Harry Herbert Frazee was an American theatrical agent, producer, and director, and owner of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. He is well known for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, which started the alleged Curse of the Bambino.
The Curse of the Bambino was a superstitious sports curse in Major League Baseball (MLB) derived from the 86-year championship drought of the Boston Red Sox between 1918 and 2004. The superstition was named after Babe Ruth, colloquially known as "The Bambino", who played for the Red Sox until he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1920. While some fans took the curse seriously, most used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts reinterpreted in refreshing new ways. Over the past forty years it has garnered many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Pulitzer Prize (1982), a Tony Award (1986), and a Jujamcyn Award (1985). In 2002, the A.R.T. was the recipient of the National Theatre Conference's Outstanding Achievement Award, and it was named one of the top three theaters in the country by Time magazine in 2003. The A.R.T. is housed in the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University, a building it shares with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. The A.R.T. operates the Institute for Advanced Theater Training.
Jonathan Freeman is an American actor and singer. He is known for voicing Jafar in Disney's Aladdin franchise, as well as the Kingdom Hearts franchise and the 2011 Aladdin musical.
Steven Sater is a Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet, playwright, lyricist, television writer and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the book and lyrics for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening.
Robert Reale is an American composer with a long list of credits in film, TV and theater. He is also the owner of 4 Elements Music and 8118 Music.
Willie Reale is an American lyricist who has received Academy Award nominations for best song category for his work as a lyricist on the movie Dreamgirls and has won 3 Emmy awards as one of the writer/producers for The Electric Company.
Jayne Houdyshell is an American actress. Known for being a prolific character actor in theater, film, and television, Houdyshell has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, two Obie Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.
Diane Marie Paulus is an American theater and opera director who is currently the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. Paulus was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for her revivals of Hair and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, and won the award in 2013 for her revival of Pippin.
Matthew James Elwyn Thomas, also occasionally credited as Matthew Thomas, is a British actor who has made appearances in television, film, and theater. He is known for his television roles including The Lost Prince, and the ITV drama-musical show, Britannia High. In the U.S., Thomas is best known for having played the title role in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin, which received a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. He was also a late addition to the U.S. national tour of Pippin in 2014. He had his Broadway debut in 2010 playing Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark directed by Julie Taymor, with music by U2's Bono and The Edge.
The Donkey Show: A Midsummer Night's Disco is a theatrical adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The production, created in a disco-era style, was written by Diane Paulus and her husband Randy Weiner and the members of Project 400, Emily Hellstrom, Jordin Ruderman, Rachel Murdy and Anna Wilson. It first appeared Off-Broadway, opening August 18, 1999. The show subsequently ran for six years including venues in England, Scotland, France and Spain. After a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival the Donkey Show came to London for an 8-month run in Londons West End. The London show was produced by David Babani and Graham Kentsley. Rob Goodmonson (NYC) played the part of the DJ in the UK production. In 2009, the show was revived by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for which Paulus is Artistic Director. The club/theater space used in Cambridge is called OBERON, after the king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The show ran in that space until September 2019.
Richard Dresser is an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and teacher whose work has been performed in New York, leading regional theaters, and all over Europe. His first dystopian fiction novel, It Happened Here, was released in October 2020. The novel is an oral history of an American family from the years 2019 to 2035, dealing with life in a totalitarian state when you still have Netflix and two-day free shipping and all you've lost is your freedom. He is co-producing a documentary about Daniel and Phillip Berrigan, antiwar priests and lifelong activists.
Randy Weiner is an American playwright, producer and theater and nightclub owner. Weiner co-wrote the Off-Broadway musical The Donkey Show and, as one-third of EMURSIVE, produced the Drama Desk Award winning New York premiere of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. He is co-owner of NYC "theater of varieties" The Box and The Box Soho. His latest creation The Stranger is a Time Out New York 2023 "Best of the City" award winner.
Teal Wicks is an American singer and stage actress, who is best known for her performances as Elphaba in the Broadway, San Francisco, and Los Angeles productions of the musical Wicked and as Mary Barrie in the musical Finding Neverland.
Stephanie Jean Umoh is an American stage actress.
Elaine J. McCarthy is an American projection and video designer for theater and opera.
Witness Uganda is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews. It was based on the true story of Matthews' humanitarian trips to Uganda, and his work to fund his nonprofit organization, Uganda Project. The musical premiered under the title Witness Uganda on February 4, 2014 at Cambridge's American Repertory Theater, and ran through March 16, 2014. Under the title Invisible Thread, the show transferred to off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre in a production which ran during December 2015.
Waitress is a musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson. It is based on the 2007 film of the same name, written and directed by Adrienne Shelly. It tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a baker and waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband, Earl. After Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her obstetrician, Dr. James "Jim" Pomatter. Looking for ways out of her troubles, she sees a pie baking contest and its grand prize as her chance.
Renee Brna is an American actress and singer. Brna is best known as Meg in the 1st national Broadway tour of Little Women the musical starring Maureen McGovern with Autumn Hurlbert as Beth, Katie Fisher as Jo and Gwen Hollander as Amy. She went on to understudy the leading role of Young Alex/Aaron Ashbrook and Young Thomas Ledbury in the 2007 London transfer to Broadway Coram Boy at the Imperial Theatre. Under the direction of Melly Still the production garnered six Tony Award nominations.
Corey Mach is an American stage actor and producer. He is known for his role as "Tyler" in the Original Broadway Revival Cast of Merrily We Roll Along, "Harry" in Kinky Boots on Broadway, and "William Shakespeare" in the First National Broadway Tour of & Juliet. He is also known for Godspell and Hands on a Hardbody on Broadway as well as the National Tours of Wicked, Rent, and Flashdance. He also appeared in the World Premieres of Waitress, Mystic Pizza, From Here to Eternity and Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, written and directed by James Lapine. He has been seen on TV in supporting roles in "Elsbeth", "Uncoupled", "The Blacklist" and "FBI". He is also the producer and creator of the concert series Broadway Sings.
