ITAMAR MOSES (Book) is the author of the full-length plays Outrage, Bach at Leipzig, Celebrity Row, The Four of Us, Yellowjackets, Back Back Back, Completeness and The Whistleblower; the musicals Nobody Loves You (with Gaby Alter), Fortress of Solitude (with Michael Friedman) and The Band's Visit (with David Yazbek); and the evening of short plays Love/Stories (Or But You Will Get Used To It). His work has appeared Off-Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theaters across the country and in Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Venezuela, Turkey and Chile, and is published by Faber & Faber and Samuel French. Awards for his work include Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Obie awards in New York, as well as awards from the Portland, San Diego, Dallas, and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circles. He's received new play commissions from The McCarter, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Rep, The Wilma Theater, South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, and Goodman Theatre. On television, Itamar has written for TNT's Men of a Certain Age, HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and WGN'S Outsiders. He holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Born in Berkeley, CA, he now lives in Brooklyn, NY.

[Bio as of February 2024]

A varied career as a recording artist, Emmy-winning TV and film writer, music producer and pianist has somehow led Yazbek to a career on Broadway. His four shows, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and The Band's Visit were all Tony nominated for Best Score. Yazbek took home the Tony for Best Score for The Band's Visit. The Fully Monty won him the Drama Desk Award for Best Music. As a recording artist, Yazbek is responsible for five albums: The Laughing Man (winner NAIRD award, Best Pop Album of the Year), Tock, Damascus, Tape Recorder and Evil Monkey Man. He also produced the original cast albums of The Band's Visit, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the first three of which were nominated for Grammy Awards. Yazbek scored the final season of HBO's Boardwalk Empire, scored and performed the music for Larry David's giant Broadway hit Fish in the Dark, and built an Ikea storage shelf. Yazbek teamed up with 13 librettist Robert Horn to collaborate on the musical Tootsie, which won the Tony for Best Book of a Musical and was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

[Bio as of Februrary 2024]

At Writers Theatre: The Band's Visit

ZI ALIKHAN is a queer, first-generation South Asian-American, culturally Muslim theater director. DIRECTING: On That Day in Amsterdam (Primary Stages, Drama Desk Nomination-Outstanding Director, Lucille Lortel Nomination-Outstanding Director), Sanctuary City (Pasadena Playhouse, LA Times-‘Best of the Year’), RENT (Paper Mill Playhouse), Snow in Midsummer (Classic Stage Company), The Wizard of Oz and Somewhere (Geva Theatre Center), Manik Choksi’s The Ramayan (currently in development at Ars Nova), The Great Leap (Portland Center Stage), A Nice Indian Boy (Olney Theatre Center), Ragtime (Playmakers Repertory Company). Zi was named one of TCG’s Rising Leaders of Color. All of them are, but this one is especially for Mom and Baba.

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: The Band's Visit and Next to Normal

ANDRA VELIS SIMON returns to Writers Theatre, where she music directed Next to Normal, directed by David Cromer. Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, A.R.T. in Cambridge, BAM, Berkeley Rep, NYU’s Skirball Center, Olney Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, People’s Light, and TheatreSquared. Chicago credits include: the U.S. premiere of London Road at Shattered Globe Theatre; Life After, Camino Real, and The Iceman Cometh at The Goodman Theatre; Songs for Nobodies with Northlight Theatre; Caroline, or Change, Always… Patsy Cline, 9 to 5, and LIZZIE with Firebrand Theatre; the world premiere of La Ruta by Isaac Gómez at Steppenwolf; Mr. Burns at Theatre Wit; and multiple actor-musician productions with The Hypocrites and Chicago Children’s Theatre, among others. Andra has also taught musical theatre performance at the college level since 2008.

[Bio as of February 2024]

SEBASTIANI ROMAGNOLO - Choreography: Shrek, Annie (Cape Fear Regional Playhouse); Hello, Dolly! (Berkshire Theatre Award best choreography); Ragtime, Cabaret, Wedding Singer, Spamalot, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Addams Family (Mac-Hayden Theatre); Les Miserables (Pace); The Good Person of Szechwan (Atlantic Acting School), The Wild Party (Yale); Spring Awakening (Sarah Lawrence); Walk the Night (Blue Barn Theatre). Directing: Funny Girl, Grease (Mac-Hayden). Assisting: The SpongeBob Musical (Assistant Choreo, First National Tour); Schmigadoon (research associate); Other World (Reading); Music Man (Asolo Repertory Theatre); Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (The REV). Sebastiani holds a B.F.A. in drama from NYU and has trained with Third Rail Projects and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

[Bio as of February 2024]

JASON BURROW is an Associate Professor of Musical Theatre at the University of Arkansas and has performed as a pianist and vocalist with Grammy and Tony award winning artists such as Mariah Carey, the Broadway Inspirational Voices, and Sting. Most recently Jason was on the North American tour of Hamilton the Musical as Associate Music Director and Associate Conductor. Jason previously taught at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in the New Studio on Broadway before returning to Arkansas. Jason enjoys an ongoing relationship with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR and has been lucky to music direct many shows for them including Next to Normal, Fun Home, Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Legend of Georgie McBride, Matilda, and American Mariachi. 

[Bio as of February 2024]

ASFOON PAJOUAR is a New York-based designer of stage and environment for plays, operas, and other live performances. Recent works include Fuente Ovejuna (Theatre For A New Audience), Adoration (Beth Morrison Projects), Out Of Character (Berkeley Rep), Molière’s Dom Juan (Fisher Center at Bard SummerScape 2022), English (Studio Theatre, DC), My Six Therapists (Clubbed Thumb), Lady M (HeartBeat Opera), MƆɹNIŊ[MORNING//MOURNING] (PROTOTYPE 2022), Mad Forest (Theatre for a New Audience and Fisher Center at Bard), Word.Sound.Power (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Paper Pianos (EMPAC), Will You Come With Me (The Play Company), ICONS/IDOLS: IN THE PURPLE ROOM (New Ohio Theatre), s.i.n.s.o.f.u.s (Harvard University), and The Silence (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Internationally, her work has taken her to Alte Münze (Berlin) and Schauspiel Köln (Cologne). She is a member of USA829. 

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, The Band's Visit, and Wife of a Salesman.

RAQUEL ADORNO is a costume designer and educator based in Chicago. Selected credits: CHICAGO: The Music Man* (Marriott Theatre); PERSONALITY: The Lloyd Price Musical* (Hard Kill LLC); The Thanksgiving Play, POTUS, Describe the Night (Steppenwolf Theater); Measure for Measure, I, Banquo (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Georgiana and Kitty*, Intimate Apparel* (Northlight Theatre); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Antigone, Gospel at Colonus, The Island, The Tragedy Of Othello, The Moor of Venice (Court Theatre); The Band’s Visit, Wife of a Salesman (Writers Theatre); Mies Julie (Victory Gardens Theater); Unelectable You (The Second City); Plano (First Floor Theater); Top Girls (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); D.O.A*., The Long Christmas Ride Home, Desperate Dolls (Strawdog Theatre Company); Murder Ballad, Princess Mary Demands Your Attention, CARRIE: The Musical (Bailiwick Chicago); Angry Fags (Steppenwolf Garage) The Submission, Songs from an Unmade Bed (Pride Films and Plays); Barefoot in the Park, Crimes of the Heart, Dead Accounts (Step Up Productions); A Number, Scenes from an Execution (Runcible Theatre). REGIONAL: Waitress, Rent (The MUNY); Choice, The Wolves (McCarter Theatre Center); The Tempest, Intimate Apparel (Utah Shakespeare Festival); August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Raisin in the Sun, The Taming of the Shrew, Cymbeline, A Doll’s House, A Doll’s House, Part 2 ( American Players Theatre); Small Mouth Sounds (UCCS Theatreworks). FILM: Curio, Limerence. EDUCATION: Postdoctoral Scholar in Theatre, MFA in Stage Design (Northwestern University); MM in Opera Performance,  BM in Opera, Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). AWARDS: The Michael Maggio Award 2022, The Michael Merritt Academic Achievement Prize for Collaborative Design 2019. *denotes Jeff Award Nomination. www.raqueladorno.com

[Bio as of September 2024]

SOLOMON WEISBARD has created original works in drama, opera, dance, installation, and music across the U.S., Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, and Slovenia. Previously with Zi Alikhan: Sanctuary City (Pasadena Playhouse). Other highlights include Otello (Festspielhaus Baden Baden, Germany); Il Trovatore (Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Teatro Regio di Parma, Italy); Oedipus (Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, Greece; Ancient Theatre of Pompeii, Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, and Teatro Mercadante di Napoli, Italy) all with Robert Wilson; Macbeth (directed by John Doyle at Classic Stage Company, NYC); The Shape of Things (created by Carrie Mae Weems at the Park Avenue Armory, NYC); Duat (Soho Rep, NYC); and Men on Boats (World Premiere: Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb, NYC). Regionally: Arden Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, Magic, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public, Portland Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Portland Stage, Quintessence, TheatreSquared, Tri-Cities Opera, Westport Country Playhouse, and Yale Rep. Solomon is Assistant Professor of Scenic/Lighting Design at Portland State University and earned his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: The Hot Wing King and The Band's Visit

WILLOW JAMES (Sound Designer) is a Chicago-based artist, educator, arts leader and DJ who centers his work around exploring Black identity, new works, and activism. He currently serves as the Civic Engagement Director at Definition Theatre (where is also an ensemble member). He is also a Court Theatre teaching artist, Resident Sound Designer at Artemisia Theatre, and Adjunct Faculty at DePaul University. Writer's Theatre: The Band's Visit. Chicago projects include Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution (Court Theatre); The Penelopiad (Goodman Theatre); Antigone (Court Theatre); Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Chlorine Sky (Steppenwolf Theatre), An Educated Guess (Definition Theatre), Regional: TheatreSquared, American Players Theatre, NAATC, Alleyway Theatre, and Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis. worksbywillow.com

[Bio as of June 2024]

SMOOCH MEDINA is a Chicago-area designer whose other show credits include projection design for Rent (Porchlight Music Theatre); Sheep Dog (Shattered Globe); The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Chicago Children’s Theatre); Alice in Wonderland (Governors State University); A Swell in the Ground, Pilgrims, and A Life Extra Ordinary (The Gift Theatre); Women in Jeopardy and Silent Sky (First Folio); Saturn Returns (Neo- Futurists); Estrella Cruz: The Junkyard Queen (Halcyon Theatre); The White Road (Jeff Award-nominated, Irish Theatre of Chicago); Tightwire (Chicago Tap Theatre); and lighting design for A Little World of Our Own (Irish Theatre of Chicago); The Nutcracker (Legere Ballet Company); and The Feast (Red Theatre Company). Smooch holds a BFA in Lighting Design from Columbia College Chicago.

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: The Hot Wing King, The Band's Visit, Stick Fly and Smart People

Greg's previous credits include: CHICAGO: Steppenwolf Theatre: Sanctuary City and Chlorine Sky (Intimacy), Choir Boy (Intimacy & Violence),The Lyric Opera: The Factotum (Intimacy & Violence); Remy Bumppo: Galileo's Daughter and Routes; Court Theatre: Fen (Intimacy & Violence); Chicago Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors; REGIONAL: Opera Theatre of St. Louis: Treemonisha, Tosca, Cosi Fan Tutte, and Susannah; Denver Center of Performing Arts: The Color Purple; Huntington Theatre (Boston): K-I-S-S-I-N-G and Joe Turner's Come and Gone. UP NEXT: Theatre Cedar Rapids: Fairview; Speakeasy Stage: Strange Loop; Writers Theatre: Hot Wing King. OTHER: Associate Faculty with Theatrical Intimacy Education, and Director of BFA Acting & Associate Artistic Director at Brenau University.

At Writers Theatre: The Band's Visit and Once

SAMMI GRANT returns to Writers Theatre where she previously coached Once. Other Chicagoland Theatres she has worked with include: Goodman Theatre, Timeline Theatre, Lyric Opera, Drury Lane, Marriot Theatre, Remy Bumpppo Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, and many more. Her film/TV credits include: Rescued by Ruby (Netflix), Patriot (Amazon Prime), The Exorcist (Fox). She is an Adjunct Professor of performance at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Sammi holds an MFA with Distinction in Voice Studies from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is on the Board of directors of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA).

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: Translations, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, The Band's Visit, Once, and Athena

MIRANDA ANDERSON is happy to be back at Writers where she has previously worked as the stage manager for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, The Band's Visit, Once and Athena. She has frequently worked with TimeLine Theatre where selected credits include: What the Constitution Means to Me, Trouble in Mind, Campaigns Inc., and Relentless. She has also worked at Rivendell Theatre, The House Theatre, First Folio Theatre, and The Hypocrites, among others. From 2012 to 2018, she toured with The Hypocrites’ Gilbert and Sullivan productions to regional theaters including Olney Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Skirball Center at NYU, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and American Repertory Theatre in Boston. Miranda is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

[Bio as of April 2025]

Katie Galetti is the Artistic Producer and Casting Director at Writers Theatre in Glencoe and a member of CSA. She also serves as the Casting Consultant at Remy Bumppo Theatre in Chicago, and is a freelance casting director regionally. In addition to her casting work, Katie produces and directs events of multiple genres, including opera, digital, experiential, and film. She's worked with Little Cinema Digital, 13Exp, and HERE Arts & Culture Consulting as a producer, is the founder and Artistic Director of Janus Concert Series, and is a founding member of the Chicago Opera Collective. Outside of theater, Katie is a volunteer with Resilience Chicago as a Sexual Assault Crisis Advocate and a classically trained vocalist. More information can be found at www.katiegaletti.com.

FAITH HART is thrilled to be back at Writers Theatre, where she recently assistant directed The Band’s Visit. She is overjoyed to work alongside Kimberly Senior, who she assisted on ‘ART’ at the Guthrie Theater. Most recently, she co-directed Eurydice on the Chicago River with site-specific theatre collective Snails on a Bike and Krapp’s Last Tape, as a member of Director’s Haven at Haven Chicago. She is a 2024-2025 Education Apprentice at Northlight Theatre and upcoming credits include assistant directing P*ssy Sludge at Facility Theater and serving as the dramaturg on ‘ART’ at Remy Bumppo. | faithhart.com

[Bio as of October 2024]

CELIA VILLACRES makes her Writers Theatre debut! Celia is a music director and accompanist born and raised in Chicago. Celia was most recently seen as associated music director/associate conductor on Paramount Theatre’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Other favorite credits include Next to Normal (Paramount’s Copley Theatre), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Breckenridge Backstage), and School of Rock (Paramount). Celia is a graduate of Ball State University. 

[Bio as of February 2024]

Daniel Friedman – A Chicago based lighting designer, Daniel is thrilled to be returning to Writers Theatre, having been a part of his first show 10 years ago. He has designed lighting with Drury Lane Theatre, The Merola Opera Program, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Matter Dance Company, Momentary Theatre, The Gift Theatre, Studio Mangiameli, The Jacobians, Three Things Productions, Interrobang Theatre Project, Redtwist Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, First Floor Theatre, Red Tape Theatre, Emerald City Theatre, The Blind Owl, and Haven Theatre among many others across Chicago. Additionally, Daniel has served as an associate and assistant lighting designer on productions at San Francisco Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Folks Operetta, Timeline Theatre and Victory Gardens Theatre. Visit danielafriedman.com.

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, The Band's Visit, Once, Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol, Athena and The Last Match

NATALIE COHEN is thrilled to return to Writers Theatre. Select credits include Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol (2022, 2023), Once, Athena (Writers Theatre); The Gospel at Colonus (Court Theatre); Clyde’s (Goodman Theatre); Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody, Bachelor: The Unauthorized Parody Musical (Right Angle Entertainment). She is a graduate of Truman State University and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.

[Bio as of February 2024]

At Writers Theatre: Monsieur Chopin, The Band's Visit, and Into the Woods

ZACHARY/HARPER CREWSE returns to Writers Theatre where they previously worked on Once and Into the Woods. They are a stage manager and producer for dance and theatre, whose credits include Madison Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the Grant Park Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theatre, Lollapalooza, the Actors’ Gym, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Lookingglass, Mercury Theatre, and A Red Orchid Theatre. Harper is the associate producer for Queer Dance Freakout and the producer for Collaboraction Theatre. BFA, DePaul University.

[Bio as of February 2024]

CELIA VILLACRES makes her Writers Theatre debut! Celia is a music director and accompanist born and raised in Chicago. Celia was most recently seen as associated music director/associate conductor on Paramount Theatre’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Other favorite credits include Next to Normal (Paramount’s Copley Theatre), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Breckenridge Backstage), and School of Rock (Paramount). Celia is a graduate of Ball State University. 

[Bio as of February 2024]