Arts & Entertainmelit

Star To Be

Farmington Hills' Jillian Wallach makes
her national tour debut in Annie.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

illian Wallach is about to enjoy one
of her best birthdays ever.
It will happen on the second day
of her debut run at Detroit's Fisher Theatre
as she performs in the national touring
production of Annie.
Wallach, 22 and soon to be 23, decided
she wanted a stage career while studying
theater at North Farmington
High School and returns home
performing a solo number,
"N.Y.C.," as she takes on the role
Star To Be.
Wallach, also part of the
ensemble, will appear May 5-
10 in Detroit. Her tour started
in October and is scheduled
through the middle of June.
"This is the first show
I've done on this scale," says
Wallach, appreciative of the strong response
to the enduring musical taken from the
comic strip about Little Orphan Annie
(Madison Kerth), Daddy Warbucks (David
Barton) and their triumphs getting through

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the Great Depression.
"The production values were high, and
I was thrilled to be directed by Martin
Charnin, the original director and lyricist
for the show. He's a Broadway legend who
cares so much!"
Shelly Burch, Charnin's wife and assistant
director of the family-aimed production,
played Star To Be on Broadway, another
special circumstance and learning opportu-
nity for Wallach.
"Ever since our country's
focus has been on the economic
downturn, whatever is going on
in the play becomes extremely
relevant;' says Charnin, a
Detroit Tigers fan since rooting
for Hank Greenberg as a Jewish
sports hero.
"I think it's very necessary to
pull out a Peter Pan or an Annie
and remind a cynical world
about a better time. Our show is
definitely not a cartoon; it is about real feel-
ings and emotions."
Charnin, 73, who launched this pro-
duction four years ago to mark the 30th
anniversary of the show, considers it the

definitive version.
"I think its resiliency is terrific," he says.
Wallach, who launched her professional
interests with a Michigan Opera Theatre
role in Carmen when she was 9, studied
voice privately and dance with Annette
& Co. She graduated from the American
Musical and Dramatic Academy in New
York City in 2006.
Regional theaters have cast her in Little
Shop of Horrors, The Taffetas, Bye Bye Birdie
and Annie Get Your Gun.
"It's a dream to share this with my family,
friends and teachers:' says the actress, who
will be staying with her parents, Stacy and
Howard Wallach, members of Congregation
Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield. "I can't
wait to visit my high school while I'm in
Michigan, and I'm working toward the goal
of appearing on Broadway"
Other Jewish cast members in the pro-
duction include Mackenzie Aladjem, 7, as
the orphan Molly, and Zander Meisner, who
portrays Rooster, the scheming brother
of Miss Hannigan, who runs the all-girls
orphanage.
Charnin believes the musical is a good
way to introduce theater to young people.

Lynn Andrews (Miss Hannigan) and
Mackenzie Aladjem (Molly) in the
national tour of Annie

"The optimist in me wrote this show:'
says Charnin, who keeps in touch with stars
he introduced as young actresses, includ-
ing Sarah Jessica Parker and Alyssa Milano.
"I'm not a doom-and-gloom individual,
and I don't think that's what this country is
about. I certainly know that's not what the
Jewish community is about."

Annie will be performed May 5-10
at the Fisher Theatre. Show times
are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday
and Friday; 1 p.m. Wednesday; 2 and
7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6 p.m.
Sunday. $34-$74. (313) 872-1000.

Two Man Group

Featuring the acting chops of a pair of seasoned pros,
JET's season finale delivers a one-two punch.

Ronelle Grier
Special to the Jewish News

A

successful two-man play requires
a strong story and even stronger
acting skills; Jewish Ensemble
Theatre's production of Halpern and
Johnson delivers on both counts.
The final offering of the 2008-2009 JET
season, written by Lionel Goldstein, exam-
ines the unconventional relationship that
develops between two men who discover
that both of them have loved the same
woman for the past 50 years.
The play opens in a cemetery, where wid-
ower Joseph Halpern, played by Thomas D.
Mahard, is having a final private moment
with his late wife. He is surprised to dis-
cover another mourner waiting in the back-
ground, carrying a large bouquet of flowers.
After some comic exchanges, Halpern
learns that the man, Dennis Johnson, played
by Arthur J. Beer, was a serious contender
for Halpern's wife's hand before he met and
married her more than 50 years earlier.

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April 30 2009

From the moment the two men begin
discussing the late Mrs. Halpern, who was
called "Flo" by her husband and "Florence"
by Johnson, it is clear that each of them
had known very different sides of the
same woman. Their respective names for
her were only the beginning of that dis-
parity.
There are two sets; the graveside of
the late Mrs. Halpern and the
picnic area of a park where
the two men eventually meet
to compare notes and hash
out their differences. Both sets, designed
by Xiapo Wang, are relatively simple, yet
effective, providing a background for
the main event: the interaction between
the two characters. The costumes and
the props — designed by Judy Dery and
Diane Ulseth, respectively — enhance the
differences between the two characters.
While awaiting the arrival of Halpern in
the park, Johnson meticulously unpacks a
picnic lunch complete with cloth napkins
and real tableware. Halpern is at first dis-

concerted to see that Johnson has brought
an assortment of the widower's favorites:
a bottle of Jack Daniels, extra-lean deli
sandwiches and a jar of kosher dills;
he feels betrayed that a stranger would
know such intimate details. But, as the
liquor flows, so do the revelations as the
men share stories of roads not taken and
opportunities lost.
The well-written script fur-
ther enhances the very different
personalities of the two charac-
ters. When discussing prostate
surgery, the erudite Johnson says he had
his "apparatus decongested." The bouquet
he brings to Florence's grave is "floral
decoration."
Christopher Bremer did an excellent job
of directing Beer and Mahard, two sea-
soned professionals whose considerable
skills are evident throughout.
The play explores the universal themes
of romantic and idealized love versus the
reality of life within a long-term marriage
and exemplifies the idea of putting the

REVIEW

Thomas D. Mahard and Arthur J. Beer
star in Halpern & Johnson.

might-have-beens to rest and coming to
terms with the choices we've made.
If the goal of good theater is to leave
the audience wanting more, then this final
production of the JET season has done
its job, leaving us eagerly waiting for next
season.

JET presents Halpern & Johnson
through May 17. $30-$39, with
discounts for seniors and students.
For show times and tickets, call (248)
788-2900 or go to jettheatre.org .