44 August 29 • 2019
jn

celebrity jews
arts&life

AT THE MOVIES AND MORE
After the Wedding is an American remake 
of an acclaimed 2006 Danish film of 
the same name that was 
co-written by and directed 
by Susanne Bier, 58. Bier, a 
Danish Jew, also directed In 
a Better World (2007 Oscar 
for best foreign language 
film) and Bird Box, a 2018 
Netflix film. It was a critical 
hit. Bird was from a novel 
by Detroit native Josh 
Malerman, 44. 
The remake is directed 
by and written by Bart 
Freundlich, 49. Freundlich, 
whose father is Jewish, has 
been married to Julianne 
Moore since 2003. Capsule 
plot: Isobel (Michelle 
Williams) runs an orphan-
age in India. She travels to 
New York to meet Theresa 
(Moore), a possible huge 
benefactor. The meeting 
falls a day before the wed-
ding of Grace (Abby Quinn), 
Theresa’
s daughter. Things 
get complicated when Isobel 
realizes that she knew 
Theresa’
s husband (Billy 
Crudup) many years before. 
Opens Aug. 30 at the Maple 
Theater, 
Opening the same day at 
the Maple Theater is Fiddler: 
A Miracle of Miracles. This 
documentary tells the “origin 
story” of the 1964 Broadway 
musical. It features inter-
views with Fiddler lyricist 
Sheldon Harnick, now 95; 
Fiddler producer Hal Prince, 
who died last month, age 91; 
original cast member Austin 
Pendelton, 79 (“Motel” the 
tailor); playwright Harvey 
Fierstein, 65, who starred 
as Tevye in a 2004 revival; 
Chaim Topol, now 83, who 
played Tevye in the 1971 film; 
and writers Fran Lebowitz, 68, Nathan 
Englander, 49, and Calvin Trillin, 83.
As you might have heard, Kate 
McKinnon, who has played Justice Ruth 
Bader Ginsburg on SNL, met the justice 
for the first time when they both happened 

to attend a Yiddish language production 
of Fiddler on the same night (Aug. 13). 
This acclaimed off-Broadway version is 
produced by the Folksbiene theater com-
pany. Justice Ginsburg, 86, and McKinnon 
posed for a photo together and were given 
a backstage tour by Oscar-winner Joel 
Grey, 87, the show’
s director. 
Grey’
s father, Mickey Katz 
(1909-1975), was famous for 
doing Yiddish-language paro-
dies of famous tunes. 
 
ARE YOU MAD ABOUT 
THIS REVIVAL? — 
NETFLIX LATE NOTICE
I guess I was asleep when 
it was announced last 
March that there would 
be a revival or “reboot” of 
Mad About You, the hit ’
90s 
TV series. The stars of the 
show, Paul Reiser, now 62, 
and Helen Hunt, now 56, 
will reprise their roles as 
Paul and Jamie Buchman. 
It was just announced that 
Abby Quinn will play Mabel, 
the Buchmans’
 young adult 
daughter. Quinn (born Abby 
Quinn Jackman) was born 
and raised in Bloomfield. She 
had a big supporting part as 
Jenny Slate’
s Jewish teen 
sister in Landline (2017), 
a well-received comedy. 
As noted above, she plays 
Julianne Moore’
s daughter in 
After the Wedding. 
The Mad reboot will be 
available to subscribers of the 
Spectrum Charters Company, 
the second largest cable 
company in America. If it is 
a hit, I suspect that Netflix 
or Hulu will pick up the first 
season within a year of its 
premiere. 
The NY Times recently 
came out with an update 
of a list they publish about 
three times a year: “The 50 
Best TV Shows on Netflix 
Right Now.” One show on 
the list I missed when it first 
premiered is The Haunting 
of Hill House. It is a Gothic horror series 
based loosely on a novel. A Netflix original, 
the first season was released in 2018. The 
ensemble cast includes Kate Siegel, 37, 
and English actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen. 
32. Reviews are very good. ■

NATE BLOOM

COLUMNIST

Malerman

Freundlich

Reiser

Jackson-Cohen

GREG2600 WIKIPEDIA
GAGE SKIDMORE, WIKIPEDIA
IMDB
FACEBOOK

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