As they sit on the floor with their babies and young children, caregivers attending Music Together classes in Irwin may not realize the two teachers leading the joyful singing, dancing and maraca-shaking are not your typical instructors. Rather, these two women are seasoned Broadway performers and former Radio City Rockettes.
Jennifer Clippinger Dudik and Eileen Grace Noden Reynolds are both trained instructors with the Music Together program, an internationally recognized music program for children from birth through age seven. The early parts of their respective careers, however, were spent on stage on Broadway, at Radio City Music Hall, and on tour with a variety of award-winning musicals.
After graduating from North Central High School in Indianapolis in 1989, Dudik headed to Point Park University, where she earned her bachelor’ s degree in dance. While at Point Park, she participated in numerous musicals at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, West Virginia Public Theater and Civic Light Opera.
“ The first Broadway show I saw was‘ Cats,’ and I was hooked,” Dudik says.“ I knew from that point on I wanted to perform.”
Dudik moved to New York City after college, where she soon found herself touring the country with the first national tour of the“ Will Rogers Follies.” In between auditioning for other shows, she spotted an ad in the paper to audition for the iconic Rockettes. She passed the audition, subsequently performing as a Rockette for four years at Radio City Music Hall. During her 11-year-career in New York City, she also performed in musicals at Paper Mill Playhouse, including a production of“ Crazy for You,” which was recorded for PBS. She then crisscrossed the country again with the first national tour of“ The Producers” before landing her dream gig: performing on Broadway with“ The Producers.”
In 2004, Dudik decided that it was time for a change.“ I was 34, and I had done everything I had wanted to do in New York,” she says.“ I wanted to start a family.”
The Dudiks had two options— return to Indiana or western Pennsylvania, where her husband Eric, a graduate of Hempfield High School, had grown up. They decided on the Pittsburgh area, because of its proximity to a strong theater scene.
Like Dudik, Reynolds found her way back to Pennsylvania by way of New York. After graduating from Franklin Regional High School, she also attended Point Park University, and earned a bachelor’ s degree in dance.
“ I knew from the age of three I wanted to be a dancer,” says Reynolds.“ When I was a young child, my mom tried to encourage me to diversify, but all I wanted to do was dance.”
Anxious to move to New York, she completed her college degree in just three years. Still, she’ s happy she delayed the move until after she graduated from college.“ If I had moved to New York at the age of 17, I don’ t think I would have done as well,” she notes.
As a performer, Reynolds— who is known in New York by her stage name, Eileen Grace— was cast in the Broadway production of“ 42nd Street,” was an original cast member and later the dance captain of the“ Will Rogers Follies,” and also performed in the international tour of“ My One and Only” with Tommy Tune and Lucie Arnaz.
She spent eight years performing at as a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, and was eventually asked to help direct and choreograph the Radio City Christmas Spectacular touring production, which she did for eight years.
In addition to performing, Reynolds also loves to choreograph and teach. She’ s been leading workshops and lessons since she was a teenager, and that passion led to her to design and direct the Rockettes Summer Intensive Program, a training program for women who want to audition to become Rockettes, for 10 years.
Over the course of her extensive career, Reynolds has choreographed more than 40 musicals, and has staged Rockette appearances on“ The Jay Leno Show,”“ The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and“ The Today Show,” among many others. She’ s had numerous television appearances and credits, including the Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards,“ One Life to Live,”“ Good Morning America,”“ Christmas at Rockefeller Center,”“ The Kennedy Center Honors,” and“ The Late Show with David Letterman. She also collaborated with Oprah Winfrey and Hugh Jackman on the 10th anniversary celebration of“ O, The Oprah Magazine.”
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Jen Dudik
Eileen Grace Noden Reynolds
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