Michigan Matters: Going one on one with Bedrock's Jared Fleisher
With Dan Gilbert and Bedrock cutting a huge swath through downtown Detroit with the Hudson Detroit Building, Madison Building, Renaissance Center project, and many others, Jared Fleisher, president of the company, appears on Michigan Matters to update things.
Fleisher, who has worked for the company for 15 years, was named incoming CEO of Bedrock and will take over at year's end when current CEO Kofi Bonner retires.
Fleisher, a Harvard-educated lawyer who hails from Los Angeles, talked about the RenCen project, which they are working on with General Motors, which owns it. They hope to revamp the signature structure on the riverfront as he talked about Lansing and prospects for incentives to help with the project.
Fleisher also discussed the resurgence of the Motor City and Gilbert's role as he moved his headquarters downtown in 2010 and began buying buildings. Bedrock has over 100 buildings in Detroit and Cleveland, where Gilbert co-owns the NBA Cavaliers.
Then, the conversation turns to community theater when David Carroll, founder of the Nicey Theatre Group, Alexa Carollo, a hospice nurse and part-time actor, and Patrick Lane, CEO of IgniteIT and part-time actor, talk about the upcoming production of 'Fiddler on the Roof.' Carollo and Lane play the lead characters in it.
Lane talked about the active community theatre community across Michigan, with many organizations around for over 100 years.
Carollo and Lane also discussed juggling working full-time jobs, having small children at home, and working part-time as actors.
Carroll, who has staged six earlier productions, worked for Dan Gilbert for decades and was Jared Fleisher's boss early on. Carroll retired from Rocket and started his theater company at Gilbert's suggestion.
"Fiddler on the Roof" is being held at the Berman Center for Performing Arts in West Bloomfield. There are six performances: Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.
(Watch Michigan Matters at its new time: 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and 9:30 a.m. Sundays on CW Detroit 50 WKBD).
(Carol Cain is the 13-time Emmy-winning senior producer and host of Michigan Matters).