The Life - Broadway Creative Team

Cy Coleman was a prolific composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist who made a significant impact on American music and Broadway. Born Seymour Kaufman in 1929 in New York City, Coleman began playing piano at an early age and was soon performing in clubs and bars around the city. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, but his true education came from playing with jazz greats like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Coleman's first foray into Broadway was with the musical "Wildcat" in 1960, which starred Lucille Ball. The show was not a critical success, ... read more Berlind was a New York City theatrical producer and board member of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc. He was one of the founders of Carter, Berlind, Potoma & Weill in 1960, a company that would later through Sandy Weill become Shearson Loeb Rhoades, which was eventually sold to American Express in 1981 for approximately $930 million in stock. Recent productions include The Book of Mormon, Copenhagen; Kiss Me, Kate; Proof; Medea; Anna in the Tropics; Caroline, or Change; Wonderful Town; Doubt; The History Boys; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Faith Healer; Deuce; The Year of Magical Thinking; Curtains; ... read more Michael Blakemore is an accomplished actor, director, and writer with a long and distinguished career in both the theater and film industries. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1928, Blakemore began his career as an actor before transitioning to directing in the 1960s. He has since become one of the most respected directors in the industry, with numerous awards and accolades to his name. Blakemore's early career was marked by his work as an actor in Australia and the UK. He made his West End debut in 1950 in a production of The Heiress, and went on to appear in numerous productions ... read more Cy Coleman was a prolific composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist who made a significant impact on American music and Broadway. Born Seymour Kaufman in 1929 in New York City, Coleman began playing piano at an early age and was soon performing in clubs and bars around the city. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, but his true education came from playing with jazz greats like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Coleman's first foray into Broadway was with the musical "Wildcat" in 1960, which starred Lucille Ball. The show was not a critical success, ... read more Adam Epstein was a celebrated Broadway producer with his theatrical productions receiving 46 Tony nominations and 12 Tony Awards. Epstein's Broadway credits include Hairspray, A View From a Bridge, The Crucible, Amadeus, Godspell, The Wedding Singer and Cry-Baby. He developed Cry-Baby from its inception, obtaining the rights to the film and assembling the creative team. Likewise, he was an original producer on the musical version of Ever After. He was attached to a planned fall 2008 revival of Godspell starring Gavin Creel, Diana DeGarmo, Uzo Aduba, Joshua Henry and more, but the production was canceled. Cry-Baby, which opened on Broadway ... read more Credits: Your Welcome America, Movin' Out, Ring of Fire, Evil Dead the Musical, La Cage Aux Folles, Victor/Victoria, City of Angels, Gypsy, Falsettos, The Capeman, The Will Rogers Follies, M. Butterfly, Swing, Minnelli on Minnelli with Liza, Dream, Threepenny Opera with Sting, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Odd Couple, M. Butterfly, Stones in His Pockets, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Thousand Clowns. Fitzgerald is president of Sound Associates, Inc. a premier provider of sound and video systems to the theater. Recent Broadway: Lennon, Sweeney Todd, The Producers, Beauty & the Beast, Hairspray, Movin’ Out, Sweet Charity, Good Vibrations, Dracula, Caroline or Change, Little Shop…, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42nd St, Urinetown, Nine, La Boheme, Big River, Boys From Syracuse, Look of Love, Urban Cowboy, Never Gonna Dance, Thou Shalt Not, By Jeeves, Follies, Oklahoma!, Jekyll and Hyde, Rocky Horror Show, Seussical, The Music Man, Fosse, Swing!, Parade, Footloose, Kat and the Kings, Civil War, Triumph of Love. Studio Musician (bass): Michael Jackson, Madonna, Portishead, Eric Clapton, BB King, Sinatra, Carly Simon, Celine Dion, Smashing Pumpkins, Pete Seeger, NY Philharmonic. Michael is very excited to join Jersey Boys on tour! Previous: NCL’s Jersey Boys (Nick Massi); National Tour: Dirty Dancing (Johnny Castle u/s), Legally Blonde (UPS Guy), Anything Goes First National (Ensemble). Off-Broadway/Vegas: Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man (Stefan). TV: “My Crazy Love Story” (Rico). Michael is also the creator of Shadow Star, a new mobile app that connects aspiring performing artists with Broadway Star mentors. NY Theater includes: The Normal Heart, Anything Goes (Tony® nomination), Glass Menagerie (Lortel nomination), Lend Me a Tenor (Hewes Award, Tony® & Outer Critics nominations), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Blithe Spirit (Tony® nomination), Kiss Me, Kate (Tony Award® winner), Pajama Game (Tony® nomination), Wild Party, Golden Child, Kimberly Akimbo, The Life. Opera: Iphigénie en Tauride (Metropolitan Opera), The Bartered Bride (Juilliard), Tristan & Isolde, Adriana Mater (Paris Opera/Bastille), L'amour de Loin (Salzburg, Paris/Chatelet, Santa Fe, Helsinki), Iolanta, Perséphone (Teatro Madrid); works throughout U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. Dance: Mark Morris Dance Group, SF Ballet, Boston Ballet, Arizona Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet. ... read more Donald John Sebesky was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz trombonist. He was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of other instruments: keyboards, electric piano, organ, accordion, and clavinet. Wagner was born in San Francisco, the son of Phyllis Edna Catherine (née Smith-Spurgeon) and Jens Otto Wagner. His mother was from New Zealand and his father was from Denmark. He attended art school and started his career in theatres in that city with designs for Don Pasquale, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Tea and Sympathy, and Waiting for Godot, among others. In 1958, he relocated to New York City, where he worked on numerous off-Broadway productions before making his Broadway debut as an assistant designer for the Hugh Wheeler play Big Fish, Little Fish in 1961. His first solo ... read more Wheeler is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, musical director, musical supervisor, and musician. Perhaps best known for his 17 seasons as musical director of the ABC show Dancing with the Stars, he has enjoyed many years of success over several mediums. His Broadway credits include Side Show, Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony Award nomination), Never Gonna Dance, Hairspray (Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Full Monty (Tony Award nomination), Swing! (Tony Award nomination), Little Me (Tony Award nomination), The Life (Tony Award nomination), Dreamgirls, The Wiz, The Tap Dance Kid, and Lena Horne: The ... read more