Arts Life
Tale Of Three Generations
JET stages James Sherman's "Door to Door"
a Jewish mother, her daughter and
granddaughter — and spans 69 years,
from 1935 to the present.
It begins with one of the women
sing his comedy instincts, Jewish
playwright James Sherman sums reflecting back on her life, while sitting
shivah for her husband, and goes on "to
up the Jewish Ensemble
examine how we take what we get from
Theatre's next production succinctly:
our parents, then make choices about
"Everyone who has ever had a mother
what we will — or won't — pass on to
should see this play."
our children," Sherman explained.
The comedian-turned-writer is refer-
Door to Door is "based on fact," he
ring to Door to Door, the third show in
says, inspired by his own family's life in
JET's 2004-2005 season, opening
Chicago, starting with his grandmother,
Wednesday, Jan. 19, and continuing
who was a European immigrant, and
through Feb. 13 at the Aaron DeRoy
continuing with his mother
Theater in the Jewish
and her daughter.
Community Center in West
"It's about the typical
Bloomfield. The comedy
Jewish immigrants from
premiered in Chicago in
the Old Country and the
2000 and played for several
advice they handed down
months as an Off-Broadway
from generation to genera-
production in New York.
tion," he said. "In this case,
The title refers to the
Hebrew phrase Nor vdor,
it describes the history of
the Chicago Jewish experi-
which means, "from genera-
ence, with families evolving
tion to generation." The
from the South side to the
play focuses on three gener-
North side. My grand-
ations of the same family — James Sherman
BILL CARROLL
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36
ROYAL OAK
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EAST LANSING
Marie Berg, Evelyn Orbach and
Michelle Mesmer is 'Door to Door"
mother died before I really knew her, so
I had to create her full biography, along
with the others in the family."
The play features JET Artistic
Director Evelyn Orbach of West
Bloomfield as the grandmother, Susan
Berg of Oxford as the mother and
Michelle Mesmer of Tecumseh as the
THREE GENERATIONS on page 38
Song Vest
Ann Arbor concerts tackle unusual theme.
SUZANNER CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
he songs of many Jewish stage
composers will be featured in
Wine, Women & Song III, con-
certs planned for Jan. 14-15 at the
Kerrytown Concert House in Ann
Arbor. The event, which celebrates the
20th birthday of the entertainment
venue, looks at the way songwriters dealt
with the topic of abuse.
'Although the topic seems dark and
horrible, we've sung about it for years
and really didn't notice," says Wendy
Bloom, the production's creator/director,
who is reuniting performers from the
annual series that includes classical, jazz
and cabaret standards. "It's just interest-
ing how many references to this theme
there are."
Among the songs to be presented will
be "As Long As He Needs Me," corn-
T
posed by Lionel Bart for the musical
Oliver; "That Dirty Old Man," written
by Stephen Sondheim for A Funny
Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum; and "Can't Help Lovin Dat
Man," penned by Jerome Kern and
Oscar Hammerstein II for Showboat.
"Every year, in planning these con-
certs, we throw out ideas and then make
our choice of theme," explains Bloom, a
mezzo-soprano who will be among nine
singers performing in the shows.
Bloom works very closely with
Deanna Relyea, a mezzo-soprano and
founder-director of Kerrytown Concert
House. The two women pick the vocal-
ists by thinking about the entertainers
they know. The idea for the concert
series grew out of their appearance in an
Ann Arbor production of Stephen
Sondheim's Follies.
"We also will be doing gender-ben-
ders, songs written for men but present-
ed in new ways when sung by women,"
Wendy Bloom: Wye sung about it for
years and really didn't notice."
Bloom explains. "One of those songs is
`There's Nothing Like a Dame' from
Rodgers and Hammerstein's South
Pacific." ❑
Wine, Women & Song III will be
performed 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday, Jan. 14-15, at the
Kerrytown Concert House, 415
North Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.
$15-$50, with wine included in the
price of admission. (734) 769-2999.