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 '.