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 However, as King's mother recog- nized, Fiddler is a musical and not a historical document.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