THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT

PRESENTS THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN SCREENING

Allergist's Wife plays at JET.

Suzanne Chesser
Special to the Jewish News

H

enrietta Hermelin Weinberg,
who plays the mother of the
main character in The Tale of
the Allergist's Wife, running Jan. 26-Feb.
21 at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, says
that the word "Tale" is the most impor-
tant word in the title.
"It's like a tale from Aesop:' she says.
"There's a lesson to be learned."
The Charles Busch play deals with a
woman in midlife crisis. How she copes
with that crisis becomes essential to
the story.
The comedy reveals the thoughts and
actions of Marjorie Taub (Kate Willinger
Manfredi), the wife of retired allergist
Ira Taub (Phil Powers), now involved in
volunteer clinic work. Her children grown,
and unhappy with what seems to be a
purposeless life compounded by the death
of her therapist, the woman finds a new
interest with the appearance of a child-
hood friend, Lee (Lynnae Lehfeldt).
"Mature people certainly will under-
stand what these people are feeling',' says
Weinberg, who poses the question of
whether the action reveals actual events or

5

Clockwise from bottom left: Kate Willinger

Manfredi, Phil Powers, Lynnae Lehfeldt and

Henrietta Hermelin Weinberg

a dream. "I like my character's freedom to
speak her mind about the issues involved
in playing the hand life has dealt."
Manfredi laughed out loud at the
comic lines the first time she read
the script, which is directed by JET
Managing Director Christopher Bremer.
"Because I'm close to the age of the main
character, who is in her 50s, I can under-
stand some of what she expresses," says
Manfredi, who believes the plot is aimed at
a more sophisticated audience. "The emo-
tions are spot on for some people I know,
and there are comments that I believe have
come up in all of our lives. I've certainly
heard them at family gatherings

."

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife runs Jan. 26-Feb. 21 at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26;
Wednesdays, Jan. 27 and Feb. 3-10; and Thursdays, Jan. 28 and Feb. 4-18.
Weekend performances are 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays,
with an additional matinee 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb.17. $28-$36, with
discounts for seniors and students. (248) 788-2900; www.jettheatre.org .

On The Cheap from page 35

practice of going straight for studio sales.
"They weren't collecting for status
— they were collecting because of their
commitment to the artists and their
ideas:' said Norman Kleeblatt, chief cura-
tor at the Jewish Museum. "So the Vogels
were able to get in on the ground level."
For years Herby had regular phone calls
and visits with Robert Barry, Dan Graham
and Sol LeWitt; European dealers would
consult with the couple on trips to New
York to get the lowdown.
"Often we did not have time to go to the
galleries," Jeanne-Claude, the late wife of
the environmental artist Christo, explains
in the documentary. "In one dinner with
Herby and Dorothy, the four of us, we
would know everything that happened in
the past six months in New York."
Over time, the Vogels achieved every
middle-class collector's fantasy: a collec-
tion of art, assembled on the cheap, by
artists who subsequently became very,
very famous. And unlike other Jewish

collectors who came up in the 1960s,
some of who famously sold their pieces
for quick profits, the Vogels held on to
everything they bought and only agreed
to part with the collection when the
National Gallery of Art in Washington
promised to make a home for it.
More than a thousand of their pieces
are now held in Washington, while
another 2,500 have been distributed to
museums in each of the 50 states to allow
as much of their work as possible to be
displayed. (There is also a newly launched
Web site, voge150x50.org , which cata-
logues the entire collection online.)
"The idea that they are ordinary peo-
ple is so important," said Ruth Fine, the
National Gallery curator who handles the
Vogel collection.
"They made good choices before these
artists were well known, and they took
on the aura of being prescient." fl

Reprinted from Tabletmag.com, a new read

on Jewish life.

Family in
Captivity

The Story of Gilad Shalit's Family
and Their Journey to Bring
Their Son Back Home.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Maple Art Theatre
4135 West Maple Road (at Telegraph),
Bloomfield Hills

Two showings: 5:30 pm, 7:45 pm
Q & A with the film's producers
follows each showing.

Pre-registration required
For tickets go to jewishdetroit.org*

Recommended for age 13 and older.

On the fateful morning of June 25,
2006, 19-year-old Israeli soldier, Gilad
Shalit, was taken hostage by Hamas.
That same morning, Gilad's family was
also taken hostage.

We are JewishDetroit. We are Israel.
We are Gilad Shalit's Family.
Join our community in support.

*Admission price: S18 minimum pledge to Federation's 2010 Campaign
per ticket. Tickets provided on a first-come. first-served basis.

For more information contact Susan Kamin
at (248) 203-1524 or kamin@ifmci.org

qI , Jewish
Federation

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January 28 • 2010

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