58 | JANUARY 26 • 2023 

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

A

t East Hills 
Middle School in 
Bloomfield Hills 
on the night of Jan. 9, peo-
ple from all ages gathered 
to rehearse their hopeful 
masterpiece just a few weeks 
from opening night. 
 The Bloomfield Players 
Community Theatre will be 
performing Feb. 3-5, 10 and 
12, at Bloomfield Hills High 
School. This year’s play is 
Seussical — a musical comedy 
by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen 
Flaherty, based on the many 
children’s stories of Dr. Seuss. 
Director Jessey Laba, music 
director Kate Philp, chore-
ographer Valerie Mould and 
producers Jenn Friedman 
and Mary Bishop were all on 
hand as they prepared for the 
first Bloomfield Players pro-
duction since the pandemic. 
There are multiple Jewish 
actors in the play.
Stevie Ryke, a 13-year-old 
who belongs to Temple Shir 
Shalom in West Bloomfield, 
is playing Thing 1. “I’ve been 
doing this for a couple of 
years,” Stevie said. “I enjoy 
doing it.” 
Before COVID, Ryke was 
in the ensemble for Under 
the Sea and Charlie and the 
Chocolate Factory.
Siblings Charley and Evan 
Gross, a seventh-grader and 
fifth-grader respectively, are 
trying out theater for the first 
time. The siblings belong 

to Temple Israel in West 
Bloomfield. 
“It’s fun meeting new peo-
ple,” Evan said. 
“It’s a new experience,” 
Charley added. 
Nine-year-old Lillian 
Berg has five years of acting 
experience. Berg has acted 
in many other places, includ-
ing doing plays at Camp 
Tamakwa and family camp. 
Lillian believes acting 
could give her a good foun-
dation for her true goal.
“When I grow up I want to 
be a singer, so I’ve devoted 
my whole life to becoming 
that, and acting is a big 
part of becoming a singer,” 
said Lillian, who belongs to 
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield 
Township. 
“Being a Jew is very 
unique, in my opinion, and 
being able to act in a play, 
there’s many Jewish actors, 
and to be one of them, it’s 
very fun,” she said. 
Eliza Frankel, 8, is in the 
ensemble and plays a jungle 
citizen, cadet, fish and hunter. 
Alexa Oslund, 23, who is 
currently taking theater class-
es at Oakland Community 
College, started acting in 
middle school and is also a 
part of the ensemble for this 
play.
The show has 34 cast mem-
bers drawn from all over the 
area. 
“One of the things that sets 

us apart is we pride ourselves 
on having family-oriented 
theater,” said co-producer 
Mary Bishop. “We have five 
sets of families in the show.” 
With their last show being 
in early 2020, there’s a lot 
of pent-up excitement for 
February.
“It was time to do it,” 

Bishop said. “I think that’s 
one of the reasons we chose 
Seussical. Because it’s so fun, 
lively, family-oriented and 
a little lighter, we felt it was 
good for the first show out of 
the gate.” 

Visit www.bloomfieldplayers.org to 

buy tickets and learn more.

Bloomfield Players Community Theatre returns 
in February with multiple Jewish cast members.

Family-Friendly 
Production

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Alexa Oslund

Charley Gross
Eliza Frankel

Evan Gross 
Stevie Ryke

Lillian Berg

“BEING A JEW IS VERY UNIQUE, 
IN MY OPINION, AND BEING ABLE 
TO ACT IN A PLAY, THERE’S MANY 
JEWISH ACTORS, AND TO BE ONE 

OF THEM, IT’S VERY FUN”

— LILLIAN BERG

