Laugh Lines

"White people don't know how to
tell the difference between one black
man and another," writes comedian
Chris Rock in his debut book, Rock
This. "They see two black men togeth-
er and it's a crowd. A dangerous mob.
To white people, even Ed Bradley and
Bryant Gumbel waiting to cross the
street is potentially scary." Rock brings
his observational humor to the Fox
Theatre at 8 and 11 p.m. Saturday,
Feb. 27. $37.50. (313) 983-6611.
Featuring fresh material from today's
headlines, humorist Mark Russell pre-
sents a musical program laced with
political satire 7:30 p.m. Wednesday,
March 3, at East Lansing's Wharton
Center. $15-$24. (517) 432-2000.

This was difficult for a young man
who had been brought up in Soviet
schools, who had studied in a Soviet
university. You know, I spoke with
Him. I spoke with Him. I asked Him
how he could accept all of this." Check
your local listings for outstate PBS sta-
tions, as pledge week on WTVS may
preempt this program on Channel 56.

C.)

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information, call (313) 961-7777.
Paper Bag Productions hosts the
luncheon-theater musical Jack and the
Beanstalk Saturdays and Sundays,
Feb. 27-May 23, at the Historic
Players Club, 3321 E. Jefferson, in
Detroit. Lunch (salads available for
non-hot dog eaters) at 1 p.m./show at
2 p.m. $7.50. For reservations and
information, call (810) 662-8118.
The full-length story of The Little
Mermaid comes to life in a Disney on
Ice production, complete with musical
score by Alan Menken and Howard

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The Big Screen

The year's most honored interna-
tional short animated films will be
screened by the Detroit Film Theatre
at the DIA in Festival of Animation
'98, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and
Saturday, Feb. 26-27; and 4 and 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 28. Highlights include the
Russian film Welcome, based on a Dr.
Seuss tale of a moose whose friends live
on his antlers; the German film Shock,
in which an animator
is alarmed when con-
fronted by his own
creations; and the
British short Stage
Fright, in which a for-
mer canine juggling
star must regain his
confidence after a
manipulative star
steals his act. $5.50.
(313) 833-2323.

The Small Screen

Richard Dreyfuss stars as Jewish
mobster Meyer Lansky in Lansky, an
HBO special written by David Mamet.
It premieres 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.
Check your local cable listings.
Stolen Years, a special that looks at
the reign of Josef Stalin through the
eyes of 11 purge victims, is scheduled
to run on PBS stations 10 p.m.
Thursday, March 4. Half of the vic-
tims are Jewish, says producer Jennifer
Law Young. One of them, Semyon
Samuilovich Vilensky, recounts how
his imprisonment inspired a poem:
"This was the first period in my life
when I, a person raised entirely in an
atheist way, first thought about God.

Above left: Chris Rock rocks the Fox.
Above right: Haman, left, and King Ahasuerus in PuppetArt's "PurimShpiel.”

Below: Nancy Mitchnick's "Harold Triptych," at the Suzanne Hilberry Gallery.

Family Fun

PuppetArt, formerly the American
Russian Theater, presents Itzak
Manger's PurimShpiel, a rod puppet
performance done on a 12-foot-high
stage, with lush costumes and sets, 12
and 2 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m.
Sundays, Feb. 27-March 27, at the
Detroit Puppet Theater. Based on the
story of Esther in the Bible, the play is
performed in Yiddish and is simultane-
ously translated into English by
Fastrigosa, the tailor. The theater is
located at 25 E. Grand Blvd (between
Woodward and Farmer), two blocks
west of the Detroit Opera House
garage. $6.50 adults/$5 children/group
rates available. For reservations and

Ashman, March 2-7 at Joe Louis Arena.
Call for show times. $12.50-$30. (313)
983-6606 or (248) 645-6666.

The Art Scene

Detroit native and painter Nancy
Mitchnick was part of the Cass
Corridor art movement that created
Detroit's first true avant-garde begin-
ning in the mid-1960s. Influenced by
the DIA's German Expressionist col-
lection, her paintings are expressive
still lifes, landscapes and portraits in
vivid colors with intense brushwork.
Currently a visiting lecturer at
Harvard University, she returns home
as the 1999 Michigan Fine Arts
Competition juror for the

Birmingham Bloomfield Art
Association, where she will speak 7:30
p.m. Thursday, March 4, on "Painting
for Identity."
More than 80 artists are featured in
the fine arts competition; they include
Fran Wolok, Andrea Tama, Elise
Mitzel-Ulanoff, Stephanie Zack, Alan
Ash, Stanley Louis Rosenthal, Linda
Soberman, Richard Koenig, Martha
Rosenfeld, Michael Rappaport, Neil
Farkas and Reba Pintzuk. The awards
presentation begins 6:30 p.m. Friday,
March 5, with an hors d'oeuvres
reception open to the public. Awards
will be presented at 7 p.m., followed
by musical entertainment. Admission
to Mitchnick's lecture and to the
awards program is free. The center is
located at 1516 Cranbrook Road in
Birmingham. (248) 644-0866.
Mitchnik's own work will be fea-
tured in an exhibit titled "Nancy
Mitchnick: New Paintings — Dogs in
the Desert" at the Suzanne Hilberry
Gallery, which opens with an artist's
reception 6-8 p.m. Saturday, March 6,
and runs through April 3. The gallery
is located at 555 S. Old Woodward in
Birmingham. (248) 642-8250.
A new Ann Arbor space for art, the
Washington Street Gallery opens
Friday, March 5.
Meet artists Laurie
Schirmer
Carpenter, Joyce
Grace, Norman
Penchansky-Glasser,
Shirley Galliher,
Norma Gray, Janet
Kelman, Julie
Karabenick, Jean
Lau, Leslie Masters,
Nancy Michaelson
and Bev Walker at
the opening recep-
tion from 5-9 p.m. 215 E.
Washington. (734) 761-2287.

Author! Author!

Helen Fremont was raised Roman
Catholic and went to church regularly.
While she never doubted her identity
as a Catholic, she always felt comfort-
able and strangely content when she
was immersed in Jewish culture and
tradition. It wasn't until later that she
learned of her family's history and true
heritage, which she details in her new
memoir, After Long Silence. Fremont
reads and signs copies of her book
7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at
Borders, 612 E. Liberty, in Ann Arbor.
(734) 668-7553.

2/26
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Detroit Jewish News

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