96 | MAY 18 • 2023
learning how to see and how artists would see,” Matlen
said. “The next assignment was to paint what we saw. I
started taking more and more classes from her, and she
believed in me and encouraged me to continue.”
Matlen thought she would become an art teacher and
studied for that at Wayne State University. At one point,
she realized artistic teaching would not be for her and
moved on to working in her stepfather’s jewelry store.
Later, there was a return to studying painting at
Wayne followed by attendance at the Art Students
League of New York. With recognition that she could
not earn a living with art, she returned to Wayne and
became a clinical social worker.
Married to physician Jerry Matlen and the mother of
two daughters, Terry notes that her religious activities
are with the Friendship Circle as she helps assert
opportunities for a daughter with special needs. Matlen
is very proud that this daughter has taken up a similar
interest in art and has projects displayed.
“I’ve been very involved in the art community in
Metro Detroit so I’ve been showing my paintings in
group shows,” Matlen said. “I always was doing some
kind of art in a home studio.
“When my kids were little, I was making painted
furniture for children that sold in boutique shops. For
this show, I had to pull through a body of paintings in
a short period of time. I was painting about three hours
a day, usually at night. I’m a night person.”
Details
RAW – A Journey Through
Her Wild Imagination,
Childhood and Symbolism
runs through June 1 at the
Birmingham Bloomfield Art
Center, 1516 S. Cranbrook
Road, Birmingham. (248) 644-
0866. bbartcenter.org.
Terry Matlen
in her studio
NICK HAGEN/APA PHOTO
was around other Jewish peo-
ple,” Pearlstein says.
As a musical theater student
at the University of Arizona,
Pearlstein was cast as Hodel in
Fiddler on the Roof at Arizona
Theatre Company (ATC).
“
And that really cracked
open the reality of my Jewish
identity,” Pearlstein explains.
“Doing that role and telling
that story dug into my own
ancestry of my family emigrat-
ing from Eastern Europe to
London and, eventually, to the
United States in 1912.”
That same year that she
starred in Fiddler on the Roof
in college, Pearlstein went to
Israel for her “unofficial” bat
mitzvah.
“Being in Fiddler on the
Roof, I realized how few
Jewish stories we get to tell
and what limited
opportunities
there are for
Jewish actors
to play Jewish
roles, though I
see a little shift
in the industry,”
Pearlstein says.
One example
currently on
Broadway is the
musical revival
of Parade, which
stars Ben Platt and Micaela
Diamond as the first Jewish
performers to play Jewish
Americans Leo and Lucille
Frank during 1915 as antisem-
itism and racism ran rampant.
During her time at the
University of Arizona,
Pearlstein was also featured
in Rent and Hands on a
Hardbody, both of which
were directed by her mentor,
Danny Gurwin, associate pro-
fessor, School of
Theatre, Film and
Television; and
co-chair, Acting/
Musical Theatre
Division.
“When I came
into the program,
I was still very
green and felt
very late to the
game because
I didn’t get
involved seriously
into theater until later in high
school. I was very intimidated
by my peers who all started
when they were children,”
Pearlstein says.
“But to be there with Danny,
I got the opportunity I needed
to grow my confidence. So,
by the time I got to New York
City, I was ready and had full
faith in myself and my abili-
ties. I attribute a lot of that to
Danny.”
Gurwin, who grew up in
Southfield and graduated from
the University of Michigan
with a BFA in musical theater,
has extensive Broadway, Off-
Broadway, regional and televi-
sion credits.
During Pearlstein’s first
national tour, she starred as
the villain Kathryn Merteuil
in Cruel Intentions: The 90s
Musical. While on one of the
two U.S. SIX tours, which
started in September 2022,
Pearlstein travels with her gui-
tar and ukelele.
“For my own happiness
and sanity, I need to have
music-making abilities at my
fingertips. Songwriting and
putting out music on the road,
along with being an actor
with SIX, fulfills both of my
passions,” Pearlstein adds.
“Everyone who comes to see
SIX has a great time. It’s a lot
of fun. It’s a celebration.”
Taylor Pearlstein
ARTS&LIFE
DIVORCED, BEHEADED, DIED
continued from page 95
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ART continued from page 94