A Letter To Harvey Milk  (2012)

Michael Bartoli has appeared Off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back, as well as King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for ShakespeareNYC.  Paper Mill Playhouse/National Tour:  Joseph/Dreamcoat with Patrick Cassidy and Deborah Gibson.  Regional & Stock: As You Like It, Present Laughter,1940s Radio Hour, Going Hollywood, Annie and many others.  Michael has a BFA in Musical Theatre & MFA Classical Acting, Academy for Classical Acting at GWU.

9 Broadway shows, “Phantom of the Opera” , “Candide”, “Fiddler On The Roof”, “The Roast”, “The 1940’s Radio Hour”, “Sunday In The Park With George, “One Night Stand”, “Dance A Little Closer”, “A Christmas Carol”. Off Broadway, “Charlotte Sweet”, “Personals”.  Concerts with symphony orchestras.  Concerts in Brazil. Drama Desk Nomination. San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award.  Soap Operas. Lots of other stuff That would put me over my 75 word limit.

Broadway- 2010 Tony Winning La Cage Aux Folles, The Women (Roundabout); Laughing Room Only. Off Broadway- Being Audrey; First Lady Suite; Requiem for William (Transport Group); 27 Rue de Fleurus ; I Love You, You’re Perfect; Game Show;The Immigrant. National tours - Grand Night for Singing; Les Miz; Evita; Fiddler.  Regional – Into The Woods ( Baltimore Center Stage/ Westport Playhouse) Candide (2012 IRNE Award, Huntington Theatre, Mary Zimmerman; director); Falsettos (Barrington Stage.) Light Up The Sky (Seattle Rep); The Times (Long Wharf); Sisters Rosensweig (Geva/ Studio Arena); Lost in Yonkers (Tennessee Rep); No Way To Treat a Lady (HartfordTheatreworks). TV-Many Soaps,L&O-CI; Sondheim…at Carnegie Hall.  Also a Drama Desk-nominated and Jonathan Larson Award-winning lyricist.

Broadway: Sondheim on Sondheim, A Catered Affair (Drama Desk Nomination), Legally Blonde (Clarence Derwent Award) and Hairspray. Off-Broadway/regional: Rooms: A Rock Romance (Outer Critics Circle nomination), On The Town (Encores!), The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Drama Desk nomination), Bat Boy, Godspell, Every Tongue Confess (Arena Stage), Guys and Dolls (Barrington Stage), the world premiere of POP! (Yale Rep), Broadway: Three Generations (Kennedy Center), Cabaret, Born Yesterday, Urinetown (National Tour), Evita, and Funny Girl. Film: 17 Photos of Isabel. TV: 3 LBS (CBS) Law and Order SVU, Jason and Jessica (HBO). Solo: Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches (Time Out New York Award) and Beautiful Disaster.

Ravi Roth is stoked to join the ALTHM family. Ravi's New York credits include Abraham in Altar Boyz, his solo show Moments with Ravi: Tales of a Misfit, BARE (reading), and the NYMF show My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding.Regional credits include Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the tour of Seussical, and the Boston Premiere of EDGES. BFA The Boston Conservatory. Soloist with The Boston Pops. Love to my family, J-Rod, my boco peeps, MCS, and The Katz Company!  www.RaviRoth.com 

Neither German, nor Jewish. Enjoys sauerkraut and brisket.  Selected credits: All I Ask of You (Surflight / North Shore); Jekyll/Hyde in Jekyll & Hyde (Forestburgh Playhouse); Bill Sykes inOliver!(Gallery Players); Jack Worthing in Earnest in Love(Barnstormers); Ravenal in Show Boat (Media Theatre, w/ Tony-nom Phillip Boykin); Philippe/cover Phantom in Yeston’s Phantom (Westchester Broadway Theatre, w/ Tony-nom Robert Cuccioli). Check him out at MichaelPadgett.net! “Much love for Kristin, David, and my St. Monica family!”

Off Broadway:  Illyria (Maria).  FringeNYC:  Dancing in the Garden (Maria).  Selected Regional:  Alabama Shakespeare Festival:  In the Book Of (Anisah, world premiere);  Public Theatre ME:  Beau Jest (Sarah);  Mountain Playhouse:  Twelfth Night (Olivia);  Prospect Theatre Company:  A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia);  Worcester Foothills:  Evita (Eva), Sisters of Swing (Patty);  New Repertory Theatre:  Lippa's Wild Party (Kate, Best Supporting Actress IRNE Award);  Speakeasy Stage:  Caroline or Change (Rose);  Gloucester Stage:  A Grand Night for Singing (Vicki);  Lyric Stage:  Meshuggah-Nuns!(Sister Amnesia);  Totem Pole Playhouse:  I Love You, You're Perfect...(Woman 2);  Stoneham Theatre:  Tommy (The Acid Queen), Cole Porter's You Never Know (Maria).  Sarah is a graduate of Princeton University and of the Shakespeare & Company Conservatory for Classical Acting.  

Lyricist of A Letter To Harvey Milk (2012 Richard Rodgers Award finalist), Ellen was the winner (with Bonnie Sanders) of the Quest For New Musicals for her work as lyricist, composer and librettist of Come Up ‘N See Me. The award was sponsored by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Richard Stilgoe. Her musical The Trapped Family Singers (lyrics and book with David Strickland (composer and book) was a featured award-winning musical in the New York Fringe Festival.

Ellen wrote lyrics for Miami Beach Monsters with composer David Strickland presented at Theater Under The Stars and The Triad Theater. She wrote lyrics for Home For The Holidays (with D. Strickland as composer) presented at the Pasadena Playhouse. Ellen (with Bonnie Sanders) wrote the original Care Bears books and records. Her music and lyrics were featured in the movie Rappin’ (with B. Sanders) for the single “First Love Never Dies” (released by Atlantic Records) and the movie Never Again “You Can Go” with B. Sanders, produced by Eric Shaeffer.

She attended NYU’s film school, The Juilliard School of Music and is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. She has currently completed a new musical, Tangled Webs, with composer Skip Kennon and Bill Connington (book), based on the story "WebCast" by Fred Landau.

Her songs have been recorded by Ann Hampton Calloway, Luiz Simas, Sharon McNight, Barbara Carroll, Leslie Kritzer and many others.

Composer of A Letter To Harvey Milk (2012 Richard Rodgers Award finalist), Laura collaborated with lyricist Mitchell Bernard on the original musical, As The Years Go By; wrote the music for A Slice of Life; and composed the music for an adaption of the movie The Lady Eve while in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Her art song “Armgart,” was recorded by mezzo-soprano Lori Brown Mirabal, and her choral composition Woman’s Sphere was a finalist in the Denver Women’s Chorus Choral Music Competition. It has been performed by choruses in the U.S. and Canada. Her songs for musical theatre have been recorded by Donna Lynne Champlin, Cheryl Stern, Jeff Keller, Bradley Dean, and Leslie Kritzer.

She has an MA in Music Theory and Composition from Montclair State University and a BS in Music from Skidmore College, where she received the Herman Josephs Muller Prize in Music.

Laura received a commission from Skidmore in 1993 to write a commemorative choral piece, A Musical Instrument. She has studied choral composition with renowned composer Alice Parker, conducted a women’s chorus and managed a contemporary music series. She is a member of Dramatists Guild and ASCAP.

Bookwriter of A Letter To Harvey Milk (2012 Richard Rodgers Award finalist), Jerry has been getting paid for his work in the theatre since 1965, in 46 of the 48 contiguous states

His plays Virgins & Dynamos, Sea Change, ¿Hasta Cuando?, Spirit of the Dream, The Once and Future Web and Changing the Face of Medicine (author); and Isadora: American Legend, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Rege & Marge, Commie Lesbos from Outer Space and the musical Pas de Trois (co-author) have been variously produced in New York City, Toronto, Munich, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Boca Raton, Washington and on tour in Great Britain.

Jerry is also a writer of short fiction, his stories having been awarded prizes in San Diego, Chicago and Ireland. “…She Wears Red Feathers,” won first prize in the Spring 2006 Coffee House Fiction contest.

He was production stage manager of the Off Broadway phenomenon Forbidden Broadway for ten years and dramaturg at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy for five.

A Vietnam-Era veteran, Jerry holds degrees from West Virginia and Penn State; is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Actors' Equity Association; and is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Lesléa (pronounced "Lez-LEE-uh") Newman is the author of more than sixty books for readers of all ages including the short story collection A Letter to Harvey Milk, the teen novel Jailbait, the poetry collection Still Life with Buddy, the middle-grade novel Hachiko Waits and the children's books Donovan’s Big Day, The Boy Who Cried  Fabulous and  Heather Has Two Mommies. Her literary awards include poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Foundation, a Parents' Choice Silver Medal, the James Baldwin Award for Cultural Achievement, and a Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund fiction-writing grant. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award Finalists. The short story "A Letter to Harvey Milk" placed second in the 1987 Raymond Carver short story competition (under the title "Something to Pass the Time"), was made into a short film entitled "Harry Weinberg's Notebook" (produced and directed by Yariv Kohn), was produced in Canada as a teleplay by Sleeping Giants Productions (for which it won a Gemini Award for Best Short Dramatic Program), and read on the radio by Carl Reiner as part of the KCRW-FM series hosted by Leonard Nimoy entitled, "Jewish Stories from the Old World to the New." Ms. Newman, a past poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts, is currently a faculty member of Spalding University's brief-residency MFA in Writing program. Her newest book, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard which explores the impact of Matthew Shepard's murder upon the world in a cycle of 68 poems, will be published by Candlewick Press in September 2012.

For more information:   http://lesleanewman.com/

DAVID SCHECHTER (Director) David's work as a director and/or writer includes: Hannah Senesh (Off-Broadway Drama Desk Award Nomination); Almost September (written with Steven Lutvak - Eight Bay Area Critic Circle Awards and Seven Drama-Logue Awards, both including Best Director);The Jungle Book (written with Barry Keating) at Broadway's New Victory Theatre.

He shared the Obie Award as one of the creators of Nightclub Cantata, conceived by Elizabeth Swados. Other original musicals and plays as director and/or co-writer include Esmeralda (written with Steven Lutvak with a National Endowment Opera/Musical Theater grant, premiered at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); A Talmud Tale (written with Ned Ginsburg, recently published by Ben Yehuda Press); Brechtspiel (commissioned by Lucille Lortel);  The Slick of '76: A Musical Catastrophe!; Rivers; The Wind In The Willows; Guarding The Garden; Alice Without; Pagagnini; The Seabirds Of Isabella.

He adapted and directed Isaac Bashevis Singer's short stories Gimpel The Fool and From The Diary Of One Not Born at La Mama, ETC. (both pieces were honored by the Nobel Laureate's personal endorsement.) He has co-written and/or directed eight musicals for young audiences commissioned and produced by TheatreworksUSA and Making Books Sing (The Jungle Book, Sundiata:The Lion King of Mali, Peter Pan, Just So Stories, Birdwoman: The Story of Sacagawea, The Upside Down Boy, The Orphan Singer, The Butterfly). He was Artist-in-Residence at Roots And Branches Inter-generational Theatre for ten years, each year creating an original musical theatre piece with the company.

In addition to A Letter To Harvey Milk, his current musical projects include East Towards Home (written by Billy Yalowitz) Soul Doctor (co-conceived with Danny Wise, lyricist, directed the New York premiere) and his own one man show, SEEN. Regional directing credits include: Angels In America, The Three Sisters, Marvin's Room, Our Country's Good, The Miser, Candida, Antigone, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Little Night Music, the American premiere of Uto Zimmerman's opera, The White Rose and Double Crossed: The Saga Of The St. Louis (written by David Gonzalez) at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

As a screenwriter, he co-wrote Steve Buscemi's film Interview (starring Buscemi and Sienna Miller, 2007 Independent Spirit Award Nomination) and Stanley Tucci's film Blind Date (starring Tucci and Patricia Clarkson).

David's acting credits include featured roles on Broadway in the original cast of Liz Swados' Runaways (which received five Tony Award Nominations), The Haggadah at Joseph Papp's Public Theater (created by Swados and Julie Taymor) and in the Broadway revival of Threepenny Opera starring Sting. He played the title role in the musical Groundhog at the Manhattan Theatre Club. His TV appearances include roles in Law and Order and Julie Taymor's Gift Of The Magi on Nickelodeon. David is about to direct his first documentary feature film, A Brutal Beauty. He has lead numerous workshops on Spirituality and Sexuality for the LGBT community.

Ned Paul Ginsburg has been a contributing orchestrator to BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (on Broadway), ALADDIN (Disney), LIZA AT THE PALACE, MINNELLI ON MINNELLI, WONDER PETS, THE ACADEMY AWARDS SHOW, RADIO CITY EASTER SHOW, NIGHT OF 1000 STARS, NEW YORK POPS AT CARNEGIE HALL, INSIDE OUT, and to several Warner Bros. films, included the Oscar-nominated MICHAEL COLLINS.  He orchestrated SAMMY for The Old Globe Theater, CASPER for Pittsburgh CLO, and PAPER MOON for Goodspeed/Ford's Theater/Walnut Street. He has worked for or with such composers as Alan Menken, Elliot Goldenthal, Bobby Lopez, Michael-John LaChiusa, Larry Grossman, Jerry Bock, and Jason Robert Brown, and for the entertainers Bernadette Peters, Diahann Carroll, Liza Minnelli, Elaine Stritch, Chita Rivera, Kathie Lee Gifford, Tony Danza, Faith Prince, Pia Zadora, and many, many others. From 1993-2000 he produced and arranged the highly acclaimed cd series “The Broadway Kids”, showcasing young performers singing classic and modern musical theater songs.

Michael is thrilled to be joining the team for the NYMTF production. He has been teaching dance at CAP21Conservatory for over a decade, and at NYU's Graduate Acting Department since 2008. Choreography credits include: On the Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Rent, Jimi and Mr. B, The Prince of Grand Street, Starmites: Millenium Edition, Charlie Brown and The Pajama Game. He choreographs the children's DVD programming for Oorah! including Fiveish and Friends and two editions of the Mashall Man. Michael also had the pleasure of working with the Dancing Rabbis for the nationally televised Chabad Telethon.

Todd Edward Ivins tells stories through design. He designs scenery, projections, and costumes, and his work ranges from intimate events to arenas in opera, ballet, plays, musicals, corporate events and newsrooms. Love and gratitude to my wife & muse, Abigail Trueblood. Todd’s online portfolio can be seen at  www.ivinsart.com.

Lisa Dozier King has general managed fifty productions in the New York area as well as hundreds of special events. Current Off Broadway: Bronte, Sistas: the Musical. Recent credits: Milk, Diary of a Teenage Girl, The Duchess of Malfi, How to be a Good Italian Daughter, F#@king Up Everything. Lisa has general managed close to twenty productions at the National York Musical Theatre Festival and often collaborates with One Healing Arts, New Georges, New Feet Productions and 3LD Art & Technology Center. She has been on staff at Symphony Space, Manhattan Theatre Club, New 42 and the American Repertory Theatre. 2012 marks Lisa's fifth year as the General Manager for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals. Love to GK and MK.  www.lisadozierproductions.com