Elliot & Me Creative

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Co-Writer, Conceiver, and Producer
STEVEN S. WILLENSKY
Steven could often be spotted playing and singing at piano bars during his college days. However, after receiving an MBA from Northwestern, he spent the next 32 years as a corporate executive at GE, Medex, and American Greetings. During that time, Steven was advisor, confidant, and financial supporter to Elliot. Whenever in the same city, they would often perform duets of Elliot’s songs at clubs and bars. Steven also collaborated with Elliot by coming up with the title and writing several lyrics to “Some Things Never Change”. The brothers frequently talked about developing a 2 man show together. Steven would write the book and Elliot would supply the music. Elliot tragically passed away during the concept phase, but Steven moved forward with the dream and helped create and produce “Elliot and Me”. Steven currently serves on the boards of several start-up companies and non-profit organizations and is CEO of Woodstock Theater Group.
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Co-writer book
SCOTT COULTER
Scott Coulter, star of the Emmy-nominated "A Christmas Carol: The Concert" on PBS, is one of New York's most honored vocalists and an Emmy nominee himself for "American Song." He regularly performs with legendary artists including Stephen Schwartz, Tony-winner Ben Vereen and Grammy-winner Sheena Easton. Schwartz has said, "One of the greatest things that can happen to a composer is to have his music interpreted by Scott Coulter." He performs with symphonies all over the world and has created many touring concert events including "Music of the Knights,"”Blockbuster Broadway,""The Wonderful Music of Oz" and, with The ASCAP Foundation, "Jerry Herman: The Broadway Legacy Concert." Scott is director of original programming at Feinstein’s/54 Below and artistic director of the Pocono Mountains Music Festival. He's the owner/founder of Spot-On Entertainment (www.spot-onentertainment.com) and Spot-On Arts Academy and a proud graduate of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
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Music & Lyrics
ELLIOT WILLENSKY
Elliot was an American composer, lyricist and music producer. His compositions were recorded by superstars Tony Orlando and Dawn, The 5th Dimension, Chaka Kahn, Charlene, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Kim Fields, Syreeta Wright, Thelma Houston, and Jerry Butler. He had hit records with Michael Jackson: "Dear Michael", "We've Got Forever" and the #1 smash single, “Got to Be There”. His Whitney Houston/Jermaine Jackson duet of "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful" was released on three albums including Whitney’s Greatest Hits. People Magazine ranks it as one of the Top 10 Wedding Songs or the 90’s and was a recurring theme song on “As the World Turns”. Elliot composed the music for the Off-Broadway “Abby's Song”, as well as the “Beaver Creek Rendezvous” for Holland American Cruise Lines. Elliot wrote theme songs for the movies Mr. Atlas and The Karen Ann Quinlan Story, jingles for Hertz and Braniff Airlines, and was musical coordinator for the Tony Orlando Variety show on CBS.
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Director
Michael Bias
Directing credits: World Premieres of Dreaded Bliss by Michael Bias, Billie by Michael Bias and Gail Lou, Meester Amerika, The Legacy and Lost In History by Adam Siegel. Other directing credits include, Landscape of the Body, Ubu Roi, Spring Awakening, Table Manners, Trad, A Body of Water, The Bald Soprano, Billy Bishop Goes To War, Collected Stories, The Maids, Porcelain and Doubt. Acting credits include: Kenneth Lay in Enron!, Bernie Madoff in Imagining Madoff, Devlin in Harold Pinter’s Ashes to Ashes, Andrey in Brian Friel’s Afterplay and Jerry in Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story. Other writing credits include: the book for More Than A Soap Opera (music by Ray Davies of The Kinks), and Summer of Love. He has also created new translations/adaptations of August Strindberg’s Miss. Julie and Eugene Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano. He is currently working on a one person show, Friends. Mr. Bias is the Director of The Forge, the playwriting wing of Hudson Theatre Works.
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Musical Director
VICTORIA CASELLA
Victoria is an actor/singer, musical director/pianist and teacher. Most recently she was MD for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at Florida Repertory Theatre and MD / Arranger for "The Green Crow Caws" at the Irish Repertory Theatre, NYC. She was also recently awarded Broadway World Best Musical Direction for Regional Theater (Fort Myers/Naples, Florida) for her work on "Night and Day" at Florida Repertory Theatre. Other credits with FL REP are: MD “Tenderly:The Rosemary Clooney Musical", MD/ Creative Team for "Fascinatin' Gershwin" and MD for "Spelling Bee". Other MD credits: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "The Full Monty", "Romance Romance", "Altar Boyz" for Theatre Barn. Acting credits: Susanna in "Daredevil" (Netflix), Mrs. Aaronson in "The Gold" (NYMF), Marie (understudy) in "The Most Happy Fella" (Goodspeed). Most recent: Co-Writer with Michael Bias (book) and Musical Arranger for "The Circle Game" (spring PlayLab, FL REP).
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Musical Arranger
Michael Holland
Michael Holland was orchestrator/vocal arranger/recording co-producer for the Broadway revival of Godspell. In 2019 he served as Music Director/Orchestrator/Vocal Arranger for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s acclaimed production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. His original score for Clue: A New Comedy (Cleveland Playhouse, 2020) will be published by Broadway Licensing in 2021. As composer/lyricist, shows include Twelve Angry Men (Theatre Latté Da, Minneapolis; 2020 world premiere postponed until...?)
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Choreography
AMANDA WHITFORD GRUNDY
Amanda Whitford Grundy has acted and danced professionally in musicals such as Hello Dolly, 42nd Street, Guys and Dolls, Grease and West Side Story. She was a teaching artist with Disney Theatrical Group for 9 years where she taught Broadway content and served as assistant choreographer in the process of developing Disney KIDS titles. Amanda currently teaches theater and dance at ISAAC School and loves sharing the performing arts with young people.
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Casting Director
JUDY BOWMAN, CSA
JUDY BOWMAN, CSA has been casting theater, film, and television in NYC since 1993. UPCOMING: Falling, Rising Monster(short film), Las Meninas(Profile Theatre Co), & I’ll Be True(feature film). TV/FILM: Big Dogs season 1(Amazon), Dead Sound, Separation, Hurricane Bianca, No Alternative, Lost Cat Corona, Gold Star, Copenhagen. THEATER: Broadway & off-Broadway, incl. Nothing Gold Can Stay, Dutch Masters, A Bright New Boise, Sweet Storm, Killers & Other Family, & The Spirits of Exit 11(dir. Frank Licato) and several musicals. Extensive work with Humana Festival, Dorset Theatre Festival, Arizona Theatre Co, Woolly Mammoth, Cleveland Play House, Merrimack Rep, etc. Former adjunct w/Columbia University’s MFA film program & Harlem School of the Arts; recent workshops w/Montclair State University & Ohio University. Artios Award nominee for Best Webseries Casting, PT Barnum Award recipient. Board member Jewish Plays Project. www.judybowmancasting.com
Artistic Director, Producer
FRANK LICATO
Frank is the recipient of the 2018 Tanne Foundation Award for continued artistic excellence. Off-Broadway: Sprits of Exit Eleven, Lamppost Reunion, Centennial Casting, Requiem For A Heavyweight (Best Director, Off-Broadway Review), Seduced, Sounds of a Better World Concert and the Sexual Harassment Plays. Off-Off Broadway: Asylum, The Balcony, Tannhauser, Golden Boy, Rocket to the Moon, Fever (NY Fringe Festival, Audience Choice Award), White Noise, La Compagnie, Columbus in the Age of Gold, The Nest,, Action, The Tempest, Deep Dish, Ghosts of Newstead Vault. Regional: Macbeth, A Steady Rain, BASH, 3 Men, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Grapes of Wrath (Perry Award, Director), Good People, Best Man, The Late Christopher Bean, Imagining Madoff, Enigma Variations, Ashes to Ashes, Afterplay, Talk Radio, A View From the Bridge, Noises Off, The Shape of Things (Kennedy Center Finalist), Fat Pig, My Italy Story, The Engagement (LA), American Buffalo (Athens, Greece).
Producer
ADRIAN WATTENMAKER
Adrian is a member of The Actors Studio Playwrights / Directors Unit and a visiting instructor at Lafayette College. Theatre: Atlantic Theater Company (where he assistant directed the premiere of the Pulitzer Prize winning production of Between Riverside and Crazy), Second Stage, LAByrinth Theater Company, HB Playwrights Foundation, Theatre Row, Baltimore Theatre Project, and Center Stage. Film & Television: Law & Order, SNL, The Butcher and the Housewife, and Pinero. He has taught theatre at Brooklyn College, University of Nevada-Reno, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and School of Creative and Performing Arts (SOCAPA). Adrian served on the Drama Desk Nominating Committee (2012/2013) and participated in the Broadway Cast Recording of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.
Producer
GREGORY ERBACH
Gregory Erbach is a Co-Founder and Producing Director of Hudson Theatre Works. He has produced every Main Stage production since HTW's inception. Currently the Assistant Electrical Construction Boss at the Metropolitan Opera House, he has been an actor, stage manager, producer, carpenter, electrician and technical director for hundreds of productions at venues such as the American Place Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Weston Playhouse, The American Jewish Theatre, The John Houseman and The Equity Library Theatre. He was the technical director for John Leguizamo's first two Broadway Video productions Mambo Mouth and Spic-O-Rama for HBO. On stage at HTW, he was most recently seen as Paul Watson in The Body of an American, Pocky in Uncle Vanya, Scenes from a Jersey Life in Four Acts, Lennie Smalls in Of Mice And Men, and Joey in A Steady Rain, which was selected by the Star Ledger as one of the top 10 NJ theatre productions of 2016.
Stage Manager
DAWN D'ARRIGO
Dawn D’Arrigo has been a Professional Stage Manager for over 15 years. Recent credits include Hamlet, Body of An American, The Caretaker, Uncle Vanya, Macbeth, Bash and Of Mice and Men with Hudson Theatre Works, My Dead Wife at United Solofest, American Idiot and Rent with NJSDA’s Encore Theatre, The Field Trip (DUAF 2017), Ferry Limbo (DUAF 2016), and The Blizzard (winner of the Winter 2013 Strawberry One-Act Festival) by Chip Bolcik. Favorite shows include: One Way Ticket to Hell (World Premiere), My Italy Story, Fat Pig, The Advocate, and Guest Artist at 12 Miles West Theatre Company. She has also worked at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, and Alliance Theatre.
Projections, Videography, Editor
HARRISON STENGLE
Harrison is an independent theatrical as well as cinematic producer in the Philadelphia and New York regions. Before the great plague Harrison was organizing a tour for “A Literal Dollhouse” which is a modern interpretation of Ibsen Classic which focuses primarily on the controversy surrounding the children of the play. This production will tour throughout the east coast. He is also working on funding a WW1 feature film. Right now, Harrison is in the process of making a feature film based on the cult classic comic “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac” which sections of which will be featured in the Hudson Theatre Works digital festival.
Lighting Designer
JOSH HEMMO
Josh Hemmo is a NYC based lighting designer and is thrilled to be working with Hudson Theater Works again during these challenging times. Notable credits include: Revelation: The Musical (Off-Broadway), Humanity's Child (Off-Broadway), Drowsy Chaperone (Off-Broadway), Hamlet (Hudson Theatre Works), Cleopatra: A Pop Experience (Off-Off Broadway), Grease, Route 66 (Sierra Repertory Theatre), New Brain (FSU), Show Risque (Hard Rock Hotel Biloxi) jhemmolighting.com
Sound
ROB GORTON
Rob Gorton is an award winning sound designer with work heard on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and many regional theaters. He has worked for over 20 years as sound engineer and designer at the Metropolitan Opera. Broadway Credits include Play Memory and Arthur Kopit’s The End of the Word with Symposium to Follow, both directed by Hal Prince. Off-Broadway work ranges from the Public Theatre’s The Colored Museum (Audelco Award) and Manhattan Theatre Club’s Black Eagles (Audelco nominee), to Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly. Regional work includes the McCarter Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Longwharf Theatre, and the Yale Rep. Rob has been on faculty at the Yale School of Drama and Rutger’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. In addition to his sound design and engineering at the Met, Rob is delighted to be the broadcast engineer for the Opera Quiz., the longest running live quiz feature on radio.
Videography
DRUE PENNELLA & ERIK PAULSEN
Pure Motion Pictures is an award winning production company founded in 2012 by Ted Adlam Herod and Drue Pennella. Pure’s mission is to nurture stories and imbue them with the perfect balance of emotional pull and conceptual clarity. puremp.com/
Master Electrician
CONNOR GREENE
Connor Greene is an NYC based programmer/electrician. He has done electrician work Off-Off Broadway and Off-Broadway and has programmed regionally in AZ and UT.
Poster Design
SARAH CLAREHART
Sarah Clarehart, veteran graphic designer and photographer with many decades experience, has worked with HTW creating show graphics and programs for many shows including: A Steady Rain, Uncle Vanya, Macbeth, Caretaker, The Body of an American, and Elliot & Me. http://sarahclarehart.com.