By Amy J. Parrent
Jay Kaplan is like an entertainment and equality superhero. By day he's an advocate (in all senses of the word) for LGBT rights, at night an advocate for and promoter of the arts.
Kaplan is well known in the LGBT community and among civil rights activists as the lawyer for ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project. And when he leaves his day job behind, he's one of the stars of Oakland County's thriving community theater scene.
Kaplan has directed or acted in dozens of plays for groups like the Village Players of Birmingham and Royal Oak's Stagecrafters. He keeps up on what's happening in theater around the country. (Yes, he scored tickets to "Hamilton" when it was still at the Public Theatre.) He looks for interesting new works, and has been responsible for bringing some of the most adventurous recent plays to our area, like the upcoming Stagecrafters' 2nd Stage production of Harvey Fierstein's "Casa Valentina."
"2nd Stage does more contemporary plays and themes," Kaplan said. "They're not as familiar. It's important to bring new theater here. There are a lot of good writers."
He said that non-musicals rarely tour to spots like the Fisher these days. Even when there are good professional productions, here or elsewhere, he said, "Commercial theater is expensive – not a lot of people can afford to go. Or maybe shows don't do well, but still have merit, and deserve a wider audience. It's great when you have the opportunity to bring (such shows) to audiences.
"I'm so grateful 2nd stage exists," he added.
This is the sixth show Kaplan has directed for Stagecrafters over a 14-year period. He also oversaw productions of "Grey Gardens" and "A Man of No Importance," among others, and acted in productions of "March of the Falsettos," "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Ruthless."
"I started out as kind of a shy kid," said Kaplan. "Performing was a great way to get outside of myself. I was singing around the house, in the basement."
Even a childhood teacher he credits with opening his horizons to public performing had the wonderfully theatrical name of Miss Prendergast. "She played everything by ear," he recalled. "She'd hear a song on the radio, then teach the kids the song. I remember how fun it was, the excitement of being onstage, that adrenaline. It gave me more self-confidence to not be self-conscious."
And what led from performing to directing? "Sometimes I had ideas about how I might like to do it, how I thought a character could be interpreted," he said. "I like to work with actors on their motivation, to talk about it, to be supportive of the actor."
But where do "amateur" theater people find the time and energy for this?
"We're lucky we have a lot of community theaters in just a 10-mile radius in Oakland County," Kaplan said. "But we're competing for a relatively small pool of talent. People's lives are so busy – this was my busiest year at work. Shows take eight weeks of four-times-a-week rehearsals, three to four hours a night. It's a substantial sacrifice. It takes away from family, social opportunities, downtime."
But then there are the achievements. For instance, Stagecrafters' "Casa Valentina" is possibly the first community theater production of the play, which first had a limited run at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2014.
"Fierstein wrote the libretto for 'A Catered Affair' which I had directed," Kaplan said. "I got a copy of the ('Casa') manuscript before publication."
Passionate about the piece, he brought the show to the attention of Stagecrafters' play selection committee. When 2nd Stage chose the play, they weren't even sure the rights were available. But the licenser agreed to it.
"It's based on a true story about a resort in the Catskills for cross-dressing men in the early 1960s," Kaplan said. "It was such a repressive time not only for gay people but people involved in cross-dressing."
Cross dressers can identify sexually across the spectrum from gay to straight, and Kaplan is quick to remind that it's completely different from transgender.
"Some do it (cross dressing) because it's fun – a fun way to be different. Some identify with their feminine self, some because it's exciting," said Kaplan. "But what's the impact of them wanting to do it, the need to be yourself? If society doesn't allow you, it takes a toll."
In his day job he sees "incredible discrimination," and asks a critical question: "Why can't we just let people breathe? Let people be who they are? They're not harming anyone."
The compassion the writer shows for the characters of "Casa" drew him into the story, Kaplan said. "None of the characters are cardboard. And it's a very verbal play, lots of language. It's a script for theater, an old-fashioned play in the sense of structure, in the way characters are introduced, the way we get to know about them."
But it certainly deals with political issues. "These people could be arrested if they showed up in public (just as) gay people could be arrested then if they congregated together," said Kaplan.
In the play, the group has to decide if they should go public. And the straight men argue over whether to allow gay people in the group. The heterosexual leader of cross dressers says in the play than 50 years from now (the '60s) cross dressing will be considered normal, but homosexuality won't. Kaplan said it illustrates the prejudices even within a discriminated-against community.
Sometimes, for instance, he said, "A minute percentage of gay people want to exclude the 'T' from the LGBT struggle. But we all share in common society's oppression. You take marginalized groups, you'll find people striking out against themselves or others."
Kaplan, who grew up in Southfield, has lived in Southeast Michigan his entire life. "I still think I'm going to end up somewhere else," he said. But a University of Michigan undergraduate degree led to a Wayne State University law degree, and eventually the ACLU in this area.
"It was never my desire to be a lawyer. My parents wanted it. I had to find a niche (in the law), and that was social justice," said Kaplan. "I've spent my whole career working for the underdog. I'm lucky to have creative outlet in theater.
"There are so many ways to communicate, but I don't know it's made us better communicators," Kaplan said. "Theater is the oldest art form. There's so much to seeing it live. Plays make people think and feel. That's why it's so important."
(FOR "REVIEW BOX")
PREVIEW:
'Casa Valentina'
Stagecrafters at the Baldwin Theatre
415 S. Lafayette, Royal Oak
8 p.m. Wednesday, May 4 (pay-what-you-can)
8 p.m. Friday, May 6
8 p.m. Saturday, May 7 (post-show talkback)
2 p.m. Sunday, May 8
8 p.m. Thursday, May 12 (half-price student night)
8 p.m. Friday, May 13
8 p.m. Saturday, May 14
2 p.m. Sunday, May 15
Tickets: $18
248-541-6430
http://www.stagecrafters.org
