Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page E1

VARIETY FRIDAY March 26, 2004 www.startribune.com/freetime ART You judge this MIA photo exhibit by its title E22 MUSIC SXSW is still a sounding board for Minnesota acts E5 Tom Hanks talks about the creation of a and how the Coen brothers coaxed him back to comedy. By Graydon Royce Star Tribune Staff Writer abina Zimering visited some of the early rehearsals for in the which opens tomorrow night at Great American History Theatre. For the most part, that was fine with playwright Kira Obo- lensky, who adapted memoir about surviving the Holocaust by posing as a Polish Catholic. Sabina would cry, and then all start to Obolensky said, teasing her collaborator during a recent interview. why they kicked me Zimering said with a smile.

The retired St. Louis Park ophthalmologist popped back for a cameo at rehearsal the other day, and she was on her best behavior that is, she cry. She watched as actors portrayed her and her sister, Helka, on their trek through Germany, hiding their Jewishness and dodging countless tight spots. under an actor shouted at the girls at one point. Zimering looked over at Obolensky and nodded with a silent affirmation that said that is just how it Clay Patrick McBride The Rev.

Al Green revisits his soul roots on his new album. War stories Al Green remains a soul savior Tom Tribune Playwright Kira Obolensky (left) adapted Sabina book about the Holocaust, in the By Jon Bream Star Tribune Staff Writer Green walks the line. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Between soul and gospel. Between performing and preaching.

His concerts are part seduction and part sermon. Does he consider them a soul performance or a spiritual celebration? said the greatest living male soul singer, who returns to the Guthrie Theater on Monday. have so much fun with what I get to do as a job. blessed to do As a teen, Sabina Zimering fled Poland and posed as a Catholic in Germany to escape Nazi persecution. Playwright Kira Obolensky has adapted her memoir for the stage.

Character MOVIES Ben Affleck bounces back in sweet E10 building By Jeff Strickler Star Tribune Staff Writer CHICAGO om Hanks loves being surprised, so no surprise that he was ready to star in the Coen comedy before finished reading the script. often are we truly surprised by movies these he complained. surprised me. And it kept surprising Apparently, it still surprises him, even as the movie opens today. As written by Joel and Ethan Coen, the con man Hanks plays caught his attention because of the depth of his duplicity: so good at the con that he has conned himself.

He no longer knows true and a lie. He calls himself Prof. G.H. Dorr. Is he really a professor? thinks he Hanks said.

has a diploma saying that a professor. Whether he earned it, bought it or traded for it, I know. And he says he has been to the Sorbonne. sure he has been there. Whether as a student or a tourist, I say.

the mystery of the character. You never completely figure out what has happened with this Hanks, who came to fame on the TV sitcom has distanced himself from his comedic roots. Although he has made romantic comedies Got and in and provided voices for the movies, he has not made a straight comedy since Versus the in 1990. In the meantime, played a soldier Private an AIDS victim an astronaut and a hit man to What made him change his mind now? was the he said. script is loaded with the things they find He laughed and added: probably only they find a difference of opinion as to how much of Dorr comes from the Coens and how much comes from Hanks.

He says that he played the role exactly the way they wrote it. But native-son filmmakers argue that most noticeable traits came from the actor. For instance, the laugh a high-pitched schoolgirl giggle. in the script; that was all Ethan Coen said. came up to us one day and said, about and did the Review on Page E11 Hiding in the Open What: Adapted by Kira Obolensky from the memoir by Sabina Zimer- ing.

Directed by Sari Ketter. When: 8 p.m. 2 p.m. 10 a.m. 10:30 a.m.

7:30 p.m. Thu. Thru April 25. Where: Great American History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St.

Paul. Tickets: 651-292-4323 or historytheatre.com. IF YOU GO HANKS continues on E11 GREEN continues on E4HIDING IN THE OPEN continues on E8 A Provided by Touchstone Pictures Prof. G.H. Dorr (Tom Hanks) believes playing a little old lady for a fool in Provided by Touchstone Pictures Prof.

G.H. Dorr (Tom Hanks) believes playing a little old lady for a fool in.