Arts & Entertainment The Man With A Camera Exhibit brings fashion photographs of Richard Avedon to Detroit Institute of Arts. Suzanne Chessler Special to the Jewish News r ed American fashion photogra- pher Richard Avedon, shortly after World War II, drove around Paris before deciding where to pose famed dothing designer Coco Chanel for a magazine shoot. Apparently, his Jewish roots (he was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants) held their ground. Chanel, who had lived with a German during the time of Nazi control, was placed in an area associated with the occupation rather than with fashion. The editors decided not to print those images, but there were so many others to focus on from that time forward. Many of those pictures — with glam celebrities to light up the pages of Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and the New Yorker will be on view through Jan. 17 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The exhibit, "Avedon Fashion Photographs 1944-2000:' features 181 works, including vintage prints, magazines, contact sheets and archival material from the Avedon estate (he died in 2004). The illustrated, hardcover — book Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 will be on sale in the museum shop. "Richard Avedon had a huge, charming, charismatic personality that really opened up and allowed a lot of models to open up as well:' says James Martin, managing director of the Richard Avedon Foundation and for- mer assistant to the camera icon. "When he photographed people, he was not directly behind the camera. He would be off to the side, often mimicking the types of poses that he wanted. "He would jump around with [young model] Twiggy on stage to get her to jump around, and he would use the same type of ferocity of life that he wanted to pull from her." The dramatic exhibit images often take on the quality of portraiture. Barbra Streisand is shown with makeup emphasized to capture her stage presence. Director Mike Nichols is depicted as the comedian he was before becoming a noted director. Avedon's work with luminaries, that came to include film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot and models Suzy Parker and Detroit native Donyale Luna, inspired the 1957 Fred Astaire-Audrey Live In The Big Apple Jewish talent populates new productions on the New York stage. Alice Burdick Schweiger Special to the Jewish News BROADWAY A Little Night Music, a musical theater revival set in a country home in turn-of- the-century Sweden, centers on actress Desiree, her ex-lover and his wife. Starring Angela Lansbury, Jewish actor Aaron Lazar and Catherine Zeta-Jones; score by Stephen Sondheim. Previews begin Nov. 24. At the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th St., (212) 239-6200. Bye Bye Birdie, in its first Broadway revival and with a score by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, is set in the late 1950s as the man- ager of an Elvis-like idol and his secretary stage a contest among a group of teenagers to give one last kiss to Conrad Birdie just before he is inducted into the Army. Starring Jewish actress Gina Gershon and John Stamos, the show runs through Jan. 10. At the Henry Miller Theatre, 124 W 43rd St., (212) 719-1300. 44 October 22 • 2009 Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, Neil Simon's classic plays centered on Jewish adolescence in New York, are playing in repertory on a varied schedule. In Brighton Beach Memoirs, set in 1937, Eugene lives with his family in a crowded home in Brooklyn, dreams of a baseball career and tries to develop his identity as a writer. The show opens Oct. 25. In Broadway Bound, set in the late 1940s, Eugene and his brother Stanley have begun writing comedy sketches — hoping it will lead to fame — while their fam- ily is in crisis. Previews begin Nov. 18. At the Nederlander Theatre, 208 W 41st St., (212) 307- 4100. Oleanna, written by acclaimed Jewish play- wright David o Barbra Streisand with Madame Gres, Paris, January 1966 Hepburn film Funny Face. Carol Squiers and Vince Aletti curated the exhibit, planned and organized by the Richard Avedon Foundation and the Center for Creative Photography. "Our continuing amazement at Avedon's achievements, year in and year out, is one of the many things that inspired us as we researched and wrote the book and orga- nized the exhibition that it accompanies:' the curators say about the man whose early camera training came while he served with the Merchant Marine. "When Avedon was alive, he was able to put together exhibits that show editions and prints representing the pinnacle of his career in fashion:' says Martin, in Detroit to help with picture placement. "Since he's passed away, we're also able to display the underpinnings of those iconic images, the pieces pulled from archives that show how his work all comes together:' Mamet and back on Broadway, is a drama starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles about a college professor whose student accuses him of sexual exploitation. At the Golden Theatre, 252 W 45th St., (212) 239-6200. Present Laughter, by Noel Coward, stars Jewish actor Victor Garber as a matinee idol fighting off fans and becoming entan- gled in the lives of the people around him. The play runs Jan. 2-March 21. At the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W 42nd St., (212) 719-1300. Race, set on a college campus, is a new play by David Mamet about three lawyers who have to decide whether to defend a white man charged with a crime against a black woman. It stars David Alan Grier, James Spader and Richard Thomas. Previews begin Nov. 16; the show opens Dec. 6. At the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Noah Robbins (Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs), 243 W. 47th author Neil Simon, Josh Grisetti (Eugene in St., (212) Broadway Bound) and director David Croner 239-6200. Suzy Parker with Mike Nichols, suit by Simonetta-Fabiani, Rue Francois- Premier, Paris, July 1962 "Avedon Fashion Photographs 1944- 2000" will be on view through Jan. 17 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 10 a.m.- 10 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. $12 adults, $6 ages 6-17, $10 each for adult groups of 15 or more, free for DIA members. (313) 833-4005. Go to www.dia.org for events and a photo contest associated with the exhibit. The Royal Family, written by Jewish playwrights George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber in the 1920s, is about a famous family of egocentric stage stars. Loosely based on the Barrymores, it stars Jewish actor Tony Roberts. The show closes Nov. 29. At the Samuel 1. Friedman Theatre, 261 W 47th St., (212) 239-6200. Superior Donuts, helmed by Jewish director Tina Landau, is a comedy about an establishment located in a Chicago neighborhood that is emerging from years of decay. The donut shop has been vandal- ized, and a young black employee wants to upgrade it. At the Music Box Theatre, 239 W 45th St., (212) 239-6200. Time Stands Still, written by Jewish playwright Donald Margulies, documents the realities of war and features a journal- ist and a photographer who have been together for nine years. Both injured, the lead characters have to return home to New York and face the prospect of a more conventional life. Starring Jewish actress Alicia Silverstone. Previews begin Jan 5; runs through March 13. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W 47th St., (212) 239-6200.