Take A Bow
In the spotlight ... on stage and off.
SUZANNE MESSIER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
T
.J. Slavin is making his
Meadow Brook Theatre
debut in Appalachian
4 Strings, a play that fol-
lo. ws a family leaving Ireland
during the 1840s and settling in
America's eastern mountains.
The musical, which runs
through May 18, captures gen-
erations of the family as they tell
of living off the land, in the
mines and on the road.
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strolling musicians including
Peter Kahn, who plays sax,
clarinet and flute.
For information and reserva-
tions, call (313) 441-2100.
Save-the-date cards soon
will be mailed to friends of the
Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET)
as committees prepare for
"Crimes of Fashion," a fund-rais-
er scheduled be-
tween 6:30 and
9:30 p.m. Sun-
day, Sept. 21, at
Neiman-Marcus.
As partici-
pants travel the
store in an
activity that
combines the el-
ements of the
game of "Clue"
and a scavenger
hunt, there will
be opportunities
to buy stock
items with per-
centages going to
L.J. Slavin appears in Appalachian Strings.
JET, participate
in a silent auc-
Slavin, who performed in the
tion,
watch
actors
and other per-
play's Denver premiere, was fea-
tured in the Tony Award-win- formers stage short vignettes,
ning production of The Grapes listen to strolling musicians and
enjoy gourmet foods.
of Wrath on Broadway.
Marci Benson chairs the
For information, call (810)
committee sending out invita-
377-3300.
tions and other print materials.
Ellie Smith-Litt and Karen
Mel Ball, music director Alpiner are working on the
for the Ritz Carlton, is booking mailings. Jonathan Frank and
authentic entertainment for the Jim Jonas are lining up corpo-
1997 "International Journey of rate sponsorship.
Food and Wine" week-long
For information on "Crimes of
events celebrating the culinary Fashion," and to get on the mail-
specialties of Italy, South Amer- ing list, call the JET office at
ica, Germany and France.
(810) 788-2900.
During each week — May 11-
18, Italy; June 15-22, South
America; Sept. 7-14, Germany; IA" Detroit's own opera star,
and Nov. 16-23, France — there Irina Mishura, has been cast
will be a special dinner, a wine- as the Egyptian princess Am-
tasting party and international neris for the Michigan Opera
favorites served in The Grill, the Theatre (MOT) production of
Aida, scheduled Sept. 20-28 at
hotel's restaurant.
Fifty percent of proceeds from the Detroit Opera House.
A former mezzo soprano of the
all the wine tastings will go to
specific causes including, in Moldavian State Opera in Rus-
event order, CATCH (Caring sia, Mishura emigrated to the
Athletes Team for Children's & United States in 1992.
Since launching her career
Henry Ford Hospitals), Detroit
Police Athletic League, Music with performances for MOT and
Hall and Michigan Opera The- Opera Pacific, she has worked
with opera companies in San
atre.
"We want the music to cap- Francisco, Baltimore, Cincin-
ture the flavor of each culture," nati, Dallas and Toledo as well
said Ball, who is lining up as with the Los Angeles Phil-
harmonic.
r
Other operas scheduled for
MOT's 1997-98 season are The
Magic Flute r Manon, The Elixir
of Love and Porgy and Bess.
Theater enthusiasts at
Berkley High School are pre-
senting the non-musical version
of Meet Me in St. Louis as this
year's spring production. Tick-
ets for tonight's 8 p.m. perfor-
mance can be purchased at the
door.
Lauren Orr (above) plays Agnes and
Natalie Ram (below) plays Tootie in
Meet Me In St. Louis at Berkley High
School.
formed for the school, are Diana
Steinberg, Rhonda Spector,
Aaron Lewis and Erin
Munro.
Helene Dworkin is the the-
ater teacher who brings out the
stellar acting talents in her stu-
dents.
The National Foun-
dation for Jewish Culture
awards grants to theaters
from across the United
States and Canada for the
development of new plays
dealing with Jewish
themes.
The. program, New Play
Commissions in Jewish
Theater, gives funding in
amounts between $3,000
and $5,000 and has been
in existence over four
years. There have been 23
projects, many of which al-
ready have been staged.
Actor Theodore Bikel
chaired the committee
choosing this year's win-
ners: The Philadelphia
Festival Theater for a Liz
Swados musical, The Se-
cret Window, which is
about an artist in hiding;
tion; the Herbert Mark Newman
Theater of Pleasantville, N.Y.,
for Promised Land, which deals
with hiding from the Nazis; and
the Interact Theater Company
of Philadelphia for The Angel of
History, a production about a re-
sistance fighter.
Theodore Bikel, here as Tevye in Fiddler on the
Roof, chaired the committee which chose this
year's National Foundation for Jewish Culture
grantees.
Pippin performers include, from left, Jason Kromirs, Ben
Salba and Phil Rubin.
Student director Kristy Pe-
terson is working with a cast
that includes Neal Shindler,
Natalie Ram, Lauren Orr, Eli
Magid, Brian Polk, Brian Og-
den, Renee DuLong, Robert
Brode, Marc Howe, Goldie
Greenstein, Jeremy Man-
ning and Rachel Lutz.
Students appearing in both
Meet Me in St. Louis and the
May 20 drama club production
of Glimpses, which will be per-
GOH Productions/LaMama of
New York City for The Golem, a
marionette production by Vit
Horejs; Blue Peach Productions
of New York City for Bay Nacht
Oyfn Altn Mark, a musical adap-
tation of a Yiddish drama; Trav-
eling Jewish Theater of San
Francisco for See Under Love, an
adaptation of an Israeli novel;
the Winnipeg Jewish Theater of
Canada for The Year of the
Flood, a dramatization about
multiculturalism; the Long
Wharf Theater of New Haven,
Conn., for God of Vengeance, a
transplanted tale of assimila-
Three Jolson
AZA members were
in the cast of Pippin
at North Farming-
ton High School. Ja-
son Kromirs,
Jolson president,
played Lewis. Ben
Salba, AZA region-
al aleph sopher,
played King Charle-
magne. Phil Ru-
bin, AZA regional
Judaism chairman,
played the field
marshal. ❑
Know someone in profession-
al, community or academic
theater who should take a
bow? Please let us know by
dropping a line, and a photo if
possible, to Take A Bow, The
Detroit Jewish News, 27676
Franklin Road, Southfield, MI
48034. Our new monthly col-
umn on theater people ap-
pears the second Friday of the
month.