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Heartland
Klezmorim
Band
Enrich
Your Soul!
Bebe Neuwirth heads diverse
list of guests at this year's
JCC Stephen Gottlieb Festival
of the Arts.
T
Elizabeth Applebaum I Special to the Jewish News
Graham W.J. Beal:
"What's New at the DIA?"
HAR PATRICK
HARRIS
Stephen
Sondheim
Travel expert Peter Greenberg
STEPHEN SONDHE1M'S
COMPANY
CHRISTINA
HENDRICKS
W,TH THE NEW YON PHILHARMONIC
in HD
STEPHEN
COLBERT
Film examines the case of a battered woman who was
wrongfully imprisoned.
PATTI
LuPONE
JON
COVER
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
IN: Is it ever frightening to be on stage?
IN: Can you give a brief preview of Stories
with Piano?
BN: "I've been on stage since I was 7 so
I'm pretty comfortable there. Sometimes, in
fact, I feel safer there than on the sidewalks
or at cocktail parties:
Bebe Neuwirth: "The show is literally
stories. Songs are all story songs in one or
several senses of the word — literal with
a narrative, or moments in a person's life,
songs with stories in them. I think what we
really do in the theater is tell stories:
Neuwirth worked with pianist Scott Cady
to create a program "that fits well together
both emotionally and musically" and pro-
vides for a compelling and often surprising
juxtaposition, like a Tom Waits tune followed
by a song by Kurt Weill.
Neuwirth says she loves "all the songs, and
I can relate to all of them in some way — not
that they're necessarily autobiographical, but
there's a part of me that I access in order to
express a song in a way that hopefully will
make it come alive:
What she does not do: compromise.
Neuwirth doesn't pick songs because
they're known to be crowd pleasers.
"You don't make art for the audience' she
said. "You make art to express something
that you feel:'
Yet without the audience, a performance
is "just a rehearsal:' she said. "It's me, Scott
and the audience, and we all make the show
together. There's an energetic exchange
[between all three] . ' '
he JCC Stephen Gottlieb Festival
of the Arts runs Aug. 28-Sept 2
at the Berman Center and at the
JCCs in West Bloomfield and Oak Park.
In addition to Bebe Neuwirth, the festi-
val also features:
Author and travel guru Peter
Greenberg, who will discuss his recent
trip to Israel hosted by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Tuesday,
Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. (Berman Center).
No charge.
Food columnist Tina Wasserman:
be nice to have time off. Sometimes I miss
it. And sometimes the roles stick with me
emotionally. Each one is such a different
experience'
IN: What do you love to do that's not a per-
jk: You started out as a dancer?
BN: "I've been in ballet class since I was 5,
and I'm still in ballet dass — the first instinct
in expression is physical':
But it isn't always easy. As a member of
the Board of Trustees of the Actors' Fund,
Neuwirth established the Dancers' Resource,
dedicated to addressing the artists' particular
needs, both physical and emotional. Her
dedication to the program began after her
first hip replacement surgery.
She explained: "Dancers don't get the help
that they need. They're paid less, underin-
sured or uninsured:'
IN: Do you have a favorite role?
BN: "When I'm working, I need to be sure
that that role is my favorite. I have to be in
love with the part in order to put all the most
positive energy and clearest focus that I can
into what I'm doing"
Of course, she said, some roles are deeply
fulfilling, some are good but perhaps not at
the top of her list and "some broke my heart'.'
Leaving them is equally complex.
"Sometimes the role is so grueling, it can
forming art?
BN: "I walk, I take photographs and
every five to 10 years, I get myself in a
ceramics studio and throw some pottery.
"My husband (Chris Calkins, founder
of Destino vineyards in Napa Valley) is a
photographer, and he got me started when
we were courting. He would take a lot of pic-
tures, and I would say, Can I try it?'
"It's a really interesting way to get to know
someone in a whole different way, and it cre-
ates a whole different kind of intimacy:'
With a landscape, for example: "He takes
a picture; I take a picture. When we compare
photos, it's really another way of literally seeing
someone else's perspective on the world:'
❑
Elizabeth Applebaum is marketing director at the
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Bebe Neuwirth performs at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Berman
Center. Tickets: $46 JCC mem-
bers/$56 nonmembers (see sidebar
for more information).
Beyond Brisket and Bagels: A
Culinary Exploration of the Jewish
Diaspora (see story on page 43),
Wednesday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m. (WB
JCC). $26 JCC members/$31 nonmem-
bers.
Crime After Crime, a film about the
Debbie Peagler case, plus an appear-
ance by Oakland County Prosecutor
Jessica R. Cooper, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 30 (Berman Center). $11.
Detroit Institute of Arts Director
Graham W.J. Beal: "What's New at
the DIA?"3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2. No
charge for JCC and DIA members/
$11 nonmembers.
Broadway in HD, a film presentation
of Stephen Sondheim's Company,
with Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone
and Stephen Colbert in a story of five
couples and their perpetual bachelor
friend, 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2 (Berman).
$13 JCC members/$16 nonmembers.
Plus Light Up Shabbat, a candle-
making project, 11 a.m.-noon Sunday,
Sept. 2, at Shalom Street (WB JCC),
$25 per pair; Tallit Handweaving with
Coat of Many Colors Handweavers, 1-4
p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2 (Charach Gallery,
WB JCC), $180 per tallit, reserva-
tions: (248) 432-5448; the Heartland
Klezmorim Band, 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept.
2 (OP JCC), $7 adults/$5 kids grades
K-6, $18 per family; and ongoing exhib-
its "Why Some?: Photos by Mark A.
Lit" (Charach Gallery, no charge); and
the IRP Annual Photography Show
(OP JCC, no charge).
For a complete schedule and more
info: www.jccdet.org . Tickets: (248) 661-
1900; theberman.org .
August 23 •2012
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