arts & life

re v i e w

Editor’s Picks

Go To

It’s a family affair at JET.

Kalamazoo

Ronelle Grier | Contributing Writer

K

alamazoo, which pairs real-life
husband-and-wife Arthur J. Beer and
Mary F. Bremer-Beer, is the charming
story of two very different people finding love
in their golden years. The two veteran actors
give funny and touching portrayals of Irving, a
feisty Jewish man with a sometimes-irreverent
sense of humor, and Peg, a conservative but
fun-loving Irish-Catholic woman with a pen-
chant for misusing foreign phrases.
The tentative couple meet on an internet
dating site for seniors, where Peg confesses her
love for birds because of their ability to molt,
and Irving admits he would not be averse to
dating a “shiksa” for the first time. Both Peg
and Irving are widowed after spending the
majority of their lives in relatively happy mar-
riages. While both of them are still a little bit
in love with their late spouses, their loneliness,
bolstered by the urging of their respective chil-
dren, motivates them to “get out there” and see
what the future holds.
Playing at Jewish Ensemble Theatre through
May 29, Kalamazoo is a play featuring older
characters, but its relevance is certainly not
limited to those who qualify for senior-citizen
discounts at the local coney island. This is a
story about the things that affect people of all
ages — love, the scariness of taking risks and
the universal need to be loved and accepted for
who we are.
There is a little classic “senior citizen shtick,”
such as when Irving plops some Alka-Seltzer
into a fishbowl-sized margarita to ward off any
potential gastric distress from the Mexican
meal the couple is about to share, but mostly
the play focuses on the two individuals, look-
ing beyond their surface differences to the
deeper commonalities that bring them togeth-
er. The universal issues that the story explores,
coupled with the stellar performances of these
two well-seasoned professionals, make for a
state experience that is sweet, funny and poi-
gnant.
Kalamazoo gets its name from Peg’s descrip-

40 May 19 • 2016

tion of it as a magical-sounding word, on the
order of “Abracadabra.” Indeed, what happens
during the 80-minute intermission-less play is
magical as both characters find their own path
to love, transcending their own fears and the
interference of their well-meaning but intru-
sive children.
Arthur Beer designed the simple yet clever
set, which is enhanced by details from set and
props designer Diane E. Ulseth. A platform
with an overhead projection screen serves
as the backdrop for a variety of settings that
include the Mexican restaurant where Peg
and Irving have their first date, the Holiday
Inn Express where they wake up the morning
after (don’t ask!), a beach where Irving intro-
duces Peg to the art of metal detecting and the
Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, where bird-lover Peg
has always wanted to visit.
The play, by Michelle Kholos Brooks and
Kelly Younger, is a co-production with the
Tipping Point Theatre in Northville, where
it had a successful run last fall. If the snappy
repartee between conservative Peg and Irving,
with his earthy Jewish humor, sounds authen-
tic, it could be because playwright Kholos
Brooks is the daughter-in-law of the legendary
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. What makes
Kalamazoo a true family affair is the fact that
director Christopher Bremer, the executive
director of the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, is
also the son of Mary Bremer-Beer.
The familial-professional collaboration is
rounded out by a strong technical team that
includes Suzanne Young’s costume designs,
Neil Koivu as lighting designer, Harold
Jurkiewicz as production stage manager
and Matt Lira as stage manager/projection
designer.

*

details

JET’s production of Kalamazoo runs through
May 29 at the Aaron DeRoy Theatre in
the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield. (248) 788-2900; jettheatre.org.

CARPE DIEM
The historic
Redford Theatre
honors the late,
legendary Robin
Williams (a
Detroit Country
Day student
in the early
1960s) with a
weekend-long
Lynne Konstantin Robin Williams
Arts & Life Editor
Tribute featur- Robert Schefman’s Wonderland
ing two classic
to life the exhibition’s inspiration, a lyric
favorites. Dead
by the Cure: “I’ve been looking so long
Poets Society will screen 8 p.m. Friday,
at these pictures of you that I almost
May 20. Good Morning, Vietnam will be
believe that they’re real.” Through June
shown 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, May
4. (313) 818-3416; dkgallery.com.
21. $5 per film. (313) 537-2560;
redfordtheatre.com.
BE OUR GUEST
LIFE OF ILLUSION
See Belle, the Beast, Gaston and more
Artists Jamie Adams, Andrew Krieger,
— along with home-grown talent
Stephen Magsig, Robert Schefman
Hannah Jewel Kohn, who returns to
and Trevor Young share a common-
Michigan with the national touring
ality in their work: They are known
production of Beauty and the Beast,
and acclaimed for their realist styles.
inspired by the 1991 Disney film with
Whether landscape or an intimate
Academy Award-winning music and
depiction of everyday life, the works are lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard
intended to engage the viewer in the
Ashman. Joining the ensemble as a
artists’ illusions. In “Pictures of You,”
villager and enchanted objects as well
the group is brought together at the
as understudy for the flirtatious feather
David Klein Gallery in Detroit, bringing
duster, Babette, Kohn grew up in West

Celebrity Jews

Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

HAMILTON MANIA
Normally, I write about Tony Award nomi-
nations the week before the ceremony
(this year’s is on June 12). However, I
thought I’d highlight one nominee early.
Hamilton actor Daveed Diggs, 34, is
nominated for Best Featured Actor in a
musical. He plays the Marquis de Lafayette
and Thomas Jefferson. Diggs was invited
to hear an early version of Hamilton by
composer/writer Lin-Manuel Miranda and
was cast in a major role.
Diggs is the son of Dountes Diggs, an
African American who works for the San
Francisco city transit system, and a white
Jewish mother, Dr. Barbara Needell, 67.
Needell, now retired, was the head of a
University of California, Berkeley, unit that
aided child welfare departments state-
wide. She describes herself on Twitter “as
the mother of two fine men [Daveed and
his brother, Malcolm].”
Last July, Daveed Diggs told Broadway.
com: “I went to Hebrew school, but
opted out of a bar mitzvah. My mom is
a white Jewish lady and my dad is black.
The cultures never seemed separate — I
had a lot of mixed friends. When I was

Diggs

young, I identified with being Jewish, but I
embraced my dad’s side, too.”
Hamilton, the musical, has earned a
record 16 Tony nominations. It’s based on
a 2004 biography by Ron Chernow, now
67. Chernow, who describes himself as
“Jewish, but more in the breach than in
the observance,” covers Hamilton’s Jewish
connections in his book — yes, Chernow
writes, Hamilton’s non-Jewish mother
was married to a Dane named Lavien, but
there’s no evidence Lavien was Jewish.
Hamilton’s father was a non-Jewish
Scot and Alexander grew up on a West
Indian island, where he was tutored by a
Jewish woman and once recited the Ten
Commandments for her in Hebrew. As an