JULIE SMITH YOLLES SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Homegrown
Play
Zimmerman’
s touching comedy is inspired
by his mom and a former housekeeper.
arts&life
S
tan Zimmerman’
s mom used to
joke, “Watch what you say around
Stan because it might end up in
one of his scripts.
”
And, sure enough, in Zimmerman’
s
latest play, Yes, Virginia, co-written
with Christian McLaughlin, the two
lead characters are inspired by his
mother, Susanne, and his family’
s long-
time housekeeper, Virginia Campbell.
Yes, Virginia will make its Michigan
premiere Aug. 10 and 11 as a staged
reading at Stagecrafters Baldwin
Theatre in Royal Oak.
Thanks to the generosity of Diane
Orley of Bloomfield
Hills, a co-producer on
another Zimmerman
play, Right Before I Go,
Zimmerman is flying
in from Hollywood,
where his mother also
lives, to attend both
shows and host the
audience talkbacks.
And while Yes,
Virginia, is set in
Bloomfield Hills,
Zimmerman grew
up in Southfield
and graduated from
Southfield High.
Many of his classmates will attend the
Saturday night performance and have
a mini class of ’
77 reunion afterward.
From there, Zimmerman will head to
Grand Rapids to hold a talkback at the
Spectrum Theatre Aug. 15 and watch
Warm Cheese, the one-woman show
he directed.
“The world and the gods were
saying ‘
Come to Michigan,
’
” says
Zimmerman, who also scripted
many sitcoms including Golden Girls,
Roseanne and Gilmore Girls. “The like-
lihood of having two of my projects in
my home state within a week’
s time is
too good to be true.
”
Proceeds from Warm Cheese will
benefit Gilda’
s Club Grand Rapids.
“Gilda Radner was a huge inspira-
tion to me, and it was great she was
also from Michigan. I later worked
with Gene Wilder on his NBC series
and getting to know him got me closer
to Gilda,
” Zimmerman says.
In June, Zimmerman lost his life-
long friend Julie Silverman Sachse to
cancer. It was Sachse’
s mother, Shayna
Silverman, who contacted her friend,
Vonnie Miller, at Stagecrafters to put
on Yes, Virginia. The staged reading
will be directed by Miller and is dedi-
cated to Sachse’
s memory.
“Julie grew up across the street
from me in Southfield.
She was really my first
friend. Shayna had me
hold her hand as we
walked through the woods
to Kennedy Elementary
School. We were like
Hansel and Gretel,
”
Zimmerman says.
“We both moved to L.A.
around the same time and
Julie came to all of my
plays. Even when she was
sick, she came to see Yes,
Virginia when we did it in
December. In a business
where you often get no’
s,
Julie was one of my biggest supporters.
”
Known for his wit and comedy-
writing forte, he has tackled some
heavy subjects lately including aging,
suicide, dementia and intolerance.
He recently mounted and directed a
production of the Diary of Anne Frank
with a twist of Hispanic families hiding
from U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement. The run sold out.
“I’
m taking what I was taught at
Temple Beth El — never again for the
Jewish people — and making it part
of my new mission statement in life,
”
Zimmerman says. “I want to combine
art and advocacy to make a difference
in the world. I want people to laugh
and think.
” ■
Details
See Yes, Virginia at 8
p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10,
and at 2 p.m. Sunday,
Aug. 11, on the 2nd
Stage at Stagecrafters
Baldwin Theatre, Royal
Oak. General admission,
$10. Stan Zimmerman
will host a talkback after
both performances.
stagecrafters.org.
(248) 541-6430.
Stan Zimmerman
August 8 • 2019 31
jn
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