50 | JUNE 29 • 2023
P
laywright, compos-
er and performer
Andrew Lippa gets
back to Michigan at least
once a year. He visits with
his niece, Gabrielle Kerbel,
studying at the University
of Michigan (U-M), and he
connects with the university’s
School of Music, Theatre &
Dance about conducting mas-
ter classes.
This year, Lippa has learned
that his musical john & jen is
having a Michigan run devel-
oped by a new professional
theater company. The two-
actor production, which is
about a sister and brother and
then the sister and her son,
is being featured July 7-23 by
the Inspired Acting Company
in Walled Lake.
“john & jen was my first
musical produced in New
York City in the 1990s, and
it’s the first thing that got me
some attention,” said Lippa,
59, who grew up attending
Oak Park schools, regularly
participated in Sabbath ser-
vices at Congregation B’nai
Moshe and graduated from
U-M.
“It was the first musical
I wrote that got recorded,
licensed and published. It’s the
musical that I got to feel was
passable. I can be a composer.
I can write a play. I can do it,
and there will be people in the
world who will say I want to
help you make this happen.
“It seems that generationally
people keep rediscovering
this show because it speaks
to them about the nature of
familial relationships.”
Besides the local perfor-
mances, the musical is gaining
its third recording, which is
being released in London this
August with vocalizations
by Rachel Tucker and Lewis
Cornay. The Walled Lake pro-
duction spotlights Kristy Glass
and Jared Bugbee.
“There aren’t a lot of musi-
cals that deal with the rela-
tionships between a brother
and sister and then a mother
and son,” Lippa said. “Those
are among the primary rela-
tionships in all of our lives,
and it brings up all kinds of
feelings for people.
“We have seen that people
have good strong reactions to
john & jen. It seems to have
become somewhat timeless,
and it’s something we’re very
proud of.”
Lippa also has gained atten-
tion for many subsequent
works that include his writing
and performing in the theatri-
cal oratorio I Am Harvey Milk,
writing the music and lyrics
for the Broadway shows Big
Fish and The Addams Family
and developing additional
music, lyrics and arrange-
ments for the Broadway pro-
duction of You’re a Good Man,
Charlie Brown.
The beginnings of john &
jen came about when Lippa
was asked to write a small
piece for two actors, and he
worked with his continuing
friend Tom Greenwald. Lippa
collaborated on the script and
wrote the music.
“Tom went ahead and
wrote a number of pages and
sent them to me,” recalled
Lippa, whose early conversa-
tions took the production in
a direction that was different
from the one introduced by
the actors.
“It was the beginning of
what is now about a brother
and sister living in the 1950s
six years apart. The boy fell
under the spell of his abusive
Family Ties
Andrew Lippa discusses his musical john & jen.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Andrew Lippa
ARTS&LIFE
THEATER