SUGARLOAF 98 nom ANNUN AD L From Warsaw With Love A theater company from Warsaw brings Yiddish theater to a Detroit stage. SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS S Daily Admission $6 Friday - Sunday 10-6 Children under 12 FREE Parking FREE compliments of Sugarloaf Demonstrations Entertainment DIRECTIONS: Located on i-96 NW of Detroit at Exit 162. Go south on Novi Rd. Right on Expo Center Dr. During Fair call (810) 380-7004 Discount admission coupons FARA R available at Farmer Jack or call JAC!4: 800-210-9900 before October 18. Sponsored By .furled Art & Crafts Fairs since 1976 HOMEr loW N he is a young actress in the Polish theater. He is a young actor on the same stage. They work together, fall in love and share a dream of performing on Broadway. Alas, the work that introduced the couple ultimately takes them in different directions, and their love is cast aside. Many years lat- er, fate smiles their way, and they find roles and romance with each other in the New York spotlight. Such is the story of Wandering Stars, a musical presented by the Ester Rachel Kaminska Jewish Theatre from Warsaw. The com- pany of 35 actors and musicians performs in Yiddish. A simultaneous English trans- lation is available through the use of earphones. There also is a print- ed English narrative in the pro- gram. The show, on a 10-city Amen- The father, a theater promot- er in Poland for 20 years before bringing his business to the Unit- ed States, has worked for 30 years tracking down interesting works, traveling to see them, determin- ing appropriate audiences and en- couraging changes he believes necessary. In this case, sets and props were simplified for the tour. "This is a unique cultural ex- perience because it is the only Yid- dish speaking theater company that travels," said the tour direc- tor. "We tried to pick cities with the largest Jewish/Russian pop- ulations because these people have the Yiddish backgrounds." The play was adapted by Szy- mon Szurrniej, the theater's artis- tic director, from a Sholem Aleichem novel. It takes place in the early part of this century with original music by Janusz Sent, rector was Ida Kaminska, who emigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a well-known actress here. New performers are trained at the Youth Studio, which teaches Yiddish language and literature, Jewish history and Jewish the- atrical history. The company in- cludes non-Jewish members. Martin Wancjer, a West Bloomfield resident who emi- grated to America the same year as Kaminska, has seen Wander- ing Stars at least 20 times. A real estate consultant who returns to Poland about once a month on business, he was a the- ater devotee before moving to the United States with his mother and sister. When his wife travels to Poland with him, she, too, sees the play. "This show is very easy to un- derstand because there are so Obstruct eccentric NEWSPAPERS Lea Avizedek Wandering Stars-. From Poland to Broadway with a Yiddish twist. , - 32"x42" Acrylic On Paper Danielle Peleg Gallery 4301 Orchard Lake at Lone Pine Crosswinds Mall • West Bloomfield 810-626-5810 Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 1 1 6, Sunday 12 4 - in y - our with Specia the EBRATION CONNECT DIRECTORY in our Classified Section can tour, comes to the Masonic Temple Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12 and 13. "The dream-come-true in the play is really the dream-come-true of the theater company," said Dorothy Michalski, American tour director. "The last perfor- mance is at New York City's Town Hall, a Broadway stage, where the company has longed to appear." Michalski assists her father, Henry Michalski, with American Arts Cinema and Entertainment Enterprises, which brings East- ern European ethnic shows to America. This is the first complete Jewish play they have managed. "From my experience, people from different nationalities attend these shows," she said. whose son will be one of the mu- sicians. "I think this type of program really nourishes the soul," said Dorothy Michalski. "It offers a very nostalgic experience." Szurmiej, who became artistic director in 1970, offers a mix of productions throughout the year in Poland. They range from Song of My People, an original work based on Polish documents of Jewish his- tory, to Death of a Salesman, a Polish adaptation of the Ameri- can classic. Holocaust dramas have been crucial to the compa- ny's repertoire. When the troupe became the State Jewish Theatre in 1950, combining theater groups from Warsaw and Lodz, the artistic di- many songs," Wancjer said. "The music starts with traditional Jew- ish sounds and moves on to the style of Broadway. "The group is highly profes- sional, and the play gives a sense of Jewish culture and how it de- veloped. For those who can't un- derstand Yiddish, there still will be an experience with the way the language sounds as spoken by accomplished actors and act- resses." El gr Wandering Stars will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, and 3 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, at the Scot- tish Rite Cathedral of the Ma- sonic Temple. Ticket prices range from $25-$35. For in formation, call (810) 737-8069.