arts & entertainment College Course Josh Radnor returns to his alma mater to write, direct and star in new film. Curt Schleier Special to the Jewish News F This side-splitting comedy is about the writing, fighting and wacky antics in the writers' room of a weekly variety show circa 1953. It follows the antics of the star of "The Max Prince Show" and his ongoing battles with NBC executives who fear his humor is too sophisticated for Middle America. The characters are based on Neil Simon's real-life co-workers (Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, Larry Gelbart and Selma Diamond) when he was a comedy writer for the television program "Your Show of Shows.' EZIZGiciV 1141 3911V CAL ► I 248.788.2900 VISIT I - WWW.JETTI:1EATRE.CRG JET performs in the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center's Aaron Delloy Theatre - Corner of Maple & Drake Roads. 1788600 2 MEDIUM 2 X-LARGE 2 Topping Pizzas 2 Topping Pizzas 99 each $ 8" viv each With coupon only. Exp. 11/30/12 1 48. *4.0500 CMG = IMO IMM. =2 C.7 1 1 X-LARGE Monday-Sunday 11am-11pm IN= =Si = t ^ - 9 9 With coupon only. Exp. 11/30/12 1459I Beef Ribs Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only!! 10% OFF TOTAL BILL Excludes tax, tip and beverages. With this ad. Dine in or Carry out. Expires I I /15112 rass Pointe -=-< - 2,(7c L ie/J 24234 Orchard Lake Rd., N.E. corner of 10 Mile • 476-1377 Open 7 Days a week for lunch & dinner 80 October 25 • 2012 1 :1 Topping Pizza 414_ 1 i 1 : & Garden Salad 1 1 27897 Orchard Lak0 Rd.' FARMINGTON HILLS ,:menotiures,. = „IN or a guy who wasn't really interested in show business, Josh Radnor is quickly and impressively adding a lot of hyphens to his name. For the last eight years, he's been a star, the "I" in the hit television series How I Married Your Mother. More recently, though, he's added several other titles after his name: screenwriter, director and actor (as opposed to star). His first feature, Happythankyoumoreplease (2010) had, in his words, "a really small theatri- cal run, but has had a fantastic life on DVD and television!' Now comes Liberal Arts, a thought- ful and entertaining film about grow- ing up and older and moving on. It is scheduled to open Friday, Oct. 26, at the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak. Ironically, Radnor got into acting doing a mitzvah for a friend. "I got dragged down to the audi- tions for the [high] school musical, Oklahoma, by a friend of mine. She was nervous and wanted me to keep her company while she was down there. I went, and I was watching everyone audition and thought, 'Man, I think maybe I can do this a little bet- ter than these people.' They pointed at me and asked if I wanted to audition. I said 'yes' and ended up getting one of the leads. The next year I played the emcee in Cabaret, and that was kind of it for me. Once I did that, I started to think maybe this is something I wanted to do." A wise decision. HIMYM is cur- rently in its seventh season and has (in addition to Radnor) made Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris constellations in the Hollywood firmament. "They just engaged us about possibly doing a season nine:' says Radnor, whose television success hasn't made getting a film produced any easier. "People might think so, but it was very difficult to get financing for my first movie. My being attached as a director was an additional hurdle. We had some people who were interested in the script, wanted to make it and were OK with me being in it. They were less sold with me being the director. "After some time, this company in New York came forward and wanted to take a chance on it. Financing for this new film was a lot easier, but I think Elizabeth Olsen and Josh Radnor in Liberal Arts that was because the producers were fans of the first film and also fans of Elizabeth Olsen, who was attached at that point; they had worked with her before!' Radnor grew up in the Columbus, Ohio, area, where he attended an Orthodox Hebrew day school. "We belonged to the Conservative synagogue. My dad and mom were both active in the synagogue. My dad was president for a while. They sent me to the school because they thought it was a great education. Also, a lot of their friends' kids went there. I went from kindergarten to the eighth grade, and then I went to the public high school." Liberal Arts is set at Ohio's Kenyon College, Radnor's alma mater. He plays Jesse, a thirtysomething college admis- sions counselor who heads back to Kenyon to celebrate his favorite profes- sor's retirement. When he arrives on campus, he meets a 19-year-old sopho- more named Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), and they fall in love, despite their age difference. Radnor is convinced that his back- ground has impacted his work in other ways. "I read somewhere that Tony Kushner was asked why so many Jews are attracted to the theater. He said that reading the Talmud and reading a play are very similar. There's a surface read and then digging underneath the text. I feel having this background, having this love of literature, look- ing at something on the surface and excavating and finding out what more can be gleaned from it you get from a Jewish way of learning." 17: Liberal Arts is scheduled to open on Friday, Oct. 26, at the Landmark Main Art Theatre. (248) 263-2111; www. Iandmarktheatres.com .