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Arts & Ente -

A,

New Twists For Classic

As the 25th-anniversary touring
production of Les Miz comes to town,
meet two show veterans.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

W bile Michael Kostroff has
had fun relearning his role
as the innkeeper Thenardier
for Les Miserables and the changes made
for its silver anniversary production —
including new orchestrations, staging and
scenery inspired by Victor Hugo paintings
— Cooper Grodin (student revolutionary
Combeferre and 10 other ensemble parts)
looks back on a life-changing theatrical
experience in Israel.
The two will be seen March 22-April
3 at the Fisher Theatre, where the classic
Hugo tale of love and justice amid political
unrest is expressed musically.
"Thenardier is kind of cute and charm-
ing when he first appears, but as the story
progresses, the audience realizes how brutal
a criminal he can be',' says Kostroff, 49, who
is not Jewish but has repeatedly portrayed
conniving Jewish characters, such as Max

Bialystock in The Producers and Maury Levy,
the drug gang lawyer in HBO's The Wire.
"As an actor, I can never approach a
character believing that he's bad because
characters usually don't believe they're
bad. I haven't thought of any characters
as being Jewish. I've dealt with them as
people rather than ethnic [individuals]."
Kostroff, who has been seen as the pro-
ducer in the Disney series Sonny with a
Chance and has written the book Letters
From Backstage to chronicle his life on the
road, sings the showstopper "Master of the
House."
"In character, I introduce people to the
inn, where I welcome guests and rob them
blind," he explains. "That's my favorite
number. For an actor, it's very gratifying to
play two elements at once."
Grodin's big number is "The People's
Song."
"It's the moment that students come
together and realize they're going to have
to make some sacrifices for the cause

Film shovvs Palestinians and Israelis
joinetHn nonviolent resistance.

Michael Fox
Special to the Jewish News

T

he end of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict will happen as a result of
the everyday efforts of ordinary
people, not the proclamations of politi-
cians, filmmakers Ronit Avni and Julia
Bacha are convinced.
Encounter Point, their powerhouse 2006
documentary, focused on Jews and Arabs
who'd lost loved ones to violence yet were
committed to forgiveness and peace.
The duo's new film, Budrus, spotlights
a Palestinian man who forged alliances

38 March 17 s 2011

between local Fatah and Hamas followers
to organize an ongoing protest —joined
by dozens of Israelis — to stop the con-
struction of the separation barrier on the
titular village's land.
"The film came about very much
in response to a curiosity and a desire
expressed in the Jewish community in the
West, in America, in Israel, where people
were asking, `Where is the Palestinian non-
violence movement?"' Avni explained.
"Often the phrase that followed the
question was something along the lines of,
`If only Palestinians adopted nonviolence,
there would be peace:" Avni related. "The

of the revolution, which
tion. The guy who gave me the
is essentially up with the
CD said I ought to audition,
people, down with the king,"
and I got a part. That show
explains Grodin, 33.
made me realize I would be a
"The cast keeps talking
performer."
about the timeliness of the
Grodin returned to America
song, and I think that's often
and switched to a vocal
the case with any successful
performance major. After
piece of art. Although the
graduating from the University
show is primarily set in 1832 Michael Kostroff
of Wisconsin, he earned a
France, it taps into universal
master's degree from the
human experience. Who
Manhattan School of Music.
knows how many times this
Work as a pianist and musi-
theme would be apropos?"
cal director preceded musical
Grodin, who has played
theater roles.
Danny in Grease and Billy in
"What I like about my role
Carousel, thought he would
in Les Miserables is being a
be a finance major at the
young Parisian who is a pas-
University of Wisconsin.
sionate revolutionary," says
When classes did not meet
Grodin, enjoying travel across
Cooper Grodin
expectations, he moved into
the country on his first tour.
psychology and then decided
"I run around stage being
to visit Israel, learning more about himself wild and cool and hip, which is the way I
and defining some goals.
like to think of myself in real life'
"I went to Jerusalem and enrolled in the
Hebrew University," he recalls. "I began to
Les Miserables runs March 22-April
invest in myself, traveling and spending
3 at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.
time alone. Slowly, it became clear that I
Curtain times are 8 p.m. Tuesdays-
had a talent for music.
Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays
"Somebody approached me with
and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets start
the soundtrack of a production of Les
at $39. (313) 872-1000;
Miserables. I fell in love with it and learned
www.BroadwayinDetroit.com .
the university was going to do a produc-

film explores what it looks like when a
Palestinian nonviolence movement emerg-
es. And what is the Israeli response.
"If there are difficult moments in the
film, we hope that that raises a discussion
about what we in the international com-
munity can do to support truly nonviolent
methods to resolve the conflict."
Bacha and Avni collected and organized
verite footage shot by numerous profes-
sionals and amateurs in Budrus from the
beginning of the separation barrier in
2003 through last year. Interestingly, and
intentionally, they leave the film's ending
date vague for viewers.
"Budrus is happening today in other
villages," Avni says, "so we didn't want
people to think that the events chronicled
in the film were of another era and aren't
relevant today"
Avni, who was born in Canada and also
holds Israeli and (more recently) American
citizenship, and Bacha (who is not Jewish)
see themselves as more than filmmakers.
They founded the Washington, D.C.- and
Jerusalem-based organization Just Vision
not just to funnel financial support for their
documentaries but to provide organized
outreach and ongoing influence in support
of those working for nonviolent resolution
of the conflict.

"Media plays a critical role in exposing
or obscuring the contribution that civil
society has made and can make on this
issue," Avni declares. "There has been a
disproportionate coverage of militancy
and militarism compared to communities
and individuals trying to problem-solve."
In a sound-bite world, newscasts will
always make room for shooting and
shouting. But they can't compress long-
term process into a 60-second segment.
"It's much harder to tell stories about
slow, bottom-up change," Avni says. "I
think documentary film is uniquely posi-
tioned to tell those kinds of stories. They
complement other forms of media cover-
age, and that's where our contribution
lies."
A liberal Jew, Avni is acutely aware of
and sensitive to the attitudes of a segment
of the American Jewish community vis a
vis the Palestinians.
"What I'd like to see in the Jewish com-
munity is a deeper discussion about what
constitutes nonviolence," she says. "We all
have a lot of learning to do to understand it
beyond the iconic images and cliches."

Budrus is scheduled to open Friday,
March 18, at the Main Art Theatre in
Royal Oak.