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Founder
Jon Douglas Rake
Jon spent nearly all of his adult life devoted to musical theater. He began his career as a professional dancer and soon discovered his unique talents for choreography and directing. Educated at the University of California, San Diego, Jon produced, directed, choreographed or acted in well over 200 musical theater productions at the professional or community theater level on the West Coast. He founded Tacoma Musical Playhouse in 1994 to fill a gap in the Tacoma theater scene. TMP is the only South Sound theater company devoted to producing musicals exclusively. His creative energy was the driving force behind the company. Jon’s other interests included historic architecture and gourmet dining.
Founder
Jeffrey Stvrtecky
Jeffrey earned his B.M. degree in Piano from Wheaton College and his M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in Choral Music from University of Southern California. He conducted and studied at numerous workshops and festivals including the Dale Warland Master Class, the Oregon Bach Festival and the Aspen Music Festival Choral Institute. He served as Director of Music at the First United Methodist Church of North Hollywood for 11 years and as Music Director of the Burbank Chorale, where he conducted concerts of major works such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Duruflé’s Requiem and Mozart’s Coronation Mass. In 1994, he founded Tacoma Master Chorale. Under his direction, TMC performed many concerts of major works including Handel’s Messiah, Cherubini's Requiem, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and many others. Jeff served as Director of Music at First Christian Church, Tacoma. He also maintained a studio of private voice and piano students. He was an Instructor of Music at Tacoma Community College. Jeff music directed countless musical theater productions including Jersey Boys, Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, Ragtime, West Side Story and many others. Jeff loves travel and restoring a ‘big, ole’ Victorian house.