26 June 6 • 2019
jn
A
new home and a new home
away from home will be part
of the Grand Opening celebra-
tion as the Jewish Ensemble Theatre
(JET) begins its 30th season Monday
evening, June 10, with a strolling din-
ner and presentation of this year’
s first
main-stage play.
The new home is at 1124 E. Maple,
just east of Pontiac Trail, in Walled
Lake, where a three-year lease has
allowed the transformation of a vacat-
ed bank into a space with movable
structures so stage and seating can
allow for diverse audience experiences.
The new home away from home
is in Arizona, where plans are in the
works to bring the JET production of
The Diary of Anne Frank to middle
school students on a continuing basis.
“We are very excited to have our
grand opening with a production
of Neil Simon’
s The Odd Couple,
my favorite Neil Simon comedy,”
says Christopher Bremer, executive
director, who also is pleased Annabel
Cohen is catering the event.
“We wanted to honor this
high-powered Jewish playwright who
passed away last year, and we want-
ed to launch our new theater with a
light-hearted play that we’
ve never
done before.”
After the opening night celebra-
tion, the regular schedule of The Odd
Couple runs June 14-July 14, featuring
a cast that includes Greg Trzaskoma,
Fred Buchalter, Wendy Katz Hiller,
Meredith Deighton, Todd St. George,
Charles Van Hoose, Alex Macksoud
and David Gram under the direction
of Mary Bremer.
Because the interior of the new
space was not expected to be ready
until May 31, rehearsals have
been taking place at Henry Ford
Community College in Dearborn.
Construction has been delayed a bit
but will not change plans for the June
10 celebration.
“Those attending our first play will
be seated in chairs borrowed from
Monster Box Theatre in Waterford
as we wait for the new ones,” Bremer
says. “The marquee also will not be
finished in time for the opening, but
we have a big, temporary sign wel-
coming our theatergoers.”
Stuart Fine was the architect who
worked closely with JET to develop
the new site.
“I’
ve met with the contractors to
make sure the space turned out the
way the people at JET wanted it to
be,” says Fine, a theater fan who has
worked on educational auditoriums.
Fine had to make sure the staging
and seating would be flexible while
paying special attention to the lighting.
The walls, carpeting and chairs will be
in dark tones to keep the attention on
the performers as the stage lights up.
Depending on the production, seat-
ing can be arranged in three config-
urations — in a traditional plan with
the entire audience facing the stage, in
a way that winds the audience around
three sides of the stage and in an
immersive form that puts the audience
in the middle of the action.
“We will have platforms and risers
to add to our flexibility,” says Bremer,
who is also arranging for a concession
stand. “We can accommodate 100
people regardless of the setup.”
Contributions of about $150,000
went into financing the move and the
new lease with a three-year option
after that as the fundraising continues.
The three plays filling the rest of
the season include Ain’
t Misbehavin’
by Luther Henderson, Richard
Maltby Jr. and Murray Horwitz (Aug.
theater
arts&life
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOS BY AJ HOWELL
JET Board Chair Elaine Sturman and Mendy Cohen of the
Milton Roberts Construction Company inside the new
space during construction. TOP: A temporary sign wel-
comes all to JET’
s new home in Walled Lake.
A New Home
JET opens its season with a celebration and Neil Simon’
s The Odd Couple.
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