Creative Team
Neil Simon
(Book) has been represented on Broadway by Come Blow Your Horn, Little Me, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity, The Star-Spangled Girl, Plaza Suite, PROMISES, PROMISES, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Gingerbread Lady, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys, The Good Doctor, God’ s Favorite, California Suite, Chapter Two, They’re Playing Our Song, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Fools, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues (1985 Tony Award), the female version of The Odd Couple, Broadway Bound, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers (1991 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award), Jake’s Women, The Goodbye Girl, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Proposals, The Dinner Party and 45 Seconds From Broadway. Off-Broadway: London Suite. Films include Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, Plaza Suite, The Heartbreak Kid, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Murder by Death, The Sunshine Boys, The Goodbye Girl, The Cheap Detective, California Suite, Chapter Two, Seems Like Old Times, Only When I Laugh, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Max Dugan Returns, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers.
Burt Bacharach
(Music) When the Recording Academy awarded Burt Bacharach its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, he was proclaimed music’s “greatest living composer.” Six decades into one of songwriting’s most successful and honored careers—marked by 48 top 10 hits, nine #1 songs, more than 500 compositions and a landmark 50+-year chart run—Burt’s music continues to set industry records and creative standards. Bracketed with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Paul McCartney and Paul Simon as a legend of popular music, Burt has received three Academy Awards and eight Grammy Awards (including the 1997 Trustees Award with frequent collaborator Hal David). He revolutionized music composition of the 1950s and 60s, joining visionaries Cole Porter and Sir George Martin in pioneering new forms of music from the second half of the 20th century into the 21st century. The Grammy-winning PROMISES, PROMISES was his and David’s first and only Broadway musical collaboration. He’s glad to be back.
Hal David
(Lyrics) has been honored with every major award by the music industry, including an Academy Award for “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” more than 30 gold records, a Grammy and the NARM Presidential Award. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and received their coveted Johnny Mercer Award. Mr. David received the Grammy Trustees Award from NARAS, as well as their New York Heros Award, and the British Ivor Novello Award. Some of Mr. David’s standards are “This Guy’s in Love With You,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “Walk on By,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “Always Something There to Remind Me,” “One Less Bell to Answer,” “To All the Girl’s I’ve Loved Before,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “The Look of Love.” Some of the film scores for which Mr. David wrote lyrics are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Alfie, What’s New Pussycat?, Casino Royale, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Moonraker, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Return of the Pink Panther. Mr. David has honorary degrees from Lincoln College and Claremont Graduate University. He is currently chair- man of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Rob Ashford
(Direction and Choreography). Mr. Ashford’s Broadway credits include Cry-Baby (Tony® nomination), Curtains (Tony® nomination), The Wedding Singer (Tony® nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002 Tony® Award, Best Choreography), and The Boys From Syracuse (Roundabout). In London, the current production of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Rachel Weisz at the Donmar Warehouse, Parade at the Donmar Warehouse (Olivier nominations for Direction and Choreography), Evita (Olivier nomination), Guys and Dolls (Olivier nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Olivier nomination), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Once in a Lifetime (National Theatre). Other credits include Parade (Mark Taper Forum), Candide (La Scala, Milan, Chatelet, Paris), Tenderloin, Bloomer Girl, A Connecticut Yankee… and Pardon My English (Encores!). He provided choreography for the film Beyond the Sea directed by and starring Kevin Spacey. Mr. Ashford just won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for his work on the 81st Annual Academy Awards.
Phil Reno
(Music Director) Broadway: The Drowsy Chaperone (Music Supervisor/Vocal Arranger), also national and London), The Producers, Thou Shalt Not, Cats, Dame Edna: The Royal Tour. National: Joseph… starring Donny Osmond, Music of the Night (world premiere), Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity, Starlight Express. Off-Broadway: A New Brain, The Diva Is Dismissed, Chess. TV: Broadway Under the Stars (CBS: 2002- 2006). Film: The Producers. Cast recordings: The Drowsy Chaperone (Grammy nomination as co-producer, Thou Shalt Not, Joseph…, I Sent a Letter to My Love, A New Brain and The Producers. Upcoming: Minsky’s and Elf!
Scott Pask
(Scenic Design) Recent Broadway credits include A Steady Rain with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, A Behanding in Spokane, Hair (also NYSF, London), Pal Joey (Tony nom.), Speed-the-Plow, 9 to 5, and Impressionism. He has been awarded Tonys for his designs of The Pillowman and The Coast of Utopia (also Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Hewes Awards). Other selected credits include Les Liaison Dangereuses (Tony nom., Drama Desk Award), Take Me Out, Nine, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Tales From Hollywood (Donmar, London), Urinetown and Peter Grimes (Met Opera). He is thrilled to be collaborating with his twin brother Bruce on this production.
Bruce Pask
(Costume Design) has served as a fashion editor and stylist at notable fashion publications for almost two decades, holding fashion directorial posts at GQ and Cargo magazines. He is currently the men’s fashion director of T: The New York Times Style Magazine. His extensive styling work with Annie Leibovitz included numerous celebrity covers for Vanity Fair and memorable advertising campaigns for The Sopranos. His debut as a costume designer for the stage was the Broadway revival of Design for Living, directed by Joe Mantello. He first collaborated with his twin brother Scott for the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of The Zoo Story/The Dumbwaiter.
Donald Holder
(Lighting Design) Broadway: Ragtime, Oleanna, PROMISES PROMISES, South Pacific (Tony Award), Les Liasons Dangereuses, A Streetcar Named Desire, Gem of The Ocean, Movin’ Out, Juan Darien (all Tony-nominated), The Lion King (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards); Cyrano de Bergerac, The Little Dog Laughed, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Boy From Oz, many others. Recent Off Broadway: Happiness, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Saved, A Man of No Importance, Obeserve the Sons of Ulster (Lortel Award), many others.
Brian Ronan
(Sound Design) American Idiot, Next to Normal, (Tony nomination), Grease, Curtains, Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, The Pajama Game, All Shook Up, Twelve Angry Men, The Look of Love, Master Harold . . . and the Boys, The Boys from Syracuse, Fortune’s Fool, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, The Rainmaker, Little Me, Charlie Brown, Cabaret, Triumph of Love, 1776 and State Fair. Off-Broadway: Bug, for which he won an Obie and a Lucille Lortel Award.
Tom Watson
(Hair and Wig Design) is head of the wig department at the Metropolitan Opera. He has designed wigs for more than forty Broadway productions. Current and recent Broadway designs include The Addams Family, A View from the Brige, Present Laughter, Wicked, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Royal Family, Waiting for Godot, The American Plan, Accent on Youth, Rock of Ages, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park with George and Cyrano de Bergerac.
Ashley L. Ryan
(Makeup Design) Recently designed makeup for the BAM Bridge Project 2010 and wigs for The Philanthropist on Broadway, Yank!, Charlie Brown, Love, Inc., Schlomo, and A Tale of Two Cities (Associate Design). Opera companies include the Met, St.Louis, Santa Fe and Minnesota. She has built wigs for the Broadway productions of The Addams Family, Sondheim on Sondheim, A View from the Bridge, Wicked, Waiting for Godot, Cyrano de Bergerac and Sunday in the Park with George.
Thomas Schall
(Fight Director) More than two dozen Broadway shows: A View from the Bridge, After Miss Julie, Mary Stuart, Waiting for Godot, 13 the Musical, The Seafarer, Rock ‘n Roll, Coram Boy, Journey’s End, The Woman in White, Wicked. Off Broadway: The Pride (MCC), Ruined (MTC), The Book of Grace, Why Torture is Wrong, Hamlet, Mother Courage (Public Theater), Bernarda Alba, Belle Epoque, A Man of No Importance (Lincoln Center Theater), Beat (NY Theatre Workshop), Homebody/Kabul (BAM).
Christopher Bailey
(Associate Director/Choreographer) Choreography credits: Seoul, Korea: Dancing Shadows (won National Korean Theatre Award for Best Choreography 2007). Associate choreographer credits: Broadway: Cry-Baby. West End: Guys and Dolls, Evita, Once in a Lifetime, Candide (also Paris). Tours: The Wedding Singer (U.S.), Guys and Dolls (UK and Australia), Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK).
Jonathan Tunick
(Orchestrations) His 1968 Broadway debut with PROMISES, PROMISES led to Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Nine, Passion, Titanic, The Color Purple, A Chorus Line.Composer/arranger/conductor, film/TV: Mike Nichols, Franco Zeffirelli, Sidney Lumet, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Murder, She Wrote, Columbo. Arranger/conductor, recordings: Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters, Judy Collins, Placido Domingo, Better Midler, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney. One of only eight persons holding Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Academy Awards. Elected to Theatre Hall of Fame in 2009.
David Chase
(Dance Music Arrangements) Has enjoyed a long collaboration with Mr. Ashford on Broadway (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Curtains, The Wedding Singer, Cry-Baby), in London (Guys and Dolls, Evita) and on film (Beyond the Sea). Also, another 15 Broadway shows as Dance Arranger and/or Music Director (currently Billy Elliot), plus arrangements for Radio City Music Hall and the Boston Pops. David would like to acknowledge the brilliant contributions and inspiration of Harold Wheeler, original dance music arranger for PROMISES, PROMISES.
Howard Joines
(Music Coordinator) Music Coordinator: Bye Bye Birdie, Grease, The Times They Are a-Changin’, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Vanities, Romantic Poetry, Adrift in Macao. Conductor/percussionist: Billy Elliot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Never Gonna Dance, Flower Drum Song, The Full Monty, Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Singin’ in the Rain, The King and I, Cleavage. Radio City Recordings/performances: Jewel, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Rochester Philharmonic, Across the Universe, Alamo, Snake Eyes, Twilight, Age of Innocence, Femme Fatale, Maid in Manhattan, MTV Video Music Awards.
Stephen Sposito
(Assistant Director) Shrek the Musical (Broadway Theatre, Assistant Director), Parade (Mark Taper Forum, Assistant Director), Jerry Springer: The Opera (Carnegie Hall, Assistant Director), Speech and Debate (Roundabout Underground, Assistant Director), The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, (Goodman Theatre, Assistant Director), Crowns (Arizona Theatre Company, Assistant Director), The 81st Annual Academy Awards (Production Coordinator). Upcoming: Leap of Faith (Ahmanson Theatre, Associate Director).
Broadway Across America
(Producer) is owned and operated by British theatre producer John Gore (CEO) and entertainment industry veteran Thomas B. McGrath (Chairman). Broadway Across America presents first-class touring Broadway musicals and plays, family productions and other live events throughout a network of 40 North American cities. Under the supervision of Beth Williams (COO & Head of Production), Broadway Across America is also dedicated to the development and production of new and diverse live theatre for productions on Broadway, across America and throughout the world. Recent productions include Hair, West Side Story, Memphis and the West End production of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Upcoming Broadway productions include the return of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Million Dollar Quartet and Minsky’s. Touring productions include Nickelodeon's Storytime Live featuring Dora the Explorer, and Dreamgirls. For more information on Broadway Across America or to purchase tickets through an authorized agent go to BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron
(Producers) are the producers of critically acclaimed feature films and television projects, although they began their careers in the theater working for Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival. In total, their movies have garnered six Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, eleven Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. Their television movies have accrued a total of 69 Emmy nominations. Their award-winning feature films include: Hairspray, Chicago (6 Oscars including Best Picture), The Bucket List and Footloose. Their award-winning television films include: Gypsy, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Annie, Meredith Willson's The Music Man, Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, Martin and Lewis, Serving In Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, The Beach Boys: An American Family, Brian's Song, The Three Stooges, The Reagans and Living Proof. Their recent movie, A Raisin In The Sun won the broadcast night with outstanding ratings, and was nominated for the Television Critics Award as Best Movie or Miniseries of the Year. Raisin was also nominated for three Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Television Movie, and was nominated for a Golden Globe. Their next event film for TV is the first movie version of the beloved musical, Peter Pan, for ABC and Sony. Their upcoming feature films include the new version of Footloose with Chace Crawford, and a contemporary version of Damn Yankees with Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal. For television, their hit TV series Drop Dead Diva will begin its second season on Lifetime and they are currently working on a new ground-breaking dramatic TV series, which they are producing with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks for Showtime about the behind-the-scenes creation of a Broadway musical.
Candy Spelling
(Producer) is making her Broadway debut as a producer of PROMISES, PROMISES, having long been a supporter of the arts. Ms. Spelling is the author of the recent bestseller Stories From Candyland. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post, momlogic.com and other media outlets, writes a column for the Los Angeles Confidential, provides entertainment news reports for BBC radio, and is working on a new series for E! Entertainment Network. This year she was named “Ambassador For Tourism” for Los Angeles, and was invited to join the Board of Directors for L.A. INC., the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is currently a Commissioner for the Board of Recreation and Parks for the City of Los Angeles and was instrumental in creating the first non-profit Parks Foundation in L.A. She is also a member of the L.A. Coliseum Commission and she is an active board member of L.A.’s Best, the after-school enrichment program that serves children in need throughout the city, in partnership with the L.A. Unified School District, the City of Los Angeles and the private sector.
Pat Flicker Addiss
(Producer) A native New Yorker, graduated from Finch College. Producing credits: Little Women, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Bridge & Tunnel, Shout, Spring Awakening, The 39 Steps, Passing Strange, War Brides (NYMF Festival 2007). Current: The Fantasticks, Housewives of Mannheim (May 2010). London: Spring Awakening and Shout. Produced readings of new plays and musicals at the National Arts Club, Algonquin Roundtable Tea. Member: The Broadway League, the Professional Theater Women, on the boards of NJ Rep and Premieres.
The Weinstein Company
(Producer) Bob and Harvey Weinstein are co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company. They previously founded and ran Miramax Films which, during their tenure, was nominated for 249 Oscars and won 60. Bob and Harvey’s current films include: Nine, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Daniel Day Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench, and Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson; John Hillcoat’s The Road with Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron; Tom Ford’s directorial debut A Single Man starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore; Sam Taylor Wood’s feature debut Nowhere Boy; and the upcoming The King’s Speech with Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth. The Weinsteins have produced several award-winning shows on Broadway and in the West End, including: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Producers, Frost/Nixon, Rock N’ Roll, August: Osage County, Boeing-Boeing, The Seagull, God Of Carnage, Exit The King, West Side Story, You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W Bush, Hair and upcoming, The Addams Family.
Terry Allen Kramer
(Producer) Tony Award-winning theatrical producer with an additional five shows running concurrently: West Side Story, The Addams Family, Come Fly Away, Race, All About Me. Delighted to be working with Harvey Weinstein.
Bernie Abrams
(Producer) is co-founder and co-president of Stage Ventures Inc., and is an innovative Broadway financier. His producing credits include the Broadway productions of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Finian’s Rainbow. Producer credits also include Peepshow in Las Vegas.
Michael Speyer
(Producer) is co-founder and co-president of Stage Ventures Inc., and a leading Canadian financier of Broadway shows. His producing credits include the Broadway productions of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Finian’s Rainbow. Producer credits also include Peepshow in Las Vegas.
Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand
(Producer) Under the direction of Takonkiet Viravan, Scenario is one of the most active entertainment companies in Thailand, producing television dramas, sitcoms, music, concerts and theatre. It owns and operates Muang Thai Rachada Theatre, hosting the international tours of Cats, Chicago and Mamma Mia! Scenario also produces original Thai musicals, such as Behind the Painting and Mae Nark of Prakanong. In the past five years, through the works of Takonkiet and Scenario, musical theatre has gained more popularity from the Thai public than ever before.
Norton Herrick
(Producer) is chairman of the Herrick Company, with income property transactions, power plants and hospitals totaling more than $3 billion. Its Herrick Entertainment division produced the motion pictures My One and Only starring Renee Zellweger and Vanishing on 7th Street starring Hayden Christensen. Mr. Herrick is a producer of Hair, 9 to 5, The Wiz, Exit the King, Desire Under the Elms, American Buffalo, the Las Vegas production of Hairspray, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and an investor in West Side Story.
Barry and Fran Weissler
(Producers) are the recipients of five Tony Awards: Othello, starring James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer, Fiddler on the Roof, with Topol, Gypsy, with Tyne Daly, Annie Get Your Gun, with Bernadette Peters and Reba McEntire, and the worldwide hit Chicago, the longest-running musical revival on both Broadway and the West End. The season: La Cage aux Folles. Next up: a revival of Zorba, starring Antonio Banderas.
TBS Service
(Producer) Since its founding as a subsidiary of Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc. in 1953, TBS Service, Inc. has been one of the leading companies within the TBS group. Led by current CEO Morihiro Kodama, the company provides a variety of media-related services in the entertainment industry, such as domestic and overseas program distribution, audio-visual services, advertising and promotional good productions, printing and publishing. TBS Service is an investor in West Side Story, Dreamgirls, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (West End), as well as Million Dollar Quartet.
Laurel Oztemel
(Producer) is thrilled to be making her Broadway debut on PROMISES, PROMISES. She is also developing the new musical The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown. Laurel has a background as a jingle singer and stage performer. She currently lives in Connecticut with her two boys, Andrei and Levon.
Beth Williams
(Executive Producer) is the COO and Head of Production for Key Brand Entertainment, parent company of Broadway Across America. In her 25 year career working on Broadway, she has served as producer, general manager, company manager, conductor or pianist for shows such as Dreamgirls, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, The Producers, Fosse, Sweet Smell of Success and Grey Gardens.
Michael McCabe/Joe Smith
(Associate Producers) Broadway: PROMISES, PROMISES, Million Dollar Quartet (UK Consulting Producers). West End: Spring Awakening. Joseph is the Executive Producer for Old Vic Productions, a producer of Billy Elliot the Musical worldwide. Michael is Executive Producer of Wicked (West End).
