Arts & hntertainment
.
&About
Gail Zimmerman
Arts Editor
Seven Veils
first husband to become his wife, Herod
finds himself attracted to his petulant
Michigan Opera Theatre ends its spring
stepdaughter Salome, though the feeling is
season June 3-10 with a production of
far from mutual.
Richard Strauss' Salome. The opera's
Trying to escape Herod's attention,
libretto, translated into German by
Salome finds herself overlooking a cis-
Hedwig Lachmann from the original
tern where John the Baptist (Jokanaan)
French of Oscar Wilde, has been contro-
has been imprisoned for his ranting
versial since its 1905
about Jesus and denunciations
world premiere. Its
of Herodias.— and finds herself
combination of nudity,
attracted to him, asking him to
sexuality, gore and bib-
kiss her. He advises penance, which
lical subject matter led
infuriates her.
censors to ban it from
Herodias asks her husband to
international stages
turn Jokanaan over to the Jews.
for years, and the first
Herod refuses and as a distraction
performance of the
asks' Salome to dance for him.
Salome at the Det roit
opera by New York's
She agrees on the condition he
Opera House
Metropolitan Opera so
grant her anything she desires.
scandalized the audi-
At the end of the famous
ence that the company closed the produc-
"Dance of the Seven Veils," Salome — now
tion after only one night. The Met did not
completely nude — demands the head of
perform it again for 27 years.
Jokaanan.
Set around 30 C.E., Salome takes place
When Herod gives in, Jokaanan is exe-
in the court of King Herod, tetrarch of
cuted, and his head is presented to Salome
Judea. Married to Herodias, who killed her on a platter. At the end of the opera, she
passionately kisses his lips, appalling the
gathered crowd. A disgusted Herod orders
his soldiers to kill her.
Marquita Lister and Eilana Lappalainen
alternate in the role of Salome. Canadian
Jewish director Bernard Uzan helms the
production.
Performance times are 8 p.m. Saturday,
June 3; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 4; 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 7; 8 p.m. Friday, June 9; and
8 p.m. Saturday, June 10. $23-$113. (313)
237-7464 or www.MichiganOpera.org.
Pigment And Pixels
Moving between actual and virtual paint
and brushes, Jewish artist Michelle A.
Hegyi's digital paintings have the look and
feel of real paint.
In her new exhibit, "Shape of the Sky:'
running through June 25 at Ann Arbor's
Washington Street Gallery, she creates
abstracted landscapes of the soul, deli-
cately combining bits and pieces from her
acrylic paintings, adding pixels, pigment
and at times encaustics as she employs the
infinite states
of the sky as a
metaphor for
human emo-
Michelle A. Hegyi:
tions.
Shape of the Sky, No.
"By experi-
28, pigment ink on rag
menting with
combining and paper, beeswax.
recombining
both pigment
and pixels, incorporating both pentimenti
and erasures, and by sometimes ground-
ing the work using an architectural struc-
ture or grid, I am attempting to introduce
a spiritual sense of place says Hegyi,
whose background is in mathematics and
computers.
_ The Washington Street Gallery is
located at 120 E. Liberty. Gallery hours
are 12-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 12-9
p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 12-4 p.m.
Sundays. There will be a reception to meet
the artist 7-9 p.m. Friday, June 2.
(734) 761-2287 or ww-w.wsg-art.com.
Out & About on page 68
FYI: For Arts and Life 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 lejst 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.
via
191111
Nate Blooth
I Special to the Jewish News
Let
Idol
Jewish
J ewish singer Elliott Yamin, 27, fin-
ished a dose third in this season's
American Idol competition. Not only
can this guy sing, he's a Jewish
"Cinderfella" story.
Yamin was born in Los Angeles to
an Israeli father of Iraqi descent and
an American Jewish mother (she's a
synagogue director). In 1988, his par-
ents split up, and his mother moved
young Elliott and his brother
to Richmond, Va., where she
had family.
Elliott's mother,
Claudette,.told his home-
town paper about her son's
Elliott
Yamin
daunting health problems.
He was plagued with con-
stant ear infections that left
him all but deaf in one ear.
But, she said, much worse
wat. the diabetes that struck hire when
he was 16; Claudette also has suffered
from the disease for decades. Elliott's
diabetes was life threatening and he
didn't really get it under control until
five years ago, when he committed to
a tough diet and had an insulin pump
'implanted under his skin.
Claudette says that she, too, loves to
sing but could never afford to . pursue
it. So she was surprised and gratified
when the shy Elliott auditioned for
American Idol.
The rest is Idol history - including
tough judge Simon Cowell saying that
Yamin "was quite possibly the best
male vocalist ever on the program."
/do/judge Paula Adbul is also a fan
and was visibly upset when Yamin was
eliminated. The young singer said of
Abdul's emotional reaction: "I think
[Paula] just loves my voice and likes
me as a person. She's just a sweet-
heart, and she's got a big heart like
I do. And we're both Jewish, too. Us
eiv't, - we ktrt e of haVe a
bond at birth."
Now Filming
thra•er Ras -written sbc
great films as Taxi Driver
and Raging Bull.
Adam Resurrected is
adapted from an acclaimed
novel by Israeli author Yoram
British Jewish actress
Sophie Okenedo, 37, is now
filming an original HBO/BBC
Kaniuk, 76. It tells the story
of a Jewish circus entertainer
miniseries about the 2004
who is kept alive by the Nazis
tsunami that devastated
and forced to entertain other
Thailand. Co-starring Brit
Sophie Ok enedo
actor Tim Roth, the still
Jews as they're sent to their
deaths. He survives the war
untitled series will air later
but ends up in a mental asy-
this year.
lum, where he tries to cope with the
Okenedo was Oscar-nominated for
madness around him. The film will be
Best Supporting Actress for Hotel
made in Germany, Romania and Israel
Rwanda; her father is Nigerian and her
mother is a British Jew. Roth, who is
this summer. The cast is not yet set.
not Jewish, was born Tim Smith. His
father, a non-Jewish leftist, changed the Peacock Network
Jewish folks figure big in the new
family surname to "Roth" to express
solidarity with Holocaust survivors.
lineup of NBC shows for fall.
Top director-writer Paul Schrader,
As expected, Studio 60 on the Sunset
59, is set to direct a Holocaust movie,
Adam Resurrected. Raised in Grand
Rapids in a strict Protestant sect,
Celebrity Jews on page 68
June 1. 2006
67.