Arts & Entertainment

Rising (Jewish) Star

Canada's Sophie Milman hits all the right notes.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

I

is just over a year since
Canadian jazz singer Sophie
Milman first appeared in
Michigan, but bookings around
the state followed her perfor-
mance in Berrien Springs.
A stop in Lansing, where she
worked with sax player and music
professor Wes Anderson, will
enhance her upcoming Paradise
Jazz Series concert at the Max M.
Fisher Music Center in Detroit.
Milman has invited Anderson,
also on her recently recorded CD,
to be a guest with her tour band,
which includes a pianist, drum-
mer and bass player.
The singer, whose concert and
recording career is bringing her
multiplying international engage-
ments and enviable recognition,
will sing in a program 8 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 8, that also fea-
tures sax jazz artist Phil Woods.
Going along with each ticket is
the opportunity to hear Civic Jazz
Live! at 6 p.m.
Milman, 25, a cantor's grand-
daughter born in Russia and

raised in Israel until she was 16,
launched her career between
high school and college. She was
discovered by an executive of the
Linus Entertainment label during
a club appearance.
The rising star, recently
awarded a Juno (the Canadian
Grammy) for best jazz vocal
record and out with a DVD,
Sophie Milman — Live in
Montreal, capturing her perfor-
mance at the world-renowned
Montreal International Jazz
Festival, is planning a traditional
Jewish wedding with longtime
boyfriend attorney Casey Chisick.
She talked about her upcoming
show, career and perspective with
the Detroit Jewish News:

JN: What do you have planned
for your Detroit appearance?
SM: We're going to do some
material from both albums
(Sophie Milman and Make
Someone Happy) that are already
out and a few favorite tracks
from the new recording coming
out in May.

JN: What's on the new CD?

SM: We went for some really
beautiful standards, such as "My
One and Only Love,' that haven't
been covered as much. I think
we're going to make "Take Love
Easy" the title song. There also
are tunes by Joni Mitchell, Bruce
Springsteen and Paul Simon. I
think it has a nice variety that
hangs together well.

JN: Will you be performing any
ethnic songs in Detroit?
SM: Depending on the length of
the set, we may include a Russian
song from my first recording and
an Israeli song from my second
recording.

JN: Will you work together
with Phil Woods?
SM: His performance will be
separate, but it will be my first
time working in the same con-
cert with him. I'm very excited
about that. He plays beautiful
jazz a little bit on the traditional
side, which I love.

Sophie Milman received a 2008 Juno (the Canadian Grammy) for
best jazz vocal record for her second CD, Make Someone Happy.

SM: I've played the Hollywood
Bowl in Los Angeles, the Blue
Note in New York and the
Kennedy Center in Washington,
D.C. I've also worked in Japan.
Getting a Juno was quite a testa-
ment to what immigrants can
accomplish in Canada. We're
given an amazing amount of
opportunity and support from
the community.

JN: Can you still find time to
work toward your commerce
degree at the University of
Toronto?
SM: Yes. I only have four courses
left.

about yourself?
SM: When I was 18, I felt like I
knew myself extremely well and
had my life mapped out. As I get
older and realize I know a lot less
than I thought I did, I'm trying,
within my career and personal
life, to learn how to take life easy.
I'm a high-strung, Type-A per-
sonality; and I think the most
important thing I have to take
out of all this is to achieve inner
peace and balance. ❑

Sophie Milman performs 8
p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, at
the Max M. Fisher Music
Center, 3711 Woodward, in
Detroit. $19-$99.
(313) 576-5111 or
www.detroitsymphony.com .

JN: What have been some of
your work highlights in the
last year?

JN: As your career expands,
have you learned anything new

ing together. The differences in
ages led to the troupe title.
"I grew up in Brooklyn
and was a summer waiter at
the resort hotels around the
Catskills," explains Werthmann,
68, of Highland Township, a
retired auto industry human
resources specialist now doing
consulting. "I think I have a great
sense of humor, especially after
listening to well-known comics,
like Buddy Hackett."
The troupe, which started in
2006, has appeared at other clubs,
churches and senior residences.
They have been part of fundrais-
ers for a homeless shelter.
Practice takes place once a
week with some coaching.
Amy Frank, 30, of Ann Arbor,
found improv after ending a

relationship
and looking for
something to
make her laugh.
She appreciated
the friendships
that grew during
comedy classes.
"Humor always
was important
to my family:'
The Generation Gap: Front row — Charles
says Frank, an
Cohen, Gerald Knight, Susan Orge, Andrew
administra-
Bennett; back row — Alan Fox, Amy Frank, Peter
tor for a health
Werthmann
program serving
migrant work-
ers. "Through improv, I have
Charles Cohen, 40, of Ann
developed new energy and
Arbor, vice president of research
found some new fun. I started
for a robotics company, always
out with a bit of stage fright, but
liked theater but lacked the time
that ended as I became the stage
to get very involved. He enjoyed
characters."
being part of a medieval group,

All-Ages Comedy

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

H

umor bridges age bar-
riers every Wednesday
night at the Go
Comedy! Improv Theater in
Ferndale.
That's where a seven-mem-
ber troupe, the Generation Gap,
invites ideas from the audience,
views them from the different
age perspectives of the perform-
ers and comes up with comic
skits.
Four troupe members are
Jewish and hold day jobs, but
they love being "schmactors,"
very occasionally using Yiddish
accents. Topics range from teen
issues to diaries, and their shows
last 30 minutes.

B6 .January

2303

"I've always found humor
in everything, and I'm having
great fun being in comedy," says
Alan Fox, 65, a training special-
ist before retiring from the auto
industry and now working as a
consultant.
"My niece, Carrie Aizley, was
producer-writer of the sitcom
Campus Ladies, and she let me
play a security guard for about
five seconds during filming in
California. I had such a great time
that I decided to take comedy
classes at the Improv Inferno in
Ann Arbor and invited my friend
Peter Werthmann to join me!"
The two, who liked the oppor-
tunity of getting out of their
professional boxes, met like-
minded aspiring comics who
brainstormed the idea of work-