Arts & Entertainment

The Return Of A Classic

West Side Story opens Fisher Theatre's 2010-2011 season.

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

T

he new touring production of
West Side Story has a significant
perk for one of its producers,
Jeffrey Seller, a graduate of Oak Park High
School and the University of Michigan. The
show launches its two-year run at Detroit's
Fisher Theatre, giving Seller a good reason
for a hometown visit as he joins the audience
some time between Sept. 30 and Oct. 16.
Seller, asked to work on the production
by librettist Arthur Laurents, says viewers
will find new elements as the musical cap-
tures an updated Romeo and Juliet story
against a backdrop of urban gangs, the Jets
vs. the Sharks.
"This will be the first West Side Story pro-
duction directed by Laurents, 92, and it will
be in virtually every primary and second-
ary city across the country," explains Seller,
45, the son of Caroline and Mark Seller of
Farmington Hills and a former member of
Temple Israel.
"This also will be the first time we use a
certain amount of Spanish in the dialogue,
which will be spoken by actors having age-
appropriate parts."
Alexandra Frohlinger, who takes the
part of Anybodys, fits right into the age-
casting approach. The actress, 21, who

grew up attending a Hebrew day school in
Canada, graduated in May from the Boston
Conservatory with a BFA in musical theater.
"West Side Story is my all-time favorite
musical;' says Frohlinger, who sings "Cool"
and "Somewhere" as part of her role. "I play
a girl who wants to be a boy and part of
the Jets. It's easy to act in this production
because the material, choreography, writing
and music blend so well."
The show — whose all-Jewish creators
initially conceptualized the musical as
East Side Story, with a Catholic boy fall-
ing in love with a Jewish girl — features
music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim and the original Jerome
Robbins choreography restaged by Tony
Award nominee Joey McKneely. Also in the
cast are Kyle Harris as Tony, Ali Ewoldt as
Maria, Michelle Aravena as Anita, Joseph J.
Simeone as Riff and German Santiago as
Bernardo.
Frohlinger's interest in dance was
sparked by joining in with Hungarian folk
troupers when she was 4. Serious dance les-
sons were with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet
School.
The title role in the musical Oliver!
further fired up her stage dreams at age
11 as she appeared at the Rady Jewish
Community Centre in Winnipeg, where
she also worked in productions with the

Fiddler At The Fox

Another Tony-winning musical, perennial
favorite Fiddler On The Roof, also embarks
on a national tour, with a stop at Detroit's
Fox Theatre 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-
Thursday, Oct. 6-7. Performing in his ninth
national tour of Fiddler is John Preece as
Tevye. Preece has appeared in the show
more 3,100 times, with more than 1,500 of
those performances as Tevye. Tickets are
$30.50-$60.50. (800) 745-3000; www.
John Preece as Tevye in Fiddler on
olympiaentertainment.com.
the Roof

Winnipeg Jewish Theatre.
Professional appear-
Above left: Producer and Oak Park native Jeffrey
ances placed her in the Drowsy
Seller. Above right: Alexandra Frohlinger plays
Chaperone at the Manitoba
Jets wannabe Anybodys in West Side Story.
Theatre Centre and Rent on the
Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg.
presenting the talents of champion danc-
Frohlinger, a top-10 finalist on Canadian
ers; and Les Miserables (March 22-April 3),
Broadcasting Corporation's Triple Sensation, capturing the life of a wronged prisoner in
has been a soloist with the Boston Pops
revolutionary France.
Orchestra for a baseball concert. Among her
New at the Fisher this season is a new
roles for the Boston Conservatory has been
space, the Spotlight Room, which may be
the one she is playing on tour.
reserved for groups of up to 30 before and
"I've bought a new camera for the tour;'
after performances. The menu reaches from
says Frohlinger, who has been a dance
light hors d'oeuvres and cocktails to dinner
competitor in the Maccabi Games. "I'll be
or lunch. The theater lobbies are available
looking for exciting spots to photograph in
for larger groups. ❑
each city"
Seller is bringing a second musical to
West Side Story runs Sept. 30-Oct.
the Fisher's Broadway in Detroit 2010-
16
at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.
2011 season. In the Heights, a Tony Award
Performances
are 8 p.m. Tuesdays-
Best Musical-winning production about
Saturdays,
7:30
p.m. Sundays and
hard-working immigrants in a Dominican-
2
p.m.
Saturdays
and Sundays
American neighborhood in New York City,
except
for
Oct.
2.
There also will be
runs Feb. 1-13.
shows
8
p.m.
Monday,
Oct.11, and 1
The rest of the all-musical season at the
p.m.
Wednesday,
Oct.13.
$39-$89.
Fisher includes Rock of Ages (Nov. 9-21),
Information
and
tickets:
(313)
872-
introducing a small town girl to a big city
1000;
www.BroadwayinDetroit.com
.
rocker falling in love to the hits of the
Spotlight
Room
information
1980s; Mary Poppins (Dec. 16-Jan. 2), reviv-
is available by calling (313) 872-
ing the family musical about an enchant-
1177
or contacting smyers@
ing governess (staged at the Detroit Opera
nederlanderdetroit.com
.
House); Burn the Floor (Feb. 22-March 6),

JARC Fundraiser

JARC's 30th annual Fall Fundraiser will be a performance of West Side Story
on Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit. It will
be a sign language interpreted performance. A young adult (21-40) Rumble
Lounge pre-glow precedes the performance. Also consider purchasing a
ticket(s) for $60 each for someone served by JARC. Any new gift or gift
increase from the 2009 Fall Fundraiser will be matched dollar for dollar by
the Alan Jay and Sue E. Kaufman Family Matching Gift Challenge. Regular
tickets are $60-$250; JARC Heart Circle giving levels also are available.
Parking is included in all ticket prices. Information and tickets: (248) 538-
6611; www.jarc.org .

W S

Ilia I Nate Bloom

cm Special to the Jewish News

New Flicks

Danielle Harris

46

Opening Friday, Oct.
1, are Hatchett ll and
The Social Network.
The former is a
bloody horror flick
starring Danielle
Harris, 33, as a
woman trying to
escape a crazed,

September 30 2010

iN

swamp-dwelling killer. Harris is mostly
known as a career "scream-queen"
actress, co-starring in horror films
since she was a young teen.
Network purports to tell the true
story of the founding of Facebook, the
top social networking site. It is based
on a 2009 book by Ben Mezrich, who
painted Facebook co-founder and
current CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 26,
as a nerdy, backstabbing fellow who
passionately desired to get into the
top Harvard social clubs rather than

be satisfied with the
Jewish fraternity to
which he belonged.
(If you want balance,
check out a very
recent New Yorker
profile of Zuckerberg,
done with his coop-
Mark
eration, at http://
Zuckerberg
tinyurl.com/39q6jrk).
Written by Aaron
Sorkin, Network stars Jesse Eisenberg,
26, as Zuckerberg; Andrew Garfield,

27, as Eduardo Saverin, a Brazilian-
born Jew who co-founded Facebook;
and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker,
the Napster creator who advised
Zuckerberg.

We'll Miss You, Ida

The hit AMC cable show Mad Men
began its fourth season with the
introduction of a new character,
loopy secretary Ida Blankenship, who
quickly became a fan favorite. Sadly,
Blankenship unexpectedly died at her