Creative Team

MICHAEL BELLO (Co-Conceiver/Director) is a director of musical theater who most recently served as the resident Assistant Director on Broadway's Summer: The Donna Summer Musical directed by Des McAnuff. He has directed new musicals across the country including We Are The Tigers recent off-Broadway production at Theater 80 (OCR to be released April 26 by Broadway Records). Other Directing: Between the Sea and Sky (NYMF, Best Musical and Direction winner), Errol & Fidel (NYMF, Best Musical and Direction noms), Hello Again (Boston's IRNE nom), In the Heights (NYIT nom), Next to Normal (NYIT nom) and others. Assisting: Summer (dir. Des McAnuff, La Jolla Playhouse), Doctor Zhivago (dir. Des McAnuff, Broadway Theatre), A Little More Alive (dir. Sheryl Kaller, Kansas City Rep), Fly By Night (dir. Bill Fennelly, Dallas Theater Center) and others. His upcoming projects include the world premiere of Shooting Star: A Revealing New Musical at The Hudson Mainstage in LA and The Donna Summer Musical’s upcoming national tour. BFA Emerson College. www.MichaelBello.com

JESSICA KAHKOSKA (Co-conceiver/Dramaturg) is a writer, dramaturg/researcher, and performer. Her projects include DISCOUNT GHOST STORIES (with Alexander Sage Oyen, upcoming at Local Theater Company), AGENT 355 (with Preston Max Allen, upcoming at Chautauqua Theater Company), UNTITLED CRYPTO-JUDAISM PROJECT (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), NIA (with Sarah Wansley and Tommy Crawford), and WILD HOME: A RURAL AMERICAN THEATRE ODYSSEY (with Notch Theatre Company). Her writing has been developed and presented at Village Theatre, the Drama League, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova ANT FEST, and the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP), among others. She is the recipient of the Marion International Fellowship for the Performing Arts, the American Antiquarian Society Fellowship for Creative Artists. Dramaturgy includes new play/musical development Off-Broadway and regionally, with the Athena Project, Creede Repertory Theatre, as well as research for Bungalow Media and Entertainment and AMC/Sundance. She currently serves as Regional Vice President for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America (LMDA). Graduate of Northwestern University. www.jessicakahkoska.com

PATRICK SULKEN (Music Director) is a New York-based music director and orchestrator currently serving as the Associate Conductor of Pretty Woman: The Musical. Broadway: Kinky Boots, Anastasia, Something Rotten!, Gigi. Off-Broadway: We Are The Tigers, Gigantic (Vineyard). Regional/National Tour: Peter and the Starcatcher (1st National Tour, Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Rep, Milwaukee Rep), Ever After (Paper Mill). Proud Northwestern University grad. www.patricksulken.com // @patricksulken

Featuring songs by:

  • Emily Gardner Xu Hall (2019 Jonathan Larson Grant, Untitled Cherry Orchard Musical, I am This for You)
  • Ben Wexler (2019 Jonathan Larson Grant, Washington Square, The Orchestra)
  • Anna K. Jacobs (POP!, Teeth, Harmony, Kansas)
  • Dawn Avery (Ajijaak on Turtle Island at the New Victory Theatre, GRAMMY and NAMA nominee)
  • Elliah Heifetz (Dust Can't Kill Me, WILDWOOD)
  • The Lobbyists (SeaWife, Drama Desk nomination)
  • Madeline Myers (Masterpiece, The Starry Messenger, The Devil's Apprentice)
  • Mark Sonnenblick (Midnight at The Never Get, Independents, Jonathan Larson Grant)
  • Naomi Matlow & Teresa Lotz (ThreeTimesFast)
  • Nick Blaemire (Glory Days, A Little More Alive)
  • Preston Max Allen (We Are the Tigers, Agent 355)
  • Zack Zadek (Deathless)
  • Rona Siddiqui (Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan, One Good Day)
  • Ronvé O'Daniel & Jevares Myrick (Once Upon a Rhyme, the New Girl, Greenwood)
  • Simone Allen (Octet, The Cher Show, Folk Wandering)
  • Alexander Sage Oyen (Diva: Live From Hell, Archie's Final Project)
  • Will Van Dyke and Jeff Talbott (The Circle and the Wheel, Imagine Harry, Wintersong)