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. C/D LU LU CC LU I=1 LU 92 i 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.