Specim siciteR'S DaY Arts is Entertainment PeRiTeRmaiiice The Jewish Ensemble Theatre & The Detroit Jewish News present... from page 64 attacks, the two stars, Erez Tal and Orna Banai, staged a skit in which they went out on a date at a cafe. When the waiter popped the cork on their cham- pagne, they threw themselves to the ground. 'Are you crazy?" screamed the woman. "What do you think you're doing, going around opening bottles?" While the scene was audacious in poking fun at the daily tragedies in current Israeli life, it is typical of a certain Israeli ability to find humor in the ongoing matzay. In fact, Only in Israel is one of the most popular Israeli TV shows, drawing an average of half a million viewers each week, out of a country of just five million plus. To Tal and Banai, the show's stars, the idea- is "relevant escapism," taking what scares people most and making fun of it until it is less scary. Similarly, Israelis found it easier to laugh at the threat presented by Saddam Hussein when Yatzpan dressed up as the Iraqi leader, assuring his television audience that his mobile laboratories were merely intended for ESCAPISM MAY 7th-JUNE 8th adapted by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok from Potok's book Directed by: Pat Ansuini Takes us back to the 1940s and Brooklyn's Williamburg neighborhood in this compelling theatrical version of Potok's critically acclaimed story of friendship, religion, fathers and sons. Tickets on sale now! (248) 788-2900 Bring your mother to either the 2 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. performance on Sunday May 11th and she gets in FREE .... <,''"'"E''',-, 2 with the purchase of your ticket! / ic ITN Sometimes funny, often stirring " -Washington D.C. City Paper Moving...examines the freedom that comes with the passage from childhood to adulthood- intellectual freedom religious freedom America's promise of Freedom " - Philidelphia Weekly The May 11th performance is sponsored by: Renah & Max Bardenstein; Barbara & Bernard Rosenand Family's in celebration of the memory of Louis and Esther LaMed The May 18th, 7:30 p.m. performance is sponsored by: Bluma & Leonard Siegal The June 7th, 8 p.m. performance is sponsored by: Rita & John Haddow 709220 New T444i Rt4e4viviLciA4 1 4/,02:4€4,- Deuy, • Tuesday thru Thursday: 11 am - 10pm Friday: 11 am - 11pm Saturday: 4 pm - 11pm Sunday: 4 pm - 9pm 574~47 14107 ite4 I I I Expires 5/30/03 - Not Good With Any Other Coupon ME NMI 111•• MIN IMINI SPOSITA'S RISTORANTE 66 Fine Italian Dining in a Casual Atmosphere ROOTS from page 65 Nathan Alterman poems put to music by some of Israel's legendary tune- smiths, such as Sasha Argov, Moshe Vilensky and Mordehai Zaira. Then there's the Pruta and the Moon compilation, with contributions from veteran Yemenite-born diva Shoshana Damari, Arik Einstein, Esther Ofarim and Yehoram Gaon that take the romantic nostalgia mood to the limit. Like Manor, Heiman believes it is not only the political-security situation that has brought him and his contem- poraries back into vogue. He feels young Israelis are searching the cyber mists of the global village for some- thing tangible. Reaching Out "Youngsters today sit at home in front of their computers and never see or touch other people. Then you have a bad geopolitical and geo-economic sit- uation, like we have now, and people try to escape that, try to reach out and Far left: Popular female singer Zehava Ben, of the younger generation of Israeli peiformers, recently released an album based on old material. Total Bill 16 gm 5/ 2 2003 Jessica Steinberg is a Jerusalem-based freelance writer. finding the formula to Coca-Cola. The very next night, Yatzpan might impersonate the dovish Shimon Peres, portrayed as an arrogant ego- maniac ranting about the possibilities for peace, or portray Sharon and Arafat singing show tunes. Sometimes, Yatzpan joins forces with Tal and Banai, as they did in January, when Yatzpan, impersonat- ing Ariel Sharon, debated with Banai's political persona, "Limor," offering a cynical, but hilarious, inter- pretation of the upcoming elections. The situation and its accompany- ing realities also have become part of the Israeli vernacular. During a recent episode of Dudu Tobaz, the popular evening talk show, Topaz had his guest, Mizrachi singer Margalit Tzanani, guess the identities of several random people from her life who came on the show. It took her a few minutes to iden- tify the surgeon who had operated on her several years earlier, and her kindergarten gym teacher, but she immediately identified the security guard from her bank. "I know you," she exclaimed. "You check my bag every week!" Only in Israel. fi INN 33210 W. 14 Mile Road In Simsbury Plaza Just East of Farmington Road West Bloomfield (248) 538-8954 709i390 Left: The material of senior artists like crooner Arik Sinai is being resurrected for today's audiences.