Arts Life CLASSICAL NOTES The University of Michigan School of Music Opera Theatre presents Engelbert Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel, based on the Grimm fairy tale and translated into English, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11-14, at the Power Center in Ann Arbor. $9-$20. (734) 764-2538. University Musical Society hosts the Kopelman Quartet, led by Russian-born violinist Mikhail Kopelman performing works by Prokofiev, Miaskovsky and Tchaikovsky, 8 p.m. Friday, Nov, 5, at Rackham Auditorium, $18-$36; the acclaimed St. Petersburg Philharmonic, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov and playing works by Prokofiev, Dvorak and Rachmaninoff, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, at Hill Auditorium, $10-$65; and the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, led by artistic director Gideon Kremer, playing works by Schnittke and Shostakovich, 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, at Hill Auditorium, $10456. (734) 764-2538. The Sunday, Nov. 14, concert of the Birmingham Temple Vivace Music Series, A Four-Handed Treat at the Piano, has been canceled. A new concert offered by the Dennis Tini Jazz Quintet will replace the canceled event 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Farmington Hills temple. $18-$21; tickets for Nov. 14 may be used for the Dec. 11 concert. (248) 788- 9338 or (248) 661-1348. POP/ROCK/JAZZ/FOLK The Detroit Symphony Orchestra Pops presents Broadway All-American, a collection of songs from the Great White Way by Jewish composers George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Leonard Celebrity Jews Polar Express' Chugs In The film version of The Polar Express, adapted from one of the most popular contemporary children's Christmas book ever, will have its exclusive Midwest premiere in Grand Rapids on Nov. 5; premiere pro- ceeds will go to the Hospice of Michigan's pediatric program. Why Grand Rapids? Because Polar Express author/illustrator CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG grew up in East Grand Rapids, where his father ran a dairy. The interesting thing is that Van Allsburg converted to Judaism more than 20 years ago. Huh? Well, first off one should know that The Polar Express is essentially a secular Christmas story, if you count Santa and the elves as secular figures. It is one of those Christmas sto- ries that most Jewish parents generally don't have a prob- Chris Van Allsburg lem with their kids seeing. 11 / 5 2004 46 Best Bets Bernstein and more, 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11-14, at Detroit's Max M. Fisher Music Center. Erich Kunzel conducts; special guest per- formers include soprano Betsy Wolfe, tenor Geoff Packard and baritone Daniel Narducci. Tickets and information: (313) 576-5111 or wwvv.detroitsymphony.org GAIL ZIA/ IM ERMAN ON THE STAGE Arts Editor Performance Network in Ann Arbor presents She Loves Me, the stage musical version of the Jimmy Stewart/Margaret Sullavan. film Shop Around the Corner, with music and lyrics by the Fiddler on the Roof team of Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock and book by Joe Masteroff, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 11-Dec. 26. $20-$34.50. (734) 663-0681. Forbidden Christmas, from the creators of Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood, spoofs the holidays, including Chanukah, and returns to Detroit's Century Theatre Thursday, Nov. 11, for a seven-week run. $30.50-$39.50. (313) 963- 9800. Wayne State University's Studio Theatre mounts a production of British playwright Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, dealing with the issue of how a severely brain-damaged child affects a mar- riage, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, Nov. 11-20. Second-year Ph.D. candidate Cary Leiter directs. $7-$9. (313) 577-2972. The Players Guild of Dearborn stages 1776, Sherman Edwards' musical re-creation of the days when the Second Continental Congress argued about, voted on and signed the Declaration of But, there's no doubt that the so-called "December dilemma" begins when Christmas movies begin hit- ting the theaters this month. "The dilemma' Prefers to the Jewish reaction to the 500-pound cultural gorilla that is Christmas, as well as to the treatment of Christmas in interfaith families, or in families where one spouse is a convert to Judaism. Van Allsburg, in an interview in this month's Yankee magazine, gives an interesting perspective on "the problem." When asked "how he kept the magic of Christmas alive for his children," he replied: "It's an interesting question. ... We have a Jewish household. I converted when I married Lisa. My wife wasn't a hard-liner about it, and little displays of Christmas were all right. But the theater you need to produce for kids requires both parents on board. Oh, I hung stock- ings, and we told all the tall tales about Santa...." By "theater," Van Allsburg was referring to the all- encompassing Christmas "experience" found in many Christian homes. It appears that the Van Allsburgs, who have two daughters, have found a way to meld their traditions that works for them. Others may dif- fer. However, of one thing there is no doubt: Polar Express, which opens nationwide Nov. 10, has great advance buzz and will be a blockbuster hit. Independence, Nov. 12-Dec. 5. Call for show times. $16. (313) 561-TKTS. Village Players of Birmingham presents Picasso at the Lapin Agile, comedian Steve Martin's comedy about an imagined meeting between Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso as young men, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 12-21. $15. (248) 644- 2075. Pontiac Theatre IV presents Joseph- and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, directed and choreographed by Michael Brody and starring Geoff Wrobel as Joseph, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 12-20, at Pontiac Northern High School. $10. (248) 681-6215. LAUGH LINES Carol Burnett Show regulars Tim Conway and Harvey Korman join together on stage again to recall the entertainment of the variety-show era 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at Detroit's Fox Theatre. $45- $65. (248) 645-6666. At 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, the first annual Don't Just Sit There comedy show, with proceeds to bene- fit the Rehabilitation Institute for Spinal Cord Injury Recovery in Detroit, takes place at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak. Rocky LaPorte and Doug English headline. $44-$99. (248) 542-9900. THE SMALL SCREEN ABC-TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, featuring the Fairway Master Builders' transforma- tion of the Vardon family home in Oak Park, airs 7- Go Sox As you've no doubt heard, the Red Sox have won their first World Series since 1918. This despite the fact that scads of Yankee fans visited Babe Ruth's grave — with Jewish fans piling stones on the Babe's tomb — during the playoffs, asking for the Babe's help in beating Boston. But up in the Boston area, BETTY SOLINSKY, 91, a resident of the Fall River Jewish Home, coun- tered these prayers, telling the local paper, "I have a gut feeling they're going to come through with flying colors. They're my boys." In the Jewish scales, this was the Red Sox's year. Yes, St. Louis had Jewish pitcher JASON MARQUIS, but the Sox had two Jewish players (GABE KAPLER and KEVIN YOUKILIS); a Jewish co-owner (Hollywood exec TOM WERNER); and THEO EPSTEIN, their brilliant young general manager, whose great trades brought the Sox into the promised land. It was an appropriate Hollywood ending for Epstein, whose grandfather, Philip, won an Oscar for writing Casablanca. Maybe Theo will recommend that his brother-in-law, actor DAN FUTTERMAN, play him in a movie about the year the "Ruth curse" ended. FYI: For Arts and Life 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, Ml 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.