DEBBIE
FRIEDMAN

CONCERT

Seeing Spots

Sunday, November 17th 7:00 p.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Chelsea native Jeff Daniels believes in local theater,
and does something about it.

5725 Walnut Lake Road
West Bloomfield

Tickets available at door • Community Invited • There is a fee

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„NoLTE TREMENDOUS!"

— Michael Wilmington, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"ATRUE MOVIE RARITY •

an attempt to grapple
seriously yet
entertainingly with
some of the complexities
of modern morality."

-Richard Mickel, TIME MAGAZINE

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PHOTO BY DANIEL LI PPITT

In cooperation with the AGENCY FOR
JEWISH EDUCATION and THE JEWISH NEWS

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spots. Everywhere.
So, let's talk about theater,
and commitment to Michi- which Daniels seems to prefer to
do, anyway.
gan-bred theater.
In 1989, with his wife Kath-
Like turning the release of his
leen, Daniels purchased
upcoming projected
the 70-year-old building
mega-blockbuster movie
that formerly served as
into a fund-raising op-
an automobile ware-
portunity for the non-
house, pizzeria, plumb-
profit Chelsea-based
ing parts store and bus
Purple Rose Theatre Co.
and truck garage.
Though a full-time
"My grandfather used
resident of the town
to store old Buicks
JULIE Y OLLES
that embraces his inti-
mate 109-seat theater, ARTS & EN TERTAIN- there," says Daniels,
MENT E DITOR whose family moved to
Daniels, ironically, had
Chelsea from Georgia
to make a special trip
home to promote his newest film, when he was 6 weeks old.
It took two years to renovate
101 Dalmations.
Promote? For one of Disney's the theater, which Daniels named
most popular tales — or is that after his starring role in Woody
tails — of all-time? Seventeen Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo
thousand different merchandis- (1985).
When the doors opened to the
ing items? Over 250 pups for the
101 coveted roles? Dog stand-ins public on Feb. 7, 1991, Daniels
averaging three-to-one for people was just beginning his quest to
provide a launching pad for orig-
actors?
With 12 more days of media inal works from local-area actors,
blitz planned, we'll be seeing playwrights, directors and pro-

ere are 101 things to admire

a bout Jeff Daniels' passion

Visit the Fine Line Features web site at http://www.fitcom

duction designers.
Today, the theater produces
four mainstage productions a
year, along with a playwrights
lab, acting classes and an ap-
prentice program. It takes be-
tween $250,000-$300,000 each
year to balance the operating bud-
get, but the current top ticket
price at the theater is only $20,
according to Purple Rose Man-
aging Director Alan Ribant.
That's why Daniels is hosting
a benefit premiere of Disney's 101
Dalmations Friday and Saturday,
Nov. 22-23, at the Michigan The-
atre in Ann Arbor. A colossal ca-
nine celebration to benefit the
Purple Rose will be had by all
who want to support the flour-
ishing theater's cause.
"If we want theater to work in
this city, we have to light up the
people here who are doing it,"
says the Central Michigan Uni-
versity grad who moved to New
York when he was 21 to appren-
tice at the city's famed Circle Rep.
Theatre.
"I feel it in New York and
L.A. — that the Midwest is
inferior, and we're second
class as far as talent. That if
these people were truly good,
they'd be in New York or L.A.
But [people from the East
and West coasts] forget that
a lot of people like me are
from the Midwest.
`There are a lot of very tal-
ented people here who didn't
get the breaks that I did but
who are still talented. People
in New York and L.A.
shouldn't feel that we're
mediocre, because we aren't."
To support his emphatic
belief, Daniels has taken a
very active role as executive
director of the Purple Rose.
His own plays — Shoe Man
(Detroit News Critics Best
Play Award 1990/91), The

Vast Difference, Thy King-
dom's Coming, The Tropical
Pickle, Escanaba in da
Moonlight and his latest,
Apartment 3A — all made

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6558 Telegraph Rd. • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301 • (810) 737-8900

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Jeff Daniels: "People in New York and L.A. shouldn't feel that we are mediocre."

their world premieres at the
special black-box theater.
"I'm a big believer in re-
gional theaters needing to
pay attention to the audience
first and the critics second,"
says Daniels, who always
holds an opening preview
weekend with audience talk-
backs following each per-
formance. "You get so numb
to it after awhile. You see
every word. You see every
change, and what you end up
doing is watching the people
watch the play.

