Arts & Entertainment

About

Richard GileWitz

Finger Pickin' Good
Florida's Richard Gilewitz bills himself
as "one of the strangest men in acoustic
music today" The Jewish performer is a
fingerstyle guitarist, playing both 6- and
12-string instruments. He makes his Ann
Arbor debut 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 25,
at the Ark during a free "Take a Chance
Tuesday" concert.
Gilewitz delivers a show that is a whole
history of fingerstyle guitar through time,
going all the way back to the instrument's
Spanish classical origins and proceeding
through blues, folk, traditional American
and contemporary styles. A formidable

player, he can make
ents instructional guitar
one guitar sound like
seminars worldwide to
a wide array of players
an entire orchestra.
He mixes the music
of all levels and brings
with humorous yarns
his meet-the-artist and
Gail Zimmerman
he describes "as too
music-in-the-schools
Arts Editor
program into elemen-
unbelievable not to
be true."
tary, middle and high
Gilewitz's interest in music began in
schools.
Gilewitz has appeared in concert with
childhood when he became entranced
with artists such as the Beatles, Andres
the late Warren Zevon, Kenny G, David
Segovia, Arlo Guthrie, John Fahey and
Bromberg and Jorma Kaukonen, to name
Flatt and Scruggs. He began honing
just a few.
his skills during the late 1970s at the
Doors open at 7:30; complimentary
University of Alabama, while pursuing a
tickets at the door. (734) 761-1451. To
degree in computer science and math-
order Gilewitz's CDs, DVDs and/or song-
ematics, eventually working in the field
books, go to richardgilewitz.com .
of flight simulation design, telemetry and
satellite systems. But the draw of music
Boomer Heaven
"The Beat Goes On: The Music of the
was paramount. Gilewitz left the world of
corporate life to teach and perform full
Baby Boomers," a Pops Series concert
time.
conceived by conductor Jack Everly and
Today, he uses banjo style picking pat-
performed by the Detroit Symphony
terns, classical arpeggios, tapping and
Orchestra and a cast of musical theater
harmonica to create his unique sound.
veterans — vocalists John Musick, Roy
In addition to concert offerings at arts
Chicas, Joe Cassidy, Farah Alvin, N'Kenge
centers, intimate listening rooms like the
and Julie Reiber — will return listen-
Ark, festivals and arts councils, he pres-
ers to the era of Frankie and Annette

and the British Invasion 10:45 a.m. and
8 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Friday and
Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 27-
30, in Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher
Music Center in Detroit.
"The Beat Goes On" captures the vari-
ous tastes of the most populous genera-
tion in American history with a varied
program featuring medleys of Frankie
Valli and the Four Seasons and the Beatles,
still two of the most popular bands of all
time, as well as an assortment of songs
by Jewish composer and lyricist Burt
Bacharach.
Other highlights of the concerts
include a tribute to some of the original
"girl groups" with songs such as "It's
My Party" (made famous by Jewish pop
singer Lesley Gore), a salute to television
series theme songs including Star Trek
and Mission: Impossible; and selections
from the Academy Award-winning scores
from the classic films Love Story and Dr
Zhivago.
Tickets are $15 to $71 (a limited num-
ber of box seats are also available for $65-
$105). (313) 576-5111 or
www.detroitsymphony.com .

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.

Jews

Nate Bloom

011111t

Sok

Special to the Jewish News

Touchdown In Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has
•
been so busy this month with the vio-
wow lence that has wracked Israel and Gaza
•
that he almost had to cancel a March
7 meeting with a Combined Jewish
(111; Philanthropies of Boston delegation led
by New England Patriots owner Robert
Kraft and Kraft's wife,
Myra.
But Olmert made
time to meet with
the delegation, which
included two Patriots
players. Kraft's Israeli
charities include a
Robert Kraft
Haifa educational
center for Ethiopian
immigrants, thousands of paid trips
to Israel for young people via the Kraft
Passport to Israel fund and the fund-
ing of Israel's American Touch Football
League (including building a football
stadium in Jerusalem). Kraft also is the

C8

March 20 2008

primary owner of Israel's largest packag-
ing company; his Israeli plant employs
700 workers.

Foxy Lady
The FOX series Canterbury's Law
premiered on March 10. Julianna
Margulies, 41, who stars as a defense
attorney with all
sorts of personality
faults, is just plain ter-
rific. That's not just
my opinion; it's the
overwhelming consen-
sus of the TV critics.
Give Canterbury's Law
a look, and I think
Julianna
you'll be surprised at
Margulies
its HBO-like quality. It
airs 9 p.m. Mondays.
By the way, Margulies and her hus-
band, lawyer Keith Lieberthal, who
grew up in Ann Arbor, are owed a
belated mazel toy. On Jan. 17, Margulies
gave birth to her first child, a son. Last
November, the couple had a Jewish wed-
ding.

Pecking Ahead
Tons of little kids and teens have followed
Josh Peck's acting career for almost
a decade. Peck, 21, grew up relatively
poor in Manhattan, raised by his single
Jewish mother. Work in
children's theater led in
1999 to a part on the
Nickelodeon series The
Amanda Show, star-
_
ring Amanda Bynes.
In 2004, Peck got his
big break as the co-star
of the hit Nick series
Josh Peck
Drake & Josh, which
ran until 2007 and spawned several hit
TV movies.
Peck, who was formerly quite chubby,
has slimmed down in the last few years.
This will serve him well as he starts
his adult acting career. Peck co-stars in
the film Drillbit Taylor as a high-school
student who bullies three other boys; the
film opens Friday, March 21. The three
boys, in turn, hire a guy (Owen Wilson)
whom they believe to be a professional
mercenary to protect them. Seth Rogen

co-wrote the script.
This July, Peck co-stars in The
Wackness as a troubled Jewish pot dealer
who trades pot for therapy sessions with
a psychiatrist played by Ben Kingsley.
The film won a major award at the
Sundance Film Festival last January.

Rock On
Jewish rock superstar Billy Joel, 58, was
as loose and funny as I have ever seen
him (yes, he seemed sober, too) when
he appeared at the recent Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame induction ceremony and
made a speech prais-
ing new member John
Mellencamp.
Joel, who almost
never talks about
being Jewish, laughed
as he recalled that
Mellencamp invited
him to play the first
Billy Joel
Farm Aid concert: "I
didn't want to be the
only Jew at the gig, so I invited Randy
Newman to play," he said.

❑