Arts & Entertainment
Ab out
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of
Steely Dan
Steely Eyed
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Walter
Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan
will bring their "Think Fast, Steely Dan
Summer Tour 2008" to DTE Energy Music
Theatre 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. Fagen
is the Jewish member of the duo that has
sold more than 30 million albums world-
wide and helped define the soundtrack
of the 1970s with hits including "EM.:'
"Bodhisattva;' "Reelin' in the Years:'
"Rikki Don't Lose That Number'"Deacon
Blues:'"Peg:'"Babylon Sisters" and "Hey
Nineteen" culled from seven platinum
albums issued between 1972 and 1980.
Becker, 58, and Fagen, 60, reunited in
the early 1990s and have toured through-
out the decade and beyond, releasing
Politically
multi-Grammy
Incorrect
winner Two Against
Nature in 2000, fol-
Political humorist,
lowed by 2003's
standup comedian,
Gail Zimmerman
Everything Must
television personality
Arts Editor
Go. The pair were
and author Bill Maher
inducted into the
doesn't mince words. He
Rock and Roll Hall of
makes his audiences laugh — but he also
Fame in 2001.
makes them think.
For this concert, Becker and Fagen will
"Everybody hates the Jews:' he once told
draw from their three-decade-plus catalog
interviewer Larry King when discussing
of signature hits and album favorites and
the murder of Daniel Pearl by Islamic
be supported by a band of R&B and jazz
terrorists. "You know, that's been going
players. Set lists may also sample from
on forever. I mean, there is such a double
Fagen's solo effort, the recently released
standard the way people treat and uphold
Nightfly Trilogy (the last CD in the trio,
Israel and the Jews to standards no other
Morph the Cat, was dedicated to his
mother, Elinor, the one-time Ellen Ross, an country would even have to come close to!'
Maher's own mother is Jewish; his father,
up-and-coming Catskill resort singer who
Irish Catholic. "I was raised Catholic:' he
died in 2003), and Becker's just released
explained to King while commenting on
solo album, Circus Money. A few surprises
the Catholic Church abuse scandal.
are sure to be part of the mix.
"My mother is Jewish. But I never even
In addition, concertgoers will be treated
knew I was half-Jewish until I was a teen-
to opening acts hand-selected by Becker
ager. I was just so frightened about the
and Fagen: rising jazz star Sam Yahel and
Catholics and everything that was going
his Organ Trio, the Bill Charlap Trio, the
on there in the church — and I was never,
Chris Cheek Group and other acts to be
you know, molested or anything. And I'm a
announced.
little insulted. I guess they never found me
Tickets are $85 and $55 pavilion and
attractive. And that's really their loss."
$20 lawn. (248) 645-6666 or
Now, of course, the host of HBO's Real
www.ticketmaster.com .
Time with Bill Maher, which combines
Maher's incisive monologues with inter-
views and panel discussions about cur-
rent events, is focusing on politics and
the campaign for the presidency. The new
season of the criti-
cally acclaimed series
launches 11 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 29, on
HBO.
Before that, Maher
is touring his standup
act and will his
bring his unabashed,
unfiltered, uncen-
Bill Maher
sored 2008 election
coverage to the
stage of Ann Arbor's
Michigan Theater 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15.
Reserved seats are $55 and $45. Tickets
are available through Livenation.com or
through Ticketmaster, (248) 645-6666 or
www.ticketmaster.com .
This fall, Maher fans will get a full dose
of the comic's disregard for organized
religion in a film documentary directed by
Larry Charles (Borat) and starring Maher
as he travels around the globe inter-
viewing people about God and religion.
Religulous is scheduled to open Friday,
Oct. 3. ❑
Gall Zimmerman, JN Out &
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:
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.
2 WS
onim
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Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
1 Shia's Dark Hour
Hot young actor Shia Labeouf,
GI
(1111)
B12
22, was in an auto accident in Los
Angeles on July 27. He seriously
injured his hand. His
passenger, actress
Isabel Lucas, had
minor injuries, as
did the driver of the
other car. LaBeouf
had been drinking
and was charged
with
misdemeanor
Shia LaBeouf
drunk driving. The
police announced the other driver
had run a red light and caused the
accident, so LaBeouf was not cited
for the accident itself.
LaBeouf was in the middle of film-
ing Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen, a sequel to the box-office
August 14 » 2008
smash The Transformers, in which he
also starred. Film director Michael
Bay said, "[Shia's] two fingers are
pretty smashed, but we're figuring
out a way to shoot around it, kind
of write it into the story." Lucas co-
stars in Revenge of the Fallen.
Hopefully, this accident is a wake-
up call for LaBeouf. He apparently
realizes he must completely avoid
alcohol in the future, as he dis-
cusses as the subject of a story in
this month's Details magazine. The
article can be read online at tinyurl.
com/6n8t9f.
LaBeouf talks about drinking with
his father, an ex-heroin addict, say-
ing, "I don't know how to do it like a
gentleman. I don't know how to have
one drink."
There is an amusing behind-
the-scenes, if now weird, video on
YouTube, which features a then 16-
year-old Shia learning to drive a stick
shift for the 2002 film The Battle
of Shaker Heights. The young actor
runs a stop sign and declares himself
not a good driver: "I'm Jewish. I'll
makes you latkes, but I won't drive
around, though."
Fortunately, LaBeouf is a protege
of Steven Spielberg, and Spielberg
has the reputation of standing behind
and gently helping those actors he's
championed, like Drew Barrymore.
She turned her life around in her
teens and stopped drinking. Let's
hope LaBeouf emulates Barrymore's
success story.
Saget Cooked
Comedian/actor Bob Saget, 52,
always has had a dualistic career.
On stage, he's a very funny, if raun-
chy, comedian. But he was "Mr. Nice
Guy" when he hosted TV's America's
Funniest Home Videos and co-starred
on Full House, the hit family sitcom.
The two sides
of Saget come
together in the
Comedy Central
Roast of Bob Saget,
which was taped
last week and airs
10 p.m. Sunday, Aug.
Bob Saget
17, on the Comedy
Central cable net-
work. Saget could hardly object when
the comedians on the dais (Gilbert
Gottfried, Jon Lovitz, Susie Essman
and others) roasted him with really
ripe language.
However, even Saget was report-
edly a bit upset at the many scato-
logical and cruel snipes at the Olsen
twins, Ashley and Mary-Kate. The
twins, of course, got their start as
child actors on Full House. They are
now 22-year-old adults and, there-
fore, considered fair game for roast-
ing.