rxperience
our Full service
salon...massa ges,
facials, -Full bod y
waxing, hair
replacement,
manicures,
the Readers Theatre at the Jewish
Community Center for seven years.
"It deals with issues and has some
language that would not be appropri-
ate for young people."
Shirley Benyas has been perform-
ing before Detroit audiences for 35
years and now finds herself speaking
the most sexually explicit role of her
career in Skylarks.
"'The Flood' is about the first sex-
ual experience of an older woman as
she recalls it through dreams,"
explains Benyas, whose career started
in singing and moved to acting.
"Because of the times in which I was
raised, I would be embarrassed to dis-
cuss these issues with the people I
know. As an actress, I can say the
lines freely on stage."
Benyas, who has appeared in opera
and drama for theater companies
around the city, including Jewish
Ensemble Theatre and Meadow
Brook, did a related performance for
Nell's Girls.
"It's very interesting to hear the
response of the audience," she says.
"Younger women accept the
monologue very readily, while older
women seem reticent about the open-
ness. I think of all the changes I have
seen in my lifetime, the sexual revo-
lution is the biggest."
Fleischer, who also is part of the
cast, tried to make the program heavy
on humor, although there are several
serious works that are poignant and
moving. She believes that most
women cope with their problems by
turning to humor.
"Skylarks deals with women in a
wide variety of body shapes, colors
and ages," Fleischer explains. "I
picked the title after hearing the
lyrics to the song 'Skylarks.' There's
kind of an inchoate longing for
something else, something more,
something different in the lyrics. It's
a search for maybe love, fulfillment,
identity or recognition, and it felt
right.
"Our publicist put a picture of a
bird on the publicity, and I guess you
can take a look at that symbol as
somebody finding her wings and hav-
ing that freedom. I have a wonderful
singer in our company performing
the song.
While the production features only
one Jewish character, a woman from
Queens, there is a larger Jewish repre-
sentation in writers.
Dori Appel, a clinical psychologist
who earned her bachelor's degree
from the University of Michigan and
worked for ayear at Ypsilanti State
"
pedicures,
hair color &
cut specialists.
20% OFF
ANY MAIN SALON
SERVICE WITH TI-115 AD.
New clients only please.
Shirley Benyas performs a monologue
about the first sexual experience of
an older woman as she recalls it
through dreams.
Hospital, wrote "Pariah," reflections
of a young woman who feels she
always has been an isolate.
"It's a funny monologue and hope-
fully strikes some resonant chords,"
says Appel, who is based in Oregon
and recently won third place in the
Hewlitt-Packard/ACTION Theatre
in Singapore for The Witching Hour,
a 10-minute play.
As a Jewish playwright, Appel has
written two productions related to
religion. Freud's Girls, which won the
Oregon Book Award for 1998, delves
into Freud's position as a Jew in
20th-century Vienna. Mother, Tree,
Cat, which won the International
Crossing Borders New Works
Contest for 1998, is about a child
prodigy in an unusual Jewish family.
Few of the pieces are about men.
One deals in a very funny way with
sexual harassment, and another is a
story about Adam and Eve.
"Everyone can get a good laugh
from Skylarks, but while they're
laughing, they'll have an appreciation
for and insight into women's issues, "
Fleischer says. 17
Skylarks will be presented at 8
p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2
p.m. Sundays, Nov. 19-Dec. 5, at
the OnStage Theatre in the
McAuley Theatre on the Outer
Drive Campus of the University
of Detroit Mercy. The play is not
suitable for children. $10/$2 dis-
counts for students and seniors.
(313) 993-1130.
TOTAL
DINNER
BILL
DINE IN OR CARRY-OUT
• Excludes Holidays
• Expires 12-31-99
• Complete Catering Service Fier All Occasions
Open 7 Days A Week
29875 NORTHWESTERN HIGHWAY
At Inkster • Applegate Square • 353-7890
Former Location: 5815 Dixie Highway • Waterford
•
Sseckmadm
1#•",iivre '1Aort.k.
AUTHENTIC SZECHUAN COOKING
• ' --- resh Seafood • Zocktails
• J--lome of General Tso's Chicken
• 'Y\o MSG on all dishes • 'Vegetarian Dishes
• 'taily Specials
39450 14 Mile Rd.
(corner of Haggerty in the Newberry Square Plaza)
(248) 960-7666
Original location: 29215 5 Mile Rd. at Middlebelt-Livonia
° WI:,
);'-‘ati -2
coupon per table • with coupon
Expires 12/31/99
'.