Liberty (2009)

Theresa is an associate producer of Unlock’d, which won the Audience Award at the 2007 NYMF Festival. She also is president of Wozunk-Hester Music Productions, Inc., which operates Music Together of Park Slope and Musical Bridge of Brooklyn, two family music programs. She is a playwright whose works have been seen at WorkShop Theater Company, The Triad, Don’t Tell Mama, SoHo Playhouse, and the Samuel Becket and Harold Clurman theaters (pre-Theater Row redevelopment!)

She is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, The Broadway League, and Theater Resources Unlimited.

Dana’s writing has won the New England New Play Competition, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Prize for Excellence in Playwriting, Different Voices New Play Award, ACTF New Play Award, Henry Hoyns Fellowship in Poetry, AWP Intro Award for Poetry and an Academy of American Poets Prize. She is the librettist & lyricist for CYCLONE and The Pig-Faced Lady, a new musical which began its development with a Collaboration Initiative Grant from The Women’s Project & Productions and was an official Next Link selection of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. CYCLONE was produced at The Barrow Group as part of NYMF 2008.

Dana’s work has been seen at The Cherry Lane Theater, The Culture Project, The Julia Miles Theatre, The York, New Dramatists, Hartford Children’s Theatre, Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center, Rhinebeck Performing Arts Center, Center Stage, BMI, Bickford Theatre, Vineyard Playhouse, Pulse, Theatre Row Theatre, Jewish Theatre of the South, Gene Frankel Theater, Different Voices, The Lark, Neighborhood Playhouse, WorkShop Theater Company, Pacific Theatre (Vancouver), Ellis Island and Liberty Island, as well as on Equity TYA tours throughout the East coast.

Dana’s play Next Year in Jerusalem will be produced by The Workshop Theater Company as its first MainStage production of the 2009-2010 season. Dana is a published poet and playwright and holds MFAs in both Playwriting and Poetry. She has been a lyricist at BMI and a member of the Playwrights’ Lab at The Women’s Project. Dana is a member of The Workshop Theater Company, NewShoe and The Dramatists Guild of America.

Jon’s work has been seen at The Cherry Lane Theatre, The Culture Project, Hartford Children’s Theatre, WorkShop Theater Company, The York Theatre, Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center, Flushing Town Hall and on Equity TYA tours in NY/NJ/CT through Theater Garden. Previous composing credits include Lady of Copper; Enough For All, Spark & The Strangers, and This Year in Jerusalem. Jon is the author of The Road to Freedom.

Jeff Lodin's scores include: Young Abe Lincoln(Theatreworks USA, book/lyrics: John Allen-Promenade Theatre and U.S. Tour in (1994 –1995)), Disney's Doug Live! (Walt Disney World, lyrics: William Squier), Top of the Heap (Gallery Players Production, Oct. 2009, NMTN “Director’s Choice” 07, Global Search for New Musicals 06, book/lyrics: W. Squier) About Face (NAMT 08, book/lyrics: David Arthur), 100 Years into the Heart (Village Theater 07Festival of New Musicals, Spirit of Broadway, NYMF 04, book: Richard Vetere, Lyrics: W. Squier), Rebels 1775 (Starlight Theatre, Spirit of Broadway, book: J. Allen, Mana Allen, W. Squier lyrics: W. Squier, J.Allen), Nice People (book/lyrics: Tony Tanner), Naughty Girl (CAP21, book/lyrics: Scott Hayes, co-music: Christopher Seppe). Currently working on Blindsided By A Diaper (book/lyrics: W. Squier). His songs appear on television: P.B.&J. Otter; film: Doug's First Movie; the International Children's Festival (lyrics: W. Squier); cd: A Celebration of Life (lyrics: D. Arthur; vocals: Randy Graff & Judy Kuhn). Recent Music Direction credits include the world premieres of GLIMMERGLASS (Cohen/Drachman/Bolt), Love, Inc. (Marc Castle). He has conducted for Chita Rivera and the late great Greg Burge, and played piano for Andy Gibb and Mongo Santamaria, amongst others. He was awarded a 2004 Meet the Composer Grant by the New England Foundation for the Arts. Jeff is a proud member of the Dramatist's Guild.

Igor is a director based out of New York City. He spends much of his time developing and directing original musicals for the stage throughout the country. Most recently he directed Dan Acquisto and Sammy Buck’s Like You Like It, a musical take on Shakespeare’s As You Like It set in a mall in the 80’s (Gallery Players, Brooklyn and Theatre Under The Stars in Houston) and the World Premier of Marshall Pailet and A.D. Penedo’s Tell Me (formerly The Chocolate Tree) in Eugene, Oregon. Under the title The Chocolate Tree he directed developmental readings at The New Jersey Rep and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre with music director Ben Cohn, starring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman and Tony nominee Christopher Sieber.

Prior to that Igor directed Marc Castle’s musical comedy Love, Incorporated for the Midtown International Theatre Festival where it won the Festivals 2008 award for OUTSTANDING OVERALL PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL. Ongoing projects include Joseph and David Zellnik’s WWII musical YANK! which first started in Philadelphia as a workshop and then went on to productions at The New York Musical Theatre Festival/NYMF with music director Rob Berman, starring Doug Kreeger, where it was named the OUTSTANDING NEW MUSICAL OF 2005 by Talkin’ Broadway; then went on to The Gallery Players, starring Bobby Steggert, Jeffry Denman and Nancy Anderson, where it received a GLAAD AWARD nomination as well as the 2008 NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE AWARD for OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL. YANK! most recently had its West Coast Premier at San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre where it was named BEST MUSICAL OF 2007-2008 by StageScene L.A., also honoring Igor with an OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL Citation.

Igor has directed 3 other original musicals for The New York Musical Theatre Festival; Main-Travelled Roads (Richard Rodgers Award staged reading), Derek Gregor and Sam Carner’s Unlock’d, based on the Alexander Pope poem “The Rape of the Lock,” first for the York Theatre Developmental Reading Series and then for NYMF where it won the 2007 BEST IN FEST AWARD and the Talkin’ Broadway Citation for OUTSTANDING NEW MUSICAL OF 2007; and finally the NYMF commissioned dance musical Common Grounds, book by Sammy Buck and music by Doug Katsaros, for which Igor was the recipient of the 2006 NYMF AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTION.

At Off-Broadway’s New World Stages he has directed two benefit concerts with music director David Andrews Rogers; Variations on Shakespeare, benefiting The New Globe Theatre, hosted by Tony Award winner Mark Rylance and starring Tom Cavanagh, Robert Cuccioli, Christian Hoff, Anthony Rapp, Alice Ripley, George Wendt, Martha Plimpton, Barrett Foa, Denis O’Hare, Kate Shindle, to name a few; and My First Time benefiting Quality Services for the Autistic Community which starred Matthew Cavenaugh, Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell, Jeffry Denman, Hunter Foster, Anita Gillette, Ann Harada, John Tartaglia, Mary Testa and many more. Regional credits include: Violet, The Spitfire Grill, The Full Monty, The Complete History of America (abridged), Blithe Spirit and Dracula. Mr. Goldin is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and an ongoing director of musical theatre industry showcases at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. www.igorgoldin.com

Broadway: A Tale of Two Cities. Other favorite credits include Finding Nemo, the Musical (Disney workshop, original cast recording), Mame (Kennedy Center, starring Christine Baranski), and Twelfth Night (Prince Music Theater). Please visit www.AlisonCimmet.com for more.

Marisa Dargahi is thrilled to be a part of Liberty! She is a graduate of Ithaca College with a B.F.A. in Musical Theater and also attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts.  Marisa has originated the role of Mercedes in The Count Of Monte Cristo  (Sage Theater), Alice in Take Two (Northern Stage) and Amina in Beauty Queen (Three Graces Theater Co.).  Other credits include Fantine in Les Miserables (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse), Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

With an amazing range and vocal prowess far beyond her years, Diana DeGarmo gained overnight fame as runner-up on the third season of television's No. 1 series, "American Idol." Such high-profile exposure opened the door for DeGarmo's first radio single "Dreams," from her full-length RCA label debut "Blue Skies," which claimed the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. DeGarmo has also conquered the Great White Way, starring as Penny Pingleton in Broadway's "Hairspray" and as Brooklyn in the first national tour of "BKLYN: The Musical." The talented singer's television credits include ABC-TV's "Walt Disney World Christmas Parade," as well as NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and CMT's reality series "Gone Country." DeGarmo is also a proud supporter of our American troops, touring overseas with the USO and 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace. Last December she starred in the first "American Stars in Concert" Christmas tour.  Diana is now currently starring in “The Toxic Avenger” at the New World Stages and is putting the finishing touches on a new album

Ryan can currently be seen on Broadway in Shrek.  Off-Broadway:  original cast (and NYMF cast) of Altar Boyz (Drama League nom), The Fifth Column, theAtrainplays, Minnie's Boys, My First Time, The Body Beautiful, Real Danger.  National Tours:  Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof and the pre-Broadway company of I'm Not Rappaport.  Regionally Ryan has appeared in tick, tick...BOOM! (ATF), Side Show (Signature, VA), Hair (Studio, D.C.), 1776 and A Christmas Carol (Ford's, D.C.), Forever Plaid (Temple, NC) etc. Film/TV:  Stand By, "SNL".  Thanks Igor and Michael!

Off Broadway: PETS! At Theatre East, From Sea to Shining Sea -Promenade for Theatreworks USA, The New Yorkers – A Concert Reading at Town Hall.  Regional: A Wonderful Life (Ernie) John W. Engeman.  Chicago (Amos), Best Little Whorehouse… (Melvin P. Thorpe) both for Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.  Some Sweet Day - Goodspeed, Annie (Rooster Hannigan,) Lost In Yonkers (Louie Kurnitz), Dennis DeYoung’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Macbeth (Porter) and Twelfth Night (Fabian) all for Tennessee Repertory Theatre.

Dalton is thrilled to be a part of this wonderful piece.  NYC Theatre: The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (Jack) - The Mint Theatre; NYC Readings: On a Stool at the End of the Bar (Mario) – The Directors Company, Finding Neverland (Jack) – Weinstein Live Entertainment, A Christmas Story (Ralphie) – Goerhing/Berloni Productions.  Regional: Ace (Danny) – Signature Theatre, Beauty and the Beast (Chip) – Lyric Theatre of OK.

Broadway :Crazy For You, Footloose, Big, Zorba, Woman Of The Year, The Graduate, They’re Playing Our Song, Little Me, Company, Mamma  Mia ,La Cages Aux Folles. Television: Seinfeld, Cold Case, Numbers, Law and Order. Film: Say Anything, The Good Shepherd, The Ministers.  Love to my wife Wendy Waring and children Amy, Nicholas, and Jackson.

Broadway: Les Miserables (Cosette); The Woman in White (u/s Marian); Fiddler on the Roof; La Cage Aux Folles (u/s Anne); and Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Off-Bway/Regional: Marry Me a Little (Dorset Theatre Festival, VT); Leonard Bernstein’s MASS (Baltimore Symphony, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center); Ordinary Days (Claire) at Pennsylvania Centre Stage; Emma: A New Musical at NYMF ’07 (Emma); Les Miserables at the St Louis MUNY, the Marriott Lincolnshire in IL, and Theatre Under the Stars in TX (Cosette); The Pirates of Penzance (Mabel); West Side Story (Maria). Originally from Staten Island, Leah earned a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (CAP-21).  Visit www.leahhorowitz.com for more!

is an  Oklahoma native with  a B.A. in Musical Theater from Oklahoma City University. Film: Marie and Bruce with Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick; Get Rich or Die Trying with 50 Cent : Across the Universe directed by Julie Taymor. Stage: :  Rent (Tom Collins), B’way; Chicago (Billy Flynn), B’way and First National Tour:  Smokey Joe’s Café (Adrian), B’way and London’s West End; The Who’s Tommy (Hawker and Specialist), First National Tour and Frankfurt: Dreamgirls with Jennifer Holliday (C.C.) Atlanta; Jesus Christ Superstar Gospel  (Pontius Pilate), Alliance Theater; Stormy Weather “The Lena Horne Story (Teddy Jr.) Off B’way The Who’s Tommy 15th Anniversary Concert  (Hawker), B’way; Michael Jackson’s Sisterella, L.A.;  Debbie Allen’s Soul Possessed (Luke) Alliance Theater;  It Happened in Little Rock (Artist & Reporter), Arkansas Repertory; Carmen (Escamillo); Trouble in Tahiti (Sam); A Little Night Music (Lindquist); Die Fledermaus (Dr. Falke). Soloist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. A member of Broadway Inspirational Voices and a Lambda Chi Alpha alumni.

Broadway: Guys and Dolls (2009), LoveMusik, (dir. Harold Prince), Dracula (dir. Des McAnuff) and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (also Toronto).  Regional: Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto).  National Tours: Les Misérables.TV: Law and Order, Six Degrees, As the World Turns grahamrowat.com 

is a casting director, director, educator, and producer working on theatre and film projects in New York City.  He regularly casts for many of the nation's top theatres including The Old Globe, the Great Lakes Theater Festival, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the Olney Theatre Center, Queens Theatre In The Park, and the White Plains Performing Arts Center.  In New York, Michael is the resident casting director for the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) now in its fifth year, and he has cast over 35 new musicals in NYMF since 2004 including The Yellow Wood (dir. B. D. Wong), All Fall Down (dir. Lonny Price) and Fat Camp (dir. Alex Timbers.)  Upcoming projects include White Noise (opening on Broadway in 2010), the short film Alienated starring Vincent Pastore, and the feature film Clear Blue Tuesday which will be released in September, 2009.  Michael teaches musical theatre audition technique at many of the nation's top universities and presently serves on the adjunct faculty of NYU/CAP21 and Pace University.  Michael is a native Clevelander, a graduate of Otterbein College, and a member of the Casting Society of America.  Please visit www.MichaelCassara.net.

Tom Jeffords  has worked on a crapload of shows in the past 13 years.  He is currently on hiatus from the tour of Spring Awakening where he is the head of props.  That’s right, he is a member of AEA and IA…in fact, if he could play the piano, he’d try to get an AFM card.  Thanks to Erin!