eater, haul anc) clrary Olympia's Odyssey Actress' one-woman role in "Rose" takes her from a tiny Russian shtetl, to the Warsaw Ghetto, to the ship "Exodus" and, finally, to the boardwalk in Atlantic City. SUZANNE CHESSLER Special to the Jewish News A DETROIT ' .priC 11 7.•30P914 Tickets On Sale NOW! Tickets also avaiable at all ticketmaster locations, the Detroit Opera House Box Office, online at ticketmaster. com,or charge by phone at 248-645-6666. All tickets subject to convenience :handling charges. Date and acts subject to change without notice. A CiearChannel Entertainment Event. Get Tickets fit )here Business mg Pleasure Available for Private Dining on Sundays -by appointment only, • Bar/Bat Mitzvahs • Weddings/Anniversaries ,• Private Parties up to 400 Guests 245 S. Eton, Birmingham • (248) 647-7774 wwuzbigroclechophouse.com Breakfast, Lunch 8 Dinner Served 24 Hours A Day Enjoy Our Homecooked Daily Dinner Specials FAMILY RESTAURANT. 4 Morning Glory Breakfasts 2621:10 W. 12 Mile Road from $ 2.49 of Smithfield Just E. of Northwestern (248) 353-3232 3/15 2002 82 141.1 I 3-Egg Omelettes... $ 3.99 Monday-Friday 5 a.m. - 11 a.m. No Holiday or Senior Citizen Discounts on these Super Specials JN: What do you like about the pro- duction Rose as a concert piece and how does it differ from the play? OD: Performing Rose is such an extraor- dinary experience because it covers a woman's entire life. Not too many plays do that. The concert piece is one-half hour shorter [than the play] and does not have an intermission, so it builds nicely, I think. cademy Award winner Olympia Dukakis takes the role of an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor March 21 at Temple Israel, where she will appear in Rose, a one-character theater piece that recalls a woman's journey through the 20th century. The production, also being sponsored JN: Did you do any special research or study to prepare for this role? by Adat Shalom Synagogue and the OD: I did quite a bit of research. I Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah, is watched films and video about shtetl life a concert version of Martin Sherman's from our local Holocaust center in New play. The work, expressed in mono- Jersey. I watched documentaries about logue, covers experiences in Europe and the ghettos and the Exodus America and integrates crossing, read books about world events and issues as survival in the sewers and they affected the members studied photos about the of Rose's family, who are conditions [Rose faced]. I introduced in words only. also studied with a dialect Dukakis, 70, who won coach to achieve what I hope the Oscar for Best is an authentic Yiddish Supporting Actress in the accent. romantic comedy Moonstruck, built her stage JN: What did you learn career before moving on to about Judaism as you took television and feature films. on this character? The actress, cousin of Al OD: There is a desire to be once presidential candidate Olympia Dukakis plays even-handed and fir, to see Michael Dukakis, became an 80-year-old survivor both sides of an argument. I fascinated with the theater in the one-woman show learned how deep and abid- while performing in her "Rose," which she brings ing are the roots of family father's amateur troupe in and, in the case of Rose, life to Temple Israel on Massachusetts, but she in the shtetl. The instinct Thursday. decided 16 become a physi- and desire to survive are very cal therapist before tackling much a part of it as is the the stage as a profession. sense of not belonging, of being an out- After earning a master's degree in per- sider. And always, there is the humor. forming arts from Boston University, JN: What other Jewish characters have she moved to New York, where she you portrayed and can you make any found Off-Broadway roles and met her comparisons to this one? husband, actor Louis Zorich, during an OD: In Social Security on Broadway, audition. They have three children. *th Mario Thomas and Ron Silver, I Dukakis — whose film credits include played Marlo's 80-year-old mother, Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland's Opus, Sophie Greengrass. I loved her self-dep- Look Who's Talking and The Cemetery recating humor. Club will next appear in Strange — Relations. In that Showtime drama, debuting March 31, she plays another Jewish character, Esther Lipman, the mother of a son (Paul Reiser) stricken with leukemia. In anticipation of her performance in Rose, Dukakis answered questions for the Detroit Jewish News JN: What are the universals in the character of Rose that go beyond Judaism? OD: There's the desire to live life fully and deeply and then find the courage to do that. I think that's true for all people. She shares, with all immigrants, the feel- ing of being an outsider. JN: Do you see any of yourself in this role?