arts & entertainment

Ann Arbor Summer
' Festival hosts an
eclectic mix of music
dance, corned
theater, spoken Ord,
circus, fringe and
family entertainment.

The Moth, a nonprofit organization

dedicated to the art of storytelling,

offers its first mainstage performance

in Michigan at this year's Ann Arbor

Summer Festival, featuring memoirist Josh

Axe(rad, singer-songwriter Allison Downey,

feminist performance artist Holly Hughes,

humorist/political speechwriter Mark Katz

and playwright Jeffrey Solomon.

Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

effrey Solomon frantically looked
for a way to escape his bar mitz-
vah services just as they were
about to begin.
The impulse came as his dad, after
promising to attend alone, walked in with
an unwelcome second wife and a crowd
of family and friends prohibited by the
13-year-old's mom.
What happened and what was learned
31 years ago is recalled by Solomon in The
Moth Mainstage, a storytelling program
in this year's Ann Arbor Summer Festival,
which runs June 17-July 10 in various ven-
ues and with a variety of priced and free
entertainment.
"I was asked to tell this specific story to
go with the theme of the evening, `Crack
Up: Stories of Comedies and Calamities,"
says Solomon, whose 10-minute presenta-
tion will be one of five set for Thursday
evening, June 23, at the Power Center.
"In this case, I was able to take some-
thing that was so painful and turn it into
art. To tell about the experience is to have
power over it. The act of telling a story is
redemptive and healing."
This year's mainstage festival lineup
also includes performances by comedian-
actor-banjo player Steve Martin, satirical
troupe the Capitol Steps, blues trio Los
Lonely Boys and art rocker Andrew Bird.
Top of the Park, which offers admission-
free concerts mixed with movies and
other activities based at Ingalls Mall, has
scheduled 62 musical talents, eight guest
DJs and 13 feature films. Local acts famil-
iar to the Jewish community are singer-

j

songwriter Billy Brandt, appearing June
through a hole in a screen and circling
23, and young entertainers Ariel & Zooey
around a light.
& Eli, Too, scheduled July 3.
Solomon, who writes and directs theater
The Moth, a nonprofit organization ded- pieces, entered The Moth programming by
icated to the art of storytelling, also offers
competing in New York.
The Moth Radio Hour, broadcast locally on
"I watched a friend at a Story Slam and
WDET among 200 stations; slam competi- had a great evening," recalls Solomon,
tions, presented with a monthly Detroit
appearing June 22 with The Moth Mainstage
venue at Cliff Bell's; and subscription
at the Royce Auditorium in Grand Rapids. "I
podcasts.
thought I could do it, went back and started
"Michigan is a great
telling stories:'
home for The Moth
Solomon's tales took
although this is the first
him to Grand Slam
time with mainstage
championships before the
performances in the
mainstage productions.
state:" says Sarah Jenness,
The idea of communi-
producing director, who
cating autobiographical
has brought the program
incidents fits in with the
to second-generation
center of his career, writ-
Holocaust survivors and
ing and producing experi-
Jewish community centers
enced-based plays.
around New York.
"As early as I can
"The Moth blends the
remember, I was drawn to
sense of documentary
creating performances:'
with the sense of theater.
says Solomon, who has
The mainstage has a very Jeffrey Solomon draws on
visited Flint as a teaching
specific theme, and the
artist and facilitator. "My
events at his bar mitzvah
shows are curated.
parents
bought me pup-
for The Moth's theme of the
"People who tell stories evening, "Crack Up: Stories
pets, and my dad built me
come from all walks of
a puppet house so I could
of Comedies and Calamities."
life, and their stories are
do shows with neighbor-
directed. We have an idea
hood kids in Connecticut."
of what every storyteller's material is,
After entering a dramatic writing pro-
and we work extensively with each one to
gram at New York University, he started
pull all the pieces out and put them back
auditioning and got a role in the play Blue
together with structure."
Is for Boys. For nearly 15 years, he wrote
The Moth, started by a novelist who
for the City Kids Repertory Company in
invited friends to tell stories as they sat
New York City.
around a screened-in porch at his home,
"One of my most exciting experiences
has expanded over 14 years. The name
was putting together a tribute honoring
came from noticing moths, entering
Jim Henson of the Muppets," he says. "Jim

Henson had recently died, and his son
asked me to develop a TV show, which
went to series for 13 episodes."
After working in children's television for
10 years and writing for TV's Davis Rules
and Tribeca, Solomon decided to focus on
theater.
While Mother/SON and Santa Claus Is
Coming Out build on experiences revealing
himself as gay, Solomon's current project,
De Novo, concerns children in immigra-
tion custody.
"I'm inspired by the true story and take
creative liberties:' says Solomon, who has
shared artistic director responsibilities for
the Houses on the Moon Theater Company
in New York. "The feelings and sense of
humor are real.
"Everyone has a way of marking the
events of their lives, and for some people,
it's photos. I'm not big about going
through old photo albums, but as a writer,
my medium is stories.
"There's something about The Moth
exercise of telling about life in a coherent,
relatable, universal way for other people
that's a bit like creating photos, curating
life to have something to hang on to." II

The Moth Mainstage takes the
stage 8 p.m. Thursday, June 23,
at the Power Center, 121 Fletcher.
$25-$40. The Ann Arbor Summer
Festival runs June 17-July 10 with
mainstage entertainers, Top of
the Park concerts and movies and
community-focused programs. For a
list of events and ticket information,
go to www.annarborsummerfestival.
org or call (734) 764-2538.

June 9 201

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