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Vegetarian Chopped Liver Homemade Potato Salad & Coleslaw HOURS: MON-SAT 7AM-9PM • SUN 7AM-8PM I On Star's beautiful already 24555 W. 12 MILE ROAD Just west of Telegraph Road • Southfield 248-352-7377 low-priced trays Expires 11/27/14. One Per Order. Not Good Holidays. I 10 Person Minimum. With this coupon. DELIVERY AVAILABLE www.stardeli.net 1957630 "For 40 years, Gallery Restaurant has served up THE GALLEIiES Daily Special to frora'foz lunch &dinner... Dinner spell % come with coreflimenta rice Obi chocolate pudding orfiello album _gym OPEN 7 DAYS: Now Serving Beer & Wine MON.- SAT. 7 a.m.- 9:30 p.m. SUN. 8 a.m.- 9 p.m. Bloomfield Plaza • 6638 Telegraph Road and Maple • 248-851-0313 46 November 6 • 2014 Suzanne Chessler Contributing Writer lan Harrison jokes with friends back in Seattle that the official bird of Detroit must be the construction crane because that's what he sees and hears as he gets to know the area surrounding the Detroit Opera House. Harrison recently joined Michigan Opera Theatre to take on the newly created position of chief patron officer, working to bring the sights and sounds of opera and dance to larger audiences. "This position will combine our dual income streams from fundraising and sup- port (corporate or individual) and from ticket sales:' says Harrison, who will have oversight of sales, Alan Harrison messaging and fund- raising. "I believe that opera and dance are among the most accessible of all the arts, and we want people to have a good time. MOT is known around the country as a familial home for really wonderful art- ists, performers and community." Harrison, who has had a long career in administering nonprofit performing arts organizations, looks forward to the upcoming programs in the 2014-2015 season, which has returned the company to a five-opera schedule. Having a Jewish background that kept him active with Temple Beth Ahm in Seattle, Harrison is glad to bring opera to the Berman Center for the Performing Arts. Frida, based on the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, will be staged March 21-22 at the Berman Center in the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. Other upcoming opera productions, to be presented at the Detroit Opera House, include Madame Butterfly (Nov. 15-23), The Merry Widow (April 11 - 19) and Faust (May 9-17). Future dance programs spotlight The Nutcracker as choreographed by BalletMet (Nov. 28-30), The Light Show as performed by the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble (Jan. 31) and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (March 19-22). "Madame Butterfly is one of the most accessible operas, and it's a beautiful story:' Harrison says. "The Merry Widow is beautiful and fun. Of course, Faust signs the dotted line and loses his soul." Harrison, 55, aimed to be a singer and actor as a teenager living in California. There was considerable music in his life as he performed with school and temple choirs. After earning a bachelor's degree in drama from the University of California- Irvine, he moved to New York and tried acting for a few years. "I decided that the people with more creative juices flowing were the ones on the production side so I became a producer, starting out as special projects director at Lincoln Center Theater; says Harrison, who later studied nonprofit leadership at Stanford University. "In California, I worked at the Pasadena Playhouse for several years before going on to the Pittsburgh Public Theater. I was at the Seattle Repertory Theatre before going on to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival:' For the past 17 years, Harrison has worked for nonprofits in Seattle. He was executive director for Arts West, named 201 l's Theatre of the Year in the region, and he has run his own consulting com- pany, Voice of Reason Enterprises. Harrison's 15-year-old daughter enjoys singing, dancing and acting but does not want to do that for a living. Harrison's favorite pastimes away from work are hiking, biking and watching sports. He plans on becoming a Lions fan although the Seattle Seahawks have his heart. "Our No. 1 goal at MOT is to help make Detroit a great place to live he says. "Our charter involves making the community its best self by using the tools of the arts to enlighten and engage people. "There's a great deal of positive eco- nomic impact that MOT brings to the city, and I want that to be recognized, grow and become leveraged to make Detroit more of a world-class city than it is. "To do that, we're going to have to engage a wider focus of educated people. We have incredibly devoted opera and dance fans, and we have to grow that fan base and make it younger so that our art forms will last for years to come:' ❑ For more information about Michigan Opera Theatre's upcoming events, visit www. michiganopera.org .