Tribute To A Jewish Mother Playwright Trish Vradenburg's "Surviving Grace" is the wise- cracking, heartrending story of a Jewish family coping with Alzheimer's' disease. ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER Special to the Jewish News r or playwright Trish Vradenburg, writing the Off-Broadway, semi-autobio- graphical show Surviving Grace was both difficult and cathartic. In the comedy/drama, currently at New York's Union Square Theater, daughter Kate Griswald (Illeana Douglas), a sitcom writer, bridles at the criticism of her loving but sometimes overbearing mother, Grace Griswald (Doris Belack). But when the mother is stricken with Alzheimer's, Kate offers unconditional love and support. "Every part of writing the play was like a cleans- ing experience," says Vradenburg, who based Grace on her own mother, Bea Lerner, who died in 1991. "I have written a lot of things, but I never cared about anything as much as this. Basically, I get to see my mom each night." It isn't really a play about Alzheimer's, Doris Belack, the Jewish actress known for her role as Judge Margaret Barry on Law & Order, told Playbill. It's "about Alzheimer's as a catalyst that brings a resolution of the mother/daughter rela- tionship." In the play, Grace is given an experimental Doris Belack and drug, and for a brief time her disease goes into Illeana Douglas in remission. "Unfortunately, that part was fiction," "Surviving Grace." says Vradenburg. "My mother died before there were any notable medications [for Alzheimer's]. My fantasy was that you could clear up the disease with drugs. Today, they do have drugs that make a difference, but they didn't in the early 1990s." Born and raised in New Jersey, Vradenburg began her writing career after grad- uation from Boston University, taking on assignments for the New York Daily News and various magazines, including Ladies' Home Journal. She went on to write scripts for TV shows like Kate and Allie, Designing Women and Family Ties. Her play The Apple Doesn't Fall ... was produced in Los Angeles and then on Broadway. Surviving Grace opened at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., before coming to New York. The play, says Vradenburg, also is a way of honoring her mother, a former president of the New Jersey chapter of the Zionist Organization of America. Judaism has remained an Playwright 7i-ish important part of Vradenburg's life. Raised with a Vradenburg Conservative background, "I have always had a Jewish home and values, and when my kids were growing up, we had Friday night Shabbat dinners." Daughter Alissa, 31, is a Harvard Law School graduate and a talent manager; son Tyler, 28, is an actor/producer/writer. Her husband of 33 years, George Vradenburg III, currently the adviser to Steve Case, chairman of the board at AOL Time Warner, converted to Judaism. "It was always important to my mother that I many someone Jewish, so [George] became Jewish and we have a great marriage," she says. Vradenburg is the sister of Michael Lerner, the editor of the liberal Jewish mag- azine Tikkun; she is the publisher. For many of the performances of Surviving Grace, the playwright sits in the back of the audience, watching and listening. "Sure, there is a lot of anxiety in having a play so personal being performed," she says. ',Tut it's wonderful and very worthwhile." For infbrrnation and tickets, call (212) 3074100. FURNITURE JEWELRY VINTAGE CLOTHING RADIOS TV'S COWBOY FILM PHOTOGRAPHS .ART GLASS CHINA SILVER BRONZES CLOCKS WATCHES ARCHITECTURAL PAINTINGS PRINT ART POSTER ART TEXTILES LAMPS AND BY FAR THE GROOVIEST ASSORTMENT OF RETRO MEMORABILIA TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE ON THIS PLANET ... ALL FOR SALE ! FANTASTIC ! 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