Arts &Entertainment Re-Vamped! Musical loosely based on Jewish silent screen star plays Chicago's Jewish theater. SUZANNE CHESSLER Special to the Jewish News eff Hochhauser defines himself as a "silent film freak" and has been particularly fascinated with the screen roles and emotional expres- sions of legendary actress Theda Bara. After reading an article about how Bara fooled people by claiming an Egyptian heritage, Hochhauser decided to write a fictional musical taking off from Bara's real roots as the Jewish Theodosia Goodman of Cincinnati. The result is Theda Bara and the Frontier Rabbi, which has a script by Hochhauser, music by Bob Johnston and lyrics by both. The collaboration began after the men met at a musical theater workshop. Travelers to Illinois can experience the writers' fiction if they see the show per- formed Mondays-Wednesdays, July 25- Aug. 3, by the Chicago Jewish Theatre. The project, produced as a concert musical, is like a staged reading, with actors in everyday clothes reading from scripts; the singers will be accompanied by Michele Denotter at the piano. "I had seen the full production when it played Chicago in the early 1990s," says Brian LeTraunik, company manag- er, who runs the theater with his moth- er, artistic director Elayne LeTraunik. "When we were looking for an obscure musical, I remembered it and got a copy of the script. "I thought the show was charming, funny, sweet, entertaining and an all- around crowd pleaser. Our audience wants to see musicals but producing 41 them can be pretty cost prohibitive, so we are doing the concert musicals." The program ignores the Hollywood manufactured image of Bara, as a Hollywood "vamp," and portrays her as a young woman who sim- ply wants to dress up, go to synagogue and meet a nice rabbi in the setting of the early 1900s. After the rabbi's sister introduces the couple, the romance starts, with the young man also dreaming of a career among cow- boys. Songs include "Frontier Rabbi," "Bolt of Love" and "Velcome to Shul." "We use the songs to carry the action forward, and we like to think of this musical as a lot of fun," says Hochhauser, 52, who is a sen- ior outreach coordinator for New York's American Musical and Dramatic Academy and draws on his own Jewish back- ground to enhance the writing. "We'd be in Chicago to see this production, but we'll be opening a new show, Anne and Gilbert based on Anne of Green Gables, on Prince Edward Island." The Real Bara In reality, Bara, the daughter of a tailor, was the screen's first sex symbol, according to Hollywood historian Leonard Maltin in his Movie Encyclopedia. "She was one of Hollywood's first `manufactured' stars," Makin says. "An GRAND OPENING! 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Her 42-movie film career came to a virtual stop with 1919's Kathleen Mavourneen. Irish and Catholic groups protested the film's depic- tion of Ireland and a Jewish actress in the lead role. The movie was yanked after several movie theater riots and bomb threats. "You don't have to know who Theda Bara was to like this show," LeTraunik says. "You can relax with it and just have fun." Brisket Dinner or Chicken Papriknsh $ 95 Includes vegetable, potato, sour cream and coffee cake no splitting Ph: 248-932-9999 • Fax: 248-932-0353 Hours: Tues-Fri: Lunch & Dinner; Sat-Sun: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 30005 ORCHARD LAKE RD. • FARMINGTON HILLS, MI8 (just north of 13 Mile)