Arts & Entertainment Those Funny Jews Originally directed by Sheldon Patinkin, one of the founding members of famed improv company the Second City, Jewsicall The Musical is a comedic look at Jewish life and culture, utilizing classic scenes from the Second City's archives as well as new mate- rial created by the next generation of the troupe's writers and satirists. Scenes and songs include a musical ode to the online Jewish dating service J-Date, a visit to the country's first Thai/kosher fusion restaurant and Joseph and Mary's session with a very confused marriage counselor. "We are trying to be humorous about the situations in the world, the situations that one lives with as well as what it's like to be Jewish in this world:' said Patinkin of the musical revue. Celebrating all things Jewish with a decid- edly irreverent look, Jewsicall The Musical will be presented July 9-Sept. 7 at the Second City in Novi, located at 42705 Grand River Ave. Show times are Wednesdays and About II la the DSO selections are Thursdays at 8 p.m., compositions by Jewish Fridays at 9 p.m., composers: Morton Saturdays at 8 and 10 Gould's Fanfare for p.m. and Sundays at 4 Freedom, songs from and 8 p.m. Leonard Bernstein's West Tickets are $15 Gail Zimmerman Side Story and Aaron on Wednesdays, Arts Editor Copland's Lincoln Portrait. Thursdays and The culmination of the Sundays and $20 on Fridays and Saturdays and can be purchased concerts is a grand finale of fireworks choreo- graphed to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. over the phone by calling the Second City Preceding the concerts will be perfor- box office at 248-348-4448 or online at www. mances by the 1st Michigan Colonial Fire ticketmaster.com. and Drum Corps at 6:45 p.m. and the River Raisin Ragtime Review at 7:30 p.m. Patriotic Performances Additionally, attendees have full access to 300 years of American history at Greenfield The Detroit Symphony Orchestra's "Salute Village with more than 80 authentic struc- To America" concerts, now in their 16th tures, a cast of dramatic performers in peri- year and taking place July 2-5 in Greenfield od attire, children's activities on the Village Village, feature fireworks, patriotic music Green, a vintage baseball game and classic and a Lincoln bicentennial salute. songs performed by the all-female Village The DSO concerts at 8:30 p.m., led by Trio and the men of the barbershop-style Resident Conductor Thomas Wilkins, are Greenfield Village Quartet. the centerpiece of the evenings. Among Gates open at 6 p.m., and concert attendees are welcome to bring chairs and blankets to the concerts. Food and bever- ages are available for purchase. For more information, including ticket prices and purchase, call (313) 576-5111 or (313) 982-6001 or go to www.detroitsym- phony.com or www.The HenryFord.org . Mortgage Help In keeping with the spirit of its film Hancock (about a misunderstood superhero who is encouraged to improve his public image when he meets a good-hearted public relations executive), which opened locally July 2, Columbia Pictures is holding a contest to pay off a deserving family's home mortgage (up to $360,000). Entrants must write a 200-word essay explaining why they are deserving of the grand prize. To enter (by July 6) and find the official contest rules, log on to www.Hancockmovie.com. 11 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. ews Gam I Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Red, White & Blue A reader question prompted me to check which famous Jews were born on the Fourth of July. The list is a bit longer and more diverse than I expected. Each person's age as of this com- ing Independence Day follows his or her name: Al Davis, Pro Football Hall of Michael Milken Fame football coach and the owner of the Oakland Raiders, 79; Michael Milken, disgraced businessman turned major Jewish philanthropist, 61; Mitch Miller, music producer, 97; Geraldo Rivera, journalist, 65; Neil Simon, playwright, 81; Abigail Van Buren, columnist, born Pauline Friedman, 90 (her twin sister, columnist Ann Landers, born Esther Friedman, died in 2002). July 4 also was the birthday of these famous deceased Hebrews: Irving Caesar, songwriter ("Tea for Two"); Rube Goldberg, cartoonist; Leona Helmsley, businesswoman; Lionel Trilling, major literary critic- professor; Meyer Lansky, gangster; and Louis B. Mayer, movie mogul. (European-born Lansky and Mayer, who were unsure of their exact dates C4 July 3 x 2008 of birth, chose July 4 out of patrio- tism, as odd as that might sound in Lansky's case.) Film Premieres Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, which opened July 2, stars Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) as a plucky Cincinnati teen who does all she can to help her family survive the Great Depression. Along the way she unsuc- cessfully tries to sell some news stories to a gruff newspaper editor (Wallace Shawn). Shawn's small but distinct character role in this film is typical of his acting career. For more Wallace Shawn than 20 years, he has delighted filmgoers and TV audiences with his gnome-like appearance and distinctive lisping voice (he was the voice of Rex in Toy Story). Everyone knows Shawn, 64, from something — whether the comic evil mastermind in The Princess Bride, the Ferengi Grand Negus Zek in Star Trek: Deep Space-Nine or the disheveled high-school teacher in Clueless. The son of legendary New Yorker editor William Shawn, Wallace has used his acting earnings to subsidize his other career as the writer of seven well-received stage plays. Several of his works have become films, includ- ing My Dinner with Andre and The Designated Mourner. Wallace Shawn's companion of 30 years is short-story writer Deborah Eisenberg, 62, whom the New York Times describes as "one of the most important fiction writers now at work." Opening Friday, July 4, in select cit- ies is Diminished Capacity. Matthew Broderick, 46, stars as a journalist suffering from memory loss who returns to his rural hometown, where he bonds with his old flame (Virginia Madsen) and Alzheimer's-impaired uncle (Alan Alda). Alda has been married for 51 years to his Jewish wife, Arlene Weiss Alda; their three daughters were raised Jewish. Eyeing Eisner Michael Eisner, 62, the man who rescued and reinvented the Disney Company, has hosted his own once- a-month talk show on CNBC since 2006. Eisner was forced out of Disney in 2005, but he still commands a lot of respect in the entertainment world. That respect is reflected in the quality of guests his under-the-radar show attracts. Most of the past shows can be viewed on the CNBC Web site. Jewish celeb guest interviews include Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone Michael Eisner magazine; Kenneth Cole, the fashion designer; and Ben Silverman, 37, the co-chair of NBC entertainment and the "wunderkind" who's been behind the network's hit shows. Mad Men On DVD The DVD of the first season of the award-winning AMC cable show Mad Men went on sale on July 1. Mad Men, created by executive producer Matthew Weiner, premiered in July 2007 and returns for a second season on July 27, 2008. It's about advertis- ing agencies in the early '60s, a time when WASP males almost exclusively ran them. Maggie Siff Last season, we saw one Jewish character, Rachel Menken, the beautiful daughter of a Jewish department-store owner. Playing Menken is Maggie Siff, 34, whose real-life father is Jewish. Working as sound editor on the series is Julie Altus, 28, formerly of West Bloomfield. ❑ Contact Nate Bloom at Middleoftheroadl@aoLcom.