metro » Pop-up theater production of What am I Doing Here with Debbie Horowitz, Betsy Heuer, author/narrator Judi Schram, Denise Parr and Andi Sklar ‘What Am I Doing Here?’ Play taps into topics common among boomer women. Ronelle Grier | Contributing Writer A fter decades as a professional speech therapist and community volunteer, the last thing Judi Schram expected to be was an author and playwright. “I had no long-term plans to write or pursue this path, but it just sort of happened to me,” said Schram, whose humorous play, What Am I Doing Here?, will have its world professional premiere beginning Friday, Aug. 12, Judi Schram at Theatre Nova in Ann Arbor. The five-woman show, which takes a hilar- ious look at aging, is performed by actors perched on a row of stools across the front of the stage, in the style of other women-orient- ed plays such as The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler or Love, Loss and What I Wore by Delia Ephron. Using humor and heart stemming from Schram’s own experiences, the play cov- ers themes universal to female “boomers,” women in their 50s and above, such as menopause, belonging to the sandwich gen- eration, dieting and other body-image issues, technology challenges and forgetfulness. AGING WITH HUMOR Schram, 66, who calls herself an “unwitting playwright,” said the play exemplifies her credo: “We are all aging and the best way to navigate this process successfully is together and with humor.” The play, which Schram prefers to call “a performance piece,” is an outgrowth of a book of humorous poems Schram wrote 28 August 11 • 2016 and published in 2011, called Lights Out “She perfectly channeled the sensibility of in the Attic, a take-off on the title of Shel the poems,” Schram said. Silverstein’s popular children’s poetry book UNIVERSAL APPEAL The Light in the Attic. When she wrote the play as a natural Schram, who lives in Bloomfield Hills extension of the book, Schram did not with her husband and childhood sweet- expect it to evolve into a professional pro- heart, Bradley Schram, wrote the book at duction. Using a “pop-up theater” concept, a time she was experiencing a transition in she produced it originally as a fundraiser her own life. After retiring from her career for Hadassah, using a rented space at a as a speech therapist specializing in early local library. Acting as narrator, she enlist- childhood issues, she spent a decade as a dynamic volunteer for various organizations. ed a group of friends as cast members. She went on to produce the show several more She took on several leadership roles that times locally and in Florida and Colorado, included president of the Greater Detroit using local amateur actresses. Chapter of Hadassah, chair of the Michigan “The response has been wonderful; Region of the Anti-Defamation League and everyone identifies with every topic,” she board member for the Jewish Federation of said. Metropolitan Detroit. Deciding to move the produc- As she and her husband began tion into the professional arena, spending more time at their home in Schram contacted producer Delray Beach, Fla., Schram found it Barbie Weisserman, formerly challenging to keep up with the com- of the local Two Muses theater mitments and follow-up her posi- company. Weisserman saw one of tions required. the local productions of Schram’s “I wasn’t in one place long enough play and decided it would be to be an effective volunteer, and an ideal project for her newly I realized writing can be done on Barbie formed independent production airplanes, anywhere you have a com- Weisserman company, PAPA Weeze. puter,” said Schram, who claims the “It was very funny and enjoyable,” poems “just came pouring out” during an Weisserman said. “Everybody loved it, and airplane trip between Florida and Michigan. the ladies enjoyed doing it. Every single Her original intent was to write a series of scholarly essays about the issues facing aging thing in there you know you’ve been talk- ing about with your friends.” female boomers. Instead, she found herself Weisserman looked around for a location writing comical poems about these same and found the ideal venue: Theatre Nova in issues. “I wrote about the things my friends and I Ann Arbor, a 72-seat theater located in the would sit around and kvetch about,” she said. Yellow Barn in downtown Ann Arbor. “I knew a smaller, intimate theater would Once she completed enough poems to be best, and I knew they [Theatre Nova] do comprise a book, Schram called upon her close friend and artist, Ellen Rontal, to do the new works, so it was like a kismet [fate] for both of us,” Weisserman said. “The direc- illustrations. tor [Emily Pierce] is not a boomer. She’s younger, so she has a different perspective. Everything is falling into place.” A team of professional boomer-aged female actors, including Weisserman, who will serve as a substitute during certain performances, will portray the roles previ- ously filled by Schram and her friends. Schram is thrilled at the prospect of seeing her work in its first professional production. She harbors a fantasy that includes an “off-off-off Broadway” produc- tion of her play starring Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren. “That’s my dream cast,” she said. She appreciates the support she has received during this new phase of life from her adult children, Zachary, Justin and Alison, and her husband, whom she calls “remarkable.” “My children have been so incredibly supportive during this process, each in their own way, and my husband has been there for me in every possible capacity,” she said. In addition to playwriting, Schram has written a series of 20 children’s books that she hopes to get published in the near future. She has also begun painting. “I guess you could say I’ve had this pent- up creative streak that’s finally coming out, and I’m having a lot of fun with it,” she said. * What Am I Doing Here? will be performed Aug. 12-28 at Theatre Nova at the Yellow Barn, 410 W. Huron St., Ann Arbor. Gala opening is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, $30 includes refreshments. Other performances: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Advanced tickets, adults, $18, seniors 62-plus and students, $15; $3 more at the door. Email papaweeze.inc@gmail.com or call (248) 701-2643.