Banquet and Party Room
Celebrity Jews
w;t1/41=V0,As'
NATE BLOOM
Special to the Jewish News
A Fiery Teyve
ti
COMO'S
Restaurant
548-5005
Book your special occasion now
Serving The Community for 39 years
22812 Woodward at 9 Mile Rd., Ferndale MI
248-548-5005 • Fax 248-548-1310
NA/ww.comos izza.com
CC
908170
We will be open December 24, 25, 31 a Jan
?it
r
,
1;4 RretIE
yai3R
e Very First
„
P4,:kno
Kmt:
Big Screen 'Rent'
MalaysiaitZ Thai Restaurant in Michigan
nipmade for Penang with any Entree - Except Lunch Specie
7.zt
Jill
■
with this coupon. Expires t2.E1
A44Z4t, e-e
of
0q,;)24,4
w4z.te
ti. ,.4,t
38259 West Ten Mile Road ■ Farmington Hills, MI 48335
Tel: 248.615.8866 ■ 248.615-8877
Fax: 248.615.8899
12/3
2004
54
ME
— OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Mon-Thurs 11:01:1 am-0:30 pm • Fri Er Sat 11:0 am-10:30 pm
Sun. 12:00 noon-9:30 pm
910380
-
<4.
We're Here
The late ALAN KING said that he
asked his mother if the Russian
shtetl she fled from was like the
one in Fiddler on the Roof. She
replied, "Yes, but I don't remember
so much singing."
I thought of this story when it
was announced that the exuberant
HARVEY FIERSTEIN would be
replacing the serious Alfred Molina
as "Tevye" in the current Broadway
revival of Fiddler. Molina and the
revival itself have been criticized as
too cold" and "not Jewish"
enough.
In one sense, this criticism is
unfair: Most shtetl fathers were not
warm, clownish figures like
Fierstein or the late ZERO MOS-
TEL, lArho created the role of
Tevye. Jews dealt with poverty and
pogroms, and humor was only a
sometime thing.
However, as King's mother recog-
nized, Fiddler is a musical and not
a historical document. It takes a
warm Tevye to give us an insight
into the joys that sustained shed
Jews and to suspend disbelief as the
villagers break into "so much
singing."
Speaking of Broadway, the success
of the movie version of Chicago has
led movie producers to take a
chance on bringing other hit musi-
cals to the screen. A case in point
is Rent, the mega-hit about young
people in New York based on the
opera La Boheme. Written by the
late Jewish composer JONATHAN
LARSON, Rent begins filming
next spring.
Playbill reports that Jewish heart-
throb ADAM PASCAL, who won
an Obie for creating the role of
"Roger" in Rent, is very close to
agreeing to join the film produc-
tion. The producers also want to
sign IDINA MENZEL, who also
appeared in the original stage pro-
duction. The Jewish chanteuse's
stock soared when she won a 2004
Tony for Wicked.
The stage version of Rent, for
which producer Jeffrey Seller, a
former Oak Parker, won a Tony,
returns to Detroit on the Masonic
Temple Theatre stage Jan. 21-26,
2005.
One-Two Punch
ADAM BRODY, 24, has to rank
as the hottest Jewish actor under
30. As recently reported in the
New York Times, it was largely his
acting ability and "geeky" charm
that turned what the producers
envisioned as a somewhat second-
ary role (the "half-Jewish" Seth
Cohen on the hit Fox series The
0. C.) into an audience favorite.
Raised in a secular Jewish home
in San Diego, Brody's one-two
punch of "likeability" and person-
al warmth helped land him two big
upcoming movies.
Besides a large supporting role in
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, starring Brad
Pitt and Angelina Jolie, he has the
romantic lead in In the Land of
Women, opposite Meg Ryan.
Women is directed by first-time
director JONATHAN KASDAN,
who is the son of the U-M alum
and Big Chill Jewish director
LAWRENCE KASDAN.
In Women, Brody plays the part
of a soft-core Los Angeles porn
writer who goes to live with his ail-
ing grandmother in suburban
Michigan, only to become involved
with a neighboring mother and
daughter.
The younger Kasdan said he cast
Brody because "Adam is that rare
thing, an accessible charismatic."
Translation: Brody's nice, and audi-
ences really like him.
Something New
Credit the Disney Channel with
giving some young Jewish actors
their first big break. In recent
years, there was SHIA LABOUEF
on Even Stevens and ADAM LAM-
BERG, as "Gordo," on Lizzie
McGuire.
The newest face is RICKY ULL-
MAN, who has the title role in