Starcatcher
Team
Jeff Rosenschein's musical background includes six summers as Rosh Musica at Camp Ramah in the Poconos and three years in the Zamir Chorale of Boston. After moving to Israel, Jeff and his wife Shira became involved in local Jerusalem theater through the Encore! Educational Theatre Company, singing in the chorus of 5 Gilbert and Sullivan shows; Jeff served as its chairman from 2006 to 2014. In 2009 Jeff returned to being a musical director in a series of shows for Mercaz Ha’Magshimim and J-Town Playhouse, and co-founded Starcatcher in 2013. He is father to Chana, Moshe, Yair, Margalit, and Elianna, and grandfather to Michael, Sammy, and Rafi. Jeff did his undergraduate studies at Harvard, and his graduate studies at Stanford in computer science. He is now the Sam and Will Strauss Professor of Computer Science at The Hebrew University, teaching, advising, and doing research in the subfield of multiagent systems within Artificial Intelligence. Jeff also co-founded two software companies based in Jerusalem. For more details on Jeff’s academic work, visit here.
Yaeli Greenblatt is a performing artist and dance teacher. Trained in contemporary dance at the Vertigo dance company workshop, she has participated in international musical theatre programs at Sadnaot Habama and at Broadway Dance Center NYC. As a dancer-creator she has performed at the Acco festival, StreetCat Bat Yam, Machol Shalem International festival, Musrara Dance, and the international puppetry festival in Jerusalem. Outside of Starcatcher, where she works as director and choreographer, she has worked on choreography with many other theater companies including Jest, Center Stage, Encore!, and Jtown Playhouse. Yaeli was choreographer for original musicals "Ah Jerusalem," and "Danger!" and has worked on several shows for Aspklaria Theatre. She is currently working towards a PhD in English Literature at The Hebrew University focusing on the works of James Joyce.
Eli Kaplan-Wildmann lives in Jerusalem and loves creating and designing in the ancient city. He has been involved in community theater here since the age of 11, and sees the community as the root of his knowledge and passion for theater. Aside from designing and directing for Starcatcher, his favorite projects include designing for the Jerusalem Opera, Psik Theater, and the Jerusalem Light Festival. In New York, where he studied (NYU Tisch Drama!), taught and worked, he designed for the off-Broadway shows Tricks The Devil Taught Me and Soul Doctor and worked in the design studio for Broadway's The Little Mermaid and Spiderman. He is a gabbai (organizer) at the traditional egalitarian community Sod Siach, and is a former chair of “Havruta – Religious Gay Men.” Eli created Unbound – The Recreated Haggadah, leading him to found the publishing studio Unbound Jerusalem. With the studio, he has created visual books that infuse familiar Jewish moments with excitement and creativity. He looks forward to creating many more colorful, theatrical moments in all mediums.
Richie Mann holds an MA in political science from The Hebrew University and has worked in multiple disciplines including public relations, translation, media and marketing. Fortunate to have worked alongside the Starcatcher team since the group's inception, his role has expanded in recent years to include a variety of responsibilities both on and off stage including producer. No stranger to "heavy lifting", he is a proud member of the Starcatcher family and remains dedicated to its artistic vision of making new and exciting musical theater productions in Jerusalem.
Elianna has been involved in Jerusalem community theater since 2010, and in that time has stage managed over 10 productions with different local theater companies, including Starcatcher, Encore, J-Town Playhouse, JEST and Merkaz Hamagshimim. She is the youngest founding member of the Starcatcher team, and was involved in its very first production at the age of 16. After returning from a 4 year theater hiatus throughout her military service, she is looking forward to making time for theater while she gets a degree in Cognitive Science and Data Science at The Hebrew University.