TEMPLE ISRAEL'S FAMILY LIFE CENTER, THE TEMPLE ISRAEL TREASURES & THE CARING COMMUNITY PRESENT: PEOPLE WATCHER from page 75 Thursday, May 10, 2001 1:30-3:00 PM Temple Israel Open to the community & free of charge! As part of our regular afternoon program for Seniors, we invite you for coffee, cookies & great company. Bring your friends to this wonderful afternoon! .11 TEMPLE ISRAEL FAMILY LIFE CENTER Partially funded by the David Arthur Stulberg Memorial Fund & the Harry & Phyllis Kellman Memorial Fund 5725 Walnut Lake Road West Bloomfield, MI 48323 Phone: 248-661-5700 www.temple-israel.org (941/2001 - -Atedirttlietott e IX=tiiiit.rreitrem 71;le .( eme/174:7-yekair Levere/ or;)iltei I BANQUET AND CATERING AVAILABLE • '6 24-8.476.()()44- COUPON OFF Second Entree Excludes pizza, sandwiches & salad. Dine in only. One coupon per table Not to be used on Dinner for 2 Special. Expires 5/25/2001 El aminq Sh6 Under New Ownership I • New Executive Chef ln House 5/4 2001 78 • r Fine middle-Eastern Cuisine & International Specialty Dishes 25% Off Dinner (Dine In Only) Through month of May Free Dessert With Lunch During May 39777 Grand River • Novi (West of Haggerty in the Pheasant Run Plaza) (248) 477-8600 FAX: (248) 477 9306 - "The characters realize that they have a great deal in common, and that tran- scends their differences." Jones, who has worked with the Plowshares Theatre Company and the Attic Theatre, has had Ansuini as a director while appearing in the play Three Ways Home. For the current pro- duction, Jones finds it interesting being exposed to a different culture as expressed by the playwright. Denker, born and raised in New York City, where he earned his law degree during the Great Depression, wrote as a hobby throughout school and after, especially when he found his profession dull and discouraging. His first play, though never pro- duced, brought attention to him as a writer, and he was hired into radio. One series, The Greatest Story Ever Told, ran 10 years and was the basis of the motion picture. A second try for the stage met with a string of successes. The first was Time Limit, a play about the Korean War. Other productions included A Far Country, which was about Freud's first patient, and A Case of Libel, which was done three separate times on television. Filled with ideas, Denker became adept at deciding which medium would offer the best form of expression for each. He was happiest when the novel was the right approach because that gave him the most independence. "I often have had Jewish characters in my books," Denker says. " The Healers, which begins in Vienna in 1848, was about a young Jewish boy who was a medical student, got involved with the revolution and had to flee Austria. It [relates] his [fictional] experiences in this country with the original Mt. Sinai Hospital [in New York City], which was called 'Jews Hospital' then." The King Maker, Denker's only book detailing a real person, Ronald Reagan, has to do with the transfor- mation from actor to governor of California on the threshold of the presidency. The author, incidentally, as producer of TV's Medallion Theatre, was glad to work with Reagan on vari- ous programs because of the former president's pleasant ways, punctuality and facility with learning lines. Coincidentally, it was the same program that brought Denker to Detroit's automotive board rooms, where he met with the high-powered sponsors of his shows. "Reagan's campaign was the first time they began to have campaign [managers] instead of political big shots running campaigns," Denker explains about his book and the moti- vation for writing it. "Reagan also [pioneered] the whole idea of the 20- second sound bite as a way of control- ling what goes on television." Most of Denker's writing has to do with law and medicine, and Horowitz and Mrs. Washington is a prime example. "We treat, in a very specific and accurate way, the problems that are pre- sented by someone who has a stroke," he says. "A big problem, from a medical point of view, is that stroke victims are very depressed and often give up. "The books and play explore how to deal medically and therapeutically with a man in his mid-60s and how he [copes Playwright Henry Denker on the characters in "Horowitz and Mrs. Washington: "I liked the opportunity to not just tell the story but at the same time take part in the revolution that was going on in this country in terms of race." with the aftermath]. Everything in the play in relation to the stroke, such as the implements used and the exercises, is very authentic. I did a lot of research." Denker, still writing, has transitioned to the computer, not an entirely happy move because of early equipment prob- lems. With his defective model replaced, productivity is returning. "When I'm working on a long proj- ect, I have to concentrate," Denker says. "I have to work at it seven days a week because if I take time off, I lose momentum." Ell Horowitz and Mrs. Washington holds previews May 9-13 and runs through June 10 at the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center. Opening night, Sunday, May 13, begins at 7:30 p.m. Other performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays. $16-$26 with sen- ior, student and group discounts. (248) 788-2900.