Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor, later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.
Freddie Mercury was a British singer and songwriter who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury defied the conventions of a rock frontman with his theatrical style, influencing the artistic direction of Queen.
Kenneth Clark Loggins is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His early soundtrack contributions date back to A Star Is Born in 1976, and he is known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack. As a solo artist, Loggins experienced a string of soundtrack successes, including an Academy Award nomination for "Footloose" in 1985. Finally Home was released in 2013, shortly after Loggins formed the group Blue Sky Riders with Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. He won a Daytime Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Alan Irwin Menken is an American composer, pianist, music director, and record producer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Menken's music for The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) has each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), and Disenchanted (2022), among others. His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman, a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of eighteen people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. He is one of two people to have won a Razzie, an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony ("REGOT").
Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for producer Fortune Gallo and opened in 1927 as the Gallo Opera House. The current Broadway theater is named after a nightclub founded by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, which operated within the theater's space in the late 1970s and the 1980s.
The San Jose Repertory Theatre was the first resident professional theatre company in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1980 by James P. Reber. In 2008, after the demise of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the San Jose Rep became the largest non-profit, professional theatre company in the South Bay with an annual operating budget of $5 million. In 2006, it was saved from impending insolvency by a $2 million bailout loan from the city of San Jose; this was later restructured into a long-term loan similar to a mortgage.
Michael Cerveris is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Road Show, and Passion. In 2004, Cerveris won the Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Assassins as John Wilkes Booth. In 2015, he won his second Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for Fun Home as Bruce Bechdel.
Theodore Raymond Knight is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. George O'Malley on the ABC medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2007.
Freddie Gershon is an American entertainment attorney, author, former president of the Robert Stigwood Group, former co-chairperson of SESAC, and current co-chairperson of Music Theatre International.
Mario Cantone is an American comedian, writer, actor, and singer best known for his numerous stage shows. He also played Anthony Marentino in Sex and the City and Terri in Men In Trees (2006-2008). His style is fast-paced and energetic, with much of his humor coming from his impersonations of characters ranging from family members to celebrities to stereotypes.
Christopher Messina is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. He is best known for starring as Danny Castellano in the series The Mindy Project (2012–2017), which earned him two nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
Charles Messina is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and co-founder of NahNotOutsideMyHouse! Productions. He is of Italian-American descent. He attended Xavier High School and then later, New York University.
Francis Jue is an American actor and singer. Jue is known for his performances on Broadway, in national tours, Off-Broadway and in regional theatre, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and at The Muny in St. Louis. His roles in plays and musicals range from Shakespeare to Rodgers and Hammerstein to David Henry Hwang. He is also known for his recurring role on the TV series Madam Secretary (2014–2019).
John Richard Deacon is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" and "I Want to Break Free"; co-wrote "Under Pressure", "Friends Will Be Friends" and "One Vision"; and he was involved in the band's financial management.
Donald Ragan Stephenson IV, known as Don Stephenson, is an American actor and stage director. He has numerous credits on both television and in the theatre.
Khalid Gonçalves is an American actor and musician who is best known for his portrayal of British rock icon Freddie Mercury in the off-Broadway play Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God. He is also the co-founder of NahNotOutsideMyHouse! Productions.
Amir Darvish is an American actor who is best known for his portrayal of rock icon Freddie Mercury in the Off Broadway 1997 play Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God. In 2003, after two successful runs of the play, the show's producers mounted the play again in New York City, with Darvish playing the role of Mercury and play author Charles Messina directing. The show moved to the Triad Theater in January, 2004. BackStage said of Darvish's performance: "Amir Darvish brings an almost Shakespearean theatricality, sardonic humor, and passionate intensity to his interpretation ... Darvish...keeps you riveted throughout ... Darvish sustains the illusion right till the end in bravura fashion." Darvish is of Persian descent.
Gina Ferranti is an American actress and producer best known for her role as Cheryl Yale in the 2007 Charles Messina play Merging.
Andrew Goffman is an American actor, stand-up comic, and author/performer of the Off-Broadway one man show The Accidental Pervert.
Tom D'Angora is a three-time Drama Desk nominated and Off-Broadway Alliance Award-winning New York based theatrical producer whose Broadway credits include co-producer of the 2021 revival of Caroline, Or Change and whose Off-Broadway credits include lead producer of Newsical The Musical, Naked Boys Singing!, The Marvelous Wonderettes, A Musical About Star Wars, Back In Pictures, the Backstage Bistro Award-winning Divas I've Done and A Broadway Diva Christmas. D'Angora is the creator and lead producer of the soapy new drama, Mélange, starring Morgan Fairchild, which is currently in development.
