29th Annual Festival of New Musicals

Zakiyyah Alexander‘s plays include: GIRL Shakes Loose (Penumbra Theatre 2017), Sick? (Summer Play Festival), The Etymology of Bird (Central Park Summerstage; Hip Hop Theater Festival; Providence Black Repertory Theatre), Blurring Shine (Market Theatre, Johannesburg; NY International Fringe Festival), Sweet Maladies (Brava Arts Center; Rucker Theatre; Bay Area Playwrights Festival), something new (commissioned by Philadelphia Theatre Company), and (900). A former resident of New Dramatists, her work has been developed at The O’Neill Musical Theater Conference, The MacDowell Colony, The Lark, etc. Past commissions: Second Stage, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, and the Children’s Theatre of Minneapolis. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama (MFA playwriting), Zakiyyah has taught television writing for Columbia’s MFA program, formerly an associate professor at Bard College. She is a co-founder of The Kilroys, and her work has been included on the 2015 Kilroys List. Currently, she is a story editor on the Fox show 24 Legacy.

Caitlin Marie Bell studied opera at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she received her BM in vocal performance. She then moved to NYC and reconnected with her Americana roots in the Greenwich Village singer-songwriter circuit. There, she found her musical soulmates, forming Bell the Band. This summer, Caitlin travelled the country supporting fellow NYC group MisterWives. The tour supported her debut EP. The five song set gained early support from Spotify, and was featured on the cover of the New Roots playlist, contributing to the 300,000+ plays and 35,000 monthly listeners. Caitlin also plays keyboards and sings back-up vocals on tour with pop band Handsome Ghost.

Marc Campbell is a member of indie rock band MisterWives, dubbed by MTV as “the golden children of pop.” They currently have over 250 million streams and counting on Spotify and their first single was certified gold. The band recently played a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden playing with Brendon Uri (Panic! at the Disco). Marc has made numerous television performances, including Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden, Seth Meyers, MTV, Good Morning America and The Today Show. The band has also received prominent billing in major U.S. music festivals including Bonnaroo, Firefly, Lalapalooza, Outside Lands, Bottle Rock and more.

Trey Coates-Mitchell – Directing credits: Sam’s Room at The Cell (New York Theatre Barn’s New Works Series).  Choreographer credits: The Pirates of Penzance and Hairspray at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Wonderful Town at The Gallery Players, Harold Pinter’s The Lover at Gamut Theatre, Goodnight Moon and Nine at Hollins University, and Product Test for Sideways Contemporary Dance Company. Associate Choreographer credits: A Little Night Music at The Gallery Players (NYIT Nominee for Outstanding Production of a Musical), Rent, Dreamgirls and Evita.  As an Acting for Dancers guest artist: Joffrey Ballet School, Project HEAL, Broadway Boot Camp, Troy University, and NYCDA’s Summer Dance Intensive.

David Darrow is a Brooklyn and Twin Cities-based actor, composer, and playwright. He has performed Off-Broadway and around the country at American Conservatory Theater, The Guthrie, Baltimore Center Stage, Theatre Latte Da, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Florida Repertory Theater, Project Y Theater (Innovative Theater Award: Best Featured Actor), and others. David has also written and co-written several musicals (The Passage, Jonah and the Whale, The Great Work, The Boy and Robin Hood) which have been produced or developed at The NAMT Festival, Apples and Oranges, Village Theater, Greater Boston Stage Company, Trademark Theater, and 7th House Theater. David has held artist residencies at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Everwood Farmstead and he is a graduate of Albright College.

Colleen Dauncey is a composer/singer-songwriter who has collaborated with lyricist Akiva Romer-Segal on several musicals, including Going Under, Bremen Rock City, Rumspringa Break!, and Prom Queen: The Musical (recipient of the 2016 Stage West Pechet Family Musical Award). Colleen & Akiva are alumni of Theatre 20’s Composium, Acting Up Stage’s Noteworthy program, the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project at Northwestern University, and the Canadian Music Theatre Project at Sheridan College. Their standalone songs have also been performed internationally in Cutting Edge Composers (NYC), Blame Canada (NYC, London, Canada), and more. Colleen writes and performs in several music groups, more at colleendauncey.com.

Oran Eldor: Composer: Persephone, Damascus Square, Sex Today, Love Tomorrow, Sesame Street (Israel), Peg + Cat (PBS). Orchestrations/arrangements: Fiddler on the Roof (Broadway revival, Dance Arrangements), Anastasia (Cast Album, additional orchestrations), John Legend, Andrea Bocelli, Kristin Chenoweth, Hugh Jackman, Deborah Voigt, Disney Parks, New York Philharmonic, L.A Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, The New York Pops, …Duddy Kravitz, The Great American Mousical, My Life is a Musical, Alan Menken. Education: BMI Workshop, Berklee College of Music.

Anoushka Lucas is a singer/songwriter and actress based in London. Since graduating from Oxford, she has released two self-produced EPs of her own jazz compositions. In 2013 she won the Jazz FM Love Supreme Competition and opened the inaugural Love Supreme Festival. She is currently completing an album due for release in 2017, supported by Jamie Cullum at Radio 2 and produced by Martin Terefe at Kensaltown Studios. She has co-composed the music for two original musicals written by Ché Walker, Klook’s Last Stand (Park Theatre, 2014) and The Etienne Sisters (Theatre Royal Stratford East, 2015), as well as playing in the band of Ché Walker and Arthur Darvill’s Lightning Child at The Globe in 2013.  In 2016 she played Mary Magdalene in the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

The godfather of the Neo-Soul movement- learned his craft classically growing up in London, playing trumpet, piano, bass guitar, and percussion. His album, There’s Nothing Like This, established Omar as a stand out artist with the title song hitting the charts, and so began a musical chain of events that has remained unabated. Soon after Omar signed to RCA notching up acres of critical acclaim. He worked alongside the legendary former Motown producers Leon Ware and Lamont Dozier creating his album, For Pleasure. His newest album Love in Beats is Omar’s eighth studio album. Omar made weekly appearances on BBC Television in Javon Prince’s comedy show and has toured the world. He has worked with and been admired by many artists including Erykah Badu, Estelle, and Stevie Wonder. After studying at the Identity Drama School in 2009, Omar made his acting debut in Ché Walker’s musical, Been So Long.

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb 6’6”, is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom, The Totalitarians, Hunter Gatherers, BOB, and A House Tour of the Infamous Porter Family Mansion with Tour Guide Weston Ludlow Londonderry.  His work has been produced worldwide including at Ars Nova, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Woolly Mammoth, Seattle Rep and many others.  His first collaboration with Niko was in 2010, on songs for Litter: The True Story of the Framingham Dodecutuplets, a commission for A.C.T.. He is a recent alumni of New Dramatists and is the Mellon Playwright-in-Residence at Z Space in San Francisco. He likes to promote himself online at http://www.peternachtrieb.com.

Akiva Romer-Segal and collaborator Colleen Dauncey have written the scores to Prom Queen, Bremen Rock City, Going Under, Scenes from the Bathhouse, Offline, and Rumspringa Break! as well as songs for cabaret performers, recording artists, and Broadway stars. Akiva was selected to participate in William Finn’s masterclass, Sheridan College’s Canadian Music Theatre Project, Theatre 20’s Composium, Acting Up Stage’s Noteworthy, The Cutting-Edge Composers series in NYC and the Johnny Mercer American Songwriters Project in Chicago. Akiva and his collaborators were recipients of the Playwright’s Guild of Canada’s New Musical Award for Prom Queen. Find out more at colleenandakiva.com.

Dale Sampson is a Grand National Champion in public speaking. Dale is the creator and star of his first written work, Sam’s Room, the 2017 inaugural recipient of New York Theatre Barn’s IMPACT Award. National Tour: Seussical (Cat In the Hat), NYC productions: Rent (Mark), Evita (Che), Propaganda! The Musical (Rookie [lead]) at NYMF and workshop at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Kingdom Come (Freddy/Michael) winner: Best Musical at DUTF, Best Imitation at FestivALL, Emerging Artists, and Midtown International Theatre Festival, Regional: The View UpStairs regional premiere (Wes), The Last Five Years (Jamie), Cinderella with the American Pops Orchestra (Fairy Godmother/King/Step Sister).

Sonia Sanchez. Poet. Mother. Professor. National and international lecturer on Black Culture and Literature, Women’s Liberation, Peace and Racial Justice. Sponsor of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Board Member of MADRE. Sonia Sanchez is the author of over 16 books including Homecoming, We a BaddDDD People, Love Poems, I’ve Been a Woman, A Sound Investment and Other Stories, Homegirls and Handgrenades, Under a Soprano Sky, Wounded in the House of a Friend (Beacon Press, 1995), Does Your House Have Lions? (Beacon Press, 1997), Like the Singing Coming off the Drums (Beacon Press, 1998), Shake Loose My Skin (Beacon Press, 1999), and most recently, Morning Haiku (Beacon Press, 2010). She is the subject of the 2016 PBS featured documentary BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez.

Kent Staines has been working in the Canadian entertainment industry for 25 years as an actor, director and writer. He wrote the libretto for Prom Queen (The Louder We Get) Lyrics: Akiva Romer Segal / Music: Colleen Dauncey which received its world premiere production at the Segal Centre in Montreal in November of 2016. It was since featured at NAMT in New York, presented at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Other Palace in Britain and has most recently enjoyed a second celebrated production at Theatre Calgary, which received six Broadway.com awards for the decade, including best script.
Kent’s screenwriting credits include Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story (Screen Door / CTV), MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives (CBC series co-created with Mary Young Leckie), Chateau Laurier (Seasons 1 and 2), co-written with Emily Weedon (Geneva Film Co/BravoFact) and the feature film Anxietyville (Xenophile Media).

MARCUS STEVENS (Book & Lyrics) is a member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. He has written the book and lyrics to MYTHIC (AKA PERSEPHONE, 2017 NAMT Festival Winner), RED (Richard Rodgers Award), EASTBURN AVENUE and YO, VIKINGS! (published by Samuel French, Inc). He recently contributed material to DRAGONS LOVE TACOS AND OTHER STORIES for Theaterworks USA. Marcus is also an actor who was seen Off-Broadway in two editions of FORBIDDEN BROADWAY.

Musicals: Into the Wild (development: Encore Musical Theatre Company, Goodspeed, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Perseverance Theatre), Fall Springs (world premiere: Barrington Stage Company [BSC]; NAMT Festival of New Musicals; workshops: New Dramatists, Ars Nova, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), Pool Boy (Pittsburgh CLO Spark Festival, Provincetown Playhouse, world premiere: BSC), Driving West (Ars Nova Uncharted Series). Concerts/cabarets (The Niko Songbook, and others) include: Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, Birdland, Ars Nova, Zipper Factor, BSC, Lincoln Center. Plays with songs: Litter (American Conservatory Theatre). Anthologies: Duck for President and Other Stories (TheatreWorks USA), Shakespeare in Mind (Dramatic Publishing), Songs byĶ (with William Finn). Awards: NAMT Writers Grant, Sundance Institute Composer Fellow, Jonathan Larson Grant and Kleban Prize in Musical Theatre Finalist, Ars Nova AntFest, ASCAP Plus Award, Vineyard Arts Project, Playwrights Center Writing Grant, Tisch MFA Scholarship, UCLA Barry Manilow Scholarship. Film score: Rock, Paper, Scissors (Alliance Films). Album: The First Snow.

Composer and vocalist Imani Uzuri was a 2015-2016 Park Avenue Armory Artist-in-Residence. She has performed at a myriad of international venues and festivals and has collaborated with a cross section of noted artists traversing many artistic disciplines. Her most recent album, The Gypsy Diaries, draws on her rural North Carolina roots. The Village Voice says, “Imani Uzuri is a constant surprise…seamlessly combining jazz, classical, country and blues motifs into highly personalized compositions.” Uzuri is a 2015-2017 Map Fund Grantee as composer for her contemporary opera Hush Arbor. She is currently composing a new full length musical Girl Shakes Loose with playwright Zakiyyah Alexander featuring the poetry of Sonia Sanchez. Uzuri is currently a 2016-17 Jerome Foundation Composer/Sound Artist Fellow. She recently made her Lincoln Center American Songbook debut and appeared as a featured performer on Black Girls Rock. Recent theater credits, Public Theater: composer for Public Works Troy and Mobile Unit’s Hamlet.

Ché Walker’s writing includes Been So Long- featuring Sophie Okonedo (1998). In 2008. Ché made theatrical history with ‘Frontline’, the first contemporary-set new play performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. His musical adaptation of ‘Been So Long’ premiered at the Young Vic and has just been adapted into a feature film. ‘The 8th’ in collaboration with UK rockstar Paul heaton toured the country, starring HBO star Reg E Cathey. ‘The Lightning Child’ (2013) made history as the first musical at Shakespeare’s Globe. ‘Klook’s Last Stand’ premiered at Park Theatre in 2014 and ‘The Etienne Sisters’ played Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2015. The movie adaptation of ‘Been So Long’ is on Netflix. Ché currently has three screenplays in development.

Daniel Zaitchik is a composer-playwright, singer-songwriter, actor, and pianist.  His projects include Picnic at Hanging Rock (book/music/lyrics), Darling Grenadine (book/music/lyrics), Ula (book/music/lyrics) and Suprema (with playwright Jordan Harrison).  Zaitchik’s musicals have been selected three times for development at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Music Theater Conference.  His work has also been developed at Lincoln Center Theater, Ars Nova, New Dramatists, The Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, and Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals.  Darling Grenadine premiered at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre in August 2017.  As a singer-songwriter, Zaitchik’s recording projects include Summer of the Soda Fountain Girls and Bad Dancer.  As an actor, he has worked at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage, Long Wharf Theatre and others.  Honors include the 2017 Kleban Prize for most promising musical theatre lyricist, the Ester B. Kahn Career Entry Award from Boston University, the Frederick Loewe Award from New Dramatists (for Suprema) and the Georgia Bogarduz Holof Lyricist Award (for Picnic at Hanging Rock).