Friday, December 21, 2012
Highland Park native Elana Ernst Silverstein, who died on Dec. 10, toured with "Mama Mia!" after high school and helped build the city's critically acclaimed theatre company. She is remembered as a talented performer, loyal friend and devoted mother.
The first time Jessica Redish choreographed anything was when she was organizing Student Theatre Under No Teacher Supervisions (STUNTS) as a senior at Highland Park High School. She made sure to put her friend Elana Ernst Silverstein front and center. "She always had the leads," Redish said about Silverstein. "She was just exceedingly talented." Silverstein died on Dec. 10. The 29-year-old leaves behind a a daughter who turned one last Tuesday, and her husband, David Silverstein. Her funeral service was held last week in Deerfield. Silverstein's talent made itself clear as day when she graduated high school and, instead of following her peers to college, went on a 10-month tour of "Mama Mia!" After a paralyzed vocal chord ended her run …
Thursday, March 29, 2012
The production will run through May 6 p.m.
Friday marks the official run of The Music Theatre Company's rendition of Pippin—featuring a different take on this coming of age story. “My idea is we can hopefully translate this show to now—it’s the story of a young man, based on the fictional life of the son of Charlemagne named Pippin who graduates from college doesn't know what he wants to do with himself,” said Jessica Redish, the Founding Artistic Director of The Music Theatre Company. Related: 48-Hour Musical Returns to Music Theatre Company While the production is large for The Music Theatre, an 18-person cast accompanied by a five-person band, Redish said it's a scale-back compared to traditional showings. "It's been really a very interesting change—we put a big dance show into …
Monday, August 22, 2011
See what these performers threw together in two days.
Following last year's success, The Music Theatre Company (TMTC) of Highland Park kicks off its annual 48-Hour Musical on Monday night. TMTC will put on three shows over two days in what writers, composers, choreographers and actors were able to throw together in 48 hours. Each performance will consist of four 15-minute musicals sure to tickle the emotions of any show-goer. While last year’s theme used famous Shakespeare quotes, this year the 48-Hour Musical is based on bizarre book titles. Jessica Redish, founder of TMTC, described how she came up with the 48-Hour Musical shows. “While I was living in New York, I noticed they had a lot of 24-hour plays and musicals and the idea spawned from there,” Redish said. “I was so excited to bring…
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Music Theatre Company will have a new focus for talent workshop that starts Sunday.
Highland Park's Music Theatre Company (TMTC) is preparing for a workshop that interweaves singing, acting and dance skills specifically geared toward the audition process. Though TMTC has offered several workshops since it was founded in 2008, this one is new in its focus. The August Audition Intensive workshop runs from Aug. 7-11 at the Karger Center in Highland Park. It offers two sessions: one for youngsters in grades 6-8 and the other for those in high school to those who are adults. “The community had been asking for classes for some time and we’re excited to finally be able to provide this type of training,” said TMTC founder Jessica Redish, a Highland Park native. Redish will instruct the acting and monologue portion of the …
