• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Club Meta • • 41 ID 1, 11) 111 41 II 41 10 410 41 110 41 40 ID II sulaw ■ -- "TWO THUMBS UP I!, Seychel and Hubert Congregation Beth Achim Club Night presents THE MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE PERFORMING A Broadway composer raises the Titanic. "From Broadway with Love" Introductory Performance by Cantor Max Shimansky * „ tire * pazilifiy o i r 4 bsoi * * ut eh, jtf0 3( - '40 n el svo P e' . * * vir tuos Ente ° _rtainingr asV 4r - 0(i : 1 * „etiltrir met t i v ,tortet Michigan Opera Theatre's virtuoso performers will present a fast paced cabaret style musical revue of hit songs from Broadway and Hollywood. Don't miss this musical extravaganza! Sunday, June 8, 7:30 p.m. Congregation Beth Achim 21100 Twelve Mile I Southfield Tickets $36.00 Patron $50.00 Call (810) 352-8670 for information Sumptuous Hors D' Oeuvres Fantastic Dessert Buffet PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT THE BETH ACHIM RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS Get Results... Advertise in our new Entertainment Section! ia The Sales Department (810)354-7123 Ext. 209 ita ssa, Sx\ Associarions. Fighting Heart Disease and Stroke Music Of The Night THE JEWISH NEWS ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS bum, Goya —A Life in Song, re- writing the musical score leased by Sony in English and for Titanic, a new Broad- Spanish and featuring Placido way show, wasn't going to Domingo and Gloria Estefan. His song "Till I Loved You" be- be easy. came a top-40 Barbra Streisand "The Titanic is a big part of this century's history," says hit. "My grandfather was a cantor Yeston, "and I wanted to show how first-, second- and third-class and my mother was a piano passengers rubbed elbows, and teacher," he says. "All kinds of mu- how they had their dreams shat- sic have been an important part tered when the ship hit an iceberg. of my life." Equally important were his There are tales of heroism as well Jewish roots, he says. Yeston was as cowardice." The idea to write a play about educated at a yeshiva in New the catastrophe came to Yeston York, solidifying his religious ed- over a decade ago, but the concept ucation. After high school, he became a reality in 1989, when he earned an undergraduate degree met Peter Stone, the author of 12 at Yale, then a fellowship to Cam- Broadway productions, including bridge University in England. Af- ter earning a Ph.D. at Yale, he Will Rogers Follies. joined the faculty there, where he Teter and I were both working on Grand Hotel, and during a con- became director of undergradu- ate studies in music. versation, we discovered that we had a mutual and pas- sionate interest about the Ti- tanic," he recalls. "Shortly after, we decided to collabo- rate — he would write the story and I would do the mu- sic and lyrics." While there have been eyebrows raised about turn- ing a tragedy into a musical drama, the composer says it's been done many times be- fore. "Look at The King And I, West Sick Story and Miss Saigon. These shows cer- tainly do not have happy endings," he points out. "Yet, they are very moving." In sticking to the facts, both Yeston and Stone spent months researching the pas- Maury Yeston translated his passionate sengers. "I read everything interest in the Titanic into a Broadway score. that I could," says Yeston, But it was while he was work- who went through mountains of ing at a New York music work- documents from survivors. Among the passengers were shop for composers of popular many Jews, and Yeston and Stone music that he decided to put his incorporated some of them in the efforts into writing musicals. For now, Yeston's focus is on Ti- play. 'This was the height of the immigrant era and the Titanic tanic, and he hopes that the lav- was built to accommodate those ish $10-million stage production at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in immigrants," he says. "Of course, we included the New York, with a cast of 43 indi- Strauses, one of the most famous vidual characters, is well received. couples on board. I wrote a song "I tried to be moving and com- about Ida and Isidor Straus and pelling as a writer," he says, "and their undying love, and it's sung I hope the public likes it." Titanic has been nominated for as Ida is getting out of the lifeboat Best Musical, Best Original Score to be with her husband." Yeston's bio bursts with Broad- (Maury Yeston), Best Book of a way and off-Broadway hits, in- Musical (Peter Stone), Best Or- cluding Nine, for which he won a chestrations (Jonathan Tunick) Tony Award and two Drama and Best Scenic Design (Stewart Desk awards, and Grand Hotel, Laing). Winners will be an- for which he was nominated for a nounced June 1.O Tony. e Titanic is being performed Yeston's lyrics and music cov- at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre er a wide range of styles, and his credits include a cello concerto per- in New York City. For infor- mation, call, (212) 575-9200. formed by Yo Yo Ma and an al- M awry Yeston knew that