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The Magic of Marceau

SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

VI

arcel Marceau has told
friends he can say
thank-you in 33 lan-
guages, but many
believe he can be most expressive
when he uses no words at all.
Mime fans around the world know
his character Bip, a poignant clown in
striped pullover and battered opera hat
played by Marceau since 1947. They
probably don't know him as a steely-
faced French Resistance worker, the
persona Marceau became while a
teenager smuggling Jewish children to
safety during World War II.
"I knew that if I moved a nerve, I
would give myself away," Marceau
told New York's Jewish Forward about
his stance and facial expression - while
Nazi soldiers looked over his forged
papers. "I was so calm, absolutely still.
I don't know if I would have the
courage to do it now. It was so dan-
gerous. But we were courageous by
necessity then."
Back to now.
The French entertainer, who has
said thank-you for awards and acco-
lades in so many nations, will be
appearing at the Ann Arbor Summer
Festival, which runs June 1 8-July 11.
Marceau, scheduled toward the end of
the series, will follow other stellar per-
formers, including legendary actor
Gregory Peck, jazz saxophonist
Branford Marsalis and comedian Paula
Poundstone.
Marceau, one of the first perform-
ers when the festival debuted 16 years
ago and recipient of an honorary doc-
torate from the University of
Michigan for his many return visits
and classes in the city, will show his
continuing interest in children with a
special performance and workshops
for them.
With education a priority, he
operates the International
Mimodrama School in Paris and
recently brought his teaching skills
to a series of workshops taped in
New York and about to be edited for
aspiring mime artists.
The video is one of the first pro-
jects of the Marcel Marceau
Foundation for the Advancement of
the Art of Mime, established in 1996

6/11
1999

84 Detroit Jewish News

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