Irresistible television: It took a real-life story that could have been made for TV to get Buffalo Grove couple Ramamohan and Deepa Mahidhara to sign up for cable television. In a household where the television controls could gather dust for lack of use, the family has been watching the Disney Channel this month, often accompanied by friends and relatives.
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“We’ll go for months when the television does not come on,” Deepa Mahidhara said. The show capturing their attention is Disney’s Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra 1998 concert. Taped at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park on July 3 and airing twice a week through August, the program showcases 85 youngsters ages 10, 11 and 12 who were chosen from more than 5,000 applicants.
Among the players were four from Lake County: Lake Forest 11-year-olds Kyle Chipman (viola) and Caitlin Cashman (cello), Riverwoods 12-year-old Amanda Fencil (bass) and the Mahidharas’ 10-year-old daughter, Pallavi (violin).
The multi-talented Pallavi also was picked just a week before the taping to replace an ailing orchestra piano soloist. To win the part, Pallavi learned the piece, the third movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, in two days with the help of her piano teacher, Emilio Del Rosario, at the Music Center for the North Shore in Winnetka.
Now the family is reliving the memorable occasion. “This was really special,” Deepa Mahidhara said, explaining why they had to get cable. “Ravinia is big. We go to Ravinia a lot–two, three times a week. But before this Pallavi has always been in the audience.”
But it was not that switch from viewer to performer that dented Pallavi’s composure. “I was really excited. I don’t get that nervous about a performance.” When was she nervous? “Before seeing myself on television,” she said, “I had butterflies in my stomach.”