Chicago is a 1975 American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the jazz age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal".
The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques were taught by Del Close and other members of the Second City, located in Chicago and later St. Louis. They used these techniques to produce sketches and improvised scenes. Its name is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, Scene II: "...to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise." In 1975 the troupe purchased and moved into its current location on Melrose Avenue.
Ana Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress and comedian. She is most notable for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's Suburgatory, TBS's People of Earth, NBC's American Auto, and the film Mean Girls.
Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, but closely follows the story of The Supremes as the musical follows the story of a young Black female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called "The Dreams", who become music superstars.
Craig Philip Bierko is an American actor and singer.
Orfeh is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Orfeh and her husband, Andy Karl, performed at the Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series in 2016, and in the Broadway musicals Saturday Night Fever, Legally Blonde, and Pretty Woman.
Alison Fraser is an American actress, voice actress and singer who has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in television and film. In concert, she has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, The White House, Town Hall, The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Tisch Center for the Arts, The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Wilma, The Emelin, Joe's Pub, 54 Below, and Symphony Space.
By Jupiter is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons. By Jupiter premiered on Broadway in 1942 and starred Ray Bolger, and was the last musical written by Rodgers and Hart; when Hart’s erratic behavior was often the cause of friction between him and Rodgers and led to a breakup of their partnership the following year before his death. Rodgers then began collaborating with Oscar Hammerstein II.
Jacqueline Laura Hoffman is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second City comedy improv group.
The New Yorkers is a musical written by Cole Porter and Herbert Fields (book). Star Jimmy Durante also wrote the words and music for the songs in which his character was featured.
Danny Burstein is an American actor and singer. Known for his work on the Broadway stage, he's received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards and nominations for three Grammy Awards.
Danny Mastrogiorgio is an American actor who has also provided voice work for video games. He is best known for providing the voice of Toni Cipriani in the 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and for his appearances in movies such as Brother Bear and Enchanted. He has also been in several television shows such as Law & Order.
American Idiot is a sung-through rock musical based on the concept album of the same name by rock band Green Day. After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009, the show moved to the St. James Theatre on Broadway. Previews began on March 24, 2010, and the musical officially opened on April 20, 2010. The show closed on April 24, 2011, after 422 performances. While Green Day did not appear in the production, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong performed the role of "St. Jimmy" occasionally throughout the run.
Taylor Hunt Trensch is an American stage and film actor.
The Last Smoker in America is a four-character, one-act musical comedy featuring book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Peter Melnick. The Last Smoker in America opened Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in 2012, after developmental readings in 2005 at the Rubicon Theatre Company, a workshop production at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2009, and having its world premiere at Contemporary American Theatre Company (CATCO), Columbus, Ohio in 2010.
Carla Renata is an American actress and singer. She was born in Cherry Point, North Carolina and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Renata has starred in several long-running Broadway musicals, national tours, and appears on television shows. She is creator and host of The Curvy Critic with Carla Renata which streams via YouTube and Facebook Live.
Bright Star is a musical written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. It is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 1945–46 with flashbacks to 1923. The musical is inspired by their Grammy-winning collaboration on the 2013 bluegrass album Love Has Come for You and, in turn, the folk story of the Iron Mountain Baby.
Andrew Harrison Leeds is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is known for his portrayal of Josh on Cristela, Christopher Pelant on Bones, and David Clarke on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. He is also in the Main Company of the sketch comedy/improv theater The Groundlings.
Timothy Greenberg is an American writer, director and producer based in New York City. In 2019, Greenberg created the Netflix series Living with Yourself, for which he received a Writers Guild Award nomination. He also served as an executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he won two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.
Kyle Andrew Selig is an American actor, dancer, and singer. He is known for originating the role of Aaron Samuels in the 2018 Tony-nominated musical, Mean Girls and for playing the role of Mr. Komos in Monster High: The Movie.
