JUNE 29 • 2023 | 51

father and went off to fight 
in Vietnam.”
The actors who requested a 
production never performed 
the play, which enlarged to a 
stand-alone production.
As Lippa has worked on 
many projects, his mentor 
has been Broadway hit maker 
Stephen Schwartz, whose 
shows include Wicked and 
Pippin. Schwartz revealed that 
he has recognized a recurring 
theme in his own work and 
suggested that Lippa would 
find a theme as he looked 
back on his own projects.
Lippa, in analyzing his pro-
ductions, came up with the 
recurring theme of magical 
elements that people encoun-
ter as they go through their 
lives.
“It’s my belief in supernat-
ural forces,” Lippa said. “Call 
it faith if you want, but there 
is magical realism with things 
showing up out of nowhere 

and time being compressed or 
extended.
“In john & jen, the boy who 
is the brother becomes the 
son. There’s a little bit of the-
atrical magic going on, and 
there’s a lot of trust involved 
between someone who creates 
something and someone who 
experiences that same thing. 
I think there is magic in that 
exchange.”
Two homes, one in New 
York and one in Columbus, 
Ohio, are shared with Lippa’s 
husband, Tom Regouski, a 
woodwind player who has 
performed in 60 different 
musicals in the past 10 years 
and made his Carnegie Hall 
debut in January of this year. 

Currently, Lippa is work-
ing on several projects, 
including an adaptation 
of the movie The Turning 
Point about ballet dancers 
and a film taking place on 
Christmas eve at a shopping 
mall.
“Writing musicals is the 
hardest thing I know how 
to do, and I like the fact that 
it’s difficult,” said Lippa, 
whose many honors include 
ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers/
New Horizons Award and 
The Drama Desk and The 
Outer Critics Circle Award. “I 
encourage students to embrace 
difficult challenges because I 
think difficult things enrich 
your life.”

The song he has written that 
most closely describes himself 
is “I Do What I Do” from the 
musical The Man in the Ceiling. 
The message expresses Lippa’s 
belief that a person should do 
what that person loves. 
As Lippa learns about john 
& jen being performed where 
he grew up, he is filled with 
Michigan memories such as 
his own stage experiences 
while in school. There are 
thoughts of his mother’s wom-
en’s clothing store, Naomi 
Lippa’s Advance Fashions, 
where he worked after classes, 
and his continuing communi-
cations with Larry Wolf, who 
headed up music programs at 
Oak Park schools.
“I’m very engaged in non-
profit life as the president of 
the board of the Dramatists 
Guild Foundation,” Lippa said. 
“It supports America’s play-
wrights, composers, lyricists 
and librettists.” 

Details

john & jen will be performed July 7-23 by the Inspired 
Acting Company, 1124 E. West Maple, Walled Lake. 
8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. $45. 
(248) 863-9953. Inspiredacting.org.