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CLASSICAL NOTES

Gustav Mahler, the Austrian-Bohemian
great-grandson of a Jewish slaughterer and
son of one of the founders of a synagogue
in his native Iglua, was circumcised accord-
ing to Jewish law at his birth in 1860 but
converted to Roman Catholicism in 1897
— an act of opportunism, some say, which
resulted in his eventual appointment to
the Vienna Court Opera. He died in 1911
at the age of 51. His music suffered years
of neglect — including a ban on its per-
formance during the Nazi era — and only
achieved worldwide admiration and fame
50 years after his death when, ironically, a
Jew, Leonard Bernstein, restored him to
the pantheon of oft-performed composers.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of
Mahler's death, Maestro Arie Lipsky
conducts the Ann Arbor Symphony
Orchestra 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the
Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, in Mahler's
rarely performed Symphony No. 3, which
the composer himself called a "monster."
With six movements and employing an
expanded orchestra, alto soloist, a children's
chorus and a women's chorus, it explores
what nature and innocence of children
teach us about life and love. Preceded at 7
p.m. by a lecture about the program. $10-
$53. (734) 994-4801; a2so.com .
Classical pianist David Syme, cur-
rently splitting his time between Houston,
Texas, and Ireland, returns home 7:30
p.m. Sunday, May 1, to Temple Israel, 5725
Walnut Lake Road, in West Bloomfield, to
perform as part of the temple's Schmier
Concert Series. To order complimentary
tickets, contact Brandi Houghton at (248)
661-5700 or bhoughton@temple-israel.org.

POP/ROCK/JAZZ

A longtime music coordinator at Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, guest conduc-
tor Richard Kaufman leads the Detroit

Symphony Orchestra in
Disney in Concert The
Magical Music From
Christopher Campbell
the Movies 10:45 a.m.
grew up Catholic, attend-
Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday
ing Catholic school, in
and 3 p.m. Sunday, April
Philadelphia. But his recov-
Gail Zinimerman
29-May 1, at Orchestra
ery from substance abuse
Arts Editor
Hall in Detroit. The
as a teenager led him to a
Pops concerts include
higher spiritual path —
music from Beauty and the Beast, The Little
and three Jewish conversions (first to
Mermaid, Aladdin and The Lion King with
Reform then to Conservative and finally to
excerpts from these classic movies projected
Orthodox Judaism — with three circum-
on large screens. $20. (313) 576-5111;
cisions along the way!).
detroitsymphony.com .
Currently a resident
"I come from that great
of Jerusalem and now
tradition of urban Jewish
known as Yisrael
folk singers," says Chicago
Campbell, he chron-
native and Cape Cod resi-
icles his experiences
dent David Roth, who
in his comic theater
has earned top honors at
piece, Circumcise Me,
songwriter competitions
which he'll bring to
Yisrael
in his two decades of
West Bloomfield, co-
performing and describes Campbell
sponsored by Jewish
David Roth
himself as "Will Rogers-
Ensemble Theatre and
meets-David Letterman-meets-James
the JCC of Metropolitan Detroit, 9 p.m.
Taylor-meets-Jerry Seinfeld." He takes the
Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, May 7-8, at
stage 8 p.m. Monday, May 2, at the Ark in
the new Berman Center for the Performing
Arbor, where he'll be joined by fellow folk-
Arts at the JCC (note: the performance has
singer Anne Hills. Also at the Ark, 8 p.m.
been moved from Handleman Hall to the
Thursday, May 5, is Natalia Zukerman,
Berman, and ticketholders can exchange
daughter of classical musicians Eugenia
their tickets at the Berman box office
and Pinchas Zukerman, but a woman who before the performance). $41; $38 seniors.
performs her own blend of folk, jazz and
Tickets are still available. (248) 788-2900;
sultry blues while accompanying herself on jettheatre.org.
slide guitar. Doors at 7:30 p.m.; $15 for each
concert. (734) 763-8587; theark.org.
The BIG SCREEN
He may be 80 years old, but actor/singer
Hal Linden believes it's never too late to
The Windsor Jewish Community Centre
reach for your dream— in this case, the
hosts the Ruth and Bernard Friedman
release of his first CD, aptly titled, It's Never
Windsor Jewish Film Festival Monday-
Too Late. The 14-track disc is a diverse col-
Thursday, May 2-5, at Cineplex Odeon,
lection of Broadway and film tunes, classic
Devonshire Mall, in Windsor, Ontario.
pop songs, as well as jazz standards and
The festival opens 8 p.m. May 2 with
favorites from the American songbook
the Canadian premiere screening of The
recorded over three decades. $20; available
Yankles, about a washed up, ex-Major
on amazon.com.
League ballplayer who gets a second

v iiit I Nate Bloom
emus Special to the Jewish News

Rivers Does Royalty

Joan Rivers is at her best when she
has a focused target for her acerbic
humor so I'm looking forward to the
special "Royal Wedding" edition of
her E! cable show, The Fashion Police,
airing 10 p.m. Friday, April 29, with
many encore showings. Kathy Griffin,
who says Rivers is her role model,
will offer her vinegar-laced comedic
take on the nuptials on the TV Guide
Channel at 8 p.m. the same night.

Sweet Teen Movie

Opening Friday, April 29, is Prom from
Walt Disney Studios. Surrounding an
upcoming high school prom, it's simi-

40

April 28 2011

About
ON THE STAGE
111•11

lar in plot structure to some other
recent romantic comedies (Valentine's
Day, He's Just Not That Into You) in
that it focuses on how a number of
romantic couples get together rather
than on just one romance. The direc-
tor is Joe Nussbaum (Sydney White),
38, who specializes in non-raunchy
teen movies. Nussbaum is a practic-
ing Jew who keeps kosher.
The cast of Prom
is made up of rela-
tive newcomers.
It includes Jared
Kunitz (Justin), 20,
and Jonathan Keltz
(Brandon), 23. Keltz,
whose father is
Jonathan
Jewish, is probably
Keltz
the best-known cast

member. Last year, he joined HBO's
Entourage, playing the new assistant to
star character Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven).

TV Land Awards

You still have a chance to see The TV
Land Awards, which aired on the sta-
tion earlier this month. Through May
17, you can watch the whole show on
the TV Land website (tvland.com ).
This year, TV Land
honored the casts
of four classic hit
sitcoms: The Cosby
Show, The Facts of
Life, Family Ties
and Welcome Back,
Kotter.
Marcia
Appearing on
Strassman
stage were Jewish

chance at life and love by managing a
yeshivah baseball team. Tickets: $10 each.
For schedules, visit jewishwindsor.org or
call 519-973-1772.

THE ART SCENE

The Detroit Artists Market presents
Northern Lights, an exhibition of 20
contemporary northern Michigan artists,
April 29-May 27. Opening reception 6-9
p.m. Friday, April 29; 2-4 p.m. gallery talk
with the artists Saturday, April 30. 4719
Woodward, Detroit. (313) 832-8540;
detroitartistsmarket.org.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

Writers participating at the Metro Detroit
Book & Author Society's Spring Book
Luncheon, noon Monday, May 16, at
Burton Manor, 27777 Schoolcraft, in
Livonia, include novelist Diane Ackerman
(One Hundred Names for Love), with a
memoir about coping with her husband's
stroke and inability to speak; Erik Larson
(In the Garden of Beasts), with a nonfic-
tion drama set in Nazi Germany; Karl
Marlantes (Matterhorn), with his best-
selling novel on Vietnam; Sebastian Junger
(War), with a new book on his reporting
from the front lines in Afghanistan; and
John Gallagher (Reimagining Detroit), who
looks at the shaky future of Michigan's
largest city.
The event includes lunch, book sales
(beginning at 11 a.m.) and the opportunity to
have books autographed by all the authors.
To purchase tickets ($30; tables of 10;
purchase together to sit together), go to
the ticket request form at the society's web
site, bookandauthor.org.

Email items you wish to have considered

for Out & About to Gail Zimmerman at
gzimmerman@thejewishnews.com .

cast members Gabe
Kaplan, 66, and
Marcia Strassman,

63 (Kotter);

Charlotte Rae, 85,
and Mindy Cohn, 44
(Facts); and Tracy
Pollan, 50 (Ties).
Charlotte Rae
Pollan was accom-
panied by Michael J. Fox, her Ties co-
star and real-life husband. Strassman,
who played Kaplan's wife on Kotter,
recently survived breast cancer.
For those of you who don't know,
Charlotte Rae is the maternal aunt
of JN Story Development Editor Keri
Guten Cohen. P1

Contact Nate Bloom at

middleoftheroadl@aol.com .