was one of America’s most distinguished composers of popular music.  At 18, he had songs in three Broadway shows, including The Third Little Show and Earl Carroll’s Vanities.  He came to Hollywood in 1933.  In the next 22 years, he wrote for films with such lyricists as Frank Loesser, Harold Adamson, Ralph Freed, Ira Gershwin and Alan Jay Lerner.  For Broadway, he wrote (with E.Y. Harburg) Al Jolson’s last show Hold On To Your Hats and the classic American musical Finian’s Rainbow.  He wrote both music and lyrics for Olsen and Johnson’s Laffin’ Room Only.  Later he collaborated with Alan Jay Lerner to write On A Clear Day You Can See Forever and Carmelina.  His standard songs include “How About You,” “Too Late Now,” “I Hear Music,” “Everything I Have Is Yours,” and “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I’ve Been A Liar All My Life.”  For ten years, Lane was President of the Songwriter’s Guild, and he served ten terms on the board of ASCAP.  He is in the Theatre Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and received both the Richard Rodgers and the Johnny Mercer awards.  The songs “Too Late Now” and “How About You” were nominated for Academy Awards.  He received a Grammy for the score “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.”  Burton Lane was born in 1912 and died in 1997.

who was described by Oscar Hammerstein II as “one of the foremost American lyricists of this century,” was born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  With his high school friend, Ira Gershwin, as his mentor, Harburg became a lyricist, and in 1932 wrote the lyrics for “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” with composer Jay Gorney.  Harburg wrote lyrics to over 500 songs and always gave equal credit to his composers who included, in addition to Gorney, Harold Arlen, Burton Lane, Jerome Kern, Sammy Fain, Earl Robinson, Arthur Schwartz, Jule Styne, Vernon Duke, Jon Green, Phil Springer and many others.  Harburg standards include “April in Paris,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Over the Rainbow,” “Last Night When We were Young” and “Old Devil Moon.”  His active commitment to peace, social justice and civil rights was reflected in many songs such as “The Silent Spring,” “Free and Equal Blues,” Leave the Atom Alone” and “Necessity.”  Most of his shows had political themes.  On Broadway, Harburg wrote the lyrics for Earl Carroll’s Sketchbook and Vanities revues, The Ziegfeld Follies, The Ballyhoo of ’32, Walk a Little Faster, Life Begins at 8:40, The Show Is On, Hooray For What? and Hold On To Your Hats.  He conceived, directed and wrote the lyrics for the hit musical Bloomer Girl (1944, music by Harold Arlen).  He also wrote the lyrics and coauthored the book (with Fred Saidy) for Flahooley (1951), Jamaica (1957), and The Happiest Girl In The World (1961), and wrote lyrics for Darling Of the Day (1968).  In Hollywood, he wrote lyrics for many film musicals of the thirties and forties, including the groundbreaking, all-black Cabin in the Sky (1943).  For The Wizard of Oz (193), Harburg wrote the lyrics, integrated the songs with the story, wrote dialogue, and edited the final shooting script.  He won a Best Song Oscar (with Harold Arlen) for “Over the Rainbow.”

collaborated with E.Y. (“Yip”) Harburg on the books for the Broadway musicals Finian’s Rainbow and Jamiaca and was co-author, with Sig Herzig, of the book for Bloomer Girl, the lyrics written by Harburg, score by Harold Arlen.  It opened in 1944, and starred Celeste Holm.  Mr. Saidy and Mr. Harburg also collaborated on Flahooley in 1951 and The Happiest Girl in the World in 1961.  His film credits included Star Spangled Rhythm and Meet the People. 

Early in his writing career, Mr. Kass won an Emmy nomination and Writers Guild Award for his television movie about his mother, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.  He later adapted the teleplay to the Broadway stage of the Michael Bennett musical, Ballroom, for which he earned a Tony nomination.  Mr. Kass then went on to write the feature film, The Black Stallion Returns, the mini-series Evergreen, and a long list of movies of the week, including A Brand New Life, My Old Man, The Fighter, Scorned and Swindled, Crossing to Freedom, Last Wish, The Only Way Out, and Secrets.  In the summer of 1998, his new musical Norman’s Ark, written in collaboration with composer/lyricist Glen Roven, will have its world premiere at San Diego’s Globe Theatre under the direction of Jack O’Brien.   

received three Emmy nominations for outstanding direction of the TV series Family Ties and Moonlighting and won Directors Guild Awards for the Moonlighting episode based on The Taming of the Shrew and the one-hour episode of Family Ties called “A. My Name is Alex.”  He directed the TV movies A Hobo’s Christmas, Perfect Harmony, Stormy Weathers starring Cybill Shepherd and is currently directing many segments of NBC’s Caroline in the City.  He directed George and Ira Gershwin’s Funny Face at the Goodspeed Opera House, and the last season he directed the critically acclaimed revival of I Do! I Do! starring Karen Ziemba and David Garrison.  Born and raised in Providene, R.I., he graduated from Brown University and received a Fullbright Scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Drama.  He appeared on Broadway as Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly with Carol Channing, Ginger Rodgers, Betty Grable and Martha Raye, Half a Sixpence with Tommy Steele, Art Buchwald’s Sheep on the Runway, Shakespeare productions for Joseph Papp and the tours of Promises, Promises and The Apple Tree.  He appeared in the recurring role of Larry Bondurant on the original Bob Newhart Show which led to his first directing assignment in television.  He lives with his multi-talented wife, librarian/choreographer Patricia Cope Mackenzie, and occasional visits from grown children. 

was orchestrator/conductor on Broadway for Noel Coward’s Sail Away and Richard Rodgers’ No Strings; he created orchestrations for Jule Styne’s Halellujah Baby and more recently Tommy Tune’s Grand Hotel; on records Matz has arranged, conducted and produced albums for Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Melissa Manchester, Kiri te Kanawa, Nancy LaMott, Barbra Streisand and most recently he arranged Barbara Cook’s recording of songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein.  On TV, Peter was arranger/conductor for Carol Burnett’s long-running series, and composed scores for more than 50 TV movies, as well as many feature films (Sidney Lumet’s Bye Bye Braverman is still his favorite).  Peter and his wife, actress/singer/psychotherapist, Marilynn Lovell are active fundraisers for APLA, Shanti Foundation, Aid for AIDS and other local AIDS organizations, as well as the GMHC in New York. 

choreographed the original Tony Award-winnign production of Big River on Broadway and later recreated her work for the national tour and in Japan.  Off-Broadway she choreographed the acclaimed revivals of I Do! I Do! (directed by Will Mackenzie) and Pacific Overtures and the dances for South Pacific at the New York City Opera.  Ms. Watson has staged several companies of The Fantasticks for Japanese audiences, as well as the 30th Anniversary tour of the show with Robert Goulet.  Other recent productions include a stage version of the Disney film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mirette, a new musical at The Goodspeed Opera House at Chester.  Ms. Watson lives in New York City with her husband, writer/lyricist Tom Jones, and their two growing boys Sam and Michael. 

has designed scenery and lighting for the theatre in New York and regionally before moving to Los Angeles and expanding into television and film.  Despite his now busy career in Hollywood, he continues to design for the live theatre when possible.  His most recent credits include the London production of Our Town, with Alan Alda, and the Tokyo production of Slab Boys.  His production design work in television can currently be seen on Home Improvement, Soul Man, The Jamie Foxx Show, and Over the Top.  His work has also been seen in the film Mother Mother and the American Playhouse production of Mrs. Cage.  His past screen design credits include Tom, Alf, Mr. Belvedere and Carol  & Co—for which he received an Emmy nomination.  His leisure time is spent composing and controlling the fleas on his four west highland white terriers.

worked in regional theatre for sixteen years before moving to Los Angeles in 1984 to design for film and television.  He was a resident designer at the American Conservatory Theatre for six years, where his association continues with the revival of A Christmas Carol.  He has designed productions for The Old Globe, The Mark Taper Forum, The Ahmanson, the Denver Center, the La Jolla Playhouse, the South Coast Repertory, and The Pacific Conservatory of the Arts.  Currently, he is the Costume Designer for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.  He won an Emmy Award for Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1991-1992 and has received six consecutive nominations.  Television work also includes Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Stones For Ibarra with Glenn Close and Keith Carradine.  Feature film credits include ‘night Mother with Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft, Worth Winning with Mark Harmon, The Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Star Trek: Generations with Patrick Stewart and William Shatner.  A lifelong believer in musical comedy, Bob has a seriously obscure, albeit incomplete collection of Broadway soundtracks on vinyl. 

has enjoyed creating lighting for many varied productions and architectural spaces.  He has created lighting designs for over 70 productions at South Coast Repertory Theatre and at the Mark Taper Forum including Children of a Lesser God, Julius Ceasar and A Christmas Carol.  Other noted productions include The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies and Forbidden Hollywood.  At Universal Studios his designs include Backdraft, Earthquake and Back to the Future.  His lighting can also be seen at Boomtown Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, MGM Grand Hotel, Sam’s Town Casino Resort and theme parks in Japan, Korea, Australia and Germany.  His architectural lighting can be seen at Santa Monica Place, South Coast Plaza Mall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, The Los Angeles Music Center and many shopping malls, restaurants, churches and residences.  Other professional associations include the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Theatre, International City Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Sacramento Music Theatre.  Mr. Ruzika is a member of the Design Faculty at UC Irvine. 

is currently the Mark Taper Forum’s resident sound designer.  He has been heard on and Off Broadway, as well as at most regional theatres throughout the country.  He designed the sound for the Taper production of Angels in America, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, and The Waiting Room.  Other recent credits include The Seagull at the Matrix, Women Warrior at the Doolittle, Light Sensitive at Actors Alley and South Pacific at Long Beach CLO.  John has received 6 LADCC Awards, and was recently presented with the Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center Club 100.  He served for 5 years as the resident sound designer at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.  For Disney Imagineering, he created original sound effects and design for 2 attractions at Walt Disney World in Florida.

has designed over 60 theatrical shows, including the hit production of Forbidden Hollywood at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, Forever Plaid, Blues in the Night and Sweet & Hot at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, The King and I, South Pacific, Company, and Into the Woods for the Long Beach Civic Light Opera, as well as numerous local and regional shows.  He just finished two national touring productions, Man of La Mancha with Robert Goulet and Ain’t Misbehavin' starring the Pointer Sisters, and the gala production Saturday Night at the Summit attended by Bill Clinton and the leaders of the G-7 countries, which featured performances by Michael Bolton, Amy Grant, Crystal Gayle, Chuck Berry, Kool and the Gang, and Ronnie Spector.