Raising The Bar

Two Ann Arbor attorneys collaborate
to write a comedy about
a profession they know well.

1.1

SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News

NPR (National Public Radio) who had
done a lot of speaking before writers
groups, and she inspired me to sit
finding facts to impress
down at the computer," Stein recalled
judges and juries has been
about the catalyst for the project the
the 30-year objective of
pals had been discussing for years.
Ann Arbor lawyers
"In a couple of weeks, I had
and friends Jerry Lax and Ed Above: Ed Stein Act I without having planned
Stein, but, recently, creating
and Jerry Lax:
it. It just sort of turned out,
fiction to impress theater
Two lawyers
and I sent it to Jerry. A couple
administrators and audiences who get laughs. weeks later, he gave me Act II.
has been vying for their
We collaborated from there
attention.
on.
Certainly familiar with the bad rap
Although the friends, both 58,
attorneys often get and the jokes that
wanted the production to be accurate
fall in line with the attitude, the two
about the way some attorneys react to
collaborated on what they consider a
the practice of law, they also wanted
comedic spinoff and have infused their to show the scope of individual
first play with professional bons mots
approaches and styles. They tested
to take the edge off the criticism.
their dialogue during gatherings of
... and Associates, running April 28-
friends in their homes before submit-
May 21 at Ann Arbor's Performance
ting a script to Performance Network.
Network, follows an ambulance chaser,
[Geoff Rubenfire], the main char-
Geoff Rubenfire, who is fueled by the
acter, probably started out with a
big case of his career. The cast includes
more idealistic view of what he was
Mark Rademacher as Rubenfire; Leigh
trying to accomplish," Lax explains.
Woods as Rubenfire's arch-rival, Bill
"But his experiences in some cases and
O'Brien; Carla Milarch as his young
the pressures of having to get through
assistant, Pat; and Mary L. Petit as his
the day and the process have made
secretary, Cindy. Karl Sikkenga and
him far less sensitive than he may have
Phyllis Wright also appear.
been in the beginning."
"I heard an author interviewed on
In the play, Rubenfire, once a bril-

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