has been called the most versatile of all Broadway composers. His five Broadway musicals were as different from each other as they were from the theatre of their day: Where’s Charley?, Guys And Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, Greenwillow and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. For Hollywood, he supplied lyrics to such standards as “On a Slow Boat to China,” “Two Sleepy People,” “Heart and Soul,” “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You,” “(See What) The Boys in the Backroom (Will Have),” “The Moon Of Manakoora,” and his 1948 Academy Award winner, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Frank also wrote one of his best loved scores for the film, Hans Christian Andersen, which included the Academy Award-nominated song, “Thumbelina.” Frank was married twice, first to actress Lynn Loesser, with whom he had two children, Susan and John, then to his Most Happy Fella leading lady, Jo Sullivan, who gave him two daughters, Hannah and Emily. Frank Loesser died of lung cancer at the age of 59 on July 26, 1969, but the Loesser impact continues to be seismic. In 1999, Frank Loesser was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a postage stamp bearing his likeness.
continues a distinguished career in theatre, film, and television. His Los Angeles theatre credits include Richard Alfieri’s highly acclaimed Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (Geffen Playhouse), Hair, Mack and Mabel, The Boys from Syracuse, and Of Thee I Sing (all for REPRISE!), Carousel (Hollywood Bowl), and The Sisters (Pasadena Playhouse). His Broadway and off-Broadway credits include Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carré, Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing, John Wesker’s The Four Seasons, John Wilson’s Hamp, and Frank Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella for the New York City Opera. Mr. Seidelman’s films include Like Mother, Like Son with Mary Tyler Moore, By Dawn’s Early Light with Richard Crenna, Poker Alice with Elizabeth Taylor, Walking Across Egypt with Ellen Burstyn, The Kid Who Loved Christmas with Cicely Tyson, Miracle in the Woods with Della Reese, and A Friendship in Vienna with Jane Alexander. For Hallmark Hall of Fame, he has directed The Runaway with Maya Angelou and Dean Cain, Grace and Glorie with Gena Rowlands, The Summer of Ben Tyler with James Woods, and Harvest of Fire with Patty Duke. Among Mr. Seidelman’s honors are two Emmy Awards, five Emmy nominations, the Peabody and Humanitas Awards, the Grand Prize of the New York Film and Television Festival, the Obie Award, the Burns Mantle Award, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and three Christopher Awards.
was orchestrator/conductor on Broadway for Noel Coward’s Sail Away and Richard Rodgers’ No Strings and created orchestrations for Jule Styne’s Hallelujah, Baby and 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 La Mott, Barbra Streisand and recently arranged Barbara Cook’s recordings 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 fifty TV movies and many feature films (Sidney Lumet’s Bye Bye Braverman is Matz’s favorite). Matz composed the music for The Gorey Details, which played at New York’s Century Center Theater in the Fall of 2001, and more recently created the orchestrations for the hit musical, The Boswell Sisters, at the Old Globe in San Diego. Peter and his wife, actress/singer/psychotherapist Marilynn Lovell are active fund-raisers for APLA, Shanti Foundation, Aid for AIDS and other local AIDS organizations. The CD of their show, Say It with Music, recorded live in New York, is available on the Original Cast Records label. Matz has been musical director of all the musicals at REPRISE! since its inception.
Los Angeles productions include: Do I Hear A Waltz? (Pasadena Playhouse), Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (Geffen Playhouse), Haven (Gindi Auditorium), The Grave White Way (Hudson Theatre), Musical Chairs (El Portal Theatre), Fiorello!, The Threepenny Opera, Sweeney Todd, 1776 (REPRISE!), The Robber Bridegroom, The Baker’s Wife, Take Me Along (MTG/Pasadena Playhouse), Songs of the Tall Grass, Chang & Eng, Actor, Lawyer, Indian Chief (Falcon Theatre), Cabaret (East/West Players - Drama-Logue Award), Assassins (LATC - Ovation Award Nominee), She’s a Handful (HBO Theatre - Director), Is It Just Me (CBS & Odyssey), The Pirates of Penzance (La Mirada), Dancing at Lughnasa (McCoy/Rigby – La Mirada), The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It (Shakespeare L.A.). New York productions: Good Times (Manhattan Theatre Club), One Man Band (South Street Theatre). Regional: A Chorus Line (Director/Choreographer – San Jose & Sacramento), Jekyll & Hyde, Triumph of Love (Santa Barbara CLO). London West End: Snoopy (Duchess Theatre), Blockheads, an original musical (Mermaid Theatre – Co-Author/Choreographer). Television: Brooklyn Bridge (pilot), C.L.A.S.S. (Cable special/co-director), Guidepost Junction (kid-vid series). Film: Ella (Choreographer), The Human Quality (Director), Country (Director).
is happy to continue to design for REPRISE! Robert’s recent works include Vices (NYC workshop), Bingo, A Winning Musical (World Premiere) at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse and the Ordway Center, Hair and Strike Up the Band for REPRISE!, Disney’s Jungle Adventures and The Little Mermaid on Ice for Feld Entertainment, and Confidentially, Cole, Lullaby of Broadway, and The All Night Strut at the Tiffany Theaters. Currently, he is a member of the design and development team for Dorian, a new Broadway musical (set to open in the summer of 2002 at the Denver Center). Off-Broadway credits include Matty at the Lambs Theater and Einstein at the American Jewish Theater. Other stages: Night Club Confidential and No, No, Nanette, among others, for Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins for L.A. Repertory, Beehive, The 60’s Musical at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. For Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theater Company, productions of A Perfect Ganesh (West Coast Premiere), The Importance of Being Ernest (Drama-Logue Award), The Cocktail Hour (Drama-Logue Award), Marvin’s Room (West Coast Premiere), Our Country’s Good, The Rose Tattoo, and Lettice and Lovage. The 1994-1996 Ovation Awards for Theater L.A. Work benefiting charities: Labor Day L.A. ’95, Battle for the Tiara ’95, Music from the Heart 2001, and co-created, co-produced, and directed Quest for the Crown 2000 at the Wiltern Theatre.
is happy to return for his second show with REPRISE! after designing 1776. He began his career as a costume designer with director Michael Michetti and his Yuletide Carolers. Since those happy days of hot gluing holly on hats, Scott has had a great time working his way around the country. Highlights during the past fifteen years include: residency at Southern California Music Theater (1986 to 1991); Gypsy, starring Joanne Worley; No, No, Nanette; West Side Story and Singin’ in the Rain. Broadway: Jack—An Evening with John Barrymore. Las Vegas: Beehive (Sahara and Luxor hotels), and the high seas for Princess Cruises, Royal Cruise Lines, Holland America and Royal Caribbean Cruises. Scott worked on an original musical adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde (Papermill Playhouse, 1998). Other original productions include: Hurry! Hurry! Hollywood!, James A. Michener’s Sayonara and Fame—the Musical at the Alex Theater; the 128th edition of the Ringling Brothers’ Barnum & Bailey Circus, designing over 300 costumes for showgirls, clowns and elephants! Most recently, Scott has enjoyed the experience of working with Olympic star Michelle Kwan, designing outfits for competitions, the Champions on Ice national tour and her television special Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney’s Greatest Hits.
has created designs for thirteen REPRISE! productions including Sweeney Todd, Mack & Mabel, and Hair. He recently designed the acclaimed production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks at the Geffen Playhouse. He has designed over seventy-five productions for South Coast Repertory Theatre and shows for the Mark Taper Forum, International City Theatre, Opera Santa Barbara, CLO of South Bay Cities, Fullerton CLO, Sacramento Music Theatre, and Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. His lighting can be seen at theme parks in six different countries including Universal Studios Hollywood, Japan, and Florida; Warner Bros. Movie World Australia, Germany, and Spain; Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. 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 other shopping malls, restaurants, churches, residences and Las Vegas casinos and hotels. A recipient of the Lighting Designer of the Year 2000 Award, Mr. Ruzika is also head of the Graduate Lighting Design Program at U.C. Irvine.
has designed over 75 theatrical shows, including Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Cinderella at the Ahmanson, The First Picture Show at the Taper, and the first four seasons of REPRISE! Other design work includes Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks and Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues at the Geffen; Play On!, Only a Kingdom, and Blame It on the Movies at the Pasadena Playhouse; Masada at the Shubert Theatre; Joseph… and Singin’ in the Rain for Denver’s Arvada Center for the Arts; Forever Plaid and Blues in the Night at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami; and The King and I, South Pacific, and Into the Woods for the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. For television Mr. Allen assisted in the sound system design for the 33rd Academy of Country Music Awards and equalized the sound at the 56th Golden Globe Awards and the 14th Soap Opera Awards. He served as Production Sound Engineer for Thoroughly Modern Millie at La Jolla Playhouse last fall and spent most of 2000 on the road with the national tour of Titanic. In 1997, he engineered 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. He won the 1999 L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award with Jon Gottlieb for their sound design of Cinderella, as well as five L.A. Dramalogue Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design and an Ovation Award nomination for Best Sound Design in a Large Musical.