By Evelyn Cairns
Downriver audiences will have an opportunity to see the show “Bernhardt on Broadway” during a tour that may culminate with the staging of the one-woman musical on Broadway.
An expose about an actress who became one of the most famous women in history, the show will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wyandotte Arts Center.
It will be performed by Carol Dunitz, playwright, composer and lyricist, who will invite the audience into Sarah Bernhardt’s drawing room to relate details about the actress’ career and affairs. One of Bernhardt’s affairs was reportedly with King Edward VII while he was Prince of Wales.
It is said that she had proposals from more than 1,000 men during her heyday. The actress, who was born in Paris in 1844 and made her living as a courtesan, as well as an actress, appeared in scores of plays and films as her popularity spread throughout Europe and New York.
Among the many roles she played were those of Hamlet, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth and Lady Macbeth. Bernhardt reportedly slept in a coffin instead of a bed to prepare herself for tragic roles.
While appearing in the opera “Tosca,” she injured her knee in a fall from a parapet and had to have her leg amputated after gangrene set in. Bernhardt continued to perform, however, with an artificial limb and died in 1923 of kidney failure.
Dunitz, who grew up in Ann Arbor, is in discussion with a major producer to take “Bernhardt on Broadway” to New York. The show premiered at Maxim’s: The Nancy Goldberg International Center in Chicago in October 2010. The current tour includes Birmingham, Royal Oak, Troy, Frankenmuth and Windsor.
Tickets, $25, and more information are available by calling 734-775-9635 or the Downriver Council for the Arts, 734-720-0671, or going to www.BrownPaperTickets.com.
The Wyandotte Arts Center is at 81 Chestnut.
Mayor to play part in ‘Fella’
Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly Jr., will make a cameo appearance in the Friends of the Opera of Michigan performance of the musical “The Most Happy Fella” March 30 and 31 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.
The mayor’s appearance will honor the memory of the late Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido, who was scheduled to take part in the production, said Quinto Milito, artistic director of the Friends organization.
The musical is a love story about an Italian vintner whose mail-order marriage proposal is accepted by a young woman under the mistaken assumption that a photo mailed by the vintner of his handsome young foreman is her prospective husband
Tickets, $24 and $29, are available at the center box office. For more information, call 313-943-2354.
Market slated at Ikaros Hall
Primrose plants, flower arrangements and produce will be among the items to be offered from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. March 18 at the Lincoln Park Winter Market, 1677 Fort St., near Arlington.
Specialty food items will include honey, maple syrup, chutney, jams, baked goods, dried herbs, rubs and herb mixtures.
Such crafted items as jewelry and ceramics also will be available.
Sessions set on dementia
The Detroit Institute of Arts will present a program for people with early stage dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their caregivers from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
The audience will be invited to participate in gallery discussions on art under the leadership of DIA staff members and volunteers with expertise on the subject.
The cost is $20 per couple. To register, call 313-833-4005 or go to http://bit.ly/meetmeattheedia.
Coming up . . .
March 25 — Musical, “Damn Yankees,” 7:30 p.m. at the Heinz C. Prechter Performing Arts Center of Wayne County Community College, 21000 Northline, Taylor; for tickets, $40 and $ 45, call the college box office at 734-374-3200; for more information, go to www.WCCD.EDU.