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(Between Lone Pine & Pontiac Trail) 2nd location Commerce Township • 248-669-1133 40 May 15 • 2014 JN Elizabeth Applebaum Special to the Jewish News D etroit native Danny Gurwin will be a guest of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's Stephen Gottlieb Music Series, appearing at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts. His concert, titled Sail Me Away, will include selections from the Great American Songbook, Broadway and folk hits. Gurwin, 41 and a graduate of the University of Michigan's musical theater program, has appeared in both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, includ- ing A Little Night Music, Urinetown, Little Women, Forbidden Broadway 2001, The Scarlet Pimpernel and A New Brain. Here, we catch up with Danny Gurwin. JN: Did you love theater and music Not valid with any other offer. With Coupon Expires 6/4/14 Receive Sailing Into Song 1909280 when you were growing up in Detroit? What was your first big role while you were here? DG: It was always in the family. My mother, Nancy Gurwin, had various production companies around the city, and I was always a part of them from my earliest memories. I sang in my room 24/7, was in choir at Southfield-Lathrup High School and all the vocal competitions. I was also an original member of the Peanut Butter Players, along with pals (and fellow Broadway performers) Sutton Foster, Erin Dilly, Celia Keenan-Bolger — we had a lot of fun. The first show I remember playing in was as "Little Jake at the age of 6, opposite my mother's "Annie" in Annie Get Your Gun. But I did at least five or six shows downstairs in the JCC's Studio Theatre growing up. JN: What do you think are the most important qualities for a singer/actor today? Can someone find success solely based on talent, or does luck play a part? DG: The industry today is so differ- ent even from when I was coming up in my 20s. Gosh, a clear sense of self and a tough skin will always be needed, but I think young musical-theater actors today have to be incredibly flexible within the pop genre. You still need real acting and singing technique, but stylistically you have to be able to sing any style, at any time, espe- cially a true rock/alternative color for most new works. I've included some of my favorite soft-pop and folk pieces in my new JCC concert on May 17. Ten years ago, I never would have had a chance to do them. Luck is tricky. I do believe that every- thing happens for a reason. And while you may not book a particular job, the one you get instead always seems to lead to the right place. JN: How do you prepare for your roles? Do you like to really lose yourself in the character, and are you able to do so equally for all the parts you play? DG: For me, rehearsal is a big time of investing and transforming. I never really lose myself totally in any specific Meisner/ Method technique. Some actors love it. I do try to personalize all of the work I do. You can create intense emotional connec- tions to roles and still be able to shake it all off when the curtain comes down. It has to be a healthy balance for me. JN: What's your favorite song to per- form and why? I have so many. Having had a chance to work with Stephen Sondheim three times, I suppose I'd have to say anything of his. But I love the standards; several of the pieces in Sail Me Away are some of my favorites: "My Romance," "I'm Old-Fashioned," "When in Rome" — they're always so fun to do and perfectly written, to me. JN: What roles or concerts are coming up for you? DG: I just finished up my second year as assistant professor of musical theater at the University of Arizona, so that's been keeping me wonderfully busy. This summer, I'll be play "Sir Galahad" in Spamalot at the Moonlight Amphitheatre, a gorgeous outdoor space in San Diego, and then a night of new Broadway music under the stars at the Ford's Theatre in Los Angeles in August. ❑ Elizabeth Applebaum is marketing director at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit. Danny Gurwin performs Sail Me Away, his concert at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17. $32 JCC members/$42 nonmembers. (248) 661-1900; theberman.org ; or available at the box office.