PHOTO BY DAN IEL LI PPITT

Women
In Treble

T

he lament is familiar: Meaty
roles for women in Hollywood
are woefully rare. Forget 'em for
the over-40 set. And it isn't much
better in the theater, says high-school se-
nior Jaime Newman.
Finding dramas that treat women as
more than props is one of her passions,
and she's already discovered two that
seem to her to grasp the complexity of
women's lives. Last year, Newman pro-
duced and acted in Jane Martin's Keely
and Du, a stark psychological drama
about abortion. The show sold out.
Beginning tonight, she's featured in
Lee Blessing's Eleemosynary, the show
she's producing under the aegis of her
Apollo Theatre Productions. The play will
run through May 26 at the Roeper The-
atre in Birmingham.
Newman's teachers at Cranbrook-
Kingswood granted her a month's hiatus
to work on the play, probably because last
year's show was such a success and they
figured it isn't every day that a student
independently mounts a full-fledged pro-
duction, she says.
Plus, Newman, a Hillel Day School
graduate and state forensics champ, has

Eleemosynary

features Laurie V.
Logan as the
grandmother, Jaime
Newman as the
daughter and Miriam
Yezbick as the
mother.

already been accepted at the acting con-
servatory of Boston University for the fall.
Eleemosynary, which means "charita-
ble," is the word that clinches a spelling
contest for Newman's character, Echo, a
13-year-old with a penchant for multi-
syllabic words and dreams of becoming
the world's greatest speller.
Rounding out the cast are veterans
Miriam Yezbik and Laurie V. Logan as
her mother and grandmother. The inter-
generational story explores the ambitions
and identities of the three women at var-
ious points in their lives. Mary Bremer,
another seasoned pro in the Detroit the-
ater community, is the show's director.
But, "it's not a chick play," Newman
assures. "It has very universal messages."
Last year's production cost Newman

around $3,500 — money from her bat
mitzvah and odd acting jobs. This pro-
duction will come in under $10,000, some
of it from a loan from her father. And,
how's this for guts? Newman approached
a classmate's father, a Chrysler execu-
tive, suggesting the company act as a
sponsor, but she was politely refused.
The experience has indeed thrust New-
man into the world of adulthood. For one,
Yezbik is a member of Actors' Equity,
which obligates Newman to fulfill a con-
tract that includes insurance and pen-
sion fees. Then there's the constant
ringing of the phone and fax, along with
the possibility that Eleemosynary will
have a run at the Attic Theatre this sum-
mer, meaning, Newman needs more
money.

"It's suddenly this huge project," New-
man says. "I feel like my parents, almost.
I guess it's not something my friends are
doing. It's just a different path. I'm deal-
ing only with adults. When it's over, I
go back to being 18."

— Julie Edgar

V!1 Eleemosynary will be performed
at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May
17-18 a-id 24-25, and at 7 p.m. Sun-
day, May 19, at the Roeper Theatre,
Birmingham campus, 1.051 Adams
Road, north of Maple. Tickets are $9
adults/$6 students and can be re
served by calling (810) 489-8445. They
will also be available at the door. LI
.
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