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