Jayna Katz Schmid, Chelsea High Class of 2004, shares her journey from show choir to award-winning musical theatre roles, NYC arts education, and launching Ember Arts Collective in Michigan.
In the continuing Sun Times News series “WHERE ARE THEY NOW,” which features graduates from area high schools, meet Jayna Katz Schmid, from the Chelsea High School Class of 2004. Though she has traveled many miles since high school, Schmid currently calls Manchester home. She lives there with her high school sweetheart, now husband, Austin Schmid and their two children, son Kohen, 5, and newborn daughter Norah.
Though she’s been entrenched in various theatre scenes since her high school days, that wasn’t always the case for Schmid. “Theatre was always kind of my older sister’s thing in high school, so I never really got involved with it,” she said, “I was always a choir and show choir kid.” Singing has been a major part of her life since childhood. Listening to Schmid recount her story, if Manchester had a mountain range running through it, surely the title of this story would have been “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” Alas, the local geography couldn’t accommodate that.
Following graduation, Schmid enrolled at Siena Heights University in Adrian. “I was always a homebody, so Siena was a good fit for me. It was small, close enough so I could get home when I wanted, yet far enough away that my parents wouldn’t drop in on me all the time,” Schmid joked. She was originally enrolled in the music program at Siena, but at the start of her sophomore year, the university temporarily dropped its music degree program. When she was offered a chance to graduate with a degree in Siena’s brand-new musical theatre program, she decided to take the leap into the theatre world.
“I’ve always loved singing but had never been in a musical before,” Schmid said, “so I thought, why not?” Her first role was a small part in an obscure musical titled “Flora, The Red Menace.” From there, other notable roles included Rapunzel in “Into The Woods” and her senior project performance, Mimi Schwinn in “A New Brain.” During her time in the program, she spread her acting wings further with a small role in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” a very different experience for her.
While living in Adrian, Schmid became further immersed in the theatre community at the Croswell Opera House, with roles in “The Full Monty,” “Always, Patsy Cline,” and “Titanic – The Musical.”
From there, Schmid moved to Jackson, MI and stumbled upon the Bon Ton Room, a piano bar and cozy theatre space that featured cabaret-style entertainment. The friends she met there quickly became a tight-knit troupe of performers in the area. “While in Jackson, I was chosen to perform in a concert featuring songs by a rising NYC-based musical theatre composing duo, Carner & Gregor. Sam Carner has local roots in Jackson, and the two came to town and directed the one-night show. That was a real thrill for me,” Schmid said, “easily the coolest thing I had ever done up until then.”
Schmid didn’t plan to stay in Michigan forever, but before she left the area, she and a close friend decided to take on a project in new territory for them both: producing a musical.
“We were talking about how no one in the area ever produces “The Last Five Years,” and how much we’d both love to do the show. So, we thought, ‘how hard could it be to do it ourselves?’” Though she joked that the answer was – “very,” they persevered and the show went on. “I was the producer, which meant securing the rights to the show, lining up the musicians for the orchestra, finding the venue, building the set, selling tickets – everything,” Schmid said.
“We rehearsed for two months and held four performances one weekend in July at the Jackson Symphony Orchestra Hall,” Schmid said. “After it was all over, we’d made enough money to pay everyone involved and we each ended up with about $37 profit. Enough for a tank of gas!”
After a brief stint in Chicago, including classes at Second City and two solo cabaret concerts, she moved to NYC, not to pursue a career on Broadway but to get a graduate degree from Brooklyn College in nonprofit management for the arts. “I wanted a career in the arts and I thought I had a lot to offer in helping art organizations be successful,” Schmid said.
“Following high school, my high school sweetheart and I split up and were apart for twelve years,” Schmid said, “but we always stayed connected, keeping in touch and seeing each other every few years. I had always planned to come back to Michigan after getting my master’s degree, so I contacted him before moving home. The day after I got back to Michigan, I went to see him, and we have been together ever since.”
Not only is she a go-getter herself, but Schmid surrounds herself with others who also go boldly after what they want. While she was living in New York, she was recruited by Chad Badgero, the Artistic Director of Peppermint Creek Theatre Company based in Lansing (and a stranger to her at the time) to play Rose, the lead role in “Dogfight.” “I originally told him that I had to turn down the role because I couldn’t afford to fly back to Michigan for rehearsals and performances. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer – he spoke to the board, contacted me again and said that the board approved the funds to fly me back and forth and compensate me for any work time I lost. How could I turn that down? It felt incredible to be pursued that strongly for a role,” Schmid said. “And I’m so glad I said yes,“ she added, “it became my very favorite theatre experience to-date.” Others must have agreed: Schmid won a Pulsar Award, a prestigious regional theatre award, for her performance in the show – “Best Lead Actress in a Musical.”
As for what’s next? Schmid is developing plans that will allow her to continue singing while being a mom, wife, neighbor and friend. “A couple years ago, I came across an NYC-based group called Gaia Music Collective – the group holds various collaborative and interactive music events around the NYC community, including, among others, one-day choirs. The model for these events is so beautiful: no auditions, no performance, no commitment. You sign up, learn your part ahead of time, and then just… show up and sing.” Schmid said. “I became a little obsessed with the idea of creating those same spaces here in my own community,”
And now – no surprise – she’s doing it. After facilitating two successful one-day choirs in Manchester and Southgate, Schmid has launched her own creative community: Ember Arts Collective (@emberartscollective). “Ember Arts offers an outlet for people to come together simply to be creative and to share space doing it – whether that’s through music, poetry, storytelling, whatever you love – without the commitment of rehearsals, and without the pressure of an audience and performance.” She shared what’s coming up for the group: “We have plans to hold another one-day choir soon, and as we grow, we’ll host events in other genres, like interactive cover nights, circle singing, spoken word poetry, and collaborative songwriting. There are so few opportunities for us to just come together to do what we love with no pressure,” Schmid added, ”Ember Arts is where you can find that space.”
It is safe to say, in Manchester and beyond, the streets will indeed be alive with the sound of music.
Photos
Picture #1: Jayna Katz Schmid. Courtesy of Jayna Katz Schmid
Picture #2: Jayna, Kohen, Austin & Norah (in Austin’s arms). Courtesy of Jayna Katz Schmid
Picture #3: Jayna Katz Schmid. Courtesy of Jayna Katz Schmid
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