arts&life

theater

From Broadway
To Birmingham

Act One makes its

Michigan debut.

T

details

Act One runs for three weekends,
March 9-11, 16-18 and
23-24 at the Village Players of
Birmingham. $19. (248) 644-2075;
birminghamvillageplayers.com.

48

March 8 • 2018

jn

FROM THE EVERETT COLLECTION

ABOVE: Director Jay Kaplan with
actors Jillian Felch Frederick, Stephen
Sussman and Julie Smith Yolles.
RIGHT: George S. Kaufman and Moss
Hart in 1937, the year their play You
Can’t Take It with You won a Pulitzer.

he Village Players of
Birmingham opens its
fourth production of its
95th season with James Lapine’s
tribute to a life in the theater,
Act One. The play is based
on playwright Moss Hart’s auto-
biography of the same title.
This poignant piece of theater
makes its Michigan premiere
for three weekends, March
9-11, 16-18, 23-24 at the Village
Players of Birmingham.
In Act One, Hart tells the story
of growing up in a Jewish family
living in unrelenting poverty in
the Bronx in the 1920s — while
dreaming of being part of the
glamorous world of the stage.
The play in part reflects the
experience of children of Jewish
immigrants to the United
States, trying to make a better
life for themselves and to move
beyond the world of cigar-
making or selling newspapers.
Forced to drop out of school at
age 13, Hart’s pluck, determina-
tion and talent led him to form
an unlikely collaboration with
legendary pla ywright George S.
Kaufman and ultimately suc-
ceed on Broadway.
Act One features a cast of
14 portraying more than 50
different real-life theater lumi-
naries, including Edna Ferber,
Dorothy Parker, Harpo Marx
and Langston Hughes. In James
Lapine’s hands, the play is poi-
gnant, funny, heartbreaking
and suspenseful, celebrating
the triumph of one’s spirit and
determination, and the magic
behind the footlights.
“It’s no coincidence that
Moss Hart [played by Salvatore
Sbrocca of Rochester] became
a success in the theater and
joined a large group of mostly
Jewish men who were a part of
the Golden Age of the theater
— George S. Kaufman, director
Jed Harris, producer Sam Harris

[played by Stephen Sussman
of Bloomfield Township] along
with the Gershwins, Irving
Berlin, Jerome Kern — they all
wrote for musical theater,” said
Jay Kaplan of Oak Park, the
play’s director and staff attor-
ney for the ACLU of Michigan’s
LGBT Project.
“In fact, all of Moss’ friends —
Eddie Chodorov, who became
a playwright; Irving Gordon,
who became a jazz composer;
and Dore Schary, who became
a playwright and the head
of MGM Studios — were all
Jewish,” he says. Add to that
Edna Ferber [played by Julie
Smith Yolles of Bingham Farms]
and Dorothy Parker [Jillian
Felch Frederick of Macomb
Township], who were also
Jewish.
“These often-first-generation
Americans had parents who
encouraged, or at least didn’t
oppose, their children’s artistic
ambitions or their interest in
the world of arts, and they were
often able to move beyond
impoverished circumstances to
become successful artists and
creators of wonderful literature
and theatrical productions.
They represented the best of the
American dream and they left a
mark on our American culture.”
Act One officially opened
on Broadway to critical
acclaim at the Vivian Beaumont
Theatre in Lincoln Center in
2014. The play has been hailed
as a “nostalgic and ultimately
upbeat reflection on fulfilling a
dream.”
“This play is about guts and
determination to pursue and
achieve your dreams,” Kaplan
says. “I hope audiences feel
uplifted by Moss Hart’s story
— that you can achieve your
dreams by refusing to give up,
despite the odds and
obstacles.” •