logoogetas
i4.
CONEY ISLAND
Greek and American Cuisine
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK.
154 S. Woodward, Birmingham
(248) 540-8780
Halsted Village
(37580 W. 12 Mile Rd.)
Farmington Hills
(248) 553-2360
6527 Telegraph Rd.
Corner of Maple (15 Mile)
Bloomfield Township
(248) 646-8568
4763 Haggerty Rd. at Pontiac Trail
West Wind Village Shopping Center
West Bloomfield
(248) 669-2295
841 East Big Beaver, Troy
(248) 680-0094
SOUTHFIELD SOUVLAKI
CONEY ISLAND
Nine Mile & Greenfield
15647 West Nine Mile, Southfield
(248) 569-5229
FARMINGTON SOUVLAKI
CONEY ISLAND
Between 13 & 14 on
Orchard Lake Road
30985 Orchard Lake Rd.
Farmington Hills
(248) 626-9732
UPTOWN PARTHENON
4301 Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield
(248) 538-6000
HERCULES FAMILY RESTAURANT
33292 West 12 Mile
Farmington Hills
(248) 489-9777
Serving whitefish, lamb shank,
pastitsio and moussaka
r MIL MIIR IMO IWO,
111111711
111111111. .1111....911
Entire Bill
not to go with any other offer
with coupon
Expires 12/30/2000
8/18
2000
78
ow um ma am re I= =Nam INE
The Play's The 'Tilling
It takes a committee when Jewish Ensemble Theatre
sets out to select its schedule of productions.
duction of The Immigrant, which enjoyed a highly success-
ful run last season. Wineman admires the way the play-
wright, Mark Harelik, has structured all elements in a man-
ner very appropriate to the theme. The current production,
n offices at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in West
which opens Sunday, Aug. 20, runs through Sept. 17.
Bloomfield are stacks of scripts — some read and
The newest committee member is Pino, who joined the
enjoyed, others read and on their way to being returned
group
after appearing in Broken Glass last season and mak-
to playwrights, many more waiting to be reviewed.
ing
it
known
that she had stepped away from acting for a
Amid the rush of getting ready for the 2000-2001 sea-
time
to
produce
'corporate and industrial presentations.
son, responsibilities for seasons to follow already have been
"I've
read
seven
plays and gone through them entirely
accepted by the Play Selection Committee, a seven-member
because
sometimes
the relevance does not become evident
team. After dividing some 200 scripts each year for initial
until the last act," says Pino, who has requested scripts from
readings, members discuss the merits of the plays, pointing
a theater company in Florida that does all new works. "I'm
out the ones they think should be staged, either as full pro-
thrilled just being around theater people again."
ductions or in staged readings.
Beer, in her fourth year on the JET committee, brings a
Evelyn Orbach, both artistic director of JET since it
New
York perspective. She invests in theater and is a backer of
opened in 1988 and a committee member, has final say on
the
Broadway
musical revue Swing.
the choices but does not restrict the pool of material to
"Theater
is
my passion, so this committee gives me an outlet
what comes through the mail.
for
that
as
I
discuss
and review plays," says Beer, who also has
She travels to new-play festivals around the country and
invested in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
networks with other Jewish theaters to track down works of
with Nathan Lane and Triumph of Love with Betty Buckley
substance. That often includes known pieces that haven't
"I have season subscriptions to a lot of the theaters in
been done in this area for awhile.
Michigan
and enjoy the exchange of energy between perform-
Orbach's schedule is a little tighter this year because the
ers and audiences in live productions.
comedy slated to end the season has to be replaced.
I have every single playbill from every
A problem with the rights to present it keeps her
Members
of
JET's
Play
play I've ever seen."
looking for another comedy before fully moving on
Beer was first contacted to invest
Selection Committee
to choices for 2001 - 2002.
in
productions
after purchasing tick-
"When I planned this committee, I looked for peo-
include, left to right,
ets for plays in New York through
ple who loved theater and had some literary license,"
Sidney Dillick, Evelyn
the Actors Fund. She enjoys going
says Orbach of West Bloomfield, who has instructed
to the workshops of potential shows
Orbach, Rosalie Beer,
them to work within the boundaries of JET's mission.
backers as well as the
"Our plays tackle issues of humanity and communi-
Saul Wineman and Kelly soliciting
opening-night
parties.
ty from a Jewish perspective," says Orbach, "and I love
Pino. Not pictured are
Beer
reads
about
30 plays a year
that we have different eyes and ears involved in the
for
JET
and
encouraged
the 1999-
Bert
and
Larry
Wember.
selection process."
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
I
Loaded with stacks of scripts are Saul
Wineman of Farmington Hills, chairman of the
committee; Rosalie Beer and Sidney Dillick,
both of West Bloomfield; Kelly Pino of
Plymouth; and Bert and Larry Wember of Oak
Park. Although they may lobby for plays that
somehow resonate with them at a very deep
level, they also must consider how individual
.
plays mesh with the others in the season.
Orbach has been holding some she likes for
five years as she scouts the right slot.
"I never look for a specific thematic factor,"
says Wineman, a humanities professor at Wayne
State University who, under the name Paul
Winter, has been a radio and television broadcast-
er as well. "The reputation of the playwright is
influential as is the number of cast members,
which affects production expenses."
Wineman, on the committee from the begin-
ning, has read hundreds of plays with JET in
mind and recently pushed for an additional pro-