11th Annual Festival of New Musicals

Winner: Richard Rodgers Award, the Jonathan Larson Award, and the Edgerton Award as composer/co-lyricist of “The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea,” presented in the NAMT Festival. World-premiered: San Diego Rep, Fall, 2008, starring Tony-winner Lillias White. Alabama Shakespeare Festival commissioned his original score for “Twelfth Night.” Currently working on a new film written/directed by Warren Beatty. Recording credits: Rod Stewart’s “Great American Songbook” series, and Carly Simon’s “Moonlight Serenade.” Live performances: Stevie Wonder, LeAnn Rimes, Carole King, Stephanie Mills, David Foster, David Hyde Pierce, Andrea Bocelli. Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 with the New York Pops Orchestra for his work, “My Only Son.” Commissions/original works performed by the Ravinia Festival, Atlanta Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Cincinnati Pops. Film/TV credits: “Glee,” “Frasier,” “Murphy Brown,” “The Wonder Years,” “Charmed”, ÄúBest ScoreÄù-2006 Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Toronto’s 2006 ReelHeART International Film Festival for the feature, “Le Chase.”

Nick Corley (writer, director, actor) Co-wrote and directed the award winning Woody Sez – The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie which over the past 17 years has and continues to play all over the world. Other writing includes A Young Lady Of Fashion (co-author/director), Eliot Ness…In Cleveland (additional material/director), The Life and Adventures of Davy Crockett (additional material/director), A 90 min. high school adaptation of Mother Courage approved by the Brecht Estate, and more. As Director, his NY productions include Flight (Callaway Directing Nom.), About Face (NYMF Best Director Nom.), Tim and Scrooge, Mother Russia (Carnegie Hall) and Associate Director on Burn This (Bway revival), Plaza Suite (pre-Bway revival), Is There Still Sex In The City (off-Bway), and God Bless You Mr. Rosewater (Encores). Other directing credits include major theaters across the country. Acting: 6 Bway shows, off-Broadway, regional, film, recordings, and television. NAMT alum.

Anthony has worked professionally as a lyricist and book-writer for almost 40 years with composer George Stiles. His most well-known shows are Honk! and the new songs and additional lyrics for both Mary Poppins and Half A Sixpence. Other work with Stiles includes Betty Blue Eyes, Just So, The Wind in the Willows, Travels With My Aunt, Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, Soho Cinders, The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and Soapdish. More recent work includes Becoming Nancy and Identical. Independently of Stiles, Drewe has also written lyrics for A Twist Of Fate and The Card. He completed the book for a version of the Frank Loesser musical, Where’s Charley? as well as a revised book for Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure.

Directing work includes Snoopy, The Thing About Men, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Honk! and Just So.

Writer, Mark began acting at Northwestern University with Chicago’s Second City, professional debut with Ozzie & Harriet & in inaugural season of Saturday Night Live.

PLAYS:
FULL GALLOP about fashion icon, Diana Vreeland. Year-long run in NYC, then London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Australia, Belgium, Sweden & South Africa.
PAPER DOLL Marlo Thomas, The life of Valley of the Dolls author, Jacqueline Susann
THE SECRET LETTERS OF JACKIE & MARILYN, THE BOSWELL SISTERS
JOSEPHINE: the life of Josephine Baker with Ellen Weston, Premiered at Asolo Theatre, Sarasota

AWAITING PRODUCTION:
CRACKPOT -Original screenplay written with Jeannie Berlin slated to star Dakota Johnson, Director: Elaine May
DE$PERATE – Screenplay of Doris Dorrie short story Commissioned by Marlo Thomas
THE GODFATHER’S DAUGHTER – autobiography Rita Gigante, daughter Mafia don, Vincent Äúthe ChinÄù Gigante.
Producer: Julian Schlossberg.
Currently:
Autobiography of Nancy Wexler, discovery of the Huntington’s disease gene & human trials for gene therapy. Publisher: Harper Collins.

LEON KO received a Master’s degree in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University. His musical HEADING EAST, with book and lyrics by Robert Lee, won a Richard Rodgers Development Award in the US. For his Cantonese musicals, including THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN, FIELD OF DREAMS and THE PASSAGE BEYOND, he won eight awards for music at the Hong Kong Theatre Awards. His music in the film PERHAPS LOVE garnered a Golden Horse Award in Taiwan and a Hong Kong Film Award. He won Best Original Song at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards for the title song in the movie THE LAST TYCOON. He was nominated for Best Original Score again in 2008 for his work in the movie WARLORDS. Other film scores include MR. CINEMA, THE GREAT MAGICIAN, DEAREST and MONSTER HUNT.

Robert Lee is a lyricist and librettist whose musicals with composer Leon Ko include HEADING EAST, CHINESE HELL and an adaptation of Jean Kerr’s PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES, developed with East of Doheny and La Jolla Playhouse. Their original musical TAKEAWAY opened at London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East and is the first major musical production in the UK to deal with the British East Asian experience. Most recently, he created ALICE CHAN, a play for young audiences written with BD Wong for La Jolla Playhouse, and songs with Ko for the Chinese film LOVE IS A BROADWAY HIT. Robert is an alumnus and faculty member at the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is a visiting professor at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts and the Musical Theatre Advisor for Leviathan Lab in NYC.

On Broadway, Rob composed the score for Carol Burnett’s autobiographical play, HOLLYWOOD ARMS (directed by Harold Prince.)
Rob’s Off-Broadway musicals are FLIGHT OF THE LAWNCHAIR MAN, OPAL, and HONKY-TONK HIGHWAY.
Regionally, his musicals include ELIOT NESS (directed by David Esbjornson) and FLIGHT OF THE LAWNCHAIR MAN (3HREE), (directed by Harold Prince) which played in Denver, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.
He composed the dance and instrumental arrangements for Stephen Sondheim’s musical BOUNCE which premiered at the Kennedy Center and the Goodman Theatre, all directed by Harold Prince
Rob is the recipient of the Richard Rodgers Award, the AT&T Award, and the Gilman Gonzalez-Falla Award given at Lincoln Center.
He has also collaborated with Arthur Miller, Joss Whedon and written five projects for Disney Feature Animation.
A Robert Lindsey-Nassif Songbook was performed at Lincoln Center in 2016.
His work is published by Samuel French, Inc., Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and Hal Leonard.

Richard Oberacker is the conductor for Cirque Du Soleil’s ÄúKAÄù. As a composer and co author, he has collaborated with Robert Taylor on the Broadway musical Bandstand, which won director/choreographer Andy Blankenbeulher (Hamilton) his third TONY Award for Best Choreography. Their new musical Bruce premiered at the Seattle Repertory Theater while another new musical, Angel of Arkansas is in development with director/choreographer Susan Stroman. Oberacker & Taylor’s darkly comic musical The Sandman had its American premiere at the Majestic Repertory Theatre after its European premiere in Denmark’s Fredericia Theatre. Other original musicals include Ace at the Old Globe Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse and the Signature Theater, Journey to the West at the New York Musical Theater Festival and The Parenting Project at The Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati. Mr. Oberacker composed the score to a musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby which premiered in Tokyo, Japan before a Japanese National Tour.

With lyricist Anthony Drewe: Cameron Mackintosh/Disney’s stage production of MARY POPPINS; HONK! (Olivier Award for Best New Musical, NAMT Festival 1999); HALF A SIXPENCE; THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS; TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT; SOHO CINDERS (NAMT Festival 2016); BETTY BLUE EYES; PETER PAN Äì A MUSICAL ADVENTURE; JUST SO and their trilogy THE THREE LITTLE PIGS (NAMT Festival 2013), GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS and THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF.
In development: SOAPDISH; BECOMING NANCY.
With lyricist Paul Leigh: MOLL FLANDERS, THE THREE MUSKETEERS (NAMT Festival 1999), and TOM JONES.