arts & entertainment Brother Act Farmers Alley Theatre co-founders Adam and Rob Weiner enjoy their careers onstage and behind the curtain. Suzanne Chessler Contributing Writer ated as "Farmers Aly:' I liked the idea of using the word 'Alley' because there are a lot of famous theaters around the country that ots of people have watched Whitney have Alley' in their names!' Weiner's romantic shenanigans The founders have developed diverse sea- with her husband's brother, but sons — dramas and musicals, classics and everybody's more than OK with it. new works. In fact, sightings of different associa- Upcoming tions among Weiner family members are shows include The expected: The relatives regularly perform in Spitfire Grill (Oct. productions of Kalamazoo's Farmers Alley 5-21),My Way: A Theatre, founded by Adam and Robert Musical Tribute to (Rob) Weiner. Frank Sinatra (Nov. Adam, Whitney's brother-in-law, is 30-Dec. 23), The executive director of the company, and Rob, Whipping Man (Feb. Whitney's husband, is deputy director. 8-24), The 39 Steps In an earlier season, Whitney and brother- (April 12-28), Next Adam Weiner in-law Adam took the roles of wife and to Normal (June husband in The Great American Trailer Park 7-23) and Life Could Be a Dream (July Musical. Whitney and hubby Rob are appear- 19-Aug.11). ing through Aug. 12 in the romantic comedy The idea for the professional stage com- I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. pany came about as both brothers were The professional theater, launched in 2007, establishing themselves in Kalamazoo after also includes collaborations with fellow theater studies. founders Jeremy Koch, artistic director, and Adam, who earned a bachelor's degree Denene Mulay Koch, educational director. in film from the University of Michigan, For the founders, their vantage points went on to earn a master's degree in from the stage and behind the scenes have arts management from Carnegie Mellon been particularly fulfilling. They've watched University in Pittsburgh and interned at the attendance grow to almost full capacity as Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. they are planning to enter their fifth season. Robert holds a bachelor's degree from U-M "Broadway may have Shubert Alley, but in theater performance. Kalamazoo has Farmers Alley:' says Adam While Adam worked in his dad's business Weiner, 34, a lifelong theater fan encour- and Robert held various jobs around the aged by his mother, Laurel Scheidt, a high city, they participated with local troupes. school drama teacher serving on an artistic "Rob and I were doing a production of advisory council for the stage company, and Ragtime at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre dad, Joshua Weiner, a real estate developer Adam recalls about the early beginnings of serving as board chairman of the stage Farmers Alley. "One night after rehearsal, company. Rob approached the Koches (with New York "Farmers Alley is located on a downtown theater experience) and asked if they would street with the same name, often abbrevi- be interested in starting a theater with us. L "As soon as they agreed, we were in a whirlwind for six months, writing a busi- ness plan, getting financial support, putting together a board of directors and applying for nonprofit status. We found a space that could hold 100 seats and leased it. "By the fall of 2008, we opened with a production of A Few Good Men, cast with Rob and me, and have been in business ever since." While the admin- istrative team antici- pated 60 percent house capacity for Rob Weiner the first season, they ended up with 81 percent. The fourth sea- son brought 90 percent capacity. "This theater has given me a purpose says Robert, 31."My father has very strong business connections in the area, but that was something I never was interested in. I was more creative, and this has been so fulfilling. Our space allows us to treat the- atergoers like family." Judaism, with a presence in Farmers Alley productions, has been important in the Weiner family as the brothers were raised and later as they went off on their own. Both were schooled and had bar mitzvah celebrations at the Congregation of Moses, an egalitarian Conservative syna- gogue with a presence in Kalamazoo for more than 100 years, and both were mar- ried with Temple Israel clergy. Adam married Allison Green (a research- er at Western Michigan University) at the temple in West Bloomfield, and Rob mar- ried Whitney Wade (a high school choir director) at the theater with Rabbi Paul, Yedwab officiating. "We built a chuppah at the theater and did the lighting as we would in a stage production:' Rob recalls. "It was fun to see family and friends in our theater space for the wedding." Among the plays with Jewish themes have been the musical Parade and Driving Miss Daisy, both about anti-Semitism in the South. The Whipping Man, about a seder held just as the Civil War ends, has been staged at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in West Bloomfield. "We want to present plays that will challenge us as an organization as well as challenge and entertain audiences:' Adam says. "We want a good mix, something for everyone. "Because we have an intimate space, we like to take musicals and works originally done on huge stages and breathe new life into them for the size of our stage. We schedule works that ordinarily wouldn't come to Kalamazoo but that we can pro- duce because of our small space." The brothers agree they want all their productions to be top-notch. "Ifs been professionally and personally fulfilling to see the community embrace our theater:' Rob says. "Now, to be in the same production with my wife puts me over the moon." I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change runs through Aug.12 at Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley, Kalamazoo, a 2-2 1 /2 hour drive from Detroit. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. $27-$29. (269) 343-2727; www.farmersalleytheatre.com . ws 141rg.- 010: I Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Notable Olympians Here is my list of some "verified" Jewish athletes competing at the London Games, other than Israel's 37-member squad. Results are included if event occurred before we went to press. United States: David Banks, 28, rowing Men's Eight (July 28-Aug.1). A Stanford graduate, he's the son of an African- American father and a Jewish mother. Anthony Ervin, 31, swimming, 50M 52 August 2 • 2012 freestyle (Aug. 2-3). The son of an African- American father and a Jewish mother, in 2000 he was the first African-American to win an Olympic swim- ming medal (a gold Ervin in the 50M individual and a silver in the 4x100M freestyle medley); he retired in 2003 but came back this year after earning his college degree. Jason Lezak, 36, swimming, 4x100M freestyle relay heat team (July 29, silver medal). Lezak, in his fourth Olympics, has now won eight medals, including four gold. Mark Mendelbratt, 39, sailing (July 29-Aug. 5). In 2004, he finished eighth sailing a Laser; he's back sail- ing a two-man Star. Merrill Moses, 34, water polo (July 29-Aug. 6). He was the goalkeeper on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that won the silver medal. Alexandra (Aly) Raisman, 17, gym- nastics (team, July 31; all-around, Aug. 2; floor, beam, Aug. 7). On the cover of Raisman a recent issue of Sports Illustrated, Raisman, who was a bat mitzvah, has performed solo floor exercises to the music of "Hava Nagila." Soren Thompson, 31, fencing, indi- vidual epee (Aug. 1). He was on the 2004 American team, taking seventh place in individual competition and fifth place in team competition. Julie Zetlin, 21, rhythmic gym- nastics (Aug. 9-11). She is the sole member on Team USA; in the last Olympics, no Americans competed in this sport. Jewish competitors from other countries include: Australia: Steve Solomon, 19, track; Germany: Sarah Poewe, 29, swimming; New Zealand: Jo Aleh, 28, sailing; Ukraine: Vasyl Fedoryshyn, 32, wrestling.