JANUARY 4 • 2024 | 41
J
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Targan, who has run 17 mara-
thons and is an award-winning
playwright.
“My comedic writing has
been favorably compared with
Neil Simon, which I consider a
high compliment,
” Targan adds.
“While I do not try to emulate
Simon, I think my self-dep-
recating sense of humor is an
inherently Jewish trait that
comes through in my writing.
”
While Targan and Sussman
are fellow actors and play-
wrights, they have never per-
formed onstage together.
“Steve is kind, compassionate
and a good Jewish father, which
are qualities I was seeking
when I cast him as Jack. Steve
brings his own chutzpah and
sense of Jewish tradition to the
role. I even asked Steve to say
the Motzi when the Jerome
family sits down to dinner
in the play, just to add to the
authenticity of this Jewish fami-
ly,
” Targan says.
Pamela Martin, Targan’s stage
wife in Farmington Players’
2018 production of Brighton
Beach Memoirs, reprises her
role at St. D’s as matriarch
Kate Jerome, Jack’s wife. And
Martin is playing mother to
her real-life son, James Miller,
who plays Stanley, Eugene’s
older brother. Targan was also
in the Farmington Players’ pro-
duction with Mei-Lin Wong,
who, at that time, played young
Laurie and now plays Laurie’s
older sister, Nora. Kelley Rawls
plays Aunt Blanche and Arielle
Olkhovsky plays her daughter
Laurie.
“
Audiences should expect
a hilarious but fairly realistic
portrayal of Jewish family life,
”
Targan adds. The more things
change, the more they remain
the same when it comes to
family dynamics: the sibling
rivalries, how the people we
admire most can also drive us
crazy and how those differ-
ences disappear when we must
band together against outside
threats.
”
PHOTOS BY MOLLY DORSET
DETAILS:
Brighton Beach Memoirs will be performed at St. Dunstan’s
Theatre on Fridays and Saturdays, Jan 12, 13, 19, 20, 26
and 27 at 8 p.m. and on Sundays, Jan. 14 and 21, at 2 p.m.
Purchase tickets online at www.stdunstanstheatre.com/tickets
or at the ticket counter one hour before showtime. Tickets
are $20-$22 with an additional $3 per ticket when purchased
online. For more information, visit stdunstanstheatre.com or
email tickets@stdunstanstheatre.com. St. Dunstan’s Theatre is
located at 400 Lone Pine, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302.
Toby Gittleman plays
Eugene Jerome, the
central character,
in St. Dunstan’s
production of
Brighton Beach
Memoirs.
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