A COMPELLING DRAMA...

He is a great artist. His art is pure, but is he...
...if his clamorous audience is the Nazi regime?

were short lived, and he was able to
land jobs in the theater, including
parts in Sunday in the Park With
George and Big River.
After working on the New York
stage, Spiner moved to Los Angeles to
play Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors.
Once in California, parts started pour-
ing in, and Spiner found himself trav-
eling back and forth from coast to
coast.
Among his feature film credits are
Woody Allen's Stardust Memories and
Pie in the Sky with Anne Heche. Tele-
vision appearances included the TNT
movie "Huey Long" and guest spots
on "Mad About You," "Outer Limits"
and "Cheers."
Most recently, he was seen on the
silver screen in Phenomenon with
John Travolta and Out to Sea with
Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon.
"Working with Lemmon and Matthau
was a real treat," he says. "They are
giants in the business."
Perhaps Spiner's most famous role,
one that made him a household name
and lasted for seven years, was that of
Data, in the TV series "Star Trek: The
Next Generation." Although sci-fi
was not his favorite genre, Spiner read
the script upon the advice of his agent
and saw Data as a character that he
could have fun with.
Spiner helped make the lovable
Data one of the hallmarks of the
series.
As for the "Star Trek" phenome-
non, Spiner says that oftentimes
Trekkie fans get a bad rap. "There is
a misconception about 'Star Trek'
fans, but they are regular people, like
you and me," he says. "They are
nothing like the way 'Saturday Night
Live' has portrayed them. Mel Brooks
is a huge fan, and so is Marvin Min-
sky, a renowned computer scientist at
MIT."
Spiner was raised Jewish and had a
bar mitzvah. Although observance is
not a part of his daily life, he says, "I
wouldn't want to be anything but Jew-
ish, and I'm proud of it."
For now, Spiner is concentrating on
finishing up his Broadway run and
moving ahead to the Star Trek IX
movie, which is scheduled to begin
filming at the end of March.

❑

The Broadway revival of 1776 is

playing at the Gershwin Theater,
222 West 51 Street. For tickets,

call (800) 755 4000.

-

Spitler is featured on the newly
released cast recording of 1776 on

TVT Records.

2

akin
Sides

ROBERT GROSSMAN

a‘f Ronald

JOHN MICHAEL
MANFREDI

Harwood

Directed by Evelyn Orbach

FEBRUARY 11 thru MARCH 8

The JCC
Aaron Deroy Theatre

Senior • Student • Group Discounts

JET

6600 W. Maple Road

West Bloomfield

Infrared Hearing Devices Available

OFF BROADWAY THEATRE
IN WEST BLOOMFIELD

TICKETS...(248) 788-2900

http://www.metroguide.com/jet

"I want to learn Israeli dancing, but
don't know where to go. Can you
help me find a beginner's class?"
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Federation Resource Line can put you in
touch with the Jewish Community Center,
which offers classes in Israeli dancing,
swimming, art, exercise and many other
disciplines.
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Federation Resource Line
has thousands of resources
to answer your questions.
For information or referral,
call the Federation Resource
Line, (248) 559-4411; (248)
559-6146 7 (Text Telephone
for
people
Federation
who are
Resource
deaf or
Line
have
•t t •:**-
hearing
1 (248)
impair-
S 559-4411
ments)
TT: 559-6146
-.7 Fax: 559-6140
• • • •
A Jewish Information
A
and Referral Service
program
of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit

A CLOSER WALK WITH

Singing 20 of Her
Greatest Hits

• Dinner Packages

Z

• Attic Gift Certificates

0

vo

• For more info
call (248) 335-8101

BY
POPUL
DENA

• Tickets $22 and $27

• Show Times: Thur., Fri. &
Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m.

EXTENDED

MARCH 22

Tickets available at the

7th House Box Office (248) 335-3540

and Ticketmaster (248) 645-6666 .

2/20

.44A41S7

1998

97