STEPHEN BRAY began his music studies with private instruction, choir practice, and lots of Motor City radio in his native Detroit. He continued training at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1980, he began a ten year collaboration with Madonna resulting in a wave of top ten hits that became signature songs of the 80's including: “Into the Groove", "Angel", "Papa Don't Preach", "Express Yourself," and "True Blue". In addition to his day job, he moonlighted with Breakfast Club, earning a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and top ten single "Right on Track." Along the way he also wrote and/or produced for the Jets, Gladys Knight, and Kylie Minogue, among others. His Broadway debut with The Color Purple earned a Tony nomination for Best Original Score and a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Show Album.
TITUSS BURGESS was born and raised in Athens, Georgia, where he grew up in the church and sang around the city with his mama (when he is home, he still does!). As an only child, he entertained himself by banging on the nearest piano; perhaps his passion for music and communication came from his need to fill time. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a BA in Music. He currently stars as Sebastian the Crab in Disney's The Little Mermaid. Past credits on Broadway include Jersey Boys and Good Vibrations. Regionally, he was seen in The Wiz (Cowardly Lion at the La Jolla Playhouse), Songs for A New World with Jason Robert Brown, Alice Ripley, and Brian D'arcy James. Television: The View, The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman. His solo CD, Here's to You, is available on iTunes.
MANOEL FELCIANO was nominated for a 2006 Tony Award for his portrayal of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd and won the Broadway.com Audience Award and Broadwayworld.com Choice Award for Favorite Featured Actor. Broadway: Brooklyn, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret. Off-Broadway: Trumpery, Shockheaded Peter, Much Ado About Nothing (NYSF/Public Theater). Regional: I Just Stopped by to See the Man (The Old Globe), Sunday in the Park with George (George, opposite Kelli O’Hara and directed by Jason Alexander at Reprise), Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring (Bay Street Theater). Film: Uncertainty, with Joe Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins, opposite Jenn Colella. TV: One Life to Live, All My Children. Mano holds a BA from Yale University and an MFA from NYU’s Tisch Graduate Acting Program. He is also a singer-songwriter, performing his pop songs regularly at Joe’s Pub in New York. Moonshot, his debut album of originals, was released in December 2007. He is currently working on Sunday Songs 2008: writing, recording, and posting online one new song a week for all of 2008. Producing credits include the New York workshop presentations of The Hidden Sky and I Just Stopped by to See the Man. This summer, Mano will be appearing in Michael Greif's production of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Thanks to family, friends, Abrams, and Vanguard.
LEWIS FLINN has written the scores for over 50 productions including the Tony-nominated The Little Dog Laughed on Broadway and coming to LA's Kirk Douglas theater this fall. He is currently writing musicals with Steven Sater (for Jennifer Holliday), Douglas Carter Beane, and Brian Crawley. In the fashion world, he writes and produces the music for the runway shows of designer Zang Toi. Many of these songs have become club favorites in New York and London. For TV, he wrote the themes and music for The Power of 10 and Million Dollar Password.
JAY GRUSKA as a recording artist, has written and performed songs for three albums. He has written songs, including multiple hits, for various artists including: Bette Midler, Chicago, Patti LaBelle, Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Amy Grant, Robert Palmer, Lea Salonga, Eddie Rabbit, Juice Newton, and many others. He has received six ASCAP Awards for “Among the Most Performed Songs of the Year” and has had number one and “top ten” songs on Pop, Adult Contemporary, Country, and Dance Billboard charts. He has composed music for multiple “movies of the week” on TV and many one hour dramas including: thirtysomething, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Beverly Hills: 90210, Sisters, Charmed, Wildfire, and Supernatural. For his television work, he garnered three Emmy nominations, an ASCAP award, and a GENIE (Canadian Oscar) nod. He is currently collaborating on The Front, his third musical theater piece, which, in collaboration with The Globe theater, will have a three week workshop in New York in the Fall of 2009. He recently co-wrote and is co-producing a song to be featured in the show Tamara which will open at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas later this year.
KENDALL MARSH began studying guitar at age ten. After relocating with his family to England, he began learning music theory, harmony, and composition. He studied guitar with Michael Lewin, the current head of the guitar department at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and percussion with James Blades. He earned a Bachelor of Music (Cum Laude) from the University of North Texas. At UNT, he performed in master classes with John Williams, Elliot Fisk, Oscar Ghiglia, David Russel, Manuel Barrueco, Phillip de Fermery, and Tommy Tedesco. After graduating he spent three years touring, relocating to New York in 1983, beginning work as an assistant engineer and studio musician. He moved to California in 1989 and began working on features as both a musician and producer. Projects are varied, but include Internal Affairs, Leaving Las Vegas, Timecode 2000, and SClub 7, the English glam band. With Latino hip-hop sensation Ghostman MC, he has placed several songs in major film and TV projects including: Ghostrider, Ridley Scott’s Numb3rs, and Bomb It! He also scored the film The Sandlot III.
LINDY ROBBINS is an award- winning, multi-platinum selling songwriter who has co-written the recent“Top 5” hit singles "What's Left of Me" (Nick Lachey) and "Incomplete" (The Backstreet Boys). She also co-wrote the Radio Disney smash and 2003 Disney Song of the Year, "Cinderella,” for the Cheetah Girls. She has co-written Taylor Hicks’ "Just to Feel that Way," Monica’s "Just Another Girl, and numerous other charting singles for recording artists worldwide. Lindy, who writes lyric and melody, has landed other major covers including Nick Lachey's second hit single "I Can't Hate you Anymore" and songs by Jordin Sparks, Faith Hill, JC Chasez, Anastacia, Shaggy, Nicole Scherzinger, Katherine McPhee, Jason Mraz, Jon McLaughlin, Van Hunt, Clay Aiken, Bo Bice, Jesse McCartney, Michael Feinstein, Idina Menzel, Toni Braxton, Lisa Loeb, and many other artists from all genres worldwide.
GEORGIA STITT (composer) wrote the musicals Big Red Sun and The Water and is currently developing Sing Me A Happy Song, a musical revue. Her album, This Ordinary Thursday, features stellar performances by theater’s most contemporary stars. Georgia also contributed songs to the upcoming MTV movie The American Mall. She has worked as a music director for TV’s Clash of the Choirs, Grease: You’re The One That I Want, and Once Upon A Mattress starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett. On Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors, Avenue Q, Sweet Smell of Success, The Music Man, Titanic, Annie, Can-Can starring Patti LuPone, and the national tour of Parade.
ERIC WHITACRE An accomplished composer, conductor and lecturer, Eric Whitacre has quickly become one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. To date, Whitacre's published works have received thousands of performances and have sold well over 750,000 copies worldwide. A 2006 Grammy-nominated collection of his a cappella choral music, Cloudburst and Other Choral Works, remains a top-seller two years after its release. He has recently received acclaim for Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, a cutting edge musical combining anime and electronica with choral, cinematic, and operatic traditions. Upcoming commissions include works for the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (with Whitacre conducting) and a large-scale oratorio scored for orchestra, chorus, and soloist celebrating the opening of the new Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, TX. Mr. Whitacre lives in Los Angeles with his wife, celebrated soprano Hila Plitmann, and their son.
