arts & life

theater

Made In

Michigan

Suzanne Chessler | Contributing Writer

A new musical pays
tribute to the
Motor City’s history.

Janet Pound

Couni Young

T

he auto industry has had
a direct impact on Janet
Pound — and she has
arranged for people to sing and
dance about it.
Pound, whose relatives worked
in the industry and whose career
has included years as an auto-
show model, decided to write a
stage production elaborating on
those experiences.
The result is Car Stars — The
Musical, which will be performed
Oct. 6-9 at the Berman Center
for the Performing Arts in West
Bloomfield.
The production is divided
into two parts, with David Regal
directing both. The first is a
musical revue with monologues
recalling the history of the indus-
try and paying tribute to it; the
second comes across as a play
with dialogue and music giving
an insider’s view of auto shows.
“I originally had written Car
Stars as a comedy,” explains
Pound, whose most recent work
experiences have been as a cast-
ing director for feature films
made locally, such as Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gran
Torino and Sparkle.
“I began writing this as a com-
edy about auto shows when I was
in Jeff Daniels’ first playwriting
group. Years later, a friend had
a premonition about my writ-
ing this as a musical, and I was
inspired.
“That got me thinking so
much of the time that I would
wake up with song ideas. The
first was ‘Hey Henry,’ which
was about the way Henry Ford
decided to pay his workers well
so they could buy the cars they
were making.”
Although some melodies were
in Pound’s head, she did not
have the ability to play the music

on instruments. She turned to
musicians she knew, sang the
songs and became impressed by
the ways they put the finishing
touches on her creativity and
added their own melodies where
needed.
“I went to different musicians
depending on their genres,” she
says. “I didn’t want all the songs
to sound the same. I wanted
each one to stand alone, whether
swing, country or anything else.”
Pound, who is not Jewish, has
worked on this production in
spurts over 10 years and called
on Jewish colleagues to take part.
Karen Kron, who lives in
Berkley and had her bat mitzvah
at the Birmingham Temple, takes
two roles. In the revue, she plays
a factory worker who sews seats.
In the play, she appears as an evil
agent who hires and fires talent.
“I like that this production
is new,” says Kron, who has a
strong connection to the show
through her husband, Scott
Dickson, a member of the United
Auto Workers employed by a
company that makes auto parts.
“That gives me a lot of responsi-
bility.”
Kron, who has lived in
Chicago appearing with the
European Repertory Company,
lists Michigan experience with
the Jewish Ensemble Theatre and
the Matrix Theatre Company.
She currently teaches with the
4th Wall Theatre Company,
bringing the classics to young
people with special needs.
“I like being able to sing and
dance as well as act,” Kron says.
Dance steps have been devel-
oped by John Luther, who lives in
Farmington and had his training
in New York, the state where he
grew up and celebrated his bar
mitzvah.

details

Car Stars — The Musical runs
Oct. 6-9 at the Berman Center
for the Performing Arts in West
Bloomfield. $28-$30. (248)
661-1900; theberman.org.

“We can do
nt
a lot of different
ng
kinds of dancing
h a
because the show has
lot of different kinds of music,”
says Luther, who develops cho-
reography for Stagecrafters and
Windsor Light Music Theatre.
Luther, whose full-time work
is as a career counselor for the
University of Michigan School
of Art and Design, has appeared
as a dancer in touring produc-
tions of Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus
Christ Superstar and Cabaret. He
has trained with the Alvin Ailey
Dance Company.
“Anyone who doesn’t know
the history of the auto industry
will find this production is fun,
funny, poignant and true while
teaching about that past,” says
Luther, who drives to Ann Arbor
every work day and has done his
own research into the history of
the industry.
Couni Young, who worked as
a nurse and transitioned into
costuming and producing films,
thinks of designing outfits for
characters as a way of defining
those characters. She learned
about sewing from her grand-
mother, who cut and made pat-
terns for Vogue.
“My interest in the auto indus-

try comes from my
fathe
father, who designed
the front
fron end of the
C
Coupe d de Vil
Ville,” says Young,
the daughter of an Ethiopian Jew
and confirming her religious
affiliation with a formal conver-
sion at Temple Israel in 1997.
Young has designed cos-
tumes for films made in the
area, including Bruin Lake, The
Wicked and American Sharia.
She created Go Go Wardrobe
Pro, a costume house stocked
with garments, props and sup-
plies. Go Go provides outfits for
movies, plays and commercials.
Pound, 64 and a resident of
West Bloomfield, has provided
the financing for the upcoming
production.
“Seeing my words and music
come to life is the most fun for
me,” says Pound, who was one
of the writers for Detroit Stories
presented by Detroit Repertory
Theatre. “This show expresses
heart and humor because I care
enough about the people in the
auto industry to spend my time
and money to honor them.
“The song ‘Believe in a
Dream’ expresses the most
about me. I think age should
never get in the way of doing
what you’d like to do.”

*

September 29 • 2016

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