Arts it E ertainment

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Playwright Charles Busch, clean shaven and in drag: "The
self-invented person is a theme in everything I've written."

OPEN DAILY - LUNCH & DINNER

WIFE' from page 80

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Bill

els and scribbled 50 pages of memo-
ries about his matriarchal family.
"When my sister told my aunt she
was planning to take a boat trip
down the Rhine, Belle said, 'I hope
you can sleep on pillows filled with
Jewish hair," he says of the inspira-
tion for one line in the play. "It's so
weird to hear audiences laugh at
things my aunt said that shocked
and appalled us. But Belle loved it.
"When she saw the show in New
York, she kept turning to people in
the theater, saying, 'That's me!"
Not everyone has been so thrilled
with Busch's irreverent play, which
was denounced in a June 30 letter to
the LOs Angeles Times as "a gross
stereotypical portrayal of a dysfunc-
tional New York Jewish family." But
actors who have starred in Allergist's
Wife staunchly defend the play.
Tony Roberts, a veteran of Woody
Allen films who played Taub's hubby

in the New York and Los Angeles
productions, says the piece is "an
honest portrayal of people, whether
Jewish or gentile or Muslim."
The playwright, meanwhile, views
The Tale of the _Allergist's Wife as a
tribute to his aunts, both of whom
died in the last two years.
"Aunt Lillian never got to see the
play," says Busch, who himself near-
ly died after suffering an aneurysm
in 2001. "My career path must have
seemed odd for a woman of her gen-
eration. But she never wavered in
her support of me."

,

.

❑

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife will
be performed 8 p.m. Tuesdays-
Saturdays, `'p.m. Saturdays and
Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays,
Nov. 5-24, at the Fisher Theatre
in Detroit. $25-$50.
• Information: (313) 872-1000.
Tickets: (248) 645-6666.

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82

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WHERE THE JEWISH

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www.jevvish.com

painful for me to work on Yom
Kippur," she says. "But since I was
new, I felt I had no choice. Mike,
though, did not come to work on
Yom Kippur."
One of the highlights of perform-
ing with this company, James says, is
the talented cast. "Everyone is easy
to work with — we have no divas,"
she says. "Valerie is funny, smart and
a hard worker, and Mike has this
wonderful background. He is a real
professional."
Although James had been doing
episodic television and regional the-
ater for years, at the time she landed
the role of Frieda, she was busy man-
aging her casting agency, Speakeasy.
"I cast voice-overs for feature

films," says James, whose own TV
acting credits include Law & Order
and Third Watch and whose stage
credits include Funny Girl.
"I did the background for the film
The Sixth Sense and I have been
doing voice coordinating for Sex and
the City. Whenever there is a crowd,
the background people don't speak,
so I. get people to put conversation
in the mouths of those who are eat-
ing in restaurants, walking down the
street, screaming, etc."
For now, James, who is married
and has two sons and four grandchil-
dren, is focusing on the Allergist's
Wife.
"It's such a great opportunity and
it's fun traveling around the coun-
try," she says. "I look forward to
Detroit." ❑

