tertamment Best Bets CLASSICAL NOTES LAUGH LINES Chamber Music Ann Arbor presents U-M music faculty, local musicians and guests in a program of works by various composers in "From Vienna to New York ... A Musical Journey" Friday-Saturday, May 16-17, and Wednesday-Thursday, May 21-22. Included are soprano Deanna Relyea, violinist Aaron Berofsky, violist Yizhak Schotten and cellist (and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra conductor) Arie Lipsky. Ticket prices and venues vary. Call for information: (734) 930-1960. Chamber Music Society of Detroit hosts the Miami String Quartet, with classical guitarist Pepe Romero, 8 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Seligman Performing Arts Center in Beverly Hills. $22- $67/$20 students. (248) 855-6070. Michigan Opera Theatre presents six perform- ances, in English, of Johann Strauss' melodic operetta Die Fledermaus, helmed by French-born Jewish director Bernard Uzan, May 17-May 25 at the Detroit Opera House. Call for performance times. $18-$105. (313) 237-SING. Conductor Peter Oundjian leads the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, featuring DSO violinist Emmanuelle Boisvert and violist Alexander Mishnaevski, in works for small orchestra 1:30 and 8 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 23-24. $15-$80. (313) 576-5111. Bronx-born actor-comedian Barry Diamond brings his "cast of thousands in a one-man show" to Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase, located at Old VFW Hall, below Seva restaurant, 314 E. Liberty, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. $9 advance/$11 at the door. (734) 996-9080. PoP/RoadJAzz/FoLK Cher brings her "Living Proof Farewell Tour" to- Joe Louis Arena 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17. $59.50-$79.50. (248) 645-6666. Detroit's Majestic Theatre presents the "Back Yard Tour," featuring bands including Gryphon Shepherd, with Huntington Woods' Adam Linden on drums and percussion, 8 p.m. Saturday, May 17, with partial proceeds to benefit the Rose Cancer Center. $15. (313) 833-9700. Ann Arbor's The Ark hosts a reunion concert of the Chicago blues group the Siegel-Schwall Band, led by Siegel on harmonica and Schwall on guitar, 8 p.m. Monday, May 19. $22.50. (734) 761-1451. Jazz legend trumpeter Marcus Belgrave reunites with former Detroit students alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, pianist Geri Allen and bassist Robert Hurst III as the Marcus Belgrave All Stars perform 8 p.m. Thursday, May 22, in an SBC Ameritech Paradise Jazz Series concert at Orchestra Hall. $18-$75. (313) 576-5111. Blues/rock trio ZZ Top opens the DTE Energy Music Theatre season with their "Beer Drinker and Hell Raiser Tour," with special guests Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Double Trouble, 7 p.m. Friday, May 23. $33.50-$52.50. (248) 645-6666. ON THE STAGE Stagecrafters presents the family musical The Secret Garden 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, May 23-June 15. $14-16. (248) 541-6430. GAIL ZIMMERMAN DANCE FEVER Arts & Entertainment Editor U-M art school grad and student of the School of American Ballet Ruthie Basham presents the premiere performance of The Mystical Kaballah: Through the Tree of Life, a multimedia journey blending various dance forms, along with live drumming, singing, poetry, and the music of the Sephardic Jews of Spain and Morocco, 8 p.m. Friday, May 23, at First Unitarian Church, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Road. The program will be preceded at 7 p.m. by a Shabbat candlelighting and followed at 9 p.m. by refreshments and dancing to live drumming. $27/in advance or at the door. (734) 730-6096. THE BIG SCREEN The Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA shows the winner of the Best Screenplay Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Sweet Sixteen, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday, May 16-18. $6.50. (313) 833-3237. FAMILY FUN May 17-18, at the Millennium Centre in Southfield. $8-$10. (248) 557-7539. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra presents a Young People's Concert Series program titled "An American Tale," featuring selections by John Philip Sousa, Leonard Bernstein and more, 10 and 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 17, at Orchestra Hall. $10-$36. (313) 576-5111. The Ark in Ann Arbor hosts Julie Austin & David Mosher in an interac- tive concert of children's music 1 p.m. Sunday, May 18. $7. (734) 761-1451. THE ART SCENE The Detroit Institute of Arts presents The Medici Grand Ducal Family: Court Jewelry and Symbols of Power, a lecture by Cristina Aschengreen Piacenti, director of the Museo Stibbert in Florence, 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18. Free with museum admission. (313) 833-7900. Meet metal sculptor Mark Beltchenko at a meet-the-artist reception 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at the Woods Gallery, located in the lower level of the Huntington Woods Library. His exhibit, "Under Six Feet," runs through July 3. (248) 548-0460. Ferndale's Lemberg Gallery features "Shanghai Costumes," paintings and paper objects by Jane Hammond, through June 14. (248) 591-6623. Birmingham's Hill Gallery offers an exhibit of African-American and Amish quilts through June 14. (248) 540-9288. Peter Pan flies onto the Youtheatre stage 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, ARTISTIC DUO Two very different exhibits -- one about the desecration of reli- gious landmarks and the other about imagined worlds --- will be on view simultaneously through June 1 at the Janice Charach Epstein Gallery. "Target: Sacred Sites," a photo installation by Deanna Sperka, showcases reverential structures that have been damaged by acts of hatred. "Permeable Consciousness: The Paintings and Drawings of Howard Weingarden" presents images that suggest the existence of crea- tures not accessible to the five senses. "I have included 400 photos, some taken by me and some taken from the Internet," explains Sperka, of Oak Park, who got the idea for her piece after learning of Buddha statues destroyed by Taliban forces in Afghanistan, "My purpose is to expose what hate does." Sperka's images, arranged like storyboards, include the Mount of Olives, Rachel's Tomb and monasteries in Kosovo. She also has information books to supple- ment the photos. Weingarden, of Farmington Hills, presents more than 50 images with many relating to the possibilities of imagination. What the Cat Sees, for example, takes an imaginary look at a fairy world depicted as being observed by a small animal. "There is a spiritual, not reli- gious, quality to what I am showing," Weingarden says. "I think of it as the next stage of evolution after the physical and emotional." -Suzanne Chessler The exhibits of Deanna Sperka and Howard Weingarden will be on display through June 1 at the Janice Charach Epstein Gallery in the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. An evening of conversation with Deanna Sperka begins 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20; an evening of conversation with Howard Weingarden takes place Thursday, May 22. (248) 432-5448. 5/16 2003 94 FYI: For Arts and Entertainment related events that you wish to have considered for Out & About, please send the item, with a detailed description of the event, times, dates, place, ticket prices and publishable phone number, to: Gail Zimmerman, JN Out & About, The Jewish News. 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax us at (248) 304-8885; or e-mail to gzimmerman@thejewishnews.com Notice must be received at least three weeks before the scheduled event. Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change.