Arts & Entertainment

Gail Zimmerman
Arts Editor

Seussentennial
Celebration

Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), aka
Dr. Seuss, began his career as a little-
known editorial cartoonist in the 1920s;
his work quickly evolved to include
illustrations, sculpture and oil paintings.
His artistic vision linked every facet of
his varied career, including 44 children's
books, more than 400 World War II politi-
cal cartoons, hundreds of advertisements
and countless editorials filled with inven-
tive animals, characters and clever humor.
Geisel was not Jewish, but Jewish pub-
lisher Bennett Cerf was perhaps the most
influential figure in Geisel's early publish-
ing career. It was he who orchestrated
the birth of Random House's Beginner
Books Division and wagered that Geisel
couldn't write a book using 50 words or

less, prompting Geisel to write Green Eggs
Show Album, brings its nationwide tour
and Ham.
to the Macomb Center for the Performing
Another dear friend of Geisel's was
Arts 8 p.m. Friday and 2 and 8 p.m.
Jewish columnist Art Buchwald, who
Saturday, March 17-18.
chided Geisel about never writing a politi-
A quartet of Jewish talents was respon-
cal book. Geisel, took a copy of Marvin K.
sible for the creation of the long-running
Mooney Will You Please Go Now!, crossed
Broadway hit. The show's book is by
out Ivlarvin's name and replaced it with
author Peter Stone, and the score is by
"Richard M. Nixon." Buchwald printed the
composer Cy Coleman and lyricists Betty
text in his column, and President Nixon
Comden and Adolph Green.
resigned the following day.
The musical extravaganza recalls the
"The Art of Dr. Seuss: A
life of famed folk
Retrospective on the Artistic Talent
hero Rogers, who
of Theodor Seuss Geisel," a national
narrates his life
touring exhibit honoring the centena-
story through a
ry of Geisel's birth, chronicles his life
series of impres-
and explores every facet of his varied.
sive Ziegfeld
career. It is on display through March
Follies production
31 in the Southfield Public Library's
numbers. For 10
Circulation Lobby. The library is
years, Rogers was
located at 26300 Evergreen Road, in
the biggest star of
Southfield. For more information,
the Follies, created
call (248) 796-4200 or go to www.
by Jewish show
A production number
sfldlib.org.
business impre-
from The Will Rogers
sario Florenz
Follies
Ziegfeld.
Tickets are
$40-$45, with discounts available for
students, seniors and for groups of
The Will Rogers Follies, winner of six 1991
20 or more. (586) 286-2222 or www.
Tony Awards including Best Musical and
MacombCenter.com .
the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Musical

Re-Creating
Ziegfeld

A Theodor Seuss Geisel cartoon:
"Oh, I'd love to go to the party, but
I'm absolutely dead."

Marvelous Marvin

Jewish composer, pianist and conduc-
tor Marvin Hamlisch reunites with the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra to play Pops
concerts of his Hollywood hits 10:45 a.m.
and 8 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Friday and
Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 23-
26, at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in
Detroit. The Marvin Hamlisch Soundtrack
will feature a full spectrum of the enter-
tainer's film music, spanning more than
40 years and including themes from Ice
Castles and The Sting and Oscar-winning
songs "The Way We Were" and "Nobody
Does It Better!'
One of only nine artists to have won
all major entertainment awards — Emmy,
Oscar, Tony and Grammy — Hamlisch also
is Pulitzer Prize winner for the Broadway
musical A Chorus Line.
His film output includes original com-
positions and/or musical adaptations for
Sophie's Choice, Ordinary People, Save the
Tiger, Bananas and Three Men and a Baby,
to name a few.
Currently, Hamlisch is the principal
pops conductor for both the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra and the National
Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.
A graduate of the Juilliard School, he was
the youngest pupil ever accepted at the

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.

e ws

*wm I Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
63

.

Salten Lives On
Opening last Friday to mixed reviews
adj was The Shaggy Dog, a Disney family
comedy about a district attorney (Tim
al Allen) whose mind is switched with
that of a dog. Cute
Jewish actress
Zena Grey, 17,
plays Allen's teen-
age daughter.
Brian Robbins, a
Jewish filmmaker
who specializes
in family films,
directed Shaggy
Zena Grey
Dog. Robbins

44

March 16 • 2006

started in show business early; he was
a child actor who played cool kid Eric
Mardian on TV's Head of the Class.
This version of Shaggy Dog, like the
1959 Disney original, is -based on a
story by Felix Salten. The Hungarian
Jewish writer (1869-1945) worked in
Vienna and is best known for writing
Bambi, which, of course, became a clas-
sic Disney animated film. He also wrote
Perri, a children's story about a squirrel
that became a Disney film in 1957.
Salten, a Zionist, also penned pierc-
ing social critiques. He had to flee
Vienna when the Nazis marched into
the city; he died in exile in Switzerland.

Maybe Try It
The WB network's lineup doesn't often

receive critical acclaim, and many
viewers think its offerings are
geared toward younger viewers.
Still, WB's Modern Men
might surprise. The cast of this
new comedy-drama is fairly
high rate and includes veteran
Jane Seymour, the pretty Marla
Sokoloff and Jewish newcomer
Max
Max Greenfield. The show makes
its debut 9:30 p.m. Friday, March 17.
Greenfield's few credits include
co-starring in the Passover-themed
movie When Do We Eat?, set to open in
theaters nationwide in early April. In
Modern Men, he plays one of three guys
in their late 20s who turn to a beauti-
ful life coach (Seymour) for advice on
women.

Sokoloff, 25, plays
the caring law-stu-
dent sister of one of
Greenfield's buddies.
Previously, she played
Lucy on TVs The
Practice.
Seymour, 55, has
played
everything
Greenfield
from a Bond girl to
Dr. Quinn, medicine woman. She was
born Joyce Frankenberg to a British
Jewish doctor and a Dutch non-Jewish
mother. (The actress was raised with-
out religion and doesn't practice any-
thing.)
She has always been upfront about
her ethnic, if not religious, connec-
tion to the Jewish people. When she