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.