JANUARY 12 • 2023 | 47

I

n 1971, the film Harold and
Maude came out. Jay Kaplan
was 11 years old. By the time
he finally got to see the movie as
a freshman at the University of
Michigan, the film had become
a cult classic. Harold and Maude
starred Ruth Gordon as Maude,
an 80-year-old who teaches
20-year-old Harold (Bud Cort)
how to enjoy and appreciate life
after falling in love over seven
days.
“I’ve always been a fan of
Ruth Gordon. And I love the
message of the film — that two
people, despite their ages and life
experiences, can be soulmates,
”
says Kaplan, who is directing
the world community-theater
premiere of Harold & Maude: An
Intimate Musical at Birmingham
Village Players (BVP) Jan. 13-29.
As the staff attorney for ACLU
of Michigan’s LGBTQ Project
for the past 22 years, Kaplan has
a passion for social justice. He’s
equally as passionate about the-
ater, dating back to Northbrook
Elementary in Southfield where
he grew up.
“I’ve always gravitated to new
theater works that present inter-
esting and provocative subject
matter,
” he says.
After closely following the
workshopping and development
of Harold & Maude: An Intimate
Musical for nearly two decades,
Kaplan decided he wanted to
direct the production. The show
features book and lyrics by Tom
Jones, best known as the lyricist
for the musicals The Fantasticks
and I Do! I Do! The musical
score is by Joseph Thalken, who
often serves as music director
for Tony Award-winner Patti
Lupone’s cabaret shows.
“I made an inquiry on the
show’s website last December
2021 to see if the rights to the
musical version were available
for community theaters. The
website designer for the compos-
ers, Harvey Schmidt and Tom

Jones, responded and told me the
licensing rights hadn’t been made
publicly available yet and that the
show had never been performed
by a community theater,
” said
Kaplan, an Oak Park resident.
“I emailed back that BVP would
love to be the first community
theater group to ever perform
the show and, about a month
later, we got the go-ahead to do
the show.
”

Kaplan, who has been a mem-
ber of BVP for nearly 25 years,
presented the exciting news to
BVP’s board of directors and
they approved the production for
the 100th anniversary season.
Harold & Maude: An Intimate
Musical is Kaplan’s 10th show he’s
directed at Birmingham Village
Players. Others include Side
Show, Pal Joey, Dear World, The
Man Who Came to Dinner and
several staged readings. He has
also directed many productions
at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak
as well as at the Affirmations
LGBTQ+ community center in
Ferndale.
This isn’t the first time Kaplan
has worked with both of the
leads: Linda Rabin Hammell
as Maude and Jonas Annear as
Harold. In 2018, Kaplan directed
the then 13-year-old Annear
as the young Jewish playwright
Moss Hart in Act One at BVP
.
“Being able to work again
with both Jonas and Linda is an
extra bonus. Not only are they

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

Harold & Maude: An Intimate
Musical makes its world community-
theater premiere at Birmingham
Village Players Jan. 13-29.

continued on page 48

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A
Love Story
for theAges

Director
Jay Kaplan

Linda Rabin
Hammell and
Jonas Annear

PAUL MANOIAN