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December 17, 2020 - Image 49

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2020-12-17

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DECEMBER 17 • 2020 | 49

plays I wrote, including Change
of Life and The Day We Met.
“Evie had enormous faith in
me as a playwright when I was
just starting out. Her faith in
me made me believe in myself,
and I will be forever grateful to
her for that. She was a dyna-
mo who could make things
happen, a can-do person who,
in spite of what the obstacles
were, always plowed ahead.

Henrietta Hermelin
Weinberg and Mary Lou
Zieve (a continuing board
member) got to know Orbach
through associations with
Michigan theater companies
and broadcast programming.
They were glad to offer their
artistic suggestions and busi-
ness introductions to establish
JET and remained impressed
by Orbach’s perseverance —
both artistically and in seeking
out private donors and public
grant providers, first to launch
and later to supplement ticket
prices.
“Evelyn had tenacity and
vision,
” said Weinberg, who
had worked in New York
before moving back to her
hometown and starring in JET
plays as well as other local pro-
ductions. “She had a vision for
the arts in the Jewish commu-
nity and sometimes could be
overwhelming. She got ahold
of something and didn’t let go.


A MENTOR TO OTHERS
Orbach’s personality motivated
young performers chosen to
showcase their talents. One
was Jaime Ray Newman,
whose early acting experience
at JET helped prepare her for
work that went beyond theater
and into television and film.
She won an Oscar in 2019 for
producing the Best Live Action
Short Film.
“Evie was a powerhouse
teacher, producer and direc-
tor, and I credit her for giving
me my first acting job at age
12 in JET’s second-ever play,


Newman emailed from her
California home. “She believed
in me as a young girl and
proved that a career in the arts
was 100 percent possible.
“My love of the theater and
the life I’ve committed myself
to is in large part due to Evie’s
infectious rapture with the
stage. I will remember her
always. The Detroit [area] is
a better [place] for having her
talents shine there.

Daniel Kahn, who appeared
with Newman in the plays A
Rosen by Any Other Name by
Israel Horovitz and First Is
Supper by Shelley Berman, went
on to build an international
career with his Painted Bird
music group. He was cast in
the Yiddish version of Fiddler
on the Roof staged in New York.
“There are few people in my
life who have had as profound
an impact on me as Evie,

Kahn wrote from Germany.
“When I was 11, she saw me
recite a poem at Temple Israel
and asked me to audition at
JET.
“For the first time, I found
myself working under Evie’s
caring direction and alongside
professional actors. That expe-
rience and the relationships
that grew from it completely
changed my life’s trajectory.
“I gained a community of
creative mentors, free spirits,
wise artists, thoughtful crafts-
people, working humanists and
cultural warriors who continue
to inspire me. I owe it all to
Evie.

Also grateful to Orbach
is Christopher Bremer, JET
executive director who was
hired by Orbach for tempo-
rary responsibilities and later
promoted. He anticipates an
in-person memorial once the
pandemic has been defeated
and programming named in
her honor.
“I met Evie on a Greek
island, where she had come
to do a play with artists and

actors from all over the United
States,
” Bremer recalled. “She
played a role in the chorus of a
Greek tragedy.
“I started working at JET
about a year later, and virtually
every day, I think about the
things I learned from her. She
had respect for everybody and
showed no fear. Evelyn taught
me to have ambition, determi-
nation and courage.
“She chose plays with the
guiding philosophy that evil
should not win. She was a pro’s
pro and championed the JET
mission statement of produc-
ing theater according to the
highest professional standards.
This will always be the guiding
principle of the institution she
founded.

Beyond the romance of
captivating audiences during
her active years in theater into
2009, Orbach’s retirement
years brought some unstaged
romance. On a cruise, she met
Melvin Dalbow, who, at 90,
converted to Judaism in honor
of their marriage.
“Mel saw her on that cruise
and asked her to dance,

Lazarus said. “They danced for
three years.

Evelyn Orbach is sur-
vived by four children and
their spouses, Richard
(Leda Meredith) Orbach,
Sharon (Howard) Quarters,
Judy (Paul) Chamberlin
and Lila (Ed Fernandez)
Lazarus; nine grandchildren;
four-great-grandchildren; and
sister Anita Blank.
Interment was at Beth El
Memorial Park. Contributions
may be made to the
Alzheimer's Association-
Greater Michigan Chapter,
25200 Telegraph Road, Suite
100, Southfield, MI 48033,
(248) 351-0280, http://www.
alz.org/gmc; or JET Theatre,
1124 E. West Maple Road,
Walled Lake, MI 48390, (248)
788-2900. Arrangements by Ira
Kaufman Chapel.

MICHAEL
LIPSHAW, 63, of
Roseville, died Nov.
26, 2020.
He was an alum-
nus of Oakland
University and a graduate of the
University of California, Santa
Cruz.
He is survived by his brother
and sister-in-law, Jeffrey and
Alene Lipshaw; sister and broth-
er-in-law, Leslie and Robert
Hawring; nieces and nephews,
Arielle Lipshaw Latour and
Jeremy Latour, Matthew Lipshaw
and Kiti Ho, James Lipshaw
and Lauren Zawanda, Stephen
Hawring, and Scott Hawring;
great-niece and great-nephew,
Harper Lipshaw and Calvin
Latour.
Mr. Lipshaw was the devot-
ed son of the late Harold M.
Lipshaw and the late Renata
(Gruenebaum) Freed; the lov-
ing brother of the late Pamela
Lipshaw.
Contributions may be
made to Kadima, 15999 W
. 12
Mile, Southfield, MI 48076, kad-
imacenter.org; or Michigan
Animal Rescue League, 790
Featherstone, Pontiac, MI
48342, marleague.org/donate/
donate-now. Arrangements by
Ira Kaufman Chapel.

IRVING
MENDELSON, 92,
of West Bloomfield,
died Dec. 3, 2020.
He is survived
by his sons and
daughters-in-law, David and
Barbara Mendelson, and Marc
and Lisa Mendelson; grand-
children, Jason and Rebecca
Weiner, Adam and Ashley
Weiner, Rachael Mendelson,
Jaclyn Mendelson, Melissa
Mendelson, Kari Broder, Dayna
Broder; Amelia Mendelson, Isla
Mendelson, Auguste Mendelson;
great-grandchildren, Ronen

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