Today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals.
THURS., NOV. 16, 2023 @ 7:30PM at Peter Norton Symphony Space | Click here or call 212.864.5400
POTLUCK: A Musical Feast - Writer Biographies
Written by: Thani Brant, Rae Covey, Troy Defour & Sean Havrilla, Lorrie Doriza & Allison Light,
Dylan Glatthorn & Will Lacker, Divya Mangwani & Tidtaya Sinutoke, Krystal Ortiz & Nygel D. Robinson, Dylan Schifrin, Will Shishmanian & Brooke Trumm
Biographies listed below are in ABC order by each artist's last name.
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THANI BRANT is a New York-based actor, singer, dancer, and writer. They are a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BFA in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Musical Theatre Composition. They hope to use their unique voice as a queer, biracial, non-binary writer to create space in musical theatre for intersectional identities and underrepresented stories. They have worked as an actor at regional theatres around the country including Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Northern Stage, and Studio Theatre. They previously worked with Prospect Theater Company as a performer in the 2022 premiere of the song cycle Notes From Now and in the 2022 Musical Theatre Lab presentation Caption This.
RAE COVEY is a playwright, composer, a member of the BMI Workshop, and a 2020 graduate of Northwestern University. Her original musicals, Noise and Painting Faye Salvez, have been developed at the New York Musical Festival (NYMF), the Library at the Public Theater, Tuacahn Theatre, The Tank, Emerging Artists Theatre’s New Works Series, Common Ground Theatre Company, and The Chicago Dramatists Guild. Favorite spots where her music has been performed include 54 Below, The Green Room 42, the York Theatre’s New Works Series, Titchfield Festival Theatre (UK), Brooklyn Children's Theatre, and Under the Arch Incubator’s New Work Cabaret (featuring the national touring cast of The Band’s Visit). Upcoming: her song cycle, Where We Are, is slated for a concert at Joe's Pub! You can keep up with her at RachelCovey.com / @rcoveymusic
TROY DEFOUR is a musical theatre and opera creator whose work is often centric to black experiences and black life whilst portraying universal messaging. Troy thrives through writing in a myriad of genres; comedy, black historical figures, West Indian folklore and more. Troy is also theatrical stage director. Troy holds degrees from Loyalist College and New York University Tisch School of The Arts.
LORRIE DORIZA is a Greek-American composer and performer based in New York. She got her start writing, producing, and performing songs for trip-pop group Vespertina, her solo piano-pop project, and touring with electro-lounge band The Good Johnsons in Japan. In 2021 she released a tribute album for her late grandfather, Greek cabaret singer Tony Rais, entitled “Den S’afino Na Mou Fygeis (I Could Never Let You Leave Me)” in collaboration with arranger Dan Wilson. Her first short-length comedy musical, The Masterpiece, released in 2020 in collaboration with lyricist Allison Light, won the 2021 Jean Banks Award for Best 10 Minute Musical. Currently, she is putting the finishing touches on the sophomore Vespertina album and holding daily concerts in her home for her biggest fans (and critics) - her twin toddlers. Lorrie is a member of The Dramatist Guild, Maestra, The AWFC, and the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop.
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DYLAN GLATTHORN is a Brooklyn-based composer and lyricist. Original musicals: The Pelican (NAMT Festival 2022), Edison, and Bittersweet Lullaby (licensed through MTI). Dylan has written music for ten feature films, numerous shorts, documentaries, and commercials for clients such as Lindt, Nickelodeon, Oakley, Red Bull, Alessi, and PBS. Composed and arranged for Diana DeGarmo’s "Gemini"; co-producer and arranger for Lolo’s X and lauren. Awards: New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Sound Design, Clive Davis Award for Excellence in Music in Film, Best Original Score at First Run Film Festival, and two-time recipient of the Alan Menken Award. Member: ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. www.dylanglatthorn.com
SEAN HAVRILLA (he/him) is an accomplished composer, lyricist, playwright, and orchestrator based in NYC. His varied works in theater include West Love '89 (an opera, with Troy Defour, developed presented with American Opera Project), Sixty-Seven Moons (a musical after the paintings of Edward Hopper, with Hali Alspach), Inside (an opera, with Peyton Marion), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (with Michael Radi, presented by Bristol Valley Theater October 2018), Correctional (with Sam Chanse), But, What if I Asked You A Question Using Only Twelve Words? (a play in 4 scenes with music), and others. He has also written numerous instrumental works ranging from solo piano to large orchestra, as well as electronic music. He holds degrees from Texas Tech University and NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and was a participant in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.
WILL LACKER is a New York City based playwright and lyricist originally from St. Petersburg, FL. Original Works: The Pelican (NAMT Festival 2022), Bittersweet Lullaby (licensed through MTI), Catch the Westbound, Edison, The Invasion, The Custodian, and Trials of a Scientific Mind. His works have been produced at theaters and festivals around the country, including: The Player’s Theatre, Merkin Concert Hall, The Flea, NYC Fringe, Woodstock Fringe, Alexandra Film Festival, and Gen Con Film Festival. Will earned a BA from Marymount Manhattan, an MFA from Queens College, and is a graduate of the UCB improv school. Member: Dramatists Guild and ASCAP. www.wlacker.com
ALLISON LIGHT is a Filipina-American writer, performer, translator, and audiobook producer. Originally from Little Rock, AK, she now lives in NYC. She has studied songwriting with composer/lyricist Bill Finn and participated in the María Irene Fornés Playwriting Workshop. She is also a lyricist in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Writing Workshop. Allison’s writing has appeared in CRAFT Literary, The Oxford American, and Points in Case, and she is a graduate of Princeton, where she was head writer of the Triangle Club and recipient of the Milton Lyon Award for Outstanding Writing. She is currently working on an audio musical comedy with composer Andrew Underberg. By day, Allison is an Audie-Award winning audiobook producer and director, having worked closely with writer Alice Walker, playwright Sarah Ruhl, Broadway actresses Mandy Gonzalez and Jennifer Damiano, comedian Natasha Leggero, Megan Fox, and many more authors and actors. She has produced Spanish-language audiobooks by Stephen King and Pope Francis.
KRYSTAL ORTIZ (they/she & elle/ella) is a Chicago-based, Cuban-American actor, singer, and playwright originally from Miami, Florida. Chicago credits include: The Writer (Steep Theatre), Anna In The Tropics (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Verböten (The House Theatre), X (Sideshow Theatre Company), Please, Continue [Hamlet] (Chicago Humanities Festival/MCA Stage), Lettie (Victory Gardens), La Havana Madrid (Teatro Vista, Goodman Theatre), For Services Rendered (Griffin Theatre Co), and The Fly Honey Show (The Inconvenience). Regional credits include: Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center for the Performing Arts). As a playwright, Krystal is developing LOS FRIKIS, a historical musical centering the Cuban punk rock community and its powerful relationship to the HIV epidemic in the 80s & 90s. Krystal was nominated for a 3Arts Award in Theater in 2021. Krystal is an alumnus of New World School of the Arts and The Theatre School at DePaul University. They are represented by Stewart Talent Chicago. www.krystalortiz.com.
DIVYA MANGWANI is a writer and director from Pune. She creates reimaginings that question our perception of narrative truths and shared mythologies. Divya was the founder and Artistic Director of Moonbeam Factory Theatre and wrote, directed, and produced plays in India, Singapore, and the UK. In New York, she has developed work with UNICEF, Soho Rep, NYTW, Bushwick Starr, Rattlestick, Mabou Mines, The Flea among others. Selected work: Elements of Change (United Nations Climate Change Week and touring NYC schools), Yes, Uncle (finalist, Leah Ryan Prize), and One, Two, Three (winner of best script, director, play and audience vote, international Short+Sweet Festival). Divya is a member of The New Victory LabWorks and the New Georges Jam and was a fellow of Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab, The Civilians R&D Group, Gingold Speakers Corner, NYTW 2050 Fellowship, Hypokrit Theatre’s Tamasha, Project Y Writers’ Group, and Pipeline Theatre’s Playlab.
NYGEL D. ROBINSON is a writer and musician based in Chicago, IL. He is the co-writer of Mexodus, a live-looping musical, which is receiving its world premiere at Baltimore Center Stage and Mosaic Theatre in Spring 2024. Nygel hates an idle brain so his hands are in many other projects as a composer/lyricist, music director, and music producer. He’s the composer of a folk adaptation of Oedipus Rex written by JC Clementz, which was commissioned by the University of Chicago. He’s currently adjunct faculty at The Hartt School, and is working on a New Orleans-themed Romeo and Juliet adaptation alongside Kevin Ramsey. He is also the composer/lyricist of a new untitled musical conceived by Ken-Matt Martin–a joint commission by 10 regional theaters across the United States. Nygel is thrilled to be working with Prospect again and for the first time as a writer!
DYLAN SCHIFRIN is an award-winning early career playwright, composer/lyricist, and librettist. Distinctions include: Jonathan Larson Grant (2022 Finalist), Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project (2023 Participant), The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center (NMTC and NPC Semifinalist), New Musicals Inc. (New Voices Project Finalist), IAMA Theatre Company (Emerging Playwrights Lab Member), Musical Theatre Factory (Makers III Cohort Finalist), The Civilians (R&D Group Semifinalist), the National YoungArts Foundation (Finalist in Playwriting), and The Foundation for New American Musicals (MUSI-CAL, SHOWSEARCH Finalist). Dylan is a member of ASCAP, the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and UNTITLED Musical Project, a new writers group for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ musical theater writers funded by the Dramatists Guild. Dylan's writing for TV has been distinguished by ScreenCraft and Stage 32 among others. BA Yale College, Musical Theatre Composition (with distinction).
WILL SHISHMANIAN is a composer, lyricist, singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Queens, NY. He plays guitar and bass for cabarets, readings, recording sessions, and concerts around the city, and produces music for other artists - especially fellow queer and trans people. He wrote music, book, and lyrics for Amberland: A Folk Musical (previously The Regulars), which was most recently performed in concert at Hope Mill Theater in 2022, and music and lyrics for Addy & Dahlia: A Fairytale Musical, which was performed at The Secret Theater in January 2019. His solo music can be found on all streaming platforms under the artist name “Will Shish.”
TIDTAYA SINUTOKE (ฑิตยา สินุธก) is a Jonathan Larson Grant, Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and Fred Ebb Award-winning musical theatre composer, writer, and musician. Theatre credits: Half The Sky (The 5th Avenue Theatre's First Draft Commission & 20/21 Digital Season); Sunwatcher (The Civilians R&D Group); Little Dugong And Her Seagrass Song (American Opera Project); and Dear Mr. C (Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative Award). Her works have been developed and supported by the Composer-Librettists Studio at New Dramatists, Yale Institute for Music Theatre, New Victory LabWorks, Johnny Mercer Foundation, NYFA IAM Mentoring Program, Robert Rauschenberg Residency, Kurt Weill Foundation, Drama League, Tofte Lake Center, Loghaven Artist Residency, and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. MFA: NYU. www.tidtayasinutoke.com
BROOKE TRUMM (she/her) is a composer and drummer/percussionist from Portland, OR, and lives in NYC. Her animated movie-musical Pandora Rocks, written with Kerry Kazmierowicztrimm, has placed in the quarter-finals of several screenplay competitions, and had a reading at NYU. Her 20-Minute Musical Death and Taxes, written with Clare Fuyuko Bierman, had a reading at NYU and was produced by HARP Theatricals with director Maggie Monahan. Her song Grow In The City written with Mikey Rosenbaum was featured in Rattlestick Playwright Theater's Village Song and Lincoln Center's Broadway's Future Songbook series. She also attended the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU. When Brooke isn't writing, you can find her playing drums for musicals around town, music assisting on and off Broadway, and painting. Brooke is super excited to be a writer for this year's Prospect Musical Theater Lab, and can't wait to share the show with an audience!