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and we leave it up to the audience to
figure out where the story really went,"
,== Goldberg says.
Three different Cirque shows, featur-
ing performers from many countries, are
produced by Goldberg. The stage musi-
cal coming to Detroit will be going to
Broadway this summer. The second,
conceived more sensually, tours South
America. The third, performed in casi-
nos and for private events, can be cus-
tomized according to the audience.
Negotiations are in the works to take
one of the three to Israel in March, and
Goldberg looks forward to that destina-
tion. When he thinks about the Jewish
homeland, he also looks back on early
religious conflicts in his family
"I grew up as an Orthodox Jew in
New York and was a yeshiva boy"
Goldberg explains. "It was a complicat-
/ \ -2 ed childhood for me because I was torn
between living the traditions of
Orthodox Judaism and having all this
desire to travel the world and perform.
When you're involved in the theater, the
highlight of the week is the weekend,
when it's Shabbat.
"My parents realized that arts and
crafts for me were way beyond what
yeshiva offered [me] and put me in
more artistic programs. I would do day
school studies at night with private
tutors for history and Bible.
As my artistic abilities excelled, they
rook up more and more of my time,
and I became older and had my own
identity. Finally when I was 21, I moved
away-to Florida."
As he built his career, he produced
Miss Universe Pageants, Superbowl hos-

pitality villages for the National Football
League and thousands of private and
corporate events worldwide, including a
weeklong birthday celebration down the
Amazon River.
When Goldberg formed Cirque
Productions, his target market was the
meeting, convention and special events
industry. In 1996, a hotel chain offered
Goldberg an opportunity to produce a
90-minute, full-scale stage production
for public audiences.
"Adults marveled at the professional-
ism and ability of the performers, and
kids bought into it because there's the
child thread throughout the entire
story;" says Goldberg, who is pleased his
family discord eased over the years and
all will attend Broadway performances.
"I love and respect my parents and
siblings, who all are Orthodox, and they
have the utmost respect for me," he says.
"They did not believe in what I wanted
and what my dreams were, but they
were patient. We all have a wonderful
relationship now."
Goldberg's 20-year-old son, a college
student, has worked as a stagehand in
his shows. His 18-year-old daughter is
making some career decisions that may
include the entertainment field.
Meanwhile, Goldberg works on his
next production, Imitomania ("The
Crazy Imitation of Myths"), a new
musical scheduled to open this May in
Florida.
"It is a story of a place where nobody
has any voices or any faces except for the
leader," Goldberg explains. "One person
goes on a journey in search of a face and
voice until he finally finds his own, and

TASTE OF TARKAY from page 69

Anvi Institute of Fine Art in Tel
Aviv — he and his family immigrat-
ed to Israel in 1949 — with having
the greatest influence on his work.
"I had for four years the best
painters in Israel in the art school in
Tel Aviv," he said. " I was a funny
student because I stole what I
could, because I knew I was going
to use it later. I was very selfish in
what I rook from three different
Itzchak Tarkay at work in his studio.
teachers. One was the best in water-
color; one was the best in drawing;
Included in this show are almost 40
sketching and theater design, and one
watercolors, soft and gentle and in pas-
was the best in oils. I think I took the
tel tones. Tarkay enjoys the more sensi-
maximum from each of them."
tive nature and hues of watercolors.
However, the look that has become
"For me, it is like music," he said.
associated with Tarkay, he said, was my
Morris Shapiro, gallery director at
style from the beginning. It is Tarkay-
Park West, notes that it is extremely
style." He views imitations of his work
difficult to paint in watercolors.
as complimentary Its nice. But at first
"Once you put it on paper, you can-
it was very strange," he added.
not erase it or paint over it.''

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Creator and artistic director
Neil Goldberg: "I was torn between
living the traditions of Orthodox
Judaism and having all this desire
to travel the world and perform."

it's a logical follow-up to the imaginative
stage concept in Cirque Ingenieux.”
"Success has made me calm,"
Goldberg says. "I walk with both feet on
the ground and don't live a very fancy
life. I had a lot of turmoil to put myself
into [this] industry, and I'm at peace
with myself now I have goals, and
they're much higher than the ones I've
already reached." 7

Cirque Ingenieux will be performed
Feb. 23-28 at the Music Hall. The
show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-
Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 1, 4:30
and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m.
Sunday $25-$39. (313) 983-6611.

Shapiro is
is delighted to be
hosting the gallery's fourth
showing of Tarkay's works. "I
think it's important every so
often to ger a feel for how an
artist is maturing," said the
gallery director. "The
ambiance, the mood, the color
sophistication of Tarkay have
really grown in the last year or
two. It is important for people
to get a feel for where he is and
how his art is developing." II

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After-Theater

Tarkay's artwork is on display
and available for purchase in a
show running through March 4
at Park West Gallery, 29469
Northwestern Highway,
Southfield. For more informa-
tion, call (248) 354 - 2343 or
(800) 521-9654.

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Detroit Jewish News

73

