30 July 18 • 2019
jn
theater/music
arts&life
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Festival of Plays
Two Jewish playwrights take
the
stage with their short theater pieces.
Coming Home
Singer/songwriter Jesse Palter launches new album in Detroit.
S
tephen Sussman has been seen in
many community theater roles
over recent years, and one had
him in the cast of Swashbucklers, a play
written by Myron Stein and staged by
Playwrights@Work, a group within The
Village Players.
As Sussman learned his part, he also
learned about the group, formed by
scriptwriters holding monthly meetings
to provide feedback for
each other’
s projects.
Twice a year, a selection
committee chooses works
to be performed publicly
as staged readings or full
productions.
Sussman, who earns
his living as an architect,
decided to try his hand at writing and
joined the group. This summer, both
Stein and Sussman will be represented as
five one-act theater pieces are staged.
Stein’
s play, Mystic Pavilion, has to do
with a conflict between a park ranger
and a politician holding conflicting ideas
about the future of a popular dance
pavilion. First written as a short story
published in Green’
s Magazine, the piece
was transformed into stage material as
Stein focused his attention on scripts.
Sussman’
s play, Stavros’
Chili, is a
comedy about a retired restaurateur
interviewed by a local cable reporter who
experiences unexpected results from try-
ing the chili.
The 2019 Festival of Plays runs Friday-
Sunday, July 26-28, in the Birmingham
theater of The Village Players.
“I love creating characters and situa-
tions,
” says Stein, 77 of Southfield. “
As
I’
m working on each play, I think about
it all the time.
”
A former teacher, Stein’
s entry into
writing started 16 years ago with chil-
dren’
s books and then moved into play-
writing. His short theater pieces have
been staged at many festivals around
the country, including A Fish Market
on D Street at the Manhattan Repertory
Theatre in New York
City, The Haberdasher’
s
Apprentice at the Valley
Repertory Company in
Connecticut and The Pink
Nude at the Magnolia Arts
Center in North Carolina.
Active with
Congregation Beth
Shalom and the Jewish Community
Center, Stein has had Jewish subjects
in some of his work. Louie’
s One and
Only, for example, is about two men in a
senior residence, and it was presented at
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park.
For this summer’
s production, Stein
has chosen Pam Dundas as the director.
Sussman, who joined Playwrights@
Work in 2010, has been acting since
2003. He is also directing this summer’
s
production of his play.
“I took theater classes when I was a
student at Michigan State,
” says Sussman,
69, and a resident of Bloomfield
Township. “It was much later when my
wife and kids were in a production of
Fiddler on the Roof, and they needed
some men for the cast. My wife drafted
me, and I got started acting once again.
”
Sussman has found special value in
writing.
“It’
s exciting and exhilarating to hear
my written words spoken on stage,
” says
Sussman, formerly active with the B’
nai
J
ust as Jesse Palter launched her
singing-composing career in Metro
Detroit, she is launching public
performances of songs from her new
recording back in the same area.
Palter’
s album, Paper Trail, the first
with only her original music and lyrics,
often relates to Michigan experienc-
es. She considers this project special
because Mack Avenue Records also
launched in Detroit.
The record release party takes place
Tuesday, July 23, at the Magic Bag in
Ferndale, shortly after Paper Trail was
chosen Album of the Week by LA
Weekly.
“It’
s important for this show to be a
homecoming moment when I can feel
the energy of my family and friends,
”
says Palter, now based in Los Angeles,
but who got her start here at age 5 with
musical theater, and then jazz band and
songwriting in high school. “I just can’
t
wait to see all of my hometown people
who have been following my career.
“I’
ll be using a Detroit backing band,
but I’
ll also be bringing a longtime
collaborator, Sam Barsh (a Grammy
Award-winning songwriter, producer
and keyboardist).
“Sam and I had a band, which we
pushed for many years, and it was a big
part of my story. Although I’
m focusing
on my solo projects, we still play music
together and write music together, so it
was important for me to bring him in
from California.
”
Palter describes her album as autobi-
ographical.
“I put what I have been living into this
record from start to
finish,
” she says. “It’
s
the story of a Detroit-
born, LA-based gal
living in a big city
trying to achieve her
dreams and the frus-
trations that come
with that. I put the
highs and lows into
this music.
”
Palter explains that the title of the
album is a metaphor to explain her life,
and she hopes it leaves a relatable trail
for listeners. The song with the same
title holds a very different meaning.
The song is a nostalgic reflection of
a love that didn’
t work out, but it com-
municates insight into a relationship
and appreciates it for what it was — a
moment
in time with somebody.
“I’
m a very nostalgic person, and
when I’
m home in Detroit, I go through
my family videos and photo books,
” she
says about the background for the song.
“I came across a photo of myself and an
old boyfriend. We were so happy in the
photo, but he’
s somebody who’
s not in
Myron Stein
Stephen
Sussman
.
the title of the
moment
The cast of playwright Myron Stein’
s Mystic Pavilion.