he helped with a production about the
Tuskegee Airmen, a troupe of African
Americans serving in the military.
"The Eastern Michigan program
was the brainchild of Ken Stevens, the
director of theater at the university,
and I taught some marvelous kids,"
Vereen says. "They were all so talented
that I [wished I could] take the show
Off Broadway."
Vereen likes to say that he personally
believes in all religions and considers
each new day an opportunity to cele-
brate life. Because of experiences in his
personal life, he also goes on the lec-
ture circuit and discusses many topics,
including overcoming adversity and
recovery through physical and occupa-
tional therapy.
"When I come to Detroit, I'm corn-
ing to celebrate with my friends:' he
says. "There are many trails to the top
of the mountain, but there's only one
mountain top. If Sammy chose
Judaism as the path up that mountain,
I praise him."
Ben Vereen appears 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 27, at the
Music Hall Center for the
Performing Arts, 350
Madison, Detroit. $35-
$45. (313) 887-8501.
steakhouse serves up 1st rate fare"
LIVE MUSIC EVERY
SATURDAY NIGHT
7 Days
5:30-8:00 P.M.
KIDS EAT FREE
with family package
arry-out & dining room
With no other offers
Paradise Now, a frontrunner for an Oscar after winning the Golden Globe
o
award for Best Foreign Film.
Marcell Nagy, is randomly taken off a
bus, sent to Auschwitz and other
camps, and survives and returns to
Budapest.
While not shrinking from the hor-
ror of the concentration camps,
Fateless is told through a boy's very
personal perspective and often has an
almost dreamlike quality.
To many viewers, the most shocking
aspect may be Gyuri's voice-over mus-
ings as he wanders the streets of
Budapest after liberation.
"There is nothing too unimaginable
to endure," he thinks, and when asked
to relate the atrocities he has endured,
opts to speak of his happiness.
"The next time I am asked, I ought
to speak about that, the happiness of
the concentration camp. If, indeed I
am asked. And provided I myself don't
forget
What is that happiness? Director
Lajos Koltai, in a phone call from
Budapest, tried to explain. -
"The boy remembers the happiness
of once in a while finding a small
piece of meat or potato in his thin
soup, or the friendship of older pris-
oners who saved his life. And mostly,
he remembers the happiness of the
short hour between the end of back-
breaking work and supper, when he
could watch the sunset and quietly
talk to the others."
Kertesz, who also wrote the screen-
play, gave a more subtle explanation in
a New York Times interview
"I took the word happiness out of its
everyday context and make it seem
scandalous ; ) he said. "It was an act of
rebellion against the role of victim
which society had assigned to me. It
was a way of assuring my responsibili-
ty, of defining my own fate."
Fateless screens at the Detroit Film
Theatre in March.
In The Race on page 61
E
. els
S te,g
Deli
3426 E. West Maple Rd.
at Haggerty Rd.
7 DAYS
gam —gpm (248) 926-9555
r
DINE-IN or
I CARRY-OUT
20% OFF
Total Food Bill
ism- mmi
mi. Sim mid — mos omm Om. imam. mos vim imiAl
I-
Deii Tray $ 6.95
Fish Tray '13.99
I I
For every 10 person tray
get 10 pieces of
potato latkes FREE
Buy any dinner
special for '13.99 I
Get a 2nd dinner
FREE
Carry Out or Dine In
L
r
II
Buy 1 Sandwich
or 1 quart of soup I
Get an order of
potato latkes
FREE
all
January 26 • 2005
`2
55