ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

A

mother whose profession 
took her behind the scenes 
for local record makers and 
radio show presenters set some moti-
vation for the special interests of Jillian 
Felch Frederick, daughter of the late 
Millie Felch Coffey.
What Frederick learned about 
shared feelings inspired by music 
helped motivate her experiences in 
community theater. This season, 
Frederick is working behind the scenes 
as a producer of Memphis the Musical,
a musical being performed Sept. 6-22 
by the Village Players of Birmingham. 
The Tony Award-winning show’s 
music was composed by David Bryan 
with lyrics by Bryan and Joe DiPietro, 
who also wrote the script. The writers 
delve into the life of a white Memphis 
disc jockey and explore relationships 
he encounters by 
promoting music by 
Black artists. 
Frederick can 
relate incidents in 
the musical to expe-
riences currently 
being described 
and tied to her own 
Jewish heritage.
“I think this show 
is important in times 
of antisemitism,
” 
Frederick said about 
the production that 
has a nine-piece 
band on stage as the 
action unfolds with 
songs that express 
the emotions being 
felt by the charac-
ters. “I think there are messages we 
need to be sending more and more. 
“Maybe music, love of music or love 
in general can alter what has divided 
people. The resounding message of 
the play is that we are all one people 
on this planet and can come together 

Jillian Felch 
Frederick produces 
musical staged by 
the Village Players 
of Birmingham.

SUZANNE CHESSLER 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

38 | SEPTEMBER 5 • 2024 
J
N

Detroit’s Stacey 
Barrett sings a 
heart-breaking 
song about love 
in Memphis the 
Musical. 

Jillian Felch Frederick

PAUL MANOIAN PHOTOGRAPHY