Patty Ceresine, co-founded IlluminArt with Arlene Sorkin in 2002. Trained at the Pasadena Playhouse, Patty has lifelong experience as a singer, dancer, and actor. Her long career in entertainment includes musical theater, night club singing, leading her own band, television commercials, industrial films and 19 years as rehearsal director for the Festival Dancers, a resident dance company at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit (where she met Arlene Sorkin). Working for the Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition (MJAC), Patty assistant produced benefits for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS with the national Broadway touring companies of Saturday Night Fever and South Pacific in 1999 and 2000. She played a lead role in MJAC’s production of Illusion Theater’s From the Beginning I Did Not Speak in Secret. Patty directed IlluminArt’s 2003-2005 run of For Our Daughters and directed Project TRUST (Teaching and Reaching Using Students and Theater) in Michigan from 2003-2013. Student actors from four different high schools have presented bullying and violence prevention plays to over 20,000 middle and elementary school students under Patty’s direction. She currently enjoys spending her free time with her 2 beautiful grandchildren.
