The Music Theatre Company's 48-HOUR MUSICALS: ENCORE! Begins 12/4

The Music Theatre Company will launch its 2014-15 season with THE 48-HOUR MUSICALS: ENCORE!, featuring four 15-minute musicals originally written and rehearsed in just 48 hours by Scotty Arnold, Diana Lawrence, Michael Mahler and J. Oconer Navarro plus the world premiere of a 20-minute musical by Smashing Pumpkins frontman and Chicagoland native Billy Corgan.

Directed by Co-Artistic Director Jess McLeod, with choreography by Founding Artistic Director Jessica Beth Redish and music direction by Aaron Benham, THE 48-HOUR MUSICALS: ENCORE!, will play December 4 - 14, 2014 at The Music Theatre Company, 1850 Green Bay Rd. in Highland Park, IL. Tickets are currently available at www.themusictheatrecompany.org or by calling the TMTC Box Office at (847) 579-4900.

The cast of THE 48-HOUR MUSICALS: ENCORE!, includes Emily Berman (Days Like Today, Writers Theatre), Victoria Blade (Sweet Smell of Success, Kokandy Productions), Matthew Keffer (The Wild Party, Bailiwick Chicago), Rachel Klippel (The Light in the Piazza, Theo Ubique), Sarah Larson (Passion, Theo Ubique), Patrick Martin (Merrily We Roll Along, The Music Theatre Company), Andrew Mueller (RENT, Paramount Theatre) and Emily Rogers (How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Porchlight Music Theatre). Additional casting to be announced.

The 48-HOUR MUSICALS, for which emerging and established musical theatre writers create and rehearse 15-minute musicals in just 48 hours, have been an annual mainstay of The Music Theatre's Company's seasons since 2008. This year, TMTC reprises four audience favorites that led to full-length commissions that TMTC will produce later this season. The program concludes with the world premiere of a 20-minute musical by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who makes his musical theatre writing debut.

"The 48-Hour Musicals were devised as a way to challenge musical theatre artists to trust their instincts and introduce audiences to emerging writers and the creative process," comments Co-Artistic Director Jess McLeod. "What began as an experiment in 2008 quickly became a season favorite for TMTC patrons, resulting in the creation of a new art form - the 15-minute musical - and an annual showcase for the innovation and artistry TMTC is known for."

"We are thrilled to be revisiting these pieces which ultimately inspired future TMTC commissions and to be premiering a work by Billy Corgan in this year's line up," comments Founding Artistic Director Jessica Beth Redish.

Adds Mr. Corgan, "My interest in musical theatre has grown throughout the years. Ms. Redish, I believe, is a visionary; she's inspired me to jump into the narrative form in a fresh way."

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