NOW PLAYING!

La Boheme — the original concept
came from Yale-trained playwright
Billy Aronson who allowed Larson
to make Rent his own — Rent is
set in Lower Manhattan at the end
of the 20th century, as a community
celebrates life in the face of AIDS,
drug addiction and homelessness.
Larson incorporated some of his own
experiences as a struggling artist
into the play; like the character Mark
Cohen, Larson lost his girlfriend (a
character originally played by Jewish
actress Idina Menzel of Wicked
fame) to another woman. Rent won
four Tony Awards, including those for
Best Musical, Best Musical Score and
Best Book of a Musical, as well as the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Rent plays at Detroit's Masonic
Temple Theatre 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday,
2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 6-11. Tickets are $29-
$56. For tickets, call (248) 645-6666 or
go to www.broadwayindetroit.com or
www.ticketmaster.corn.

Purim. Pleaser

New on DVD just in time for Purim is
One Night with the King, a Christian-
produced "faith-value" film aimed at
America's evangelical Christians and

"other faith families."
Based on the Book of Esther, the
2006 production "is respectful of
Jewish values," JTA reported at the
time of its theatrical release. Some
Jewish religious leaders differed on
the artistic merits of the film, but "the
general consensus was that while the
storyline departs in some details from
the biblical original, the film provides
a positive portrayal of Jews.
"Esther (newcomer Tiffany Dupont)
is appropriately beautiful, her uncle
Mordecai (John Rhys-Davies) wise
and courageous and Haman (Jewish
actor James Callis) evil and scheming."
Peter O'Toole makes a brief appear-
ance as the Prophet Samuel and Omar
Sharif plays an adviser to Persian King
Xerxes (better known as Ahasuerus
in the Book of Esther). Israeli actor
Jonah Lotan portrays Jesse, a child-
hood friend of Hadassah, the name
of the heroine before she became
"Esther."
The film was shot at a palace in
India on a $20 million budget. Rabbi
Harvey Fields, a veteran leader in Los
Angeles interfaith relations, "lauded
the filmmakers for omitting final por-
tions of Megillat Esther, in which the
newly empowered Jews take bloody
revenge on their enemies."

A funny, exuberant look at the livesw
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through the years from "Someone to Watch over Wet° "I Will Survive!"
It's Detroit's New "Ultimate Girls' Night Out!"

Audience
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Add dinner at the Century Grille or Elwood Bar
& Grill and make your night out complete!
Group discounts available - call for information.

THE HISTORIC

GEM

www.gemtheatre.com
333 Madison Ave, Detroit MI 48126

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RESTAURAN ,

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with organized crime in New York.
The pretty blonde actress Molly
Schaffer, 35, has the recurring role
of Kate Farrell in the series. She is
set to appear in about half of the 13
episodes that have been filmed.
I caught a refer-
ence to the fact
that Schaffer is the
daughter of Susan
Schaffer Levine,
who wed Sen. Barry
Goldwater in 1992
and remained mar-
Molly Schaffer
ried to him until
he died in 1998. I
knew that Goldwater's last wife was
Jewish.
Goldwater was the son of a
Jewish father and a Protestant
mother. He was raised in his moth-
er's Protestant faith.
I contacted Molly Schaffer,

and here's what she told me. Her
mother and father aren't Jewish
by birth, but her mother married
a Jewish man after her parents
divorced, and her mother converted
to Judaism. Her sister, too, con-
verted to Judaism when she mar-
ried a Jewish man. Her mother re-
married another Jewish man after
Goldwater died, and she and her
new husband are active members of
the Jewish community.
As for Molly, she has a son with
her Jewish ex-boyfriend, and she
visited Israel as part of a college-
sponsored archaeological dig. She
says she is not religious, but is very
aware of "how Jewish" she is "by
association."
She was extremely likable, and I
was tempted to say, "C`mon Molly,
give up your Jewish amateur status
and make it official!"

P

EVERY
FRIDAY

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Whitefish, Seabass,
Salmon Fillet or
Salmon Patties

$ 9 99

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CARRY-OUT

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Kids Eat FREE

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prices at Ole Ole...
and the food
even better."

Evires 311.5;07 • %.1liti 7 day,: int.:lulling
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of 14 Nide Rd.
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112 miles west of Novi Rd.
248.668.9005

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.March I 2007

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39