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AMERICAN ARTS
Proudly Presents
THE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE OF A DECADE!
THE ESTER RACHEL KAMINSKA
JEWISH THEATRE
FROM WARSAW
Company of 35 extraordinary
actors and musicians
Performed in Yiddish with
simultaneous English earphone
translation available
A STUNNINGLY ORIGINAL MUSICAL BASED ON THE NOVEL BY
SHOLEM ALEICHEM
WANDERING STARS
at the
A Different Perspective
MASONIC TEMPLE
Scottish Rite Cathedral
500 Temple Avenue, Detroit
JULIE YOLLES ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
3 PERFORMANCES ONLY!
—
444.dsrca
Saturday, October 12, 1996 - 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 13, 1996 - 3:00 & 7:30 p.m.
Tickets available at TicketMaster or the
Box Office - performance night only!
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL: 810 737 8069
-
— 17FTTYTY VIPM .
-
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
"Almost as good as my kugel"
— Miriam Goldman
"Funny, charming, clever"
— Variety
AND DON'T MISS THE
HILARIOUS SEQUEL!
JEST
A SECONP!
OCTOBER 16 - NOVEMBER 17
Try A Double Feature
-What's Not To Like?
See both plays
on the same day,
October 23, 26 or 27
by
James
Sherman
OR
I JE. VVIO n I Vt
VVJ
See both plays
on successive days
the week of October 21-27
For tickets call
Supported
by the
711C'
aces
michigan council
for arts and
cultural affairs
Presented with
the generous
support of
Meadow Brook
Box Office
(810) 377-3300
Ticketmaster
(810) 645-6666
Hudson's
Harmony House and
Blockbuster Music
Meadow Brook's artistic director and director of Beau Jest, Geoffrey Sherman,
took great care to ensure the authenticity of portraying Jewish characters,
themes and customs.
Meadow
Brook
Theatre
Oakland University's
Professional Theatre
M
eadow Brook Artistic Di-
rector G-eoferey Sherman
is becoming a Beau Jest
maven.
Having first produced the
show at the Portland Repertory
Theatre in Oregon where it was
a box-office blockbuster, he
knew that one day he would
direct it.
On Sept. 18, that became a
reality. On Oct. 16, Sherman
will turn the directing reins over
to Meadow Brook Associate Di-
rector Phil Locker, who will
oversee Jest a Second's produc-
tion.
To ensure the accuracy of
portraying Jewish customs and
practices, Sherman and Lock-
er did several things, including
bringing in a technical adviser,
Priscilla Bachaiov, to help with
the seder scene in Beau Jest.
"What I basically did to en-
sure authenticity was to cast as
many Jewish actors as I could,"
says Sherman, who cast Hen-
rietta Hermelin-Weinberg and
Robert Grossman as Miriam
and Abe Goldman and David
Ellenstein, from Los Angeles,
as their son Joel.
"I was looking for people for
whom the ethos of the play was
second nature ... I often find that
there's a degree of communica-
tion about the subject that's just
easier to communicate with peo-
ple who have it as part of their
heritage and their culture.
"One of the most fascinating
parts of doing Beau Jest, from
my personal perspective as a
Christian, is the seder," says
Sherman about the scene where
the Goldmans come together
again for Passover with Sarah's
new "Jewish" boyfriend. "Yes,
the play's funny. Yes, it's a com-
edy. But the reason that I want-
ed to do Beau Jest was because
of its celebration of the family
as a human unit, a valuable
unit in any society, particularly
in the late 20th century.
"And the tradition behind the
meal — not purely the biblical
tradition of Jews leaving Egypt,
but the idea of handing down
tradition, information, lifestyle
and morality from adults to chil-
dren — is something that I find
very important. And I think it's
something that we have lost in
Western society." ❑
,:megrvervrtgimimost.
The JN Entertainment cover spotlights the seder scene in Beau
Jest feattning David Ellenstein (Joel Goldman), Linnea Todd
(Sarah Goldman), Robert Grossman (Abe Goldman), John Seib-
ert (Bob Schroeder) and Henrietta Hennelin-Weinberg (Miriam
Goldman).