2 ,00,K4,4 r. r 40, 1, -.4&` .00rtt ..,4064X ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Off I . DINE IN OR CARRY-OUT GOOD AT ALL 5 LOCATIONS ( t MUST PRESENT COUPON `Phantom' Observance Offer not valid between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. ! Not good with other discounts • Expires 5/31/01 jii IS :MM4.;-,,,:,,, x e-4..,,,:„,<,,v,>74; 114,11k, =,,MM. , . , kM,MAT, 47KAMM, Jewish cast member manages to find a way to observe holidays while on the road. BILL CARROLL Special to the Jewish News T raumatized by a rebuke from a mean music teacher when his voice broke while auditioning for a choir at the age of 13, Lawrence Asher stopped singing for five years. But his "nice old Jewish grandmother" kept after him to take voice lessons and return to singing. Now, Asher, a bass baritone, plays two supporting roles, singing four solos plus parts of other songs, in The Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber's venerable award-winning musical that opened last week for a return engage- ment in Detroit's Masonic Temple Theatre. It contin- ues through Saturday, May 26. Phantom, which premiered in London in 1986, is being seen for the first time by new Lawrence Ash .: generations of the- atergoers, including b even Asher, when he joined the ca.)._ for the national tour 21/- years ago. Asher plays the parts of Don Attilio and Passarino, two featured roles in the operas performed within The Phantom of the Opera, which came to Detroit from Memphis where Asher celebrated Passover with the only other two Jewish people connected with the troupe. "We had a seder in the activities room of an apartment complex," he said. "Each of us did some cooking. I brushed up on my old seder recipes and cooked up some matzah ball soup. We took turns davening and had a lot of fun. "That's the life of an actor on the road. One year I celebrated Chanukah in Paris — at a Jewish restaurant with the traditional Chanukah holiday dish- es." Observing holidays as a bachelor will end next month for Asher, when he will marry Jenifer Shenker, a stage man- ager, in her hometown of Boston. A New Jersey native, Asher became a bar mitzvah at a Reform temple. He attended Bard College and Ithaca University in New York State, graduat- ing with a double major in political sci- ence and Russian literature. "We had several lawyers in the fami- ALL Little caddy's Locations Now Feature OUR GREAT LAMB CHOPS ly, and my parents wanted me to get into that field because they felt it would be more secure for me," Asher reflected. "They urged me to get a complete liberal arts background. Then I chose an acting career." Asher took accordion, violin and trumpet lessons as a youngster, before getting the acting bug while at sum- mer camp. In his first musical per- formance at age 11, he dressed up like an elderly man and played the Salvation Army-type captain in Guys and Dolls, singing the show's only tear-jerking ballad, More I Cannot Wish You. "It's the type of song that brings tears to the eyes of women, and that happened to my family that night," he said. "My grandmother never forgot it and she spurred me on. Eventually, I took some voice and acting lessons, then hit the theater cir- cuit." After performing some dramatic roles, Asher appeared in My Fair Lady, Music Man, Sweeney Todd, The Most Happy Fella, The Pirate King and some light opera shows. "In order to perform in musicals 52 weeks a year, you must have true passion for the role you're playing," he said. "You have to give consistent, vibrant performances all of the time, and that's what I've always tried to do." Asher recalls a Yiddish Art Song class he took in New York City under Jewish composer-instructor Lazar Weiner: "He asked us for the musical meaning of the letters 'MF' and 'MP,' usually standing for mezzo forte (medium loud) and mezzo piano (louder). "`No,' Weiner said. 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WHAT COULD BE EASIER? 6646 Telegraph at Maple • Bloomfield Plaza • 248-932.0800 The Phantom of the Opera continues at Detroit's Masonic Temple Theatre through Saturday, May 26. $16-$68. (313) 832 2232, (313) 872 1000 or (248) 645 6666. - - - The Simone 5/4 2001 79