FJA Returns to Live Musical Theater

The pandemic placed a hold on staging musicals at Frankel Jewish Academy for the last two years, but students are finally ready to sing and dance as they prepare to perform Alice in Wonderland (Prince Street Player’s Version) March 30-31 at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield. The show is under the guidance of Mitch Master, director of the Performing and Visual Arts Department, who has been with FJA since the school was founded in 2000. “We’re going down a rabbit hole,” Master said. “It’s so exciting to be doing live musical theater again.”

According to Master, the production is a classic celebration of freeform for anyone who has ever wanted to poke fun at the “grown up” world of enlightenment. “We’ve done it in the past with 40 actors. For this production, we have 10 talented actors, who will be playing multiple roles with quick costume changes. It’s a fast-moving musical with whimsical dance numbers and flashy costumes,” he says.

One of those 10 actors is sophomore Eliyah Fradkin of Farmington Hills, who plays five roles in the production, including the March Hare. Fradkin has plenty of experience on stage, appearing in Willy Wonka, Annie and The Odd Couple. In Alice in Wonderland, he’ll have several solos.

“I’ve been interested in theater since sixth grade,” says the self-described math and engineering guy. “Acting is one of my favorite parts of school. It’s so much fun.”

Also appearing in Alice in Wonderland is junior Katelyn Winkelman of Birmingham, who plays only one role, but a big one: the White Rabbit. “He’s everywhere during this play,” says Winkelman, who has appeared in Peter Pan Junior and The Lion King Junior, among others.

She says the cast has been working hard for hours every day after school memorizing songs and dances. “Once you get to opening night, it’s all worth it,” she says. “This production is amazing, crazy and kooky. It’s really fun to watch.”

The musical unfolds alongside Alice as she falls into a rabbit hole and emerges intact, but imbalanced. Have a front row seat as Alice crosses paths with crazy doors and an unstable table, a silly flock of birds, an opinionated French mouse, a grinning Cheshire Cat, a chilled Caterpillar, a zany Duchess and a Nutty Cook, a dancing Butterfly, the Mad Hatter’s unusual Tea Party, an emotional Mock Turtle and Gryphon, and a royal family of hearts.

Performances are Wednesday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased at The Berman’s Virtual Box Office: theberman.org or call/text (248) 248-4066677. Masks are required for audience members.

On March 5, Congregation B’nai Moshe in West Bloomfield took part in a community wide HIAS refugee awareness Shabbat. Attendees heard the story of Jennie Mizrahi Lieberman, who as a young girl and a Cuban refugee, was helped by HIAS to settle with her family in the US.

To help the refugee cause, B’nai Moshe launched, with the help of Jewish Family Services of Ann Arbor, a project to fill 55 new backpacks with school supplies for refugee children being settled in Washtenaw County. Through a registry set up on Amazon as well as monetary donations, the entranceway to B’nai Moshe began to fill up with over $4,000 worth of school supplies.

On Sunday, March 13, volunteers came together to sort and pack the backpacks with supplies and a few treats. These backpacks will be delivered to JFS in Ann Arbor where they will make their way into the hands of refugee children from kindergarten to high school.

“While these backpacks cannot address all the challenges of being a refugee, perhaps they will lighten someone’s load a little and put a smile on the face of a child. We also hope this will not be the end of our support for refugees as we look for more ways to have a positive impact,” said Executive Director Steve Fine.

The number of families leaving everything familiar behind and starting a completely new life will only continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Settling these families and helping them to transition takes a village. Reach out to HIAS, JFS or any other organizations to help those arriving to a place they hope to call home.