A
dam Bernard has
reached number four
in counting times he
has participated in Michigan
productions of the musical
comedy Anything Goes.
Number four will be staged
March 3-5 at The Berman
Center for the Performing
Arts in West Bloomfield by the
Nicely Theatre Group. Bernard
takes on two roles — a bar-
tender at the beginning and
a passenger joining ensemble
numbers throughout.
In earlier versions of the
play, about shipboard romance,
Bernard appeared as a sailor
for both Stagecrafters in Royal
Oak and Avon Players in
Rochester. In contrast, he had
behind-the-scenes responsibili-
ties as assistant director for the
Grosse Pointe Theatre.
“This is a fun, entertaining,
family-friendly show,” said
Bernard, 58, a Royal Oak res-
ident. “I love the music, and I
think the script is hilarious. I
enjoy tap dancing, and there is
tap dancing in the show. I love
the era, the 1930s, so we get
some cool costumes. I’ve done
dramas and comedies, but I
always like the band shows
best.”
With a classic score by Cole
Porter, the production is filled
with songs that are still being
performed albeit with stylistic
variations. They include “I Get
a Kick Out of You” and “You’re
the Top.”
“I especially like ‘
Anything
Goes’ and ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’
as the big ensemble musical
numbers with hummable
tunes,” Bernard said. “Our cho-
reographer has done an amaz-
ing job pushing us to our limits
to create a really great look.”
Bernard, associate director
for competitive intelligence
at General Motors, has been
interested in music perfor-
mance since attending high
school in New Jersey, where he
was in the choir.
In college, at the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), he took
tap dancing to fulfill a physical
education requirement while
volunteering for backstage
theater projects that involved
building sets.
LOVE OF CARS
Construction has been another
constant in Bernard’s life, but
that connected him to vehicles.
“I have been a car enthusiast
since I’ve been 3 years old,”
Bernard said. “I played with
Matchbox cars, and I would
draw cars. I originally wanted
to be an automotive designer
and then decided I needed an
engineering degree as a foun-
dation.
“While I was at MIT, I stum-
bled into a summer internship
with General Motors in their
design organization and real-
ly enjoyed it. I interned for a
couple of summers and joined
them when I graduated.”
After working full time
GM engineer takes on two roles in Anything Goes.
Tap-Dancing Car Guy
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
44 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022
ARTS&LIFE
THEATER
BRIAN CRAIG
DOMINIQUE HINDE
Tom Pagano, Erin
Johnson and Jason
Bowen in Nicely’s
Anything Goes