DECEMBER 5 • 2024 | 51

attended with a Jewish boyfriend 
in New York, has worked with 
Lewis for 15 years. Their stage 
projects have included those for the 
discontinued Performance Network. 
Both have extensive theater careers, 
and Lewis has been involved with 
musical programs in New York and 
Washington, D.C.
Founding artistic director of 
Theatre NOVA, Milarch has had a 
lengthy stage career and has brought 
some 25 new plays to audiences. 

She founded the Michigan Equity 
Theatre Alliance after studies at 
the Interlochen Arts Academy and 
SUNY (State University of New 
York) Purchase. 
Milarch worked as an actress 
and behind the scenes in and out 
of Michigan. Her awards include 
being noted for “Outstanding 
Contributions to an Ensemble” by 
the Detroit Free Press. 
Lewis, who earned bachelor 
and master’s degrees from Eastern 

Michigan University, remains 
associated with Eastern programs 
and wrote the music for all the 
original songs. 
Besides being associated with The 
Encore, which is known for bringing 
musical theater programs to schools, 
he has been musical director for 
Gypsy at the Hangar Theatre in New 
York state and composed music 
for performances at the Kennedy 
Center in Washington, D.C.
“There’s a lot of tying into Judah 

the Maccabee, and we do a lot of 
fun stuff,” Milarch said. “Kids come 
up, and we teach them how to play 
the dreidel game. There’s candy. We 
have a lot of silliness, tons of music 
and tons of fun.”
Milarch has directed more serious 
plays with Jewish characters and/
or plots. They include My Name Is 
Asher Lev, Fortune and one about 
Albert Einstein. 
“The themes of resistance and 
standing up for your identity 
mean a lot to me,” Milarch said. 
“We decided to do this show again 
because Chanukah is late this year, 
and we can lead up to it as we get 
into the time when the show closes. 
“We had planned to do this before 
the local bout of antisemitism, and 
then we thought if there’s a good 
time to stand up to antisemitism, 
now is that time.”
As time passes along this theater 
season, the 10th, the other new 
shows include Kairos (Feb.14-March 
16), Eclipsed: The Sun, the Moon 
and Gladys Atkinson Sweet (April 
11-May 11), Jorge Luis Borges Gives 
a Lecture on Anatomy (June 6-July 
6), Radical Empathy (Aug.1-31) and 
Michigan Playwrights Festival (Sept. 
10-14). 

Scenes from a 
former show

Details
The Elves and the Schumachers Two: Chanukah Boogaloo 
is being performed Dec. 6-Jan. 5 at Theatre NOVA, 410 W. 
Huron, Ann Arbor. Times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 7:30 
p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. $32 adults; $12 for 
those 16 and younger. Theatre NOVA.org.

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