Arts & Entertainment
Ludwig's Lock
DSO promises a "good hair day" at first annual
8 Days in June festival.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
T
he life and legacy of Beethoven
bring a Jewish link to the mul-
timedia festival 8 Days in June,
being launched as an annual event by the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
The festival, running June 21-28 at
Detroit's Max M. Fisher Music Center,
devotes the fourth day to Beethoven as
it develops the overall theme "Creation
and Conflict." All festival programs are
designed to compare elements of past
and current realities in military, racial,
religious, political or internal conflicts.
The Beethoven program features
pianist Christopher O'Riley performing
two sonatas, two screenings of the film
Beethoven's Hair and a panel discussion,
"Beethoven's Internal Conflict: A Musical
and Scientific Journey"
The discussion includes Russell
Martin, author of the book Beethoven's
Hair; Larry Weinstein, who directed the
film based on the book; and William
Meredith, executive director of the Ira R
Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in
California.
The Jewish connections — in book,
film and discussion — have to do with
the chain of people passing along a lock
of the composer's hair, which will be
on view Sunday, June 24, in the Max's
Atrium Lobby.
The hair was cut off after Beethoven's
death by Jewish composer Ferdinand
Hiller, saved by successive generations of
the Hiller family, held by a Danish doc-
tor who cared for Jews in hiding during
World War II and sold at auction by the
doctor's daughter to Ira Brilliant, who
was Jewish and had a partner in the pur-
chase.
The lock of hair ultimately was sent
to a lab to find out what had caused the
illnesses Beethoven endured — and the
results are shown in the film, which will
be presented at 5 and 9 p.m. The musical
program and discussion begin at 7 p.m.
"I thought the book should be adapted
into a documentary, with dramatic ele-
ments as opposed to a pure drama,
because so many of the people involved
were still alive says Weinstein, who
decided to make the film even before he
finished reading the text. "My festival
presentation will be about the experi-
ence, process and honor of meeting all
these people."
The new festival includes classical,
jazz and chamber music concerts, as
well as programs featuring dramatiza-
tions, poetry presentations, lectures and
visual arts displays. Events were planned
and coordinated by Peter Oundjian, DSO
principal guest conductor and artistic
adviser, and Tom Allen, festival creative
consultant and host of CBC radio's Music
& Company.
Weinstein, 50, based in Toronto, has
a long history of making films about
composers. His earlier projects have
explored the lives of Shostakovich, Ravel
and Arlen.
Beethoven's Hair has been screened at
the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.
"For audience members interested in
music, Beethoven's Hair exposes them to
another world:' Weinstein says. "For oth-
ers, it's almost like seducing them into
hearing the music because the film is
about other things."
8 Days in June runs June 21-28 at
the Max M. Fisher Music Center in
Detroit. A complete schedule and
video previews can be found at
www.8daysinjune.com . $20-$65 per
event; $100-$300 for festival pass.
(313) 576-5111 or the Web site
www.detroitsymphony.com .
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oar
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Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
Love Story
(1) Tony Curtis, 81, is now filming David
and Fatima, an Israeli film about the
(I) tragic romance of an Israeli soldier
and a Muslim girl; it
will open in 2008.
Curtis has agreed to
perform without his
toupee for the first
time. Oscar-winner
Martin Landau, 76,
has a supporting
role as a rabbi.
Tony Curtis
By the way, this
month marks the 40th anniversary
of the release of the Beatles' Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
For trivia buffs, Curtis was one of
eight Jews whose image appeared
on the iconic Sgt. Pepper cover. The
others: Bob Dylan; Sigmund Freud;
comedian Lenny Bruce; Marilyn
Monroe (who converted to Judaism
when she married playwright Arthur
38
June 14 • 2007
Miller); Issy Bonn, an English music-
hall comedian-singer popular in
the '40s; and fine artists Wallace
Berman and Richard Lindner.
Almost Jewish
The surprise TV hit of last season
was ABC's Ugly Betty, a combination
comedy-soap opera about a young,
less-than-beautiful woman who tries
to make it in the fashion-magazine
industry. The series is now airing in
reruns.
Betty stars America Ferrera,
a charming actress of Honduran
descent. Ferrera grew up in a nice
suburban area of Los Angeles,
where, she says,
most of her friends
were Jewish kids.
She told Conan
O'Brien she went to
so many bar and bat
mitzvahs growing
up that "I was con-
vinced I would have
Judith Light
to convert – I'm still
a little convinced."
Three Jewish actors have had
recurring roles on the series: Kevin
Sussman as Walter, Max Greenfield
as Nick Pepper and Judith Light
(Who's the Boss) as Claire Meade.
Light appeared in nine Betty epi-
sodes, while also guest-starring this
season in five Law & Order: SVU
shows as Judge Elizabeth Donnelly.
Golden Camera
Husband-and-wife Israeli writers
Etgar Keret (b.1967) and Shira
Gefen won the Camera D'Or award
at the recent Cannes Film Festival
for their film Meduzot (jellyfish). The
award is given for the best film by
debut directors and comes with a
$200,000 prize. Meduzot, written by
Gefen and directed by her and Keret,
is about the life of three Tel Aviv
women.
Keret was a little taken aback by
the glitz of Cannes, telling the press
his tuxedo was "the first suit I have
worn since my bar mitzvah."
"The film and
our firstborn son
were born at the
same time," said
Gefen. "The new
baby was easier to
deal with than the
Etgar Keret
movie that cost us
many sleepless nights. Today we are
very proud of both."
A lecturer at the Tel Aviv
University Film School and a major
literary figure in Israel, Keret often
has been called the "voice of the
young." More than 40 short films
culled from his best-selling short
story collections have been pro-
duced.
In August, the feature film
Wristcutters: A Love Story, adapted
from Keret's short story "Kneller's
Happy Campers," will hit American
theaters. Starring Patrick Fugit, Will
Arnett, Shannyn Sossamon and Tom
Waits, Wristcutters was a big hit at
the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. n