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Jewish. I consider his yearnings and
attitudes very Jewish, and he is
called a 'wandering Jew' by the other
character. I wanted two characters to
come from different worlds and
come together. I wanted the love to
come out of what they're doing
together and not because of any his-
tory."
Knee, whose play The Man Who
Was Peter Pan served as the basis for
the film Finding Neverland starring
Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, does
not write lyrics for his musical proj-
ects. When he works on musicals
like Little Women, he suggests ideas
for songs and writes out paragraphs
to give an individual essence to each
one.
The playwright, who does most of
his writing in the morning, exercises
at a gym every day. He takes along
his projects, alternating working for
20 minutes and working out for 20
minutes. A musical version of
Finding
Neverland and
a play about
Ernest
Hemingway
and F. Scott
Fitzgerald now
consume his
time.
"I've never
written a two-
character play
before
I came
Writing Jewish
up
with
Knee, who graduated
Syncopation,"
from the Yale Drama
says Knee, who
School in the early
got
the idea at a
1970s, entered col-
Allan Knee: "This play captures
workshop
and
lege with the idea that so much about the way I feel
over
gave
it
form
he would eventually
about life and relationships."
a year as he
teach theater. By the
acted out the
end of his senior year,
scenes with a dancing secretary.
he felt he did not want to be part of
"Syncopation has been one of
the academic world.
those
works I knew had the right
Although he did some acting, he
rhythms from the start, and I stayed
ultimately decided that writing was
with it. Given the current state of the
the career for him. Among his early
world, I think the play is important.
successes was a four-part television
It's one of the few works I've ever
adaptation of The Scarlet Letter.
done that remains positive." ❑
"I've written four Jewish plays,"
says Knee, who did the script for
Sholem Aleichem Lives starring
Theodore Bikel on tour. "I needed an
Syncopation runs Feb. 8-
emotional way to get in touch with
March 5 at the Meadow Brook
my own Jewish heritage in the early
Theatre on the campus of
1990s, and I wanted to explore a
Oakland University in
feeling of being open about my reli-
Rochester. Go to the Web site
gion. I liked coming back to my
www.mbtheatre.com for
Jewishness as an adult because I
matinee and evening curtain
moved away from it as a child.
times. $20-$36.
"I have one Jewish character in
(248) 377-3300.
Syncopation, maybe because I'm

"I think it's difficult to intellectu-
alize this play because love and
respect are so emotional. The scenes
really have to be felt. These charac-
ters do not fit into anyone else's
mold. They create their own mold."
The comedy takes place in the
early part of the 20th century. Henry
(Richard Marlatt) dreams of becom-
ing a professional dancer and adver-
tises for a partner. He finds Anna
(Roxanne Wellington). As the two
aspire to be as famous as Vernon
and Irene Castle, they dance in ways
that punctuate their dialogue and
changing outlooks.
"I've always been fascinated by
ballroom dancing, and I love the
period around 1910 because people
really discovered ballroom daricing
then," Knee says. "I don't do ball-
room dancing anymore, but I love
watching it. I've noticed television
now is exposing us to a lot of ball-
room dancing through programs
like Dancing With the
Stars, and I think
that's terrific.
"I love the use of
the human body to
express itself, and I
go to ballet and mod-
ern dance perform-
ances. Both types of
dance can be so beau-
tiful and magical."

Danny Raskin

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'February 2 & 2005

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