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former maitre'd of The Original Sheik In Downtown Detroit

Invites You To Enjoy Our Famous

Baby Lamb Shish Kabob & Lamb Chops
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1

.G. NICK'S

6066 W. Maple • West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322 • (248) 851-0805

i

ALL DINNERS
DINE IN & CARRY-OUT

7 DAYS A WEEK!

with coupon

WE ARE
NOW OPEN
MONDAYS
CLOSED
SUNDAYS

Mon. thru Sat. 10 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Fri. & Sat. (Carry-Out) 9 p.m.-11 p.m.

g tEnD

31'13111

0

Lincoln Shopping Center
10-1/2 Mile Road & Greenfield
Oak Park ■ (248) 968-0022

Tender boneless breast of chicken sautéed into a classic Piccata then served atop
a bed of angel-hair pasta and served with a choice of soup or salad...$12.95

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THE GALLERY RESTAURANT

Enjoy gracious dining amid a beautiful
atmosphere of casual elegance

(i k

BREAKFAST LUNCH r DINNER

OPEN 7 DAYS: MON.- SAT. 7 a.m.- 9:30 p.m. SUN. 8 a.m.- 9 p.m.
(11°. West Bloomfield Plaza • 6638 Telegraph Road and Maple • 248-851-0313

1/28
2000

86

4

its

Eutertain ent

At The Movies

LIFE IN THE THEATER on page 84

on improvising situations. "They have
to be versatile; they can't just play
themselves," he says. "They must be
intelligent, sensitive, have a sense of
humor, social awareness. I can't work
with self-absorbed actors, egos."
The screenplay then develops out of
their work. Though it's been said that
Leigh does not work with a script,
that it's all improvisation, he says, "it
winds up being very precise. We
rehearse, and I write [the script] by
directing it.
"A lot is drawn from what has been
improvised, from working on felation-
ships, and I rewrite." He adds, "I hope
we end up with good dialogue. And
after that, we shoot the picture."
For Topsy-Turvy, an entire research
department was established over a year
before shooting began, allowing all
involved to become seeped in every
aspect of Victorian life. A musical
director and choreographer worked
alongside Leigh; and, he adds, every
person who plays a musical instrument
or sings on screen can actually do so.
The historical accuracy Leigh insist-
ed upon was particularly crucial to the
portrait of Gilbert's wife, Kitty, and
Sullivan's mistress, Fanny Ronalds.
"Sullivan kept diaries, and so it's
fairly clear what sort of relationship -
his was with Mrs. Ronalds," says
Leigh. "Gilbert's relationship with his
wife is really enigmatic.
"We've done what I'd have thought
responsible biographers at first glance
should do, which is to take what you
can find out and then really start to
breathe life into it. But then, since we
don't have the responsibility of being
biographers as such, we take the liber-
ty of creating a living character."
Leigh was born in Salford,
Lancashire, England, a working-class
area near Manchester, where his
father was a physician. Training
briefly as an actor at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art in
London, Leigh was disappointed in
the school's emphasis on technique
and lack of emphasis on life. He
continued his studies at various art
schools, eventually landing at the
London Film School.
The director's first feature film,
1971's Bleak Moments, was followed
by a 17-year hiatus from theatrical
films. Concentrating on the British
stage and television, he returned to
films with High Hopes in 1988, which
examined both sides of the class wall
in Margaret Thatcher's England.
His treatment of the classes, howev-
er, has no lofty condescension or
sneering adulation; he simply is

