arts & life
A Michigan native
lands a coveted
spot dancing
in new opera.
®
ayP eo
PHOTO BY MORGAN HANSHEW PHOTOGRAPHY
Above: Soprano Catalina Cuervo plays the title role in Frida. Right, top and bottom: Lila Weinstein during rehearsals for Frida.
I
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
L
Lila Weinstein
Frida will be performed
March 7-8 at the Macomb
Center for the Performing
Arts in Clinton Township,
March 21-22 at the Berman
Center for the Performing
Arts in West Bloomfield
and March 27-28 at the
Detroit Film Theatre.
$45 - $55. (313) 237-SING;
michiganopera.org .
Celebrity Jews
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
SMALL SCREEN
Battle Creek is a witty CBS
police drama set in Battle
Creek, Mich. — though not
filmed there — starring Josh
Duhamel and Dean Winters. An
example of the show's quirky
humor: The city's mayor is a
dead-ringer for Toronto's wacky
ex-mayor, Rob Ford; in the sec-
ond episode, the police have
to deal with a criminal cartel
selling stolen maple syrup. Airs
Sundays at 10 p.m.
Series co-creator, Vince
38 vlarch 5 • 201S
ila Weinstein is steps
ahead of Metro Detroiters
about to immerse them-
selves in the artistry and person-
alities of Frida Kahlo and Diego
Rivera.
Weinstein, who just earned a
bachelor's degree in dance from
the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro, is rehearsing to
appear in the opera Frida, one of
many cultural programs associated
with the exhibition "Diego Rivera
and Frida Kahlo in Detroit" (see
"Frida And Diego" on page 37).
The opera, a co-production
of the Michigan Opera Theatre
and the Macomb Center for the
Performing Arts, will be staged at
various locations March 7-28 (see
box at left).
"I haven't had the opportunity
to work in an opera before so this
Gilligan — creator of Breaking
Bad — wrote the Battle Creek
pilot 12 years ago. The studio
brought in David Shore, 55,
creator of House, to update the
pilot and help write new epi-
sodes. Says Shore: "I raised the
child that Gilligan birthed."
Shore, by the way, comes
from an observant family from
Toronto, Canada, and his twin
younger brothers are both Aish
HaTorah rab-
bis.
Patricia
Arquette, 46,
Arquette
who won the
best support-
ing actress
Oscar for
Boyhood and a
is a new experience for me says
Weinstein, joining Columbian
soprano Catalina Cuervo and
Mexican-born bass-baritone
Ricardo Herrera. "I like working
with the singers"
Weinstein was chosen by cho-
reographer Marco Pelle, who also
is seen in the production, and is
joined by one more dancer, Angela
Cavazos.
The opera, first performed in
1991, delves into the tumultuous
experiences faced by Kahlo as she
built her career in the midst of
romantic upheavals and illnesses
compounded by injuries.
With book by Hilary Blecher,
the opera's score features music by
Robert Xavier Rodriguez and lyr-
ics by Migdalia Cruz. It is sung in
English and Spanish with English
translation projections. The music
brings in various styles while
emphasizing Mexican traditions.
"In one of the scenes, the danc-
best actress Emmy for Medium,
returns to TV as the star of the
new series, CS/ Cyber, as the
head of an FBI team of cyber-
crime investigators. Premieres
10 p.m. Thursday, March 5 on
CBS.
The 10-part USA Network
mini-series Dig also debuts
10 p.m. March 5. Much of the
series is set in Israel, where the
pilot was filmed. Jason Isaacs,
51, who played Lucius Malfoy in
the Harry Potter movies, plays
an FBI agent recently stationed
in Jerusalem. While investi-
gating the murder of a young
American, he uncovers an
ancient international conspira-
cy that threatens to change the
course of human history.
ers represent death as they move
around the stage says Weinstein,
who will mix ballet with contem-
porary choreography. "In other
sections, we fill in more as actors.
We're guests during the scene in
which Frida and Diego get mar-
ried"
Weinstein, who grew up in
Farmington Hills and gradu-
ated from Walled Lake Western
High School, tried gymnastics
before studying dance at Geiger
Classic Ballet Academy in West
Bloomfield.
"I think the challenge, discipline
and artistry are what I came to
enjoy about dance she says. "I'm
a creative person so it was always a
good outlet for me"
Years of ballet lessons led her
to become a member of the pre-
professional Michigan Classic
Ballet Company. While in high
school, she joined the student
company of the Eisenhower Dance
AT THE MOVIES
Opening this week: What We Do
in the Shadows is an acclaimed
comedic mockumentary — in
the style of
Christopher
Guest's Best
in Show
— about a
household of
four vampires
and how they
cope with
Waititi
their unusual
lifestyle. New Zealanders
Taika Waititi, 39, and
Jemaine Clement (Flight of
the Concords) co-wrote, co-
directed and co-star in the
film. Both have a Maori parent
(New Zealand-Polynesian), and
Company and spent summers
studying with the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater in New
York and the Nashville Ballet. She
went on to participate in dance
festivals, including Regional Dance
America's Mid-States Festival and
the Michigan Youth Arts Festival.
Weinstein, 21, who had her bat
mitzvah at Temple Shir Shalom, is
planning a summer wedding. She
and Evan McDowell will combine
Jewish and Catholic traditions in
the ceremony.
Getting ready to settle in
Dayton, Ohio, she plans to audi-
tion for companies close to her
new home, including Dayton
Contemporary Dance Company.
"I feel like I'm doing what I'm
supposed to be doing when I'm
dancing" she says. As I work on
the opera, [I see that the dance
elements] will give audiences
more depth in understanding the
artists:' ❑
Waititi's mother is Jewish.
The comedy Unfinished
Business
stars Vince
Vaughn as a
small-busi-
ness owner
who travels
to Europe
to close an
important
Franco
business
deal, but the
trip goes awry in every pos-
sible way. Dave Franco, 29,
co-stars as a Vaughn associate.
Dave, the brother of James,
recently said "he's proud to be
Jewish." He and Alison Brie, 32
(Community), have been dating
for two years. ❑