MARK SWANSON (Composer/ Lyricist)
Mark Swanson is a 2016 Presidential Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from Augusta University, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. Mark’s musical/rock opera MISCONCEPTION: THE LOST GOSPEL OF CHRISTMAS (Le Chat Noir, Augusta, Ga) debuted in 2011 and was remounted in 2012 before traveling to 2013 CapitalFringe Festival in Washington, DC. While in DC, Mark met writer Alan Harris and the two began an international collaboration on A SCYTHE OF TIME. Selected incidental music includes TORCH SONG TRILOGY II (Le Chat Noir) and THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE (The Augusta Players Youth Theatre). His film work includes HONEST INJUN and MONSTER (Showtime Entertainment), and the upcoming THE GREAT KENTUCKY GOBLIN SPREE (currently in production). Mark currently resides in Augusta, GA with his wife and three daughters. When not composing, Mark can be found assisting developmentally disabled adults live fuller lives through family business, Accent, Inc.
DAVID ALPERT (Director)
BROADWAY: IF/THEN, The Trip to Bountiful, The Best Man, Guys & Dolls. NYC: Talley's Folly (Roundabout), Old Friends (Signature), Death Note by Frank Wildhorn, A Little Night Music (NYU), Tonya & Nancy (NYMF), The Moon & the Sea, Rails (NYMF), The Wonderful Mr. & Mrs. O’Leary, Do Me a Little (Fringe). OTHER: Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide (Guthrie), Flashdance (National Tour), Vanya & Sonia…, Urinetown, Joseph…, Little Shop of Horrors. Every year David proudly presents the Living for Today Concert which benefits Gilana’s Fund (gilanasfund.com). David is the Artistic Director of MainStage Programing for BroadwayCon. BA: Western Michigan University. www.david-alpert.com
LISA DOZIER KING (General Manager)
Lisa Dozier King has general managed more than seventy professional productions in New York City. Recent/Current NYC Off Broadway: Leonard Nimoy's Vincent, Promising, Bedbugs the Musical (NY Times Critics’ Pick), The Erlkings, Breakfast with Mugabe (NY Times Critics’ Pick), Final Analysis, Sistas the Musical, F#%king Up Everything (NY Times Critics’ Pick), Ten Chimneys, Bronte: A Portrait of Charlotte. Lisa has been on staff at Symphony Space, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the New 42nd Street. She is the resident general manager for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals and is on faculty at the University of Miami as the BFA theatre management program director.
NICOLE SWANSON (Producer)
Nicole has lived most of her life in the theatre, gradually moving from actor to director to producer. Producer credits include MISCONCEPTION: THE LOST GOSPEL OF CHRISTMAS (CapitalFringe Festival, Wash, DC), and MISCONCEPTION: THE THREE KINGS VIDEO (Soulshaker Entertainment); Producer/Director of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, THE SECRET GARDEN, and BYE BYE BIRDIE (The Augusta Jr Players). Select acting credits include PETER PAN (Peter) with The Augusta Players, THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Maureen), THE CLEAN HOUSE (Matilde), AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (Barbara Fordham) all with Le Chat Noir, Augusta, GA. Nicole serves on the board of the Greater Augusta Youth Theatre, a non-profit organization developed and managed entirely by young performers.
TEAM SCYTHE
ALAN HARRIS (Writer)
Alan Harris won a Judges’ Award at the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for How My Light Is Spent. Plays include: The Opportunity of Efficiency (New National Theatre Tokyo/National Theatre Wales), A Good Night Out in the Valleys (National Theatre Wales), This Is Not A Banksy, Wolf, The Lighthouse, A Certain Date, Take Me To Victoria Park (all BBC Radio 4), The Gold Farmer (BBC Radio 3), The Future For Beginners (liveartshow / Wales Millennium Centre), The Magic Toyshop (Invisible Ink / Theatr Iolo), Re-Set (Mess Up The Mess), Marsha (Capital Fringe, Washington DC), Cardboard Dad (Sherman Cymru), Miss Brown To You (Hijinx Theatre), Orange (Sgript Cymru), Come To Where I’m From (Paines Plough). He has won a prestigious Creative Wales Award from the Arts Council of Wale and is a Koestler Trust platinum award winner. He is currently under commission to the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and also Paines Plough with Love, Lies and Taxidermy which will premiere at the Edinburgh Festival this year before a national tour. Libretti include: Marsha: A Girl Who Does Bad Things (liveartshow / Arcola Grimeborn Festival), The Hidden Valley (Birdsong Opera / Welsh National Opera/Tête à Tête Opera Festival), The Journey (Welsh National Opera), Rhinegold,Manga Sister (both liveartshow/The Yard, London).
MICHAEL CASSARA (Casting Director)
Michael Cassara Casting (Casting) is Michael Cassara, CSA and Jamie Anderson. Recent credits include Gigantic (dir. Scott Schwartz/Vineyard Theatre), Forbidden Broadway (last two editions/cast albums), I Love Lucy® Live On Stage (2014-15 Equity national tour), The 12 (Denver Center/world premiere). Film credits include The Hyperglot (dir. Michael Urie, Artios nomination for excellence in casting), Paper Dreams, Contest, and Grantham & Rose (dir. Kristin Hanggi, starring Marla Gibbs and Jake T. Austin). Resident Casting Director for the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) since 2007 and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) since 2013. Michael is a native Clevelander and a member of the Casting Society of America. BFA, Otterbein University. MichaelCassara.net/ @michaelcassara
DAVID M. LAWSON (Sound Design)
David Margolin Lawson is a New York based sound designer and recording engineer. Previously for NYMF: A Letter to Harvey Milk, Swing State, My History of Marriage, Hurricane (voted Outstanding Overall Design 2009), Tut, Villa Diodati, To Paint The Earth, Warrior, Behind the Limelight. Recent NY credits include: The Queen Bees (Queens Theatre in the Park), A Happy End (Abingdon Theatre Co.),The Seagull (dir. Max Stafford-Clark, Culture Project), Barcelo Con Hielo (Repertorio Espanol), The Last Will (dir. Austin Pendleton, Abingdon Theatre Co.), Bronte: A Portrait Of Charlotte (Ars Nova), The Sphinx Winx (Beckett), La Barberia (New World Stages), The First Breeze Of Summer (dir. Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Signature Theatre Co.). David teaches Sound Design at Pace University, NYC. www.dmlsoundny.com
NICK SOLYOM (Lighting Design)
Past NYMF Productions include I Got Fired, and Our Country. Other recent designs include Triple Threat(EST), L'Amant Anonyme, Slow Dusk & Markheim and The Reformed Drunkard (LOTNY/59e59), Ragtime (FSU), The Way We Get By & Crossing Swords (American Theater Group), Blue Sky (Burning Coal), The Recommendation (The Flea), On the Other Side of the River (Here Arts Center), Failure a Love Story, Or, Tango Palace and Anon(Ymous) (New School). SolyomDesign.com
DAN SCULLY (Projection Design)
Dan Scully is a freelance projection and lighting designer. Recent work includes If/Then (National Tour), Rocky (Broadway), Jedermann (Salzburger Festspeile), Untitled America (Alvin Ailey/ADT), A Charlie Brown Christmas (NY Pops), The Orchestra Moves! (Carnegie Hall), and When The Wolves Came In (Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion). NYU/Tisch MFA.
MARISA LEVY (Stage Manager)
Marisa Levy (Stage Manager). Broadway: Dividing the Estate. Recent credits include Signature Plays (Signature Theatre); Kansas City Choir Boy starring Courtney Love, The Good Swimmer, (Prototype Opera & Music Theater Festival); The Christians, Bootycandy, Stage Kiss, (Playwrights Horizons); Talley's Folly (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Designated Mourner, February House (Public Theater); Him, Dividing the Estate, Adrift in Macao (Primary Stages); On The Levee (LCT3). Other: A.R.T.; CTG; The Old Globe; The Drama League; Hartford Stage Company; The Acting Company; Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; Barrington Stage Company.
VERONICA LEE (Assistant Stage Manager)
Veronica Lee (Assistant Stage Manager) Off-Broadway: INDECENT (Vineyard Theatre), FUTURITY (Soho Rep/Ars Nova), ONCE UPON A MATTRESS (Transport Group) Regional: THE JACKSONIAN, THE EXPLORERS CLUB, THE BEST BROTHERS (B Street Theatre), NORA, THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE (Westport Country Playhouse). Training: Elon University
ALEXANDRA GUHDE (Assistant Director)
Alex Guhde hails from Chicago and is a senior Vocal Performance; Musical Theatre major at NYU. She is the Co-President of the NYU Steinhardt Players Club and her NYU credits include The Drowsy Chaperone (Gangster 2), A Little Night Music (Petra), and the upcoming production of The Secret Garden (Martha). Her directing credits include a student production of Wit, and The Yellow Wallpaper adapted from the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
RYAN CANTWELL (Music Director)
1st National Tours: FINDING NEVERLAND, PIPPIN, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. New Works: A HELLUVA LIFE (George Hamilton). THE GOLDEN TOAD (Talking Band, La Mama), MARK (Liz Swados). Workshops: THE NOMAD (Liz Swados), TABLE (David Shire). TV/Film: CBS Jim Henson Christmas Special, RACE (Sundance, Gloria Allred). Music Production: SO GOOD (Alexa Green), A BRASS ACT (Michelle Dowdy), MIRDEN (Minni Jo Mazzola - PARKS AND RECREATION). Awards: ASCAP/Grammy Foundation Singer/Songwriter Grant (2005, 2006), Robert Preston Award. Ryan also composes and performs music with his sister, Dawn (WICKED, THE LAST SHIP), visit DawnandRyan.com for more.
