Aidwest Tremier
of "the Jew in the
*tus"
October 22 • 7:00 p.m.
United Artists Theatre
14 Mile & Haggerty
Commerce Township
just prior to his upcoming performances
at three Detroit-area venues.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to The Jewish News
C
%uref Often
Director and Troducer of
OFie Jew in the *tus"
Presentation by the director after screening
Inspired by the best selling book, the film The Jew in
Lotus tells the story of how Rodger Kamenetz, the
skeptic, found his way back to Judaism.
$5 Member of JCC or Temple Israel
$8 Non-Member
Co sponsors:
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit,
Temple Israel and The Detroit Jewish News.
10/9
1998
90 Detroit Jewish News
omposer-conductor-enter-
tainer Marvin Hamlisch,
who wrote the music for A
Chorus Line and They're
Playing Our Song as well as 40 motion
picture scores, soon will swing
through Michigan with performances
at three venues.
He will be at Orchestra Hall in
Detroit, Macomb Center for the
Performing Arts in Clinton Township
and Wharton Center for the
Performing Arts in East Lansing.
Hamlisch, principal pops conduc-
tor for the Pittsburgh and Baltimore
Symphony orchestras, called from the
Charlotte, N.C., airport on his way to
Birmingham, Ala., to give the JN an
idea of his upcoming shows and cur-
rent interests:
JN: What do you have planned for
your Michigan performances?
MH: The shows are not going to be the
same. I know the program I'm going to
do for sure with the symphony, but I'm
still working on the others. The sym-
phony features a musical tribute to Cole
Porter and Richard Rodgers, and we'll
be doing some music of Stephen
Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein. The
performances without orchestra are a lit-
tle more tailored to music from films
and Hollywood so different pieces will
be played. I'm bringing a wonderful
singer and "Rent a Composer," which is
a thing that I do making up songs on
the spot given titles from the audience. I
try to make each performance as if
members of the audience came to my
apartment for a party. They'd have a
really good time and hear some really
good music.
JN: Do you think that composers
bring something special to concerts
of their own music that others can-
not bring?
MH: I don't think that's a true rule
although I think it's nice to hear a
composer do his own work. Some are
better than others at showing off their
own songs. Some composers have hor-
rible voices, and some hardly can play
the piano. Someone like Burr
Bacharach is wonderful showing what
he can do. It depends on who the per-
son is because you have to have a cer-
tain personality to perform.
JN: What will the singer be perform-
ing?
MH: He'll probably do the Richard
Rodgers medley with the big orchestra
and a Jule Styne medley for the others.
JN: Is there any special reason you
decided to salute Cole Porter and Jule
Styne at this time?
MH: I've been doing Jule Styne for a
long time because he gave me my first
job. Cole Porter is one of my favorite
composers, and I just recently realized
I wanted to change my concert and
update it so I decided it was time for
me to do a tribute to him. One of the
things I like about my concerts is that
I can periodically change them and do
works of other composers that I really
love.
JN: Are you working on any
Broadway shows now?
MH: I'm working on a musical ver-
sion of the film Sweet Smell of Success.
JN: Why do you think this is a popu-
lar time for bringing back shows of
the past?
MH: People are going to them, and
producers are in the business of making
money. If you have a show that was a
hit the first time around, it could be a