Arts & Entertainment

Gail Zimmerman
Arts Editor

Fun For Purim

In what has become a yearly tradition at
PuppetART/Detroit Puppet Theatre, Artistic
Director Igor Gozman once again presents
throughout March Purim Shpiel, a puppet
show based on a Yitzhak Manger stage pro-
duction with colorful costumes, lively music
and Persian
scenery appeal-
ing to young
and old alike.
The story,
derived from
the Book of
Esther, is famil-
iar: Esther, a
poor Jewish
girl, marries the
Detroit Puppet
rich and power-
Theater's Purim Shpiel ful King

Ahasuerus and then, with the help of her
uncle Mordechai, manages to overthrow the
king's evil anti-Semitic prime minister,
Haman, and subvert his plan to destroy the
Jews.
Remaining performances are 2 p.m.
Saturdays, March 11, 18 and 25, at
PuppetART, 25 E. Grand River, in downtown
Detroit. Admission is $5 children, $7 adults.
PuppetART also offers a puppetry work-
shop after performances; the cost is $8 per
puppet. The theater will stage special per-
formances for groups during the week and
Sundays by special arrangement. (313) 961-
7777.

Classical Numbers

Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, an
ensemble of musicians drawn primarily

from the Detroit Symphony
was a great connoisseur, but also
and Michigan Opera Theatre
by German, Russian, Hungarian,
orchestras, presents a concert
Irish, Spanish and even
3 p.m. Sunday, March 12, at
American folk music. He also
the Birmingham Temple,
became a huge fan — and even-
28611 W.12 Mile Road in
tually a friend — of Jewish com-
Farmington Hills.
poser George Gershwin.
"Twos, Threes and Fours:'
He wrote to Gershwin in 1927:
originally designed to salute
"It is needless to say that I have,
duets, trios and quartets, has Charles Martin
pinned my faith on your delight-
been expanded to include a
ful
genius and on your future. You
Loeffler
quintet.
alone seem to express charm, race
To honor the 250th anniversary of
and invention amongst the composers of
Mozart's birth, the program includes the
our time.... You, my dear friend, will be
composer's Duo in B flat for Violin/Viola.
recorded in the anthologies of coming
Also to be performed are Loeffler's Two
ages!"
Rhapsodies, Surinach's Ritmo Jondo and
Tickets are $25 adults, $22 seniors age 60
Prokofiev's Quintet in G minor.
and over and $10 students. Tickets may be
Charles Martin Loeffler, a German-born
purchased online, on the phone or at the
Boston composer, was deeply influenced by
door. (248) 559-2095 or wwwdetroitcham-
French music and literature, of which he
berwinds.org.

FYI: For Arts-related events that you wish to have considered for Out & About, please send the item, with a detailed description of the event, times, dates, place, ticket prices and publishable phone number, to: Gail Zimmerman, JN Out
& About, The Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax us at (248) 304-8885; or e-mail to gzimmerman@thejewishnews.com . Notice must be received at least three weeks
before the scheduled
event. Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change.

I

Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

Judge Judy Sheindlin, the TV jurist.
Judge Judy is the husband's cousin, while
the wife's sister is Larry David's real-life
Jewish wife, Laurie David.
David and Sheindlin both play them-
selves on TV, and it's hard to know what
part of their TV personality is a put-on
and what is real. Judge Judy's TV shtick is
about being abrasive, while David alter-
nates between being abrasive and kvetch-
ing about how he is misunderstood.
Maybe David will write a Curb episode
in which he meets Judge Judy at a family
bar mitzvah in Connecticut; tempers
flare, and David somehow ends up in
Judge Judy's courtroom.

All In The Family
The Connecticut Jewish Ledger recently
had a fun piece about local Jews who are
related to Jewish entertainment celebri-
ties (perhaps inspired by a similar recent
article in this paper.)
The Ledger's finds included a
Connecticut cousin of Moe Howard of
the famous Three Stooges; the in-laws of
Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler,
cousins of actresses Linda Lavin (Alice)
and Ari Meyers (Kate and Allie); and a
rabbi who is the grandfather of young TV
actor/teen fave Ricky
Ullman (Phil of the
Future).
The most intrigu-
ing find was a
Connecticut Jewish
married couple that
have ties to comedian
Larry David (Curb
Larry David and Judge Judy
Your Enthusiasm) and Scheindlin: Mishpachah.

38

March 9 • 2006

iN

Sopranos
Return

The Sopranos returns
to HBO on Sunday,
March 12. Twelve
episodes of the
award-winning gang-
ster show will air this
year, and the series

will conclude
with eight
shows airing in
2007.
Jewish
actress Jamie-
Lynn Sigler
co-stars in this
Sunday's
Sopranos lawyer
episode as
David Margulies
Meadow, Tony
Soprano's daughter. Sigler was billed as
Jamie-Lynn Discala for a year or so but
has returned to Sigler, her maiden name.
Her real-life brief marriage to her former
manager, A. J. Discala, ended last year
amid reports that he was less than faith-
ful. (I guess Discala should be grateful
that Sigler's real-life father is head of a
national softball league and not a mob
boss.)
Guest starring on Sunday's show is
Jerry Adler as Jewish Mafia associate
Hesh Rabkin, and David Margulies as
Neil Mink, Tony's lawyer. Also, advance
reports say Will Janowitz, a talented

young Jewish actor, will re-appear this
year as Meadow's fiance, Finn DeTrolio.

Winger Speaks Up
Actress Debra Winger's recent appear-
ance before the Allied Jewish Federation
of Colorado was covered
by Denver's Rocky
Mountain News,
Winger, 50, candidly
answered questions and
was a hit with the crowd.
The actress explained
that she pretty much
stopped doing movies 10
years ago to take care of
her ailing mother and one Debra Winger
of her three sons: "My son
was being home-schooled, and he really
wanted to stay in one place. I had a really
good run [in films], but I didn't want to
be greedy about it. And I wasn't interest-
ed in the parts they were offering me ...
but I am [open] to [doing] interesting
stories."
One of the attendees, in an amusing