Sneak Previews U-M's Festival of New Works showcases promising theater and film pieces in a staged reading format. BILL CARROLL Special to the Jewish News ew works" is an apt term to describe a group of plays, musicals and screenplays coming to Ann Arbor's Trueblood and Arena Theatres May 19- June 18. It's the second season for the University of Michigan's Festival of New Works, a developmental theater for new plays, screenplays and musicals in staged-reading formats. And this year's festival has a distinct Jewish fla- vor. The works include a stage adapta- tion of novelist Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman, directed by a Jewish female; a rock musical called Rooms, composed by a Scottish Jew; and an original screenplay, Allison, penned by a former local Jewish man whose wife is studying to become a rabbi. "I guess you could call this a 'pre-, pre-' playhouse," said Mary Lou Chlipala, managing director of the fes- tival and program director of U-M's Film and Video Studies program. "The writers are still working on these plays to be staged elsewhere, so the festival provides a perfect showcase for them." "We're excited about the entire festi- val lineup," said Frank Gagliano, a West Virginia University playwriting professor who is serving as artistic director again this year. The rest of the program includes the screenplays Cold (May 19) and Getting There (May 20), and the play The Total Immersion of Madeleine Favorini, by Gagliano himself (June 16-17). N D an Shere, 25, wrote the screenplay Allison, which will be staged June 16-17. Currently living in Los Angeles, the screenwriter grew up in Southfield and West Bloomfield, attended Hillel Day School and North Farmington High School and graduat- ed from U-M's Film and Video Studies program. His parents are Joel (a lawyer) and Margaret (an occupational thera- 5/12 2000 118 pist) Shere of West Bloomfield. Shere got interested in writing dur- ing his senior year at U-M, inspired by an old friend, Joe Nussbaum, at the University of Southern California film school. "He always called me to bounce around script ideas, and it really gave me the film bug," Shere reflected. Curious about screenwriting, he enrolled in instructor Jim Burnstein's U-M screenwriting class. "And he taught me everything I needed to know about writing," said Shere. Shere wrote a script called Goat Cheese for class, which he eventually sold to United Artists; the project is now on hold because of the studio's uncertain status. Goat Cheese is about two students who don't fit in well at their high school. Desperate to gain some kind of identity, they form a rock band even though they know next to nothing Screenwriter Dan Shere: "In Allison,' I used many of my friends- and acquaintances fr om U-M as models." about music. In California, Shere and Nussbaum wrote George Lucas in Love, which has become somewhat of a cult film. It has been shown at several film festivals around North America and was named Best Short at the U.S. Comedy Festival in Aspen. Lucas is a comical cross between Star Wars and Shakespeare in Love, telling about the struggles of a young George Lucas, who, as a senior in film school, tries to write the Star Wars script. It's complete with characters that look and sound like Darth Vader, Yoda and Princess Leia. Lucas caught the attention of famed director Steven Spielberg, who hired Shere to rewrite a script for his DreamWorks Studio. Shere and Nussbaum are now collaborating on a new romantic comedy. Allison = mixing standup one-lin- ers, zany surreal scenes and a charming, painful sweetness — takes a quirky look at college romance and coming of age as the lead character tries to figure out what in the world to do with a phi- losophy degree in the new millennium. "In Allison, I used many of my friends and acquaintances from U-M as models," says Shere. "I also used plenty of Ann Arbor motifs, such as painting graffiti on the Rock, running the `Naked Mile,' and sledding at the Arb.' However, the Allison character wasn't based on any one individual." Shere's wife, Rachel Lawson, gradu- ated from Birmingham's Andover High School, and also attended U-M. The couple have been married almost two years, and she's studying for the rab- binate at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. "Occasionally, in meetings with pro- ducers and other film studio executives, when I mention that my wife is study- ing to become a rabbi, they get more interested in talking about her than me," Shere mused. "We're both very committed to studying Torah and being active in the Los Angeles Jewish com- 16 :::"NsW att .W,...a .W T EA V,W VA :„ 1 . 244,ARF,',W: .:k", ; :s7r \ yel.:35,1 S