Illinois High School All-Stars Bring ‘Big Fish’ To Moraine Valley

PALOS HILLS, IL -- The 2018 Illinois High School Theatre Festival All-State Company of Big Fish will perform three benefit shows at Moraine Valley Community College this Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and June 24. The company is made up of high school students from throughout the state, including 75 from the metropolitan Chicago area. This magical show is filled with extraordinary sets and lighting that act ss the backdrop to the heartwarming story of the relationship between a father and his son.

The talented high school troupers won a coveted spot to perform two shows of this production of mythic proportions at the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska on June 28. Directed by LaDonna Wilson, director of Thespian Troupe 5981 of Champaign Central High School, they are one of only eleven groups in the nation invited to perform. The Big Fish currently as a GoFundMe campaign to help fund their trip to the nationals.

The story is told through wonderful music, dancing and acting performed by the high school students chosen to be in the All-State Company. The International Thespian Festival (ITF), produced by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), celebrates student achievement in the performing arts. The highly coveted invitation signals achievement of superior work in theatre.

“It is a real honor,” EdTA’s Director of Educational Programs Nancy Brown said in a news release, “because we send screening teams out all across the U.S. and Canada during the school year and only eleven schools were selected to present their shows on the main stage. These Thespian troupes have earned a slot among those honored few.”

"Big Fish" performances are 7 p.m. Saturday, June 23 and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday, June 24, in the Dorothy Menker Theatre at Moraine Valley’s Performing Arts Center, 900 W. College Parkway, Palos Hills. Tickets are $20 for students, $25 for adults, and can be purchased online through SeatAdvisor. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

~ Image via GoFundMe