The v ■ 4189 ORCHARD LAKE AT PONTIAC TRAIL IN WEST BLOOMFIELD 40 e (248) 865-0000 Restaurant On The Tube DINE-IN ONLY 110% OFF Open 7 Days a Week for Lunch Sr. Dinner Total Bill I . I I Expires 12/31/03 1 Not good with any other offer. I I Not available on lunch or dinner specials. I ' -- F. -- — — — — — — — — — — — ----- 4 LUNCHES starting at $ 5 5 0 . . . i FREE . Complete Dinners as low as : Appetizer Tray (52500 Value) With any catering $995 I order of $125 Expires 12/31/03 _Not ood with au other offer._ 785620 500a .-- N 1. 4, 'adz,/ • "A Special Thanks to Friends & Partners for all your support over the Past Few Years" — Scott, Jaylin, & Jordan! P I C 4 CS 0 ' CARRY-OUT & CATERING EST. 1993 248-350-3131 24545 W. TWELVE MILE RD. Just West of Telegraph Rd. 20% OFF Any Order Expires 1-31-04 THE GALLERY RESTAURANT Enjoy gracious dining amid a beautiful atmosphere of casual elegance I 10 41 I 4 1 BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER OPEN 7 DAYS: MON.- SAT. 7 a.m.- 9:30 p.m. SUN. 8 a.m.- 9 p.m. West Bloomfield Plaza • 6638 Telegraph Road and Maple • 248-851-0313 0000624550 'f'fir %Luc*Nilv , ServInv -the great tarte of Etitropta )Iffi4%ital If the occaffoli if credal... r tke place citot414 be too!! Dinner for Two ETHIOPIAN FEAST $30.00 VEGETARIAN FEAST $25.00 *TN 12/ 5 2003 90 I. offer expires Dec. 31, 2003 - with coupon 545 West 9 Mile • Ferndale • 248-547-6699 I t was still dark at 6:30 in the morning on a brisk fall day in New York City last October. More than a year before its debut on HBO, scenes for the cable channel's film version of the acclaimed 1990s two-part play Angels in America were about to be shot. Part 1, Millennium Approaches, makes its TV debut Sunday, Dec. 7, and Part 2, Perestroika, debuts Sunday, Dec. 14. Movie company trailers were lined up near Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, and the crew had already set up the lighting and props. Actors Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep and Mary-Louise Parker had completed their New York City on- location scenes, and Ben Shenkman and Justin Kirk were working on theirs. That particular day, 50 or so extras reported to the holding area at a nearby building, and I was one of them. Hair and make-up artists were on hand to primp the extras. It didn't take long before a production assistant came to get us, and one-by-one we were assigned to various stations around the park. We were referred to as "background," walking and quietly talking behind and around the featured actors. Shenkman, who plays a Jewish gay man named Louis Ironson, was dressed in a dark winter coat, and a frail looking Kirk, who plays his ex-lover Prior Walter, was draped in a black cape. In the story, Louis and Prior have been involved in a relationship, but when Louis learns that Prior has AIDS, he abandons him. A month has passed since they have seen one another, and they are about to be reunited in the park. The scene was an emotional one, and as Shenkman approached Kirk, I was one of the few people assigned to walk between them. Jewish director Mike Nichols, sporting a cap and sitting on a chair, was busy giving instructions. The filming lasted nearly 12 hours, with an hour off for lunch. Everyone, including the extras, had to report back to work the next day to corn- Alice Burdick Schweiger is a New 4 York City-based freelance writer: 221 E. Washington Rd. • Ann Arbor • 734-998-4746 Open for Dinner Only • Hours -Sun 3-9, Mon-Thurs 5-9, Fri-Sat 4-11 NI ,.`";.1:1 Crthi:":K! 1::1flit:11,31;=,,, Director Mike Nichols brings Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner's stage epic to HBO. ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER Special to the Jewish News Voted... Best Middle Eastern Restaurant by the Jewish News Readers! Owe O `Angels In America' 785460 plete the scene. "It was very emotional playing Louis," says Shenkman, who originated the Tony-nominated role of Hal in Proofon Broadway opposite Mary- Louise Parker. "Louis is a very high- strung and conflicted guy and suffers a lot over what he does. He can't find the strength to stop what he's doing." Angels in America, written by Jewish playwright Tony Kushner, who also penned the screenplay, was a Ben Shenkman plays a Jewish gay man who abandons his AIDS-afflicted lover. Broadway phenomenon. Millennium Approaches made its debut in 1993 and won four Tony Awards, including Best Play. Part 2, Perestroika, debuted in 1994 and won three Tonys, includ- ing Best Play. Kushner won a Pulitzer Prize for his efforts. Set in the 1980s, Angels in America is a drama about the AIDs epidemic and the government indifference to the dis- ease during the Reagan era. It also con- fronts the larger sexual, racial, religious, political and social issues facing America during the Reagan years, issues of iden- tity, history and truth, and spirituality. The story centers on two couples, the gay Prior and Louis, and lawyer Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a conservative Mormon, and his wife Harper (Mary- Louise Parker), a straight couple trapped in a web of self-deception. After he leaves the AIDs-afflicted Prior, Louis ends up in a homosexual affair with Joe, whose marriage to his valium- addicted wife is dissolving. It's Joe's first