V-Day (2010)

David Rossmer & Steve Rosen (Book/Music/Lyrics/Cast)

met each other on stage doing an improv at French Woods summer camp.  They have since been collaborators on a number of projects, and occasionally punch each other in the face.   Rosen and Rossmer created, wrote and hosted, with Dan Lipton and Sarah Saltzberg, the comedy improv variety show Don’t Quit Your Night Job, which began at Joe’s Pub in downtown NYC and migrated off-Broadway to the HA! Comedy Club in Times Square, the Zipper and the Julia Miles Theater.  Rossmer and Rosen wrote, with Lipton, The Great Broadway Shuffle, which Rosen has performed to standing ovations at Joe's Pub, Ars Nova and somewhere else no one can remember.  Currently, Rosen and Rossmer are splitting their efforts between creating their warped new game show People You Know are Aliens in New York, and developing their TV show, Say Ah, in Los Angeles.  V-Day is their first musical… and quite possibly their last, because one of them doesn't bathe properly.  You know who I'm talkin' about.  Seriously, it’s gross.

 

Steve Rosen holds a degree from New York University.  He has appeared on Broadway in Guys and Dolls, The Farnsworth Inventionand Monty Python’s Spamalot (original cast; Sir Bedevere, et. al.), directed by Mike Nichols. Rosen has performed Off-Broadway (The Golem, The Castle), regionally at La Jolla Playhouse and NY Stage and Film, and has appeared on television and in films -- including “Ed,” “Law and Order,” “Five Year Plan,” “Kings.”, Storytelling and the upcoming Arthur (2011). He is author of the popular broadwayspace blog "In Between Shows" and wrote and performed with the sketch comedy troupe Utah Arm, and in his own one man show at Ars Nova: "Steve Rosen Shamelessly Exploits His Role in 'Monty Python's Spamalot'.  Occasionally, Rosen will sneak into David Rossmer’s room while he’s sleeping and attack him with a spatula.  He thinks it’s funny.  When not writing well-received movie treatments with collaborator Jimmi Simpson, Rosen continues to do stand-up comedy and perform in a plethora of readings and workshops, including the upcoming James and the Giant Peach, directed by Graciela Daniele.

David Rossmer holds a degree from Penn State University.    He is singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the rock band The Misconceptions and has performed numerously on and off-Broadway, in films and TV shows (Titanic, Fiddler on the Roof, "Losing Leah," End of the Line, Robots, Barrymore Award nominee, Nerds, etc.).  He is a pianist, violinist and guitar player, and violently allergic to cheese.  With collaborator Dan Lipton, he has penned a number of musicals, including JOE!, notes to MariAnne and The Blonde Streak.  They also write special material regularly for singers including Kelli O’Hara (Lincoln Center American Songbook, Café Carlyle) and Sutton Foster (Joe’s Pub).  Rossmer is author of the play When the Dog Comes Knockin’ at Your Door and the screenplay Pariss.  Occasionally, he has nightmares of Steve Rosen coming into his room and attacking him with a spatula.  He finds it terrifying.   

 

Ted Sperling (Director)

is a director, music director, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, singer, pianist and violinist. He is the music director and conductor for the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific and recent revival of Guys and Dolls. 

Mr. Sperling won the 2005 Tony and Drama Desk Awards (with Adam Guettel and Bruce Coughlin) for his orchestrations of The Light in the Piazza, for which he was also music director. Other Broadway credits as music director/conductor/ pianist include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Angels in America, My Favorite Year, Falsettos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Les Misérables, Roza, and Sunday in the Park with George. Mr. Sperling was also an original cast member of the Broadway musical Titanic. Off- Broadway credits as music director include A Man of No Importance, Wise Guys, A New Brain, Saturn Returns, Floyd Collins, Falsettoland, and Romance in Hard Times.

Mr. Sperling’s work as a stage director includes the world premieres of three musicals: See What I Wanna See, Charlotte: Life? Or Theater? and Striking 12, as well as a revival of  Lady in the Dark. He has conducted the scores for the films The Manchurian Candidate and Everything Is Illuminated, and directed the short film, Love Mom, starring Tonya Pinkins, which has been shown in five international festivals.

Mr. Sperling has an active concert career, working with singers Audra McDonald, Victoria Clark, Patti LuPone, Kelli O’Hara, Paulo Szot and Deborah Voigt. He has conducted concerts with the New York Philharmonic, for Live at Lincoln Center, the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center and the Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y. He recently conducted a concert presentation of Ricky Gordon’s opera, The Grapes of Wrath, at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Sperling was a recipient of the 2006 Ted Shen Family Foundation Award for leadership in the musical theater and is the Director of the Music Theater Initiative at the Public Theater, as well as the Creative Director of the 24-Hour Musicals. 

Vadim Feichtner (Music Director/Cast)

 was most recently the Musical Director/Conductor/Dance Arranger for The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Broadway, Boston, S.F., Chicago, and touring companies).  As a composer he contributed music to William Finn’s Songs of Innocence and Experience which received its premiere at Williams College, as well as co-wrote (with Mr. Finn) the incidental music for the NY Public Theatre’s production of As You Like It in Central Park.  This past Spring saw a retrospective of Vadim’s career with lyricist Jeremy Desmon at Joe’s Pub entitled Desmon & Feichtner Continue to Disappoint Their Parents.  Recent credits include Elegies, Ordinary Days, The Burnt Part Boys, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, Dogfight, and the new Finn/Lapine adaption of Little Miss Sunshine.  Vadim is an alumnus of the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Sara Chase (Cast)

can currently be seen in "The Others Guys" and "The Winning Season." Theatre: originated all three mistresses in "The First Wives Club Musical" (Best Supporting Actress, San Diego Theatre Critics Award) and Sarah in "The Toxic Avenger" (OCR.) Her own show "Jen & Angie" played the Fringe, Upright Citizens Brigade LA/NY, and the offices of OK! Magazine. TV: series regular on "Michael and Michael Have Issues" (Comedy Central), "Mercy." Next up: "Arthur." 

Hannah Sielatycki (Band/Cast)

NYMF debut!  NYC: Living for Today.  Chicago: The Emperor’s New Clothes (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, World Premiere); Private Lives (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Baby (Lizzie, Actors Theatre Company). Regional: As Bees in Honey Drown (Amber, Denise, etc., Mason Street Warehouse); Gertrude McFuzz (Gertrude McFuzz, Fontana Performing Arts); The Fantasticks (Luisa, Michigan Shakespeare Festival); The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Pickles); Jane Eyre (Helen); Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls, EFA Great Lakes Tour); Hamlet (Ophelia, Epic Center Theater); Phaedra (Aricia, Whole Art Theater).  Film: The Lake Effect; About Face. Various commercials and voiceovers.  Hannah is a graduate of Western Michigan University and holds a B.F.A. in Music Theater Performance.

Danny Stone (Band/Cast)

is a bassist and educator currently residing in New York City.  Since arriving in August 2007, Danny has quickly integrated himself into the music scene, performing with a wide variety of artists.  He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in music at the City College of New York. A native of the north-Texas area, Danny played electric bass with various blues and rock bands around Dallas before entering the jazz program at the University of North Texas and beginning studies on the double bass.  While at UNT, he played and recorded with the 2 O'Clock Lab band, as well as several vocal groups.  After graduating in December 2004, he joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra and spent seven months touring the United States, playing everywhere from small-town gymnasiums to concert halls with symphony orchestras.  Upon leaving the band, Danny returned to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and quickly resumed his busy freelance career, as both a private teacher and performer.  Highlights included many area jazz festivals, a year-plus stay in the band of Fort Worth mainstay James Hinkle, and performing in a trio backing up David "Fathead" Newman in concert. Danny recently completed his Master of Arts degree in Musicology at City College, with a thesis focusing on Rameau’s “Treatise on Harmony,” and research interests including Schenkerian analysis and the history of music theory.  He has played musical theater shows at NYU, the Fringe and NYMTF festivals, as well as with a variety of singer-songwriter and jazz artists.  

John Ellison Conlee (Executive Producer)

Co-produced  So Close at Walkerspace with Rising Phoenix Rep.  Also co-produced the film of  So Close (www.soclosefilm.com).  As an actor,  played  Dave Bukatinsky in The Full Monty (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations).  Other Broadway appearances include The Constant Wife and 1776.  He also appeared in Anyone Can Whistle and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the Encores! Series.  Off-Broadway: the world premiere of Pig Farm at the Roundabout, The Bald Soprano, The Butter and Egg Man, and Once in a Lifetime (Atlantic Theater Company), The Green Heart (MTC), Hundreds of Hats (WPA),  Henry VIII, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Measure for Measure (NYSF Shakespeare in the Park), and numerous plays  with the 52nd Street Project.  Threepenny Opera, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Rivals (Williamstown Theater Festival).  Other regional theater appearances at The McCarter Theatre, The Old Globe, and The Goodman Theatre. TV credits include Parks and Recreation, Medium, Law & Order, Spin City, Third Watch, Liberty, Dolley Madison, Alexander Hamilton (PBS), My Sexiest Mistake, and Brotherhood (Showtime). Films include The Rebound (upcoming), Brief Reunion (upcoming), The Pride, Stephanie Daley, Trust The Man, Kinsey, Serendipity, and So Close.

Lauren Bass (Producer)

Lauren has been producing theater in Los Angeles and New York for over a decade, both independently and as Producing Director of the multiple award-winning Echo Theater Company. Current projects include the hit nightclub act All Hail The Queen: Hail Yes! starring Olivier Award Winner Lesli Margherita which will be touring later this year and the upcoming West Coast Premiere of Mark Schultz’ Everything Will Be Different.  Past productions: West Coast/World Premieres of Jessica Goldberg’s Body Politic (Ovation nom. Best Play & Best Ensemble), Kate Robin’s Anon, Adam Bock’s Thursday, Sarah Ruhl’s Melancholy Play, and the Ovation Award winning War Music by Bryan Davidson.  Other credits include the solo shows A Series of Comedic Lectures by John Lehr (Zipper Theatre, NY / Powerhouse, LA), Gorgeous! (Room 5), Tom Lenk's: Will You Be My Special Friend (Acme Comedy), and the premieres of Save Me From Sister (Hudson Backstage), Michael John LaChiusa's Fist Lady Suite (The Blank), and The Grave White Way (Lambs, NY / Hudson Backstage, LA). Additionally, Lauren is a founding partner of bass/casting, a bi-coastal feature film, tv, and theatrical casting company.

Andrew Palermo (Associate Director/Musical Staging)

is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder (with childhood best friend Taye Diggs) of dre.dance, an NYC based contemporary dance company. Since it’s premiere performance in 2005, dre.dance has earned a reputation for authentically poignant and powerful dancing with performances and residencies in New York City and across the country.After nearly two decades of professional performing experience including the original Broadway companies of Wicked and Annie Get Your Gun (revival), the closing Broadway company of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, national and international tours of West Side Story, and performances at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl, Second Stage and numerous regional theaters; Andrew now maintains a schedule of direction and choreography for stage and screen and is in consistent collaboration on a variety of projects in development.  A select list of theatrical direction and choreography credits include award-winning productions of Ace (The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theater of St. Louis), Two Gentlemen of Verona (University of Cincinnati/CCM), Hair and The Wild Party (Wichita State University) as well as Kristin Chenoweth at Carnegie Hall, Bright Lights, Big City (Prince Music Theater), Aida (Music Theater Wichita), Man of La Mancha (Sacramento Music Circus), Esther Demsack (SPF Festival at The Public Theater), among others. Palermo is also in in-demand instructor at all levels of the teaching spectrum.  Having provided instruction at many universities, including University of Michigan, University of Cincinnati/CCM, Oklahoma University and a host of others; Palermo’s unique ability to teach contemporary modern, musical theater, jazz, acting and audition techniques stretches across disciplines and provides institutions with a means to provide residencies reaching as many students as possible. 

 

Jennifer Rogers (Production Stage Manager)

Broadway: The Invention of Love; The Lion King; Hairspray. Off-Broadway: Menopause the Musical; Madagascar; Woody Guthrie’s American Song; Cotton Patch Gospel; The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show; The Passion of Frida Kahlo; A Movie Star Has to Star in Black & White; Talking Pictures; When Pigs Fly; Amphigorey; Mad Forest.  Carnegie Hall: Ira Gershwin at 100; Tip-Toes.  Television production: Lipstick Jungle; The Black Donnellys.  Production Stage Manager of Broadway Bares XIX: Click It! and Broadway Bares XX: Strip-opoly.  Graduate, NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Dane Laffrey (Set Consultant)

studied at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art and resided in Sydney through the end of 2006. By age 25 he had designed sets and costumes for Theatre, Film and Dance on 4 continents. Australian and other International credits through 2006 include: Plasticine (Australian Premiere), Big Love (Australian Premiere) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bones (Australian Premiere), Medea, Push Up 1-3 (Australian Premiere), Terrorism (Australian Premiere), Live Acts on Stage, Some Explicit Polaroids (Australian Premiere) for which he received a 2006 Sydney Theatre Awards nomination for Best Scenic Design, The Cold Child (Australian Premiere), and The Colour of Panic (World Premiere) at the Sydney Opera House and Det Åpne Teater in Oslo, Norway. New York City, US Regional and International credits from 2007 to 2010 include: Inner Voices: Solo Musicals (World Premiere) starring Heidi Blickenstaff and Judith Blazer for Premieres and Primary Stages, the critically acclaimed, site-specific revival of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band for The Transport Group, Michael John LaChuisa’s Giant (World Premiere) for Signature Theatre, Sixty Miles to Silver Lake (World Premiere) for SoHo Rep and P73, Martin Sherman’s adaptation of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (World Premiere) for Parco Productions in Tokyo, The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall (World Premiere) for Stage 13, Bad Jazz (US Premiere) for The Play Company, Noah Haidle’s Rag and Bone (NY Premiere) at Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre, David Yazbek: Evil Monkey Man for the Lincoln Center American Songbook Series, Inner Voices: Solo Musicals starring Victoria Clark and Barbara Walsh at the Zipper Factory and Reckless starring Vivienne Benesch for Chautauqua Theatre Company. Dane has also designed more than 25 dances for The Chase Brock Experience, with choreographer Chase Brock and collaborators including Michael John LaChiusa, Gabriel Kahane, Nellie McKay, David Yazbek and David & Joe Zellnik. Dane is the Associate Artistic Director of The Chase Brock Experience, is an advisory board member of Lincoln Center’s LCT3 and has lectured in scenic design in the US and Australia.

Meredith Benson (Costume Designer)

Meredith Benson is a costume designer currently based out of New York City. She has worked on Broadway and Off-Broadway in the wardrobe departments of: 'Debbie Does Dallas,', 'Monty Python's Spamalot,', Jude Law's 'Hamlet,' and currently, 'American Idiot.'

And she loves Elvis. A lot.

Bradley Clements (Lighting Designer)

Bradley's design work can currently be seen Off-Broadway at Power Balladz. Recent credits include Assistant Lighting Designer to Thomas Hase forCompany (Broadway), Lighting Designer for BASH'd (Off-Broadway), Sisters of Swing at the Surflight Theatre, Miracle on 34th St. at the John W. Engeman Theatre, The Hole at the Theatre of St. Clements, "Karaoke Idol" a New World Stages event, and for the newest rehearsal space in NYC, Simple Studios. He is a guest lighting designer and instructor for Nyack High School, The Pelham Children's Theatre, and the Virginia Governors School for the Arts. For more about Bradley or about Clements Lighting Design please visitwww.sculptingshadows.com. 

Ted Pallas (Sound Design)

The inspiration for the design of this play is Neil Diamond's heart-wrenching performance of "Dry Your Eyes," performed with The Band as part of "The Last Waltz" on Novermber 25, 1976. Ted is also a video designer. Last heard: "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!" (2010 Dallas Theatre Center, Asst. to Rob Kaplowitz), "We the People" (2010, Theatreworks, Assoc. to Mike Eisenberg), "Fela!" (2009, Intern to Rob Kaplowitz), "Hostages" (2010 Miscreant Theater) "Open the Dark Door" (NYMF 2009). Last seen: Projection Designs for Toulousse, San Sebastian, New York City, Philadelphia and Boston. Ted also makes music with the NY-based theater artist Jason Fleitz as part of his project All Tales Tell http://www.alltalestell.com

Jess Glover (Music Copyist and Supervision)

is a composer, copyist and musical director based in NYC. Hailing from London, England, Jess moved to New York to gain her MFA in Musical Theater Writing at Tisch/NYU where she served as student president of the graduate school 2009/10. She most recently worked as copyist on the Richard Rodgers Award reading of 'Cheer Wars' (Signature Theatre/Directors Company). Recent musical directing: "Defying Gravity: The Songs of Jake Brandman" (D-Lounge/NYTB), "All You Need Is Love" (The Heights Players, Brooklyn), "Well Noted Shorts" (Tada Theatre, NYC). Upcoming projects: a workshop at Vassar College of "The Tell-Tale Heart" (Words by James S. Yates), "Woyzeck" (Words by Mkhululi Mabija). Jess is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. www.jessglover.com