BRIAN CRAIG
ARTS&LIFE THEATER
Tom Pagano, Erin Johnson and Jason Bowen in Nicely’s Anything Goes
Tap-Dancing Car Guy GM engineer takes on two roles in Anything Goes. SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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dam Bernard has reached number four in counting times he has participated in Michigan productions of the musical comedy Anything Goes. Number four will be staged March 3-5 at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield by the Nicely Theatre Group. Bernard takes on two roles — a bartender at the beginning and a passenger joining ensemble numbers throughout. In earlier versions of the play, about shipboard romance, Bernard appeared as a sailor for both Stagecrafters in Royal Oak and Avon Players in
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Rochester. In contrast, he had behind-the-scenes responsibilities as assistant director for the Grosse Pointe Theatre. “This is a fun, entertaining, family-friendly show,” said Bernard, 58, a Royal Oak resident. “I love the music, and I think the script is hilarious. I enjoy tap dancing, and there is tap dancing in the show. I love the era, the 1930s, so we get some cool costumes. I’ve done dramas and comedies, but I always like the band shows best.” With a classic score by Cole Porter, the production is filled with songs that are still being performed albeit with stylistic
variations. They include “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “You’re the Top.” “I especially like ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’ as the big ensemble musical numbers with hummable tunes,” Bernard said. “Our choreographer has done an amazing job pushing us to our limits to create a really great look.” Bernard, associate director for competitive intelligence at General Motors, has been interested in music performance since attending high school in New Jersey, where he was in the choir. In college, at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), he took tap dancing to fulfill a physical education requirement while volunteering for backstage theater projects that involved building sets. LOVE OF CARS Construction has been another constant in Bernard’s life, but that connected him to vehicles. “I have been a car enthusiast since I’ve been 3 years old,” Bernard said. “I played with Matchbox cars, and I would draw cars. I originally wanted to be an automotive designer and then decided I needed an engineering degree as a foundation. “While I was at MIT, I stumbled into a summer internship with General Motors in their design organization and really enjoyed it. I interned for a couple of summers and joined them when I graduated.” After working full time
