Arts & Entertainment

About
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Broadway Diva

Debbie Gravitte, nee Shapiro, has had
a career that has taken her from the
Broadway stage to the symphony hall
and points in between. The Jewish per-
former, a Tony Award recipient for Best
Featured Actress in a Musical for Jerome
Robbins' Broadway, made her debut on
Broadway in They're Playing Our Song
(a musical recently revived at the Jewish
Ensemble Theatre); her most recent
Broadway appearances include roles
in Les Miserables and Chicago. She has
performed her nightclub act worldwide;
symphonic appearances include sharing
the stage with the Jerusalem Symphony.
On television, Gravitte co-starred on the
CBS series Trial and Error and on NBC's
Pursuit of Happiness.
Gravitte brings her talents to the Motor
City for Detroit Symphony Orchestra Pop
Series concerts titled "Cole Porter and
Friends." Under the baton of conductor
Constantine Kitsopoulos, vocalist Gravitte
and the DSO will be joined by singer Doug
Labrecque and singer-dancers Joan Hess
and Kirby Ward.
In addition to the work of Cole Porter,
the concerts will feature songs by some
favorite Jewish composers: Irving Berlin,

Jerome Kern and
comes to Joe Louis
Arena Jan. 23-27, with a
George Gershwin.
Performance times
new tour model suitable
Jan. 17-20 at Detroit's
for arenas. The stage on
which the artists per-
Orchestra Hall in the
Gail Zimmer man
form has been raised
Max M. Fisher Music
Arts Editor
Center are 10:45 a.m.
and sound and lighting
and 8 p.m. Thursday,
adjusted to capture the
8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m.
intimacy felt under the big top although in
a more cavern-
Sunday. Tickets
ous space.
are $15-$71 (a
limited number
An alle-
gorical and
of box seats are
acrobatic jour-
available for
ney into the
$65-$105). (313)
576-5111 or
heart of a city,
www.detroitsym-
Saltimbanco
phony.com .
— from the
Italian "saltare
Cirque At
in banco,"
The Joe
which liter-
ally means
"to jump
After 14 years
of touring the
on a bench"
world with its
— explores
big top and
the urban
experience in
playing to 9.5
all its myriad
million specta-
forms: the
tors, Cirque
Debbie Gravitte: Singing the songs of some favor-
du Soleil's
people who
ite Jewish composers.
live there, their
Saltimbanco

idiosyncrasies and likenesses, families and
groups, the hustle and bustle of the street
and the towering heights of skyscrapers.
The production features 47 artists, from
Canada and 14 other countries, who will
draw audience members into a signature
Cirque du Soleil dreamlike world, an
imaginary city where diversity is a cause
for hope.
Performance times are 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday-Friday, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets:
$37.50, $57.50 and $67.50. Info: (313)
471-6611; tickets: (248) 645-6666.

Morath & Miller

In 1978, only two years after the end
of China's Cultural Revolution, noted
photographer Inge Morath and her hus-
band, Jewish playwright Arthur Miller,
were invited to travel to China. Fueled by
Morath's knowledge of Chinese language,
poetry and history and Miller's interest in
the politics of the moment, they were to
return — Morath again in 1979 and the
couple in 1983, when Miller helped bring
Death of a Salesman to a Beijing stage.
Because of the University of Michigan's
strong ties to Miller and its longtime
strength in Chinese studies, the U-M

FYI: For Arts 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 least 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.

e■ At s

ON= I Nate Bloom

Special to the Jewish News

I C

Runway Hebrews
The Bravo channel's Project Runway

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t)

B10

stands out as among the best of the
reality shows; many leading TV crit-
ics label it their favorite "guilty plea-
sure." Over 12 weeks, young clothing
designers and almost-novice fashion
models compete for the grand prize
of a lucrative contract for their skills.
I just learned that pretty model
Aviva Brocks, 22 (who has not been
eliminated as I write this), is a nice
Jewish girl. My friends at
Bangitout.com , a modern Orthodox
site, tell me that she comes from a
religious home in London, England,
and they got to know her a bit when
she modeled in Manhattan's Diamond
District. Project Runway airs new
episodes 10 p.m. Wednesdays, with

January 17 • 2008

repeats of earlier episodes through-
out the week. Check the Bravotv.com
Web site.
One of the judges this season
is famous fashion
designer Michael
Kors, 48. Kors, the
son of a non-Jewish
Swedish father and
an American Jewish
mother who once
modeled for Revlon,
Michael Kors
was raised Jewish
and had a bar mitz-
vah.
Contestant-fashion designer Rami
Kashou is described as "Israeli" on
some Web sites, and the assumption
has been that he is Jewish. Actually,
he is a Palestinian Christian Arab
who was born in Jerusalem and grew
up on the West Bank. Now living in
Los Angeles, he already has had a lot

of success and is mostly doing the
show for the publicity.

Film Notes

Woody Allen's new movie,

Cassandra's Dream, a black comedy,
has been moved from its original
opening date in late December to
Friday, Jan. 18. By the way, Allen
recently told a New York reporter
that he is proud of Ronan Farrow, his
son from his relationship with Mia
Farrow. Ronan (born Satchel) is only
20 but is in his second year at Yale
Law School. Ronan is very active in
human rights work. Although father
and son are totally estranged, Woody
chooses to look on the bright side: "I
could be reading that he was caught
in a stickup at the liquor store."
Also opening on Jan. 18 is
Cloverfield, a big-budget flick about
five young New Yorkers who are

attending a party
when a giant mon-
ster descends on
the city. The movie
is told from the
point of view of
their video cam-
Lizzy Caplan
era. Actress Lizzy
Caplan, 26, is one
of the five. Caplan most recently co-
starred in the short-lived TV series

The Class.

Gossipy Stuff

It could almost be a Seinfeld episode:

Jerry Seinfeld took umbrage at the
charge that his wife, Jessica, pla-

giarized recipes from author Missy
Chase Lapine (both women wrote
cookbooks that featured recipes in
which healthy foods were hidden in
foods that kids like to eat, like cook-
ies). Jerry called Lapine "wacko" on