she urges adults to intro-
duce their little ones to the joys of classi-
cal music, before the kiddies discover Pearl
Jam.
"The fact of the matter is, it's very, very
hard to get quality entertainment for chil-
dren of that age," Becker says. "(Parents
and grandparents) want good, wholesome
entertainment that will be elevating and
fan at the same time. And that's what this
is about."
— Liz Stevens
"DSO Goes to the Zoo" will be pre-
sented at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Satur-
day, Feb. 3, at Mercy High School in
Farmington Hills. Tickets for the series
are $24, individual tickets are $9. (313)
833-3700.
Through March 17. 10 a.m.-5
p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 10 am.-
9 p.m. Thursday; 12-5 p.m. Sun-
day. Special tour Feb. 4.
University of Michigan Museum
of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Ar-
bor. (313) 764-0395.
Detroit Institute of Arts.
Flowers in a Glass Vase on a
Marble Ledge, the museum's new
acquisition by 17th-century
Dutch painter Rachel Ruysch.
Romancing the Amerkan Fron-
tier . Through April 7. Thomas
Cole: The Voyage of Life. A series
of four paintings from the Amer-
ican artist, Through April 14.
Suggested donation $4 adults/$1
children_ 11 a.m.-4.p.m. Wedne.s-
day-Friday; 11 am.-5 p.m. week-
ends. 5200 Woodward Ave. (313)
833-7900.
Cranbrook Art Museum. An
Autobiography: Paintings by
Thomas Nozkowski with Photo-
graphs by Judy Linn. Through
March 24. Dream Sites: A Visual
Essay by George Tysh. Works on
paper chosen from the museum's
collections by Tysh, a Detroit poet
and WSU professor. 10 a.m.-5
p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; 10
a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday. $4
adults/$2 students, children,
seniors. 1221 N. Woodward. (810)
M5-3312.
The Art Center. Michigan Wa-
ter Color Society 49th Annual Ex-
hibition. Thirty-nine paintings
selected by N.Y. artist Nancy
Hagin. Preview reception 7-9
p.m. Fiiday, Feb. 2. Through Feb.
22, 125 Macomb Place, Mount
Clemens. (810) 469-8666.
Book Beat. Women of Talent
and Beauty Showgirls of the
1920s. Photographs of Florenz
. .
Ziegfeld's "girls." Through Feb.
14. 26010 Greenfield, Oak Park.
(810) 968-1190.
p.m. weekdays, Oakland Com-
munity College-Highland Lake
Campus. (810) 680-2495.
To Warm Your Heart. Quilt
show featuring 100 Amish and
Mennonite quilts. 9:30 a.m.-5:30
p.m. Through Saturday, Feb. 3.
Donations of clean, used blankets
will go the Salvation Army. The
Village Barn, 32760 Franklin.
Road, Franklin. (313) 851-7877.
AUDITIONS
Black Women: Achievements
Awainst the Odds, 20-poster ex-
hibition. Opens Wednesday, Feb.
7. Through Feb. 22. 8:30 a.m.-5
Jewish Federation Women's
Division: 50th Anniversary
Gala/Play. 10-11:30 a.m. Sun-
day, Feb. 4. Final auditions for
women singers, dancers and/or
actors 16 and over. Maple-Drake
JCC. For more information, call
Sherry Shanbom at Jewish Fed-
CALENDAR. Itag 82