•

en Jewish writers pro- Broadway." Bet you can't say
duce plays or novels, the that without singing it.
Act H, though, is the one that
odds are short that the
themes turn on Jewish rocks, rolls and knocks the audi-
ideas, characters — even as in ence out. The band — 'The Night
Managers" — conducted
the Marx Brothers, shtick.
by Reggie Royal, opens
But give a Jewish song-
THEATER
with a pure music out-
writer a pen, a piece of
ing, and the songs tum-
paper and a piano, and
whattyaget? "White Christmas," ble out one after the other —
"Bess, You Is My Woman" and "Yakety Yak,' "I'm a Woman,"
"Jailhouse Rock," "Spanish
"Hound Dog."
The best of Jewish words and Harlem" and way down there at
music successes has put down the very end, one of the anthems
stakes in a tent show of rock 'n' of the '60s — arguably of the rock
roll remembrance at the Fisher 'n' roll era — "When the night
Theatre through Jan. 26. Called has come, and the lamp is dark,
Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of and the moon is the only light
Leiber and Stoller, it includes one you see, oh I won't be afraid, no
of my all-time favorite lines from
any rock 'n' roll song. It comes
from 1959's "Love Potion #9" for
which, the narrator tells us,
"You're gonna need an ocean, of
calamine lotion."
No kidding.
A biracial, bi-gender and most-
ly youngish cast takes on Jerry
Leiber and Mike Stoller's little
songs of heartbreak, first love, de-
ception and despair and treats
them with reasonable respect.
Backed by a smooth, jazzy rock 'n'
roll band, the show rocks 'n' rolls
on in two acts, while the original
still plays on, on Broadway.
Leiber (words) and Stoller
(music) began writing together
some 45 years ago; it was just
about 40 years ago that Elvis
Presley recorded "Hound Dog."
And the rest, as they say, is his-
tory.
Alltrinna Grayson and Darrian C. Ford
In this show, "Treat Me Nice"
belt out "Hound Dog/Treat Me Nice" in
is sung persuasively with his
Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Music of
pelvis as much as with his vocal
Leiber and Stoller.
chords by Darrian C. Ford to his
partner, the buxom Alltrinna I won't be afraid, just as long as
Grayson, who unleashes her go- you stand, stand by me."
By then most of the audience
for-broke soprano on "Hound
is
swooning.
Dog." Just one of several exam-
It doesn't hurt, one bit, no it
ples where Jerry Zaks, a Broad-
doesn't,
that there are wonderful
way director whose credits in the
theater are no less celestial than costumes by William Ivey Long
Leiber and Stoller's in pop mu- and good, attractive moveable
sic, finds subtexts in a song and scrims by Heidi Landesman. All
(/) gives his players something be- the voices are solid, yes they are,
sides a lyric and a tune to strut and these singers do dance. Well.
So what if Leiber and Stoller
upon the stage.
Zaks and crew keep Act I didn't write a song about Tevya
2 rolling nicely from the opener or never rhymed nosh and gosh,
• "Neighborhood" through "Don and didn't turn a tune about bar
--,
Lu Juan," in which Reva Rice and mitzvahs? My only regret is that
1– Mr. Zaks collaborate with a the great song they wrote for Peg-
gy Lee, "Is That All There Is?"
cp
cc feather boa of unprecedented isn't in Act I or II, just in my cas-
1– length and girth, all the way
sette collection at home.
l it through "On Broadway." That
one contains the lyric, "They say
- the neon lights are bright, on

L1J

g

Michael H. Margolin writes about

the arts.

® )Q•-)

— Michael H. Margolin

'Mother'

PHOTO BY ELLIOTT MARKS

'Smokey Joe's Cafe'

Rated PG-13

I

n Mother, science fiction novel-
ist John Henderson (Albert
Brooks, who directed the film,
and with Monica Johnson,
wrote the screenplay) suffers from
a case of the post-Oedipal blues.
Two failed marriages and a hor-
rendous date (with an ignoramus
played by "Friend" Lisa Kudrow)
have convinced him that his prob- John Henderson (Albert Brooks) and his mother Beatrice (Debbie Reynolds) share a
lems with women and beat-up special moment at Victoria's Secret.
ego are symptoms of an ailment
As John makes clear, howev- Brooks turns the commonplace
that has been plaguing him since er, he is convinced that his moth- annoyances of living with mom
youth: his strained relationship er hates him: She's not impressed into such subtly funny episodes,
with his mother (Debbie with his novels, she fails to un- it's hard to avoid laughing and re-
Reynolds). And though he's mid- derstand his vegetarianism, and lating.
dle-aged, John comes to the con- worst of all, she embarrasses him
Much of this success is due to
clusion that it's not too late to nip in public places (like the pet the brilliant performance of Deb-
his troubles in the bud. He de- store), often by making reference bie Reynolds, who, save for a few
cides to move back in with mom. to his marital troubles, at almost cameo appearances, emerges in
Beatrice, as mom is called, is a every opportunity.
this film from 27 years of acting hi-
sweet lady confounded by tech-
These problems are com- bernation. Her innocent quirkiness
nology and the high prices of pounded by Beatrice's seemingly as an elderly lady seems the nat-
name-brand products. Call-wait- idyllic relationship with her other ural extrapolation of the innocent-
ing appears to be a tool she will son, Jeff (Rob Morrow), a success- girl roles in her 1950s heyday.
never master, and the ancient 5- ful sports agent with a happy fam-
And though Brooks' script is
pound block of cheese in
ily of his own, and a strong somewhat muddled at times, es-
her freezer is a testament
affection for his mother. pecially in regard to "the experi-
MOVIES
to her spendthrift nature.
By living at home, John ment," events play out in a
Although she doesn't turn
hopes that he can get to manner that is all at once
him away, Beatrice has trouble know Beatrice as a person and un- thought-provoking and senti-
understanding John's suddenly derstand the root of his and mom's mental. In fact, the film main-
renewed residence in her home. personal disagreements. And since tains an all-important and
And this leaf he has turned over John is finally at the age where he successful balance between the
in his life, which John labels "the can strike back, part of breaking two. If you're a mother or a son,
experiment," is beyond his moth- down that barrier includes being it will be hard to resist enjoying
er's attention span despite his able to embarrass his mother in this film. In a lighthearted and
several attempts to explain it.
return (i.e. an interesting venture yet searching manner, Mother ex-
into Victoria's Secret). John ulti- presses the relationship's implic-
Dan Zimmerman is happy being a
mately discovers what all moth- it love, tension and comedy, which
college freshman in New
ers already know: that moms have usually go unsaid, but for which
Haven, Conn., where his
a life, too.
both parties can vouch.
mother, Jewish News Assistant
As a concept, Mother works be-
Editor Gail Zimmerman, has
cause the relationship portrayed
few opportunities to publicly
is so strikingly familiar to anyone
embarrass him.
who's ever been a mother or a son.
—Dan Zimmerman

'Turbulence'

Rated R

lane crashes are terrifying
and serial killers are night-
marish, but just imagine the
horror when the two are com-
bined. Turbulence, produced by
Martin Ransohoff and David
Valdes and directed by Robert
Butler, presents this riveting sce-
nario. And while at times the
film's a flaming-wreck of nonstop
excitement, rather than go for the
gusto, it ultimately proves as bor-
ing and cliché as a routine flight.
Ryan Weaver (Ray Liotta)

p

seems an affable and intelligent what's otherwise in store for him.
guy, but then again, as the movie And since the criminal mind al-
acknowledges, so was the notori- ways find a way, it's not long be-
ous Ted Bundy. Tracking Weaver fore the plane has been rerouted
for years, Detective Aldo
to destruction.
Hines (Hector Elizondo, of
This is upsetting to a
MOVIES
"Chicago Hope" fame)
few people, in particular
knows the truth, and on
the small group of passen-
Christmas Eve he finally has the gers and crew who are also aboard
evidence to make the arrest and the last-minute flight of the
put Weaver away for good. That's Christmas season, including love-
how Weaver ends up in chains on ly flight attendant Teri Halloran
a 747 en route to LA, where death (Lauren Holly). Weaver has a
row and a miserable end await.
thing for beautiful girls — in fact,
However, as it turns out, he's raped and killed several of
Weaver would rather go down in them. And unluckily for Teri, she
a literal blaze of glory than face happens to be just his type.