Arts & Entertainment About Allee Willis in her North Hollywood studio The Amazing Allee The first North American tour of the Broadway musical The Color Purple, presented by Oprah Winfrey, heads to Detroit's Fox Theatre May 20-June 1 for 16 performances. Nominated for 11 Tony Awards, the production, with a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman, is based on the Pulitzer Prize- winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker and the Steven Spielberg film based on the novel. The story of an African-American woman named Celie, who finds the strength to triumph over diversity and discover her unique voice in the world, is ultimately about hope and healing. Its Tony-nominated score features gospel, jazz, pop and the blues, and boasts a spe- cial connection to Detroit's Jewish com- munity. Born and raised in Detroit, Allee Willis, a Mumford High School graduate who attended Hebrew school at Congregation Beth Aaron, co-wrote the score for The Color Purple with African-American songwriters Stephen Bray (who also is from Detroit) and Brenda Russell. Willis also written for the likes of Earth Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Herbie Hancock, Patti LaBelle and Tina Turner, among others. "Soul" is at the heart of Willis' life and career. She was greatly influenced by Motown songwriting legends Holland- Dozier-Holland, crediting them with instilling in her a love of music. Lamont Dozier eventually became one of Willis' favorite collaborators. She also cites WJLB disc jockey Martha Jean the Queen. "It's because of listening to this woman when I was growing up that my career took the path it did:' Willis says. In 2006, Willis — a Grammy winner for the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop and an Emmy nominee for the theme song for the TV series Friends — made Broadway history by becoming the first woman ever to have written music for two shows opening on the Great White Way in the same season (Purple and the Earth, Wind & Fire inspired musical Hot Feet), a feat achieved by only four other people: Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, George Gershwin and Marvin Hamlisch. The Los Angeles-based Willis, also renowned as a prolific artist (paintings, sculptures, motorized work and furni- ture), cyberspace guru (virtual worlds and Web narratives) and collector of kitsch, is slated to speak to Mumford High School students and to receive a special commen- dation from the Detroit City Council when she returns to Michigan for the Detroit opening of The Color Purple. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $39.50, $55 and $65. Tickets: (248) 433-1515. Information: (313) 471-6611. In Brief • Canadian-based pop group Barenaked Ladies, featuring Jewish lead singer Steven Page, will perform a sampling of songs from the band's new CD, Snacktime (aimed at children but pleas- ing to adults as well), 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 9, at Borders, 34300 Woodward, in Birmingham. A meet-and-greet and CD autograph signing will follow. (248) 203- 0005. • Two Jewish composers are on the program for Detroit Symphony Orchestra concerts 10:45 a.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9-10, at Orchestra Hall in the Max M. Fisher Music Center. American conductor and pianist Andrew Litton joins the orchestra in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and conducts Richard Danielpour's Celestial Night. Rounding out the program is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. (313) 576-5111 or www.detroitsym- phony.com . • To gear up for the arrival of the exhibit "Chocolate: The Exhibition:' the Henry Ford is hosting a chocolate cake bake-off contest, with the winner's recipe to be featured in the Henry Ford Museum's Chocolate Cafe for the run of the May 31- Sept. 7 exhibition. Enter your best choco- late cake recipe by May 15 by e-mailing publicrelations@thehenryford.com . Rules and information can be found at www. thehenryford.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. Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Cable News Jews The hot race for the Democratic presi- dential nomination has had most of us watching a lot of cable news, and sev- eral readers have asked who is Jewish among the cable news journalists. At CNN, there's talk show host Larry King and news anchors Campbell Brown and Wolf Blitzer. Brown, born a Catholic, converted to Judaism around the time of her 2006 marriage to Republican political consultant Dan Senor. Also, as I recently reported, CNN Chief National Correspondent John King is studying to convert to Judaism in advance of his May wed- ding to CNN reporter Dana Bash. B10 May 8 2008 MSNBC has anchor Dan Abrams (the son of famous attorney Floyd Abrams); correspondent Andrea Mitchell (who is married to Alan Greenspan); and Hardball correspon- dent David Shuster, who is married to Bloomberg News cor- respondent Juliana Goldman. Also, Today show co-host Matt Lauer, whose late father was Jewish, often appears on David Gregory MSNBC. NBC Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory is also a member of the tribe. Last month, Gregory was given his own weekday MSNBC show, Race for the White House. In March, Gregory appeared at a United Jewish Communities panel discussion on Jewish identity and said that he recently has become more reli- giously observant. Over at Fox News, there's Geraldo Rivera, the host of Alan Colmes Geraldo at Large. Rivera's late mother was Jewish, and he was raised Jewish and identifies as Jewish. Also: Alan Colmes, the co-host of Hannity and Colmes; anchor Chris Wallace, the son of Mike Wallace and Mike's first (Jewish) wife; and regular contributors Dr. Michael Baden, Bernard Goldberg, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol and Mara Liasson. 'Found' On Film Opening May 2 in Detroit is Then She Found Me, based on the novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman. The film was co-written and directed by Oscar- winner Helen Hunt (Mad About You), who also stars in the comedy-drama, Hunt plays April Epner, a Jewish high-school teacher, whose adoptive mother dies. April is then contacted by her biological mother, a somewhat vulgar talk-show host (Bette Midler). Eventually, we find out that beneath her bluster, Midler's character has a good heart, and Midler provides much of the film's comic relief. The heart of the film is about April's desire to have a child and her relation-