DECEMBER 5 • 2019 | 39

Arts&Life

theater

JET 
Update

Theater’
s move to Walled Lake and 
new season dates have improved its 
attendance and reach. 

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A

s the Jewish Ensemble 
Theatre (JET) worked 
its way through the 
first season at its new Walled 
Lake venue, the people at the 
center of the stage company had 
strong reasons to celebrate.
The last two weeks of the 
company’
s final main play of 
2019, Cabaret, were all sold-out 
performances. 
The musical, set in a night-
club, invited viewers into a 
cabaret seating arrangement 
and validated original plans 
for different audience setups, 
changed according to the nature 
of each show.
“I felt I was part of the show,
” 
says Susie Simons of West 
Bloomfield, who has attended 
JET productions fairly regularly. 
“I think the new building has 
tremendous potential as a nice, 
intimate theater.”
Christopher Bremer, JET 
executive director, reports that 
the range of ticket holders’
 
zip codes has vastly widened 
since the move to a strip cen-
ter at Maple and Pontiac Trail. 
Attendance comparisons were 
made between Disgraced, a 

popular show presented in the 
Jewish Community Center the-
ater, and Cabaret. 
“We sold more tickets in this 
last season than we did in the 
prior season,
” Bremer says. 
With the change in timing of 
the main productions — now 
spring to fall instead of fall to 
spring so audiences can travel 
during longer daylight hours 
and better weather — JET is 
expanding to other kinds of 
programming for diverse year-
round scheduling.
Board member Patty 
Ceresnie, a longtime performer 
and producer, is focused on 
“Hot Jazz in January,
” a musical 
series that spans six evenings to 
spotlight one act and one theme 
at each performance.
“I went to a wonderful 
concert and thought concerts 
would be good for JET audi-
ences,
” says Ceresnie, who was 
producing artistic director for 
IlluminArt Productions. “I 
called friends who perform 
music, and we will do this with 
proceeds funding the theater.
”
The themes include “Blues 
Piano” with Alvin Waddles (Jan. 

10 and 11), “
A Tribute to Jewish 
Composers” with Ursala Walker 
and Buddy Budson (Jan.12), “
A 
Tribute to Frank Sinatra” with 
the Steve Wood Quartet fea-
turing Kevin Grenier (Jan.17), 
“History of Jazz in Detroit” 
with the Pam Jaslove Quartet 
(Jan. 18) and a mixture of 
klezmer and jazz with the band 
Klezundheit conducted by Alan 
Posner (Jan.19).

“Klezmer and jazz have 
similar rhythms,
” says Posner, 
Bloomfield Hills High School 
band director, who works with 
an 11-member group that 
includes family members: wife 
Michelle, a flutist; dad Ken, a 
singer; and mom Gail, dance 
leader.
In February, JET will offer 
performances in Arizona to 
present young people with 

TOP: JET’
s new theater, with its variable space, can be booked for rental. 
ABOVE: Klezundheit will be part of JET’
s Hot Jazz in January music series.

For more on JET programing or rental at 1124 E. West 
Maple in Walled Lake, or submissions for the Festival of 
New Plays, call (248) 788-2900 or go to jettheatre.org.

details

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