THE GEM & CENTURY THEATRES
The Purple Rose Theatre Company Production of
On The Tube
"A fun and rowdy
roller-coaster ride
of a play"
SORKIN Vs. SOFER from page 93
-The Chelsea Standard
those who take their TV too serious-
ly; after all, says the good-looking
writer/executive producer, he is only
working on a TV show, not piecing
together the Paris peace talks. The
West Wing, he cautions cutely, "isn't
meant to be good for you.
But it just might be the very best
thing on TV this season.
"Escanaba is a Super
Yooper laugh-fest"
-The Ann Arbor News
0
U
0
"
BY JEFF DANIELS
I
s it somewhat unorthodox for
the daughter of an Orthodox
rabbi to crave a career in show
business?
Rena Sofer doesn't think so; neither
does her most avid supporter. "That's
my dad," she says.
The North Bergen, N.J., native is
not new to TV screens; she earned an
Emmy Award for Best Supporting
Actress for her role in ABC's General
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Last season, she played Eve Cleary
on Fox's Melrose Place.
But ABC is the place to be for her
again come 9:30 p.m. Wednesday,
Sept. 22, when Sofer debuts in Oh
Grow Up as the wife of a gay and care-
free character whom she is shocked to
learn may be more gay than carefree.
Separated from her husband, she
doesn't do as well separating her emo-
tions for the man she vowed to love.
But does she closet her caustic corn-
ments?
Not once her hubby comes out of
the closet.
And he does that to everyone,
including his two straight male bud-
dies/roommates in this wickedly wild
Wednesday-night comedy about three
boys who never grow up — Peter
Pans whose flight plans are mapped
with broken dates and promises.
Sofer is one of the network's more
promising young stars since fashioning
a bio built on an early start as a
model. "I modeled for a month; I
never really had an interest in it," she
says.
She has been a model actress,
appearing in the Chasidic-oriented
mystery movie A Stranger Among Us
and on such TV shows as Two Guys,
a Girl and a Pizza Place and Seinfeld.
So why did her father the rabbi
advocate her going into the acting
business? (Not that there's anything
wrong with that.)
"He encouraged me because I was
shy," says the actress, who keeps the
faith with her husband and children
in Los Angeles.
And Keeping the Faith also happens
to be the name of her next feature, in
which she plays a young woman whose
synagogue co-congregants try to match
Rena Sofer of "Oh Grow Up": So why
did her father the rabbi advocate her
going into the acting business? "He
encouraged me because I was shy.
her up with a lead character who only
has eyes for a non-Jewish woman.
Although Suzanne, her Oh Grow Up
character, is not characteristically Jewish,
Sofer has no problem with the way
Jewish women are depicted on TV
"I don't think the image of Jewish
women on TV is negative at all," she
says.
"When I look at TV, those are the
girls I went to school with."
And will her character be a Jewish
part of the lesson plan planned for
Oh Grow Up?
Nu, Rena?
"Ask him," she says, pointing in
the direction of series creator/execu-
tive producer Alan Ball.
The character of Suzanne may or
may not be Jewish, but at least one
character in the series is, Ball reveals.
"Norris," says Ball of the painter
played by David Alan Basche,
explaining that the character's "grand-
father had his name anglicized when
coming through Ellis Island."
Stunningly beautiful, Sofer is pret-
ty happy with the Oh Grow Up part
she's been chosen for, handling suc-
cess in a mature, mentsh-like manner.
Sofer, so good? Hollywood seems
to think so — and hopes TV audi-
ences will agree come fall. 1-1
The West Wing runs 9-10 p.m.
Wednesdays on NBC. Oh Grow
Up airs 9:30-10 p.m. Wednesdays
on ABC. Both shows premiere
Wednesday, Sept. 22.