July 4 • 2019 31
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of Music and Drama 
in Glasgow and the 
English Folk Dance 
and Song Society in 
London.
While he started a 
square dance experi-
ence that fits in with 
his music, another 
Interlochen alum, 
from the 1970s, has moved through 
various step styles into salsa. Calling 
herself “Mambo Marci” Iwrey, she 
performs, teaches and plans corporate 
events.
“My best memory of Interlochen is 
that of a typical but magical day,
” says 
this arts enthusiast. “
After a whole day 
of dance classes (heavenly), I could 
sit back under the outdoor pavilion 
listening to live classical music as the 
trees swayed back and forth.
”
Using the company name Mambo 
Marci Productions, she will perform 
July 14 at the Concert of Colors in 
Midtown Detroit, Aug. 16 at the 
Salsa Dance Party at Orchestra Hall 
and Nov. 7 at Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek, where she works as b’
nai mitz-
vah coordinator and assistant to the 
cantors.

Sara Zwickl
 

Sara Zivian Zwickl 
was very serious about 
studying vocal perfor-
mance at Interlochen 
during the 1970s, but 
she ultimately decided 
to become a lawyer, 
now with an office in 
Farmington Hills. Her singing talents, 
however, have been heard in syna-
gogue programs.
While working in the Interlochen 
admissions office, Zwickl was chosen 
to be a tour guide for Imelda Marcos, 
first lady of the Philippines for 21 
years. Zwickl thinks of that as a very 
exciting time.
“My strongest memories involve 
different experiences — symphony 
concerts, art shows and the outdoors,
” 
she says. “I loved the smell of the pine 
trees. I’
ve since been in pine forests 
and think of Interlochen.
”
Ari Axelrod grew up in Ann Arbor, 

but he is establishing a 
career in New York. His 
vocal performance is 
centered around cabaret 
music. He has performed 
at Feinstein’
s/54 Below 
and has developed the 
show “
A Celebration of 
Jewish Broadway.
”
“I felt I was treated 
as a professional at Interlochen,
” says 
Axelrod, 25. “I took a master class 
from Heather Headley, who starred in 
Aida on Broadway, and she went into 
how to make a song your own and be 
yourself.
”
As an actor, he has appeared in New 
York productions of Milk and Honey, 
Fun Home and Children of Eden.
 
His brother Robert Axelrod, 27, also 
attended Interlochen 
summer camp and 
studied musical theater 
there. “It remains one 
of the most fulfilling 
artistic and develop-
mental experiences of 
my life,
” he says. 
He now is a writer in Los Angeles 
and is the winner of the 2019 
CineStory TV Fellowship as well as 
being a current semifinalist for the 
Sundance Episodic Lab and a final-
ist for the Humanitas New Voices 
Program. He also was a writer for the 
2017 CBS Diversity Showcase. 
Many entertainment notables with 
New York acclaim have deep recollec-
tions of Interlochen. Among a long 
list expressing these feelings to the 
Jewish News have been actress Tovah 
Feldshuh, Next to Normal composer 
Tom Kitts and violinist Pamela Frank.
Feldshuh has said, “Michigan 
is dear to my heart because of 
Interlochen.
”
Kitt remarked, “Sometimes, I actu-
ally think of being in practice rooms 
at Interlochen.
”
Frank commented in 1995, 
“Practically every friend that I’
ve ever 
had has been to Interlochen. I never 
had the pleasure of going there, but, 
by association, I feel very connected to 
the area.
” ■

Details 

The Interlochen Arts 
Festival continues through 
Aug. 21. For schedules, 
prices and tickets, call 
(231) 276-7200 or go to 
Interlochen.org.

COURTESY INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

LEFT: Sara Zivian Zwickl rehears-

ing at Interlochen in the 1970s; 

Zwickl is a lawyer today. MIDDLE: 

Aaron Jonah Lewis on the fiddle. 

RIGHT: “Mambo Marci” Iwrey at 

Interlochen; today she teaches 

and performs salsa and plans 

corporate events.
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