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