42 | NOVEMBER 4 • 2021 

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

B

roadway songwriting duo 
John Kander and Fred Ebb are 
world-renowned for their stage 
musicals, which include the smash hits 
Chicago and Cabaret. Now, Ann Arbor’s 
residential performing arts group Theatre 
Nova is paying homage to that legacy with 
a performance dedicated to their music.
The nonprofit 
theatre will present a 
limited engagement of 
Sing Happy! through 
Nov. 7. The 70-minute 
show will celebrate 
the lasting impact of 
Kander and Ebb, tra-
versing the duo’s many 
hits and taking shape 
in the form of a musical revue.
An ensemble of singers, including 
Jewish performer Elizabeth Jaffe, will 
recreate hits from Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of 
the Spider Woman and more. Sing Happy! 
will also double as a fundraiser, generat-
ing funding for Theatre Nova, which like 
many theaters across the country was hit 
hard by COVID-19 during lockdowns and 
other pandemic restrictions.
“Everyone will be singing Kander 
and Ebb Songs,” Jaffe, 35, of Ann Arbor, 

explains, “and there will be some solos, 
duets and group numbers.”
Jaffe will be performing “Maybe This 
Time” from Cabaret, a musical she says is 
one of her favorites. She’ll also be sing-
ing “The Grass is Always Greener” from 
Woman of the Year and joining a group 
number “He Had it Coming” from Chicago. 
Sing Happy!, among 
other recent pro-
ductions, is Theatre 
Nova’s way of making 
a comeback after a 
long hiatus, Jaffe says. 
“It’s been really hard 
for everyone,” she says 
of COVID’s impact on 
the theater industry, 
which left many performers and venues 
without work or revenue for months. “This 
is Theatre Nova’s way of saying ‘we’re still 
here.’”
The idea for the Sing Happy! production 
was in the works for several years, a per-
formance that Jaffe says was essentially 
ready to go. “Their music is beautiful,” 
Jaffe says of Kander and Ebb. “It’s interest-
ing because some of it is really dark, and 
then the other half is the opposite.”
“It’s everything that you would want in a 

concert,” she adds. “It goes through every 
motion.”
Still, she calls Sing Happy! an upbeat, 
energetic production that will be fun for 
the audience to experience. “Because it’s 
Kander and Ebb music, it’s so great, and a 
lot of it is not very well known,” Jaffe says. 
“The audience will probably be hearing a 
lot of the songs for the first time.”
For Jaffe, who has been performing 
with Theatre Nova for several years, she 
appreciates the theater’s embracement of 
other cultures and willingness to step out-
side of the norm. As a Jewish performer, 
she often felt unrepresented in holiday 
productions, which tended to focus 
on Christmas. Yet Theatre Nova, she 
explains, has put on Chanukah-centric 
shows.
“For the first time during the holiday 
season, I felt included,” Jaffe says. “I was 
really excited when Theatre Nova reached 
back out to me to be a part of Sing Happy!”
Theatre Nova will require proof of vac-
cination and the wearing of masks during 
the show to keep patrons and performers 
safe. “The show will be happy and fun,” 
Jaffe says. “It’s going to be great for the 
community.” 

PHOTO BY MICHELLE ANLIKER

Ann Arbor’s Theatre Nova to raise funding 
through new Kander and Ebb production.

and Be 
Happy!
Sing

LEFT: Elizabeth Jaffe playing 
Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the 
Dio Theatre in Pinckney.

BELOW: Jaffe portray-
ing Queenie in The Wild Party 
also at the Dio Theatre.

COURTESY ELIZABETH JAFFE

Elizabeth Jaffe

