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62 April 28 • 2016 arts & life THE WHOLE MEGILLAH Six unemployed steel workers from Buffalo bare more than their souls as the "Hot Metal" dancers, their answer to the touring Chippendale danc- ers who are thrilling the townswomen, in The Full Monty. Based on the hit 1997 British film, with music and lyrics by David Yazbeck (his mom is Jewish-Italian, his dad Lebanese) and book by Terrence McNally, the musical is presented by the Farmington Players, and features actors Gary Weinstein and Tony Targan and co- assistant director Keith Firstenberg. Ladies' Night: Every Friday night during the run of the show, each woman who purchases a ticket will receive a raffle ticket for prizes from sponsors including Weinstein Jewelers, Arbonne Skin Care, LulaRoe Boutique and BrightlyTwisted. Through May 21. $18-$20. Farmington Players Barn, Farmington Hills. (248) 553-2955; farm- ingtonplayers.org. FILM FANS Elliot Wilhelm — film aficionado extraordi- naire, director of the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts since 1973 and curator of film at the DIA since 1984 — has said he watches an average of about 15 films every week in his quest to inspire the audi- ences who depend on him. In a series on Wednesdays, May 4, 11, 18 and June 1, from 7:30-9 p.m., Wilhelm will tell his secrets dur- ing Confessions of a Jewish Moviegoer, "discussing what "[I've] learned about the movies and myself during a half century of watching, exhibiting, writ- ing and teaching about the cinema, and how its impacted my own Jewish identity." $70. Berman Center for Jewish Education at Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Southfield. RSVP to FedEd, (248) 205-2557. Editor's Picks Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News AT THE MOVIES Opening Friday, April 29: Patrick Stewart is reportedly truly frightening in Green Room as Darcy, a diabolical club owner. The story: A raggedy punk band agrees to play a run-down, backwoods club. When they get there, they find out that the patrons are Neo-Nazis, as is Darcy. They play the gig and are ready to depart when one band member realizes she left her cell phone backstage in "the green room." In the green room, she and another band member witness a murder by Darcy's racist associ- ates. Darcy orders the death of the band members and the rest of the film consists of cat-and-mouse combat between the band and Darcy's men. All the action is played out in and around the backstage area, which adds to the film's intensity. Anton Yelchin, 27, co-stars as Pat, a member of the band who proves to be Darcy's most resourceful enemy. Mother's Day is another "holiday film" directed by Garry Marshall. Like his previous flicks, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day, it is a collection of shmaltzy inter-related stories relevant to the title and featuring a huge cast. Kate Hudson, 37, co-stars as the best friend of a woman (Britt Robertson) who was adopted. Hudson encourages her to seek out her birth mother (Julia Roberts). CASTING NOTES You might have heard that Steven Spielberg, 71, will direct The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. The shocking, true Mortara story still reflects terribly on the Catholic Church: A 6-year-old Italian Jewish child was seized by Papal authori- ties in 1857 because a Catholic housemaid Celebrity Jews Lynne Konstantin Arts & Life Editor BEAUTIFUL SONGS On her 2015 album, Beautiful Songs, Irish- born, New York-based chanteuse Maxine Linehan "takes favorites that you thought you knew and infuses them with an intensely person- al point of view," wrote the New York Times. Among those songs are Irving Berlin's "What'll I do?" U2's "One" and "I Think of You," written by her husband, music producer Andrew Koss (who also co-produced the album with Ryan Shirar). Shirar accompanies Linehan on piano when she performs Maxine Linehan: Beautiful Songs (a show created by cabaret pro- ducer Scott Siegel), presented by Cabaret 313, in two performances (7 p.m. and 10 p.m.) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit on May 7. $25-$155. Also available: Cabaret and Dinner packages ($90- $125), with dinner at the Whitney preceding the 10 p.m. performance. (313) 405-5061; cabaret313.org. A STAND-UP GUY Jay Leno heads to Detroit's Fox Theatre for Forgotten Harvest's 24th annual Comedy Night on Saturday, May 7. In addition to hosting The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for more than two decades, ending its run in 2014, Leno is a bestselling children's author, pioneering car builder and mechanic, stand-up come- dian — and philanthropist. An outspoken and dedicated sup- porter of Israel, Leno has twice hosted the Genesis Prize award ceremony in Israel, and just last month headlined a benefit concert for United Hatzalah of Israel at Lincoln Center in New York City. Proceeds from the Forgotten Harvest Comedy Night featuring Jay Leno, the organization's biggest event of the year and co-chaired by Ashley and K.C. Crain, Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, and Kelle and Christopher Ilitch, benefits Forgotten Harvest's network of more than 280 agencies in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties (making it one of the nation's largest food-rescue organizations) that provide fresh food options to Metro Detroiters in need. $28.50-$153.50. (800) 745-3000; olympiaentertainment.com. * claimed to have secretly baptized him as an infant. The Church stood fast against demands by his parents that he be returned. I give Spielberg great credit for making this film. However, I do question his decision to cast Mark Rylance as the Pope who was ultimately responsible for stealing the child. Rylance signed a public statement calling for a "cultural boycott" of Israel. The signers said they "will not accept any professional invitations from Israel." Well, apparently you can star in a film about anti-Semitism and boycott Israel, too. More on this subject in a later column. ON DORIS ROBERTS Doris Roberts, best known as Ray Romano's mother in Everybody Loves Raymond, died on April 17, age 90. Her long career included a major supporting role that you have to see or review. Hester Street (1975) is arguably the best film ever made about the heyday of Eastern European Jewish immigration to America (1880-1920) and the complexity of assimilation. Carol Kane, now 63, got a best actress Oscar nomination for her starring role as a pious woman whose immigrant husband settled on the Lower East Side and became "very American" before sending for her and their young son. Roberts co-stars as a neighbor who becomes Kane's invaluable guide to America and a great friend. No premium service is now streaming Hester Street, but the entire film can be viewed on YouTube. It's a high quality copy. * The Full Monty Maxine Linehan Jay Leno Yelchin Hudson Roberts in Hester Street