Arts & Entertainment
248-626-0160
fax: 248-626-6398
He's 'Jewmongous' from page C11
7325 Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
ISRAELI CUISINE
(Located North of 14 Mile Rd. in
Robin's Nest Plaza)
From our Family to yours - Happy Hannuicah
a
■ ■
All Kids Meals
■
a
a
a
During Hannukah
Expires 1/6/08
a a
■
Mon-Thurs
Buy One Dinner
Get 2nd 1/2 Off
Equal or Lesser Value:
•
Expires 1/6/08
Mon-Thurs 11-9
Friday 11-4 Lunch only
Saturday 5-10 Dinner only
Sunday - open for private
parties and catering only
7 Days Catering for all events
1322890
Zoo ‘ -'eeiti, ect eameell
Deliciously Intoxicating,
Great Priced Authentic
Northern Italian Cuisine
•The perfect dinner spot before
or after the theater, sports or just
because...
• Restaurant & Bar
you're going to tell people the truth,
make them laugh, or they'll kill you."
Altman agrees, "The lyrics can be a
bitter pill. I mean, I have a song pok-
ing fun at the blood libel."
That's funny?
"Some people will be offended:' he
says. "But it's as pro-Jewish as a song
can be. The whole point of the song is
to show how preposterous this kind
of hate-mongering is."
When you ask Altman about his
influences, he doesn't name Allen
Sherman, Lenny Bruce or Weird Al
Yankovic.
"I'm a big fan of song structure
he says, invoking great lyricists of
the past: Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter
and their contemporaries. "I think
the more internal rhymes, the more
alliteration, the more interesting the
song. A friend told me, 'You're the
Cole Porter of Jewish penis songs."
Does he think of himself as a
Jewish songwriter? The answer to
that one is more complicated.
"What I bring to the table is that
I'm a songwriter first; I happen to
be working on this subject:' he says.
"Jewmongous is like a side project
for me. All of a sudden I'm playing 16
cities in December!"
And making people laugh very,
very hard. I I
Sean Altman will play as
Jewmongous, with appearances
by author Cynthia Kaplan and
U-M Jewish a cappella group Kol
Hakavod, 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
8, at the Blind Pig, 208 S. First
St., in Ann Arbor. Doors open at
7. $17 advance (248-645-6666);
$20 at the door. Info: (734) 996-
8555. His new album, Taller Than
Jesus, is available from www.
jewmongous.com .
Available for Private Parties
Foxtown
Grille
2203 Woodward Ave.
cr
91Plik
Holiday Catering "` "
6646 Telegraph at Maple • Bloomfield Plaza • 24809324800
TRAYS
~
VIA_\9VE
FERNDALE
BOOK YOUR UPCOMING
BAR/BAT MITZVAH WITH US!
* RANKED AS ONE OF DETROIT'S BEST NEW RESTAURANTS - HOUR MAGAZINE
ITALIAN RESTAURANT & BAR
OPEN TUESDAY-SATURDAY
rr
IDES THURS
Broiled Whitefish
Shrimp Dinner
December 6 2007
or
S15•00
344 Wm NINE MILE FERNOALE
C12
r
ger
r_
•
TUESDAY wiLLIPI
1/1 Off
All Bottled Wine
248.336.9936
The Man from page C7
(313) 471-350(1
across from Cornerica Park I Detroit
•
WWW.VIANOVERESTAURANT.COM
even on the radar;' Mock recalls.
"When I finished principal photog-
raphy, he was doing a rewrite. I didn't
even know the title!'
In the most revealing segment,
Kushner visits Lake Charles, La.,
where he grew up and was a cham-
pion debater in high school. He gives
a (pre-Hurricane Katrina) tour of
the synagogue where he had his bar
mitzvah and relates how the family
lumber and building materials busi-
ness his grandfather founded now
has an African-American partner.
Kushner comes across as proudly
Jewish and gay, with deep connec-
tions to both the social-justice aspect
of black-Jewish relations and con-
temporary New York intellectual life.
Wrestling with Angels, in other words,
reveals a brilliant talker who walks
the walk.
Although the playwright is unflag-
gingly outspoken and a target of crit-
icism — particularly in some Jewish
circles for co-editing the 2003 anthol-
ogy Wrestling with Zion: Progressive
Jewish-American Responses to the
Israel-Palestinian Conflict — the
documentary avoids controversy.
This is largely due to Mock's film-
making style, which values craft over
a strong point of view.
She received an Oscar in 1995
for best documentary (to go along
with her four career Academy Award
nominations in the short docu-
mentary category) for Maya Lin: A
Strong Clear Vision, which profiled
the Asian-American architect whose
unorthodox design for the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial provoked a hail of
criticism.
Mock's approach both on that film
and Wrestling with Angels suggests
she's more comfortable focusing on
the artist's process than the response
the work engenders. But she rejects
the notion that she cut out scenes of
Kushner's detractors and dismisses
the idea of soliciting alternate voices.
"If it's there organically, I would
include it," Mock says. "But the idea
of going out and getting pro and con
is a different style of filmmaking.
Wrestling with Angels is not a news
show. I'm trying to tell the story of
this artist!'
Naomi Pfefferman of the Jewish Journal
of Greater L.A. contributed to this article.
Wrestling With Angels:
Playwright Tony Kushner debuts
on PBS stations nationwide at 9
p.m. Wednesday, Dec.12. Check
your local listings.