A. J. FREEMAN is a writer, director, and performer originally from Los Angeles and now based in New York. She is a lyricist in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and a cabaret performer, championing brilliant but forgotten music of the 1920s and ‘30s. She has worked for over 12 years in educational theatre, directing dozens of full scale productions, and running her own literacy-based musical theatre program for low income students in schools all over Los Angeles. Through this program, The Troupe, thousands of children received free reading books. The Troupe’s free theatre workshops and assemblies inspired students from all backgrounds to use their gifts and talents through visual and performing arts.

AARON KENNY is an Australian composer based in New York, featured by ASCAP as a "composer to watch". Composing for film, television, theater, and the concert hall, he was nominated for Best Song at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (2019), as well as being awarded Australian Young Composer of the Year. His theatrical writing debut happened in 2016 with On Your Mark!, a contemporary musical adaptation of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Aaron is a current member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop. He has also previously been selected for the ASCAP Foundation’s Broadway Conductors Program (NYC 2012), and the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop (NYC 2017). He is also the Music Assistant to Disney Legend and Broadway composer Alan Menken, and has worked on Beauty and the Beast (2017 film), Hercules (Stage) and the upcoming The Little Mermaid (film).

ANDY RONINSON is a composer, lyricist, orchestrator, and music director living in New York City. He is a recipient of the 2019 Jonathan Larson Grant, a 2019-2020 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow, and a participant in the 2017 Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project. As a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Writing Workshop, he was awarded the Robert B. Sherman Scholarship and the Harrington Award for Creative Excellence. For more, visit AndyRoninson.com. He is the creator, host, and co-writer of TAKE A TEN, the all-original ten-minute musical podcast. Recorded episodes featured Broadway voices like Laura Osnes, Rob McClure, George Salazar, and more. Episodes have been produced live around the world and have won numerous awards including Best Musical twice at Theater Now’s SOUND BITES Festival, the 2016 City Theater National Award for Short Playwriting, and the top place at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. To hear every episode for free, visit TakeATenMusicals.com.

ASSAF GLEIZNER was born and raised in Israel and has been working as a composer, musical director, orchestrator, and arranger both in NYC and around the world for the past ten years. Select credits include: Broadway: Stephen Schwartz 70th Birthday Concert- Featuring Ben Platt, Renee Fleming, Lindsey Mendez, & Andrew Lippa (Hudson Theater)- Orchestrator, Arranger. Arts For Autism- Featuring Kelli O'Hara, Julia Murney, & Christopher Jackson (Gershwin Theater)- Orchestrator, Arranger. Off-Broadway: Friends the Musical Parody)- Composer, Orchestrator. 90210! The Musical- Composer, Orchestrator. Full House Musical Parody- MD, Orchestrator. Regional: The Swingaroos (Florida Studio Theater)- Composer, MD. Other: The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit (The Workshop Theatre, NYC)- Cast Recording Featuring Adam Kaplan & Emily Skeggs. You're the Pest: The Web Series- Composer, Music Supervisor. Assaf is also a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

BLAIR BODINE is a lyricist, performing songwriter and teaching artist. Recipient of the Grand Prize for Lyric Writing from American Songwriter Magazine, Blair tours nationally, performing her storytelling songs at venues such as Lincoln Center, World Cafe Live, and Nashville's Bluebird Cafe. She is the winner of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and a songwriting finalist in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and NewSong Music Competition. Blair’s musical theater work has been developed at BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Theatre Now (SOUND BITES Festival) and Dixon Place (Puffin Foundation). B.A. Columbia University.

BOB KELLY is a NY-based composer/songwriter, pianist, music director, and orchestrator/arranger. Works of musical theatre include: gilgamesh & the mosquito (with Sam Chanse), Waiting… a song cycle (with Kelly Pomeroy), and Truth or Lie (with Jonathan Keebler). His work has been supported by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, The Gallery Players, Prospect Theater Company, NY Theatre Barn, Leviathan Lab, Theatre Now NY, NYU CDP Series, New Musicals Inc., and the Festival of New American Musicals in Los Angeles. Bob is from the Twin Cities, MN, and is a graduate of St.Olaf College and the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. He was the 2013 recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Max Dreyfus Scholarship for musical theatre composition, and is a member of Local 802 AFM, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild. More info at bobkelly-music.com

CHARLIE O’LEARY is an alumnus of the Project Y Playwrights Group, the Brooklyn Generator, the Advanced BMI Workshop, Crashbox Theatre Company's Write Play Launch, the 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, and the Fornés Playwriting Workshop. His plays have been developed and presented by the Flea Theater, Middle Voice at Rattlestick, Jersey City Theater Center, Dixon Place, Crashbox Theater Company, Pipeline Theatre Company, Project Y Theatre, Theatre Now New York, Loading Dock Theatre, the Tank, the PIT, the Habitat, the Artist Co-op, the Dare Tactic, and the University of Notre Dame. He has been a finalist for the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Sanguine Theatre Company's Project Playwright, and the Woodward/Newman Drama Award; a semifinalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and Ars Nova Play Group; and recipient of a New York Innovative Theatre Award and an Iowa Arts Fellowship. His song “A Date” (music by Helen Park) was a selection of the BMI Workshop Smoker; his songs have also been performed at places like Don’t Tell Mama, the West End Lounge, and the Duplex. He is currently pursuing his MFA at Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

CHRIS EDGAR is a composer and songwriter writing music for film, theater, TV, and digital series. Edgar has scored award-winning films, including Ghost in the Gun, which won numerous film festival awards for Best Original Score; the movie musical The Breakout: A Rock Opera; and the animated musical Steve’s Quest, which won numerous awards including the International Academy of Web Television’s Best Animated Series Award and the Best Original Score Award at the Hollyweb festival. Edgar has also toured as a drummer, and worked as an orchestrator, with signed recording artists. Last and probably least, Edgar is an attorney who specializes in commercial litigation and entertainment law, although he is in the process of leaving that behind to fully focus on music.

CHRIS KERRIGAN is a musical theatre actor, singer/songwriter, and playwright living and working in Los Angeles. He is the head of the theatre department at STAR Education, a far-reaching after school program that serves over a hundred schools in the greater Los Angeles area. He has written nine full-length children’s musicals (Two Sides to Every Story, Screen Time: The Musical!, The Toy Store, and Reading is Rad, to name a few) that have been performed in elementary schools far and wide. He has performed in several regional productions including Parade (Hugh Dorsey), Violet (The Preacher), Assassins (John Wilkes Booth), American Idiot (Tunny), Jekyll & Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde), and Avenue Q (Brian), to name a few. He plays piano/keyboards in several LA bands as well.

CHRISTIANA COLE (They/Them) is a writer, composer, performer, and teacher. Credits: Bombshell Baby (book/lyrics/music with Rachel Felstein and Matthew Anchel), a WW2 epic about a drag queen who fights Nazis, produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre; Make the Earth Great (book/lyrics, with composer Rona Siddiqui) at the Prospect Theater Lab; and lyrics for a slew of cute children’s shows: Peanut Butter and Cupcake, Sparkle Spa, The Frog Prince, and many more. Christiana is an experienced book consultant. They served as dramaturg on Christopher Cerrone’s opera Invisible Cities (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize). Member: BMI Workshop, Ring of Keys, Maestra, Dramatists Guild.

CHRIS CRITELLI resides in New York City, where he balances his time between acting, whether it’s voicing cartoons or getting beat up by superheroes, writing all kinds of stuff, and drawing, where he’s just wrapped up illustrating his second book - a sequel compendium of political limericks, ‘Trumpericks 2’, available through Amazon!

CINDY SIDERIS has been working as a writer and creative producer for nine years. She began her training with the Upright Citizens Brigade, completing their Improv and Advanced Sketch Comedy Writing programs. Her sketch comedy musical West Side Story Remade had a sold-out run at The PIT. Other: Run This Town (Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 5.0 Festival, Signature Theatre). Cindy holds an MBA from NYU with a focus on Entertainment, Media and Technology, and works as an Associate Producer for the annual NYU Tisch Gala. She is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild and The BMI Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop.

DANNY K. BERNSTEIN is an award-winning composer/lyricist, director, music director and pianist. His music and lyrics have been heard Off-Broadway, Feinstein’s 54 Below, Green Room 42, Club Cumming, Prohibition, and all over New York City. NYC: Far From Canterbury (Book, Music, Lyrics) - Outstanding Overall Musical, 2015 New York International Fringe Festival, The Bishops (Book, Music, Lyrics), Danny has Friends! At The Green Room 42 (Music, Lyrics), Procrasticomposer (Music, Lyrics) Danny K Bernstein in Concert at 54 Below (Music, Lyrics). TV: Broadway At The White House. 2019 and 2017 Jonathan Larson Award Finalist, 2014 Winner, New Voices Project, New Musical Inc., through Walt Disney Imagineering, Los Angeles. Proud member of ASCAP and the BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop.

DAVID SHENTON is an English-born pianist, violinist, composer, and arranger based in New York City. As pianist/music director David has worked with renowned members of the music profession in all genres, has written music for Broadway, West End, and Hollywood films. David enjoys touring with his groups, Empire Trio and Uptown Girls, as well as teaching and educating children both in the United States  and in Africa where he and his wife, soprano Erin Shield, frequently volunteer.

DIMITRI LANDRAIN is an NYC-based composer and Jazz pianist from Paris, France. He is an alumni from Berklee College of Music, CCM (University of Cincinnati), holds an MFA from NYU/Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. His work is featured on a solo piano album titled September, NYC and on French singer Liane Foly’s platinum album Entre Nous.

DYLAN GLATTHORN is a Brooklyn based composer & lyricist. His music has been described by the New York Times as “assured” with the “steaminess and drive of Janacek” and the “harmonic allure” of Debussy. Original musicals include: Edison, Republic, Bittersweet Lullaby, and The Way It Goes. Co-composer and arranger for Diana DeGarmo's album GEMINI. Music director/arranger for Alexa Green's So Good (released on Broadway Records, named “Best New Solo Recording of 2016” by Broadwayworld.com). He has written music for dozens of critically-acclaimed and award-winning films, as well as for world-renowned brands like Nickelodeon, Oakley, Alessi, Red Bull, and PBS. He is the recipient of the 2019 New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Sound Design, the Clive Davis Award for Excellence in Music in Film, Best Original Score at First Run Film Festival, and a two-time recipient of the Alan Menken Award. Dylan is a proud member of both ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. dylanglatthorn.com

ED LEVY wrote the libretto and lyrics for Bystander (Best Short Play or Musical; NY Summerfest, Hudson Guild Theater, 2017, Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 5.0, Best Music; Signature Theater). He wrote the lyrics for Uncomfortable Sex (Players Theater Short Play Festival, 2017). He has had 3 short musicals produced at Lincoln Center (Across a Crowded Room, 2017 and 2015).  In August of 2018, his ten minute play Picket Line, 1936 was produced at the Association for Theater in Higher Education conference. Ed studied lyric writing at BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild, the Directors Guild of America, and BMI.

ERIC GRUNIN is a composer, lyricist, and book writer. Recent work includes full-length musicals Brooke Astor's Last Affair (Music; Chicago Musical Theater Festival, 2019; Emerging Artists Theater, 2013) and Our Woman, Frank Thompson (Music & Lyrics; Musical Theater Factory/Playwrights Horizons Downtown, 2017). Also music for short musicals Bystander (Sound Bites 2018, winner "Best Music"; Hudson Guild, 2017, winner "Best Short Musical") and We're Still Here (Lincoln Center, 2019). Also book for Dybbuk of the Opera (Lincoln Center, 2019) and RansomWHERE? (Lincoln Center, 2017). He has contributed songs to MuseMatch (Feinstein's/54 Below, 2018), and The Resistance Cabaret (The Tank, 2016 & 2017); blogged for Ryan Scott Oliver's CrazyTown; and reviewed for TheaterScene. He is an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, and holds a Doctorate in Composition from Juilliard.

ERIK PRZYTULSKI is a composer, writer, and producer whose works include: A Song for Christmas, Thumbelina, and Christmas In Neverland. His show, Princesses, was presented at the 2012 ASCAP/Dreamworks Musical Theatre Workshop hosted by Stephen Schwartz. Pellets, Cherries, and Lies: The Pac Man Story marked his Off-Broadway debut and was soon followed by the NYC premiere of the award-winning Alien Vs. Musical in early 2019. Upcoming projects include Marian – A New Musical, an updated adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, and BugBandKids, a new educational music series premiering in 2020. (www.pretzylmusic.com) (@pretzylmusic)

GE ENRIQUE (They/Them) is a New York based actor, singer, writer, composer, music director, and piano bar entertainer, as well as a connoisseur of all things baked and an expert in cookies. Their favorite are, of course, Samoas. Ge has written music for three 10-minute musical performances with Justin Anthony Long: Cookie Soiree (Winner of the 2012 Ken Davenport 10-minute play/musical competition, 2014 Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES Audience Choice Award), Jake and Lindsay (Ken Davenport 10-minute musical finalist), and the opening number to a concept of The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2017 SOUND BITES Audience Choice Award). They also won Outstanding Music at the 2008 Midtown International Theatre Festival for their additional music to Twist: The Musical (Book and lyrics by Gila Sand, Music by Paul Leschen). You can find more info about Ge on their website: www.geenrique.com

GREG EDWARDS wrote the script for Application Pending (Off-Broadway, Drama Desk nomination) and Craving for Travel (Off-Broadway); lyrics for Neurosis (Off-Broadway), and book and lyrics for Evelyn Shaffer and the Chance of a Lifetime (Samuel French OOB Festival winner, City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting, Take a Ten Podcast). Greg’s essays appear in Avidly (LA Review of Books) and McSweeney’s, and his game Jessica Plunkenstein and the Dusseldorf Conspiracy (NYT “Best Adventure Game of the Year”) was published by PC Gamer UK. Greg is an alumnus of Yale (Phi Beta Kappa), the BMI Workshop (Harrington Award), and the Dramatists Guild Fellows. www.greged.com

HOWARD HO is a playwright and composer. His short musical End Of The Line (co-written with Kristen Rea and Chris Edgar) was in The Samuel French Off-off-Broadway Short Play Festival and Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 5.0. His play Various Emporia was a 2017 O'Neill National Playwrights Finalist. His musical Pretendo was featured in the Center Theatre Group (CTG) Library Reading Series. He was a 2016 CTG Literary Fellow and a 2013 NY State Summer Writers Institute Scholarship recipient. His work has been developed with East West Players, Playwrights’ Arena, Company of Angels, Kaya Press, New Musicals Inc., Playground-LA, Santa Monica Playhouse, Here and Now, and The Vagrancy. His popular Youtube videos analyzing the musical Hamilton (youtube.com/HowardHoMusic) have been recognized by Lin-Manuel Miranda and have garnered millions of views collectively. He holds a musicology degree from UCLA and a Master of Professional Writing from USC.

JOEL ESHER is a NYC-Based Music Theater Writer and Educator. Off-Broadway: PharmaBro, an American Douchical! (Music/Additional Lyrics). Folk Wandering (Music/Additional Lyrics). NYC: Joey and Ron (Music/Lyrics), Bagels from Benny, Sammy Spider (Music) Superhots! (Book/Music). Music Supervisor/podcast songwriter for the Story Pirates. Joel’s work has been developed at: Goodspeed Musicals, The Johnny Mercer Songwriter Project, Fresh Ground Pepper BRB, Music Theater Factory, BMI-Advanced Writing Program. B.M, Northwestern. Educational Partnerships: Disney Theatrical Group, Carnegie Hall, Trinity Wall Street, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Dreamyard Project, Little Orchestra Society, Boston Lyric Opera.

JONATHAN BAUERFELD is a New York based musical theater composer, orchestrator, and music director. Selected credits: INTERNATIONAL: Legacy: The Book of Names (Composer, Edinburgh Fringe); Limbo: The Twelve (Composer, Edinburgh Fringe). OFF-BROADWAY: If Sand Were Stone (Arranger/Orchestrator, NYMF); The Pout-Pout Fish (Music Director/Arranger, New Victory Theater); Single Rider (Music Director/Orchestrator, The Player’s Theater). CHICAGO: Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors (Composer, Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Graduate of Northwestern University, and a proud member of Advanced BMI Musical Theatre Workshop and Theatre Now’s Musical Writer Lab. www.jonathanbauerfeld.com.

JONATHAN KEEBLER is a lyricist and book writer based in New York City. Select musicals include Gay Card (music by Ryan Korell) and Truth Or Lie (music by Bob Kelly), as well as short works including Worlds Apart (music by Ryan Korell) and the short musical film, A Most Average Musical (screenplay by Talia Berger, music by Bob Kelly). His work has been seen at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, SOUND BITES 4.0, UC Irvine’s 4@15, the North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre, the College of Charleston, and Rollins College, as well as performed at Feinstein’s/54 Below and Joe’s Pub. His work has been developed at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals, as well as by Hajjar Entertainment at the New York Theatre Workshop. He was a finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grants and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

JORDAN SILVER is a NYC based playwright/lyricist. He graduated from Ithaca College in 2016 in BFA Musical Theatre. Since graduating, he’s had multiple developmental readings of his full-length play Nobody Gives a $#!T About You (and the power that comes with knowing it) produced by Dan Stone (Dear Evan Hansen, H2$, Catch Me if You Can, etc…) and directed by David Perlow. This past summer, Nobody Gives was presented at The Manhattan Repertory Theatre. In addition to playwriting, which he studies at Primary Stages, Jordan is also a lyricist/book writer. Jordan presented Welcome to Ridgington at Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 5.0 Festival. In 2018, Jordan was invited to attend the ASCAP musical theatre workshop in LA. He’s collaborated with composers, Alexander Sage Oyen (Dramatist Guild Fellow), Chris Urquiaga, Greg Good, Luke Steinhauer, and Jake Landau. You can also hear Jordan Silver’s original music available on iTunes and Spotify.

JUSTIN ANTHONY LONG’s writing includes the comedy feature Benjamin Franklin & The Legend Of Dreams (LiveReadLA Winner), the musical web-series City Of Dreams (NY Times, USA Today, IndieWire, Playbill), the comedy musical Welcome To Shoofly (ASCAP/DreamWorks Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz), the short film Take Out (Top 10 AAFL), the short musical Jake & Lindsay (Davenport Finalist), and an original opening musical number for the CBS Sketch Comedy Diversity Showcase. With some of his collaborators, Justin made his songwriting debut at Feinstein’s/54 Below in The Opposite of Cool: The Songs of Lee, Long, & Burns. Also an actor, Justin has “gracefully” graced the stage and screen. Some credits include Mutt House (Center Theatre Group), Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (3-D Theatricals), The Brat Pack (For the Record), Mary Poppins (MPAC), the musical parody of Stephen King’s IT (Rockwell), and Martin Scorsese’s Oscar nominated film, The Wolf Of Wall Street. More info at (www.JustinAnthonyLong.com)  (@justinanthonylong)

KARL HINZE is a composer and playwright in NYC. He has been a member of the BMI Workshop since 2013, and his original musical 210 Amlent Avenue with playwright Becky Goldberg was an Official Selection of the Next Link Project at the New York Musical Festival. His play Prophesy premiered at the 2018 Fresh Fruit Festival and won awards for best acting, production, and direction. Other collaborations include Are They Edible?, an experimental puppet show by Jeanette Yew at La MaMa; Shackled Spirits, a multi-media dance drama by Lynn Kremer presented at the Bali Arts Festival; and Big Picture, with lyricist Patrick Spencer and book writer Susan Murray. Karl has a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Stony Brook University. karlhinze.com

KEVIN HAMMONDS is a two-time winner of the BMI Jerry Harrington Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement (2015-Lyricist; 2017-Librettist).  Most recently, his musical with composer Kristin Bair, Up and Away, premiered at Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret Theater where it enjoyed a remarkable 16-week run. It then had its west coast premiere in Portland, Oregon at the Broadway Rose Theatre. Previously, he and composer Charles Miller had a successful run of their musical When Midnight Strikes at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in London (original cast recording available on iTunes). Their musical Brenda Bly: Teen Detective received critical acclaim at London's Bridewell Theatre, and was published by Samuel French. His other musicals with Charles Miller - When Midnight Strikes, No One in the World, Hope and Mr. Christmas have been published by Rodgers & Hammerstein UK. The same four musicals have been translated into German and published by Gallissas Theaterverlag. His short musical The Answering Machine (music by Andy Roninson) won “Best Musical” and “Best Lyrics” at the Theatre Now’s 2nd Annual SOUND BITES 10-Minute Musical Theatre Festival.  Kevin is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop.

KRISTEN REA is a former dancing french hornist turned musical theater book writer, lyricist & composer. After over a decade performing in the Tony and Emmy award-winning theatrical production, Blast! and Blast! The Music of Disney, throughout the US and Japan, Kristen shifted to the creative side and studied Music and Lyrics at New Musicals, Inc. and BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. Original works include End of the Line (Samuel French Off-off-Broadway Short Play Festival, Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 5.0 Festival, NMI), New Horizons (BMI Workshop), North Pole High (NMI Got Musical, NMI New Works Staged Reading), Sombrellu (CITYstage), and In The Hall (with Lori Jaroslow). Kristen grew up in Placerville, CA - the epicenter of California’s Gold Rush, and holds a B.M. in French Horn Performance from the University of Southern California and an M.F.A. in Brass Performance from California Institute of the Arts. She currently resides in New York City where she works in musical theatre publishing and licensing and tries to make your favorite musicals’ scores and parts look pretty.

LUKE STEINHAUER is a New York based composer, actor, and vocal coach originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He recently made his 54 below debut with Jordan Silver in The Songs of Silver & Stein and his compositions have been performed at Signature Theatre, The Green Room 42, and various stages across the country. Selected acting credits include: The Muny, Theatre Aspen, Music Theatre Wichita, Pittsburgh CLO, Unquowa Rep, Theatre by the Sea, Casa Manana, and Pittsburgh Public Theater. He is a graduate of The University of Michigan Musical Theatre Program, a proud member of Actors Equity, and an Estill Master Trainer. He is a YoungArts Winner in Musical Theater and attended Stagedoor Manor for several years.

MICHAEL FINKE is an award-winning New York based musical theatre writer. He's had his work performed at Lincoln Center, Feinstein's/54 Below, Joe's Pub, the Christmas Day telecast on ABC, the Bowery Poetry Club, and more. He's written the book, music and lyrics for musicals such as Reporting Live, Caroline and George, Surrounded By the Water, Powerline Road, and the musical short Dead Flowers. Michael’s a winner of the New Voices Project with Disney Imagineering and New Musicals Inc. and is a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatist Guild.

PRESTON MAX ALLEN is a playwright, composer, and lyricist whose work has been performed at the New Amsterdam Theatre, Signature Theatre, Lincoln Center, Chautauqua Institution, The PIT, Joe’s Pub, Musical Theatre Factory, and Feinstein’s/54 Below. He conceived and wrote the book, music, and lyrics for We Are The Tigers (Off-Broadway; Theatre 80), Never Better, Agent 355 (co-book/dramaturgy by Jessica Kahkoska), and Carrie 2: The Rage, An Unauthorized Musical Parody (Jeff Nominee, Best Musical). Preston is an LA Ovation winner for Best Lyrics/Composition (We Are The Tigers), member of the Ars Nova Play Group (2019/2020), and an alumni of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. @prestonmaxallen

TALAURA HARMS is a New York City based writer and actor. As a writer, her work has appeared at ESPA Detention and Across A Crowded Room at NYPL Performing Arts, and in print in "105 Five Minute Plays." As an actor, she has performed in readings, workshops, and productions with Primary Stages, The Pearl, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lark, Stable Cable, among others. She is the Playbill.com Vault Manager and a BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop lyricist. Proud member AEA and Dramatists Guild. www.talauraharms.com

TALIA BERGER is an LA-based writer and director. Talia studied film at Pennsylvania State University where she directed and produced her senior thesis film: A Most Average Musical (with Bob Kelly and Jonathan Keebler). Talia’s directing credits include: High School Musical, Reefer Madness, In the Heights, Pride and Prejudice, The Phantom Tollbooth and Urinetown. Talia directed the staged production of A Most Average Musical for Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 4.0 in the summer of 2017. Since graduating, Talia has worked in film and television in both New York and Los Angeles. Her television credits include: Madam Secretary (CBS), Insecure (HBO), Lady Dynamite (Netflix), and Baskets (FX). Talia is a member of IATSE Local 871, currently working as a writer’s assistant on HBO Max’s Doom Patrol.

THICKET AND THISTLE is a troop of theatre makers who weave their multidisciplinary creative skills, imaginative storytelling, and humble virtuosity to create original, charming, and accessible musical theatre in which the actors are also the musicians playing multiple instruments while singing, dancing, and acting. Formed in early 2014, the current members are: Kyle Acheson, Julianna Wheeler, Jonathan Foster, Sam De Roest, Lindsay Zaroogian, and Joshua Stenseth. Thicket & Thistle’s first creation was a ten minute musical, What’s Your Wish?, for Theatre Now New York’s Sound Bites 2.0 festival. They then developed What’s Your Wish? to a full musical and performed it at the NY Fringe Fest in 2015, Access Theatre in 2016, The Michael Chekhov Festival in 2016, and NYMF in 2018. In 2015, Thicket & Thistle performed The Waterman at Ars Nova for their Summer ANT Fest, and the following year, they began developing their 3rd original musical, Death Cruise which played at Access Theatre and the PIT in 2019. Thicket & Thistle has enjoyed residencies with Access Theatre, The PIT Theatre, and are currently participants in Theatre Now New York’s Musical Theatre Writers Lab. 

TIMOTHY HUANG’s works have been produced at Prospect Theater Company, NYTB, and Baayork Lee’s National Asian Artists Project (Andy Pickets, 2 to Wakefield, Crossing Over respectively) He is the creator of the one person musical The View From Here and his song “Everything I Do, You Do” was recorded by Sutton Foster for the charity album Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project. His full length American Morning was the recipient of the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award, the 2015 New American Musical Award, the 2015 NAMT Festival of New Musicals, ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, and the BMI Master Class hosted by Stephen Sondheim. Other works: And the Earth Moved, Death and Lucky, LINES: A Song Cycle, Missing Karma (Finalist Sam French OOBF 2015, City Theater of Miami 2016) and A Relative Relationship (Best Musical, 2013 SOUND BITES Festival). Dramatists Guild Council, MacDowell Fellow, BMI Advanced Workshop. www.timothyhuang.net

WILL BUCK is a composer, lyricist, and pianist. His musical Only Anne (book and lyrics by John Dietrich) was featured in Goodspeed Opera House’s Festival of New Musicals in January 2016. His short piece, Franklin Pierce: Dragon Slayer (written with Preston Max Allen), was featured in the 2017 Sound Bites Festival in New York and 2018’s City Theatre Summer Shorts in Miami, where it was a finalist for the National Award for Short Playwriting. Other writing credits include: Toybox (with Teresa Lotz), GO (with Cory Conley), and the upcoming Larry And Larry And Me (with Deb Poppel), Nureyev (with Dietrich) and Powerless. He is an alumnus of Northwestern University and the NYU Musical Theatre Graduate Writing Program, and is a current member of the BMI Workshop. www.willbuck.com

WILL LACKER is a New York City based playwright originally from St. Petersburg, Florida. Original Works: Bittersweet Lullaby, Catch the Westbound, Edison, The Invasion, Chupacabra, The Custodian, Republic, and Trials of a Scientific Mind. His works have been produced at The Player’s Theatre, Merkin Concert Hall, The Flea, NYC Fringe, Gene Frankel Theatre, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Woodstock Fringe, Alexandra Film Festival, and Gen Con Film Festival. Will earned a BA from Marymount Manhattan, an MFA from Queens College, and is a graduate of the UCB improv school. Member: Dramatists Guild. Honors and Awards: Best Book, Best Director: SOUND BITES 6.0, Best One Act: Central PA Theater Fest, Players Theatre Short Play Festival, Manhattan Repertory One Act Fest.

ZACH SPOUND is a New York based composer-lyricist, arranger, orchestrator, and actor. He has written two full-length musicals; Leap (NMI/Disney New Voices Award), What The Fuck Is Going On, and is currently writing and developing his third musical, In This Body. His short musical, Dinosaur, has won numerous awards including Best Lyrics and Audience Choice Best Musical at Theatre Now's SOUND BITES 5.0 Festival and the 2019 City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting. He also participated in the 2016 Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project. He is the music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator of Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical, which ran Off-Broadway and completed its 1st National Tour. He is also the English lyricist of Nikola Tesla- Infinite Energy. As an actor, he has been seen Off-Broadway in The Other Josh Cohen and has performed at regional theatres such as the Cape Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, and the Geffen Playhouse.