Arts & Entertainment
&About
Pretty Amazing Neil
After 40 years of
making music
with a multilayered
sound — hits like
"Sweet Caroline:'
"Song Sung Blue
and "Love on the
Rocks" — singer-
Neil Diamond
songwriter Neil
Diamond worked
with producer
Rick Rubin to create his 2005 critically
acclaimed album, 12 Songs.
Diamond and Rubin teamed up once
again for 2008's Home Before Dark,
another CD of pared-down, back-to-basics
Diamond-written tunes that critics have
praised.
At 8 p.m. Thursday, July 31, Diamond
brings his distinctive voice and his guitar
to the Palace of Auburn Hills as part of his
current North American concert tour to
promote the album. In addition to croon-
ing a few of the new songs, like "Pretty
Amazing Grace" and the new album's title
tune (which Diamond has called his favor-
ite), fans are sure to hear classic hits like
"Cherry, Cherry" and
"I'm a Believe
Tickets are $120,
$85 and $55. (248)
645-6666.
a vivid portrait of the
two as their relationship
unfolds from what is
written — and what is
left unsaid — in their
letters.
Gail Zimmerman
One Time
This production
Arts Editor
Only
will not be repeated
elsewhere. Weaver and
You won't have to travel to a Broadway or
Daniels have been brought together for
an Off-Broadway theater this weekend
this benefit performance as a result of a
to see major stars reprise a well-known
unique collaboration of the Purple Rose
beloved play on stage. For one night only,
Theatre, founded by Daniels in 1991; the
at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the newly
Detroit Film Theatre; and the Flea Theater
restored Detroit Film Theatre in the
in New York, of which Weaver is a big sup-
Detroit Institute of Arts, Metro Detroiters
porter.
will have the opportunity to see two major
Reserved tickets to see the play (10
Hollywood players — actress Sigourney
percent discount for DIA members) are
Weaver and actor Jeff Daniels — in a ben-
available by contacting the Purple Rose
efit performance of A.R. Gurney's perenni- box office, open 10 a.m.-10 p.m., at (734)
ally popular Love Letters.
433-7673 or by e-mailing
Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in
info@purplerosetheatre.org .
Drama, Love Letters centers on two char-
For VIP and sponsorship ticket infor-
acters, Melissa Gardner (Weaver) and
mation (featuring an intimate dinner
Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Daniels),
and/or cocktail reception at the DIA with
as they read the hilarious and poignant
the stars following the performance), call
letters that have passed between them
(734) 433-7782 or e-mail
throughout their lives. Under Broadway
info@purplerosetheatre.org .
director Jim Simpson, Love Letters paints
Kids Theater
Stagecrafters Youth Theatre presents Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs, featuring
actors ages 8-18, 7 p.m. Thursday and
Friday, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m.
Sunday, July 24-27, at the Baldwin Theatre,
415 S. Lafayette, in downtown Royal Oak.
The familiar Brothers Grimm fairy tale
has the traditional characters of Snow
White, Prince Robert, the Evil Queen and,
of course, the seven dwarfs, but giving the
show a twist, the dwarfs sport untradition-
al, comical names such as "Gloomy Gus','
"Spritely" and "Gabby" to name a few. New
characters include an enchanted vixen and
a funny palace cat.
Director Scott Forney finds the musical-
stage production a challenge. "We wanted
a bit more comic relief in the show so
we played up the Evil Queen to be a little
quirky, which makes her less frightening
for the little ones. The Magic Mirror is a
little sarcastic to her for even more fun.
Even the adults will enjoy the humor in
this production:' says Forney.
Recommended for ages 3 and older
Tickets: $6 youth, $9 adult. (248) 541-
6430.
❑
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.
WS
memo
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
m e Spooky Stuff
IMO
(14
B6
Opening Friday, July 25, is The X-
Files: I Want to Believe, a film based
on the hit TV show
that ran 1993-
2002. The stars of
the series, David
Duchovny (FBI
Agent Fox Mulder)
and Gillian Anderson
(Agent Dana Scully),
reprise their roles
David
chasing down para-
Duchovny
normal phenomena.
Amanda Peet, 36,
has a large supporting role as another
FBI agent.
Duchovny, 47, has had a bit of a
love-hate relationship with The X-
Files. It made him a TV star; but he
has long wanted to be known for
his entire body of work, including
his current TV series, Showtime's
Californication, which returns for a
second season this fall.
Still, Duchovny seems excited about
The X-Files movie, telling the New
July 24
2008
York Times that it was "a chance for
the characters to have a clean slate
on which to create themselves again."
Duchovny, who was raised without
religion, is the son of a Jewish father
and a non-Jewish mother.
Brangelina's Doc
The Jewish Telegraph Agency scored
a major celebrity scoop via their
recent exclusive interview with
Jewish French obstetrician Dr. Michel
Sussman, who deliv-
ered Angelina Jolie
and Brad Pitt's twin
babies (a boy and a
girl) on July 12. Jolie
gave birth in a hos-
pital in Nice, on the
French Riviera.
Sussman, a former
Perlman
vice president of
protege
Nice's Jewish com-
Arnaud
munity, told the JTA
Sussman
that "the delivery
was very emotional and exceptional
as Ms. Jolie is a superstar, but I think
that it happened on Shabbat made it
that much more moving. It was not
an easy operation; a second cesarean
– with twins – is difficult, but it went
perfectly, and they are so cute."
Sussman said that he never dis-
cussed religion or personal matters
with Pitt or Jolie: "I am her doctor; I
don't want to be her friend. We had an
excellent rapport. She is so, so nice
and never complained about anything.
There are negative things sometimes
written about her on the Internet, but
don't believe them."
Sussman's wife, Juliette, a
Moroccan Jew, is also a physician. His
son, Arnaud, a violinist, is a graduate
of the Julliard School in Manhattan,
where he studied with ltzhak
Perlman. His daughter, Clara, is now
studying there at Columbia University.
Another daughter, Laura, who works
in high tech in Israel, made aliyah
after enduring anti-Semitic diatribes
while she was studying in Paris during
the height of the second intifada.
However, Dr. Sussman says he has
experienced no anti-Semitism in Nice.
Sussman added that although
he and his wife are not regular
synagogue goers, they study Jewish
thought once a month with an
Orthodox rabbi. They are also strong
Israel supporters.
Spitz's Spritz
Mark Spitz: The Extraordinary Life of
an Olympic Champion, a new, autho-
rized biography of Olympic swimming
star Mark Spitz, hit bookstores on
July 1. Spitz contributed a foreword to
the book, written by his friend, lawyer
Rich Foster. Spitz,
now 58, still holds
the record for the
most gold medals
(seven) in a single
Olympiad.
The biography
covers most of
Spitz's life, including
Mark Spitz
Spitz's extraordinary
situation in 1972
when the famous Jewish athlete was
whisked away from Munich, under
police protection, following the kill-
ing of Israeli Olympic athletes by
Palestinian terrorists.
Spitz's failure to succeed as a
sports broadcaster – despite his
movie-star looks, he came across as
bland on TV – also is covered.
❑
Contact Nate Bloom at
Middleoftheroadl@aoLcom.