The night belongs to...

'Grease' is
The Word

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

B

rooke Stone is used to
hearing jokes about her
name (it's pretty close to
Brookstone, the retail outlet). She
often encounters new comic remarks.
Stone is touring in the musical
Grease, which stops June 9-28 at
Detroit's Fisher Theatre. She appears
in the ensemble and understudies
roles in the teen-centered show star-
ring Taylor Hicks, the platinum-sell-
ing recording artist and season five
American Idol winner.
"This show is for everyone," says
Stone, 25, who has been in the produc-
tion since December and will continue
through 2010."It's pure and simple
fun so the audience can relax."
This production, about the high
school romance of Danny and Sandy,
keeps the Jim Jacobs-Warren Casey
stage songs and adds numbers written
for the follow-up motion picture.
Although Grease demands a cast
with energy, Stone previously had to
expend much more as she took on the
starring role in another show, Peter
Pan, and learned how to maneuver
through the technical complexities of
flying around the stage.
"I have an adventurous spirit': she
says. "I also trusted the people behind
the scenes!'
Stone always wanted to be in theater
and attended the Walnut Hill School,

The Big Screen

Opening Friday, June 5, is the
comedy The Hangover. Justin
Bartha, 30, who graduated from
West Bloomfield High School in
1996, stars as Doug, an about-to-
be-married guy who goes to Las
Vegas with three buddies for a
blowout party night.
They party hard, but the morn-
ing after, Doug
is nowhere to be
found — and the
three hung-over
groomsmen can-
not remember a
thing. They try and
retrace their steps,
hoping to find Doug
Justin Bartha

AO!!

Brooke Stone

near her home, in Natick, Mass.
After an academic program in the
mornings, the arts took over in the
afternoons. Evenings were filled with
rehearsals for school productions.
"I was doing what I loved to do,"
explains Stone, cast in a professional
run of Hairspray before receiving
her bachelor of fine arts degree from
Ithaca College in New York.
The actress has spent some of her
free time in Ann Arbor. Boyfriend
Adam Cohan, who works on the tech-
nical side of theater, is from the city.
The couple, often apart because of
bookings, once celebrated Chanukah
by lighting separate candles and say-
ing the blessings over the phone.
"My goal is to be part of the
Broadway community," says Stone,
now based in New York City. "I would
like to work on both new shows and
revivals!'

The

PHANTOM
►

of the

OPERA

Broadway's most haunting love story

Detroit Opera House I September 8-27

Tickets at Fisher Theatre box office & all ticketmaster outlets incl. select Macy's
ticketmaster.com • 800-982-2787 • info 313 872 1000* Broadwayln Detroit.com
thephantomoithcopera.com • Groups (1 2+): 313 8711132 or groupsales:a - nederlanderdetroit.com

-

-

-

Grease will be performed June
9-28 at the Fisher Theatre in
Detroit. Performances are 8
p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m.
Saturdays-Sundays and 7:30
p.m. Sundays. There will be a
matinee 1 p.m. Thursday, June
11, and no performance on June
14. $24-$79. (313) 872-1000.

and get him back to Los Angeles
in time for his nuptials. Veteran
actor Jeffrey Tambor, 64, appears
as Doug's father.

The Small Screen

Actor Mark Feuerstein, 37, stars
in the new USA cable series
Royal Pains, which debuts 10 p.m.
Thursday, June 4. He plays Hank
Lawson, a doctor whose career is
almost ruined when he makes a
principled decision in the emer-
gency room to save the life of a
stranger instead of a very rich hos-
pital trustee. Afterward, the best
job he can get is as a "concierge"
doctor, treating the rich and
famous at a Long Island resort.

1 hot dog, 1 bag of chips & 1 soft drink for only

(30% savings)

Voucher available at the Fox Theatre & Joe Louis Arena box office only. Subject to availability.

OlympiaEntertainment.com • Box Office
Ticketmaster • 800.745.3000

Groups of 10+ call 313.471.3099

OlympiaEntertainment.com

www.thomasandfriends.comilive

June 4 • 2009

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