John Dempsey

Wrote book and lyrics for The Witches of Eastwick, The Fix, Zombie Prom, Circles and Dick Whittington. He also provided lyrics for A Country Christmas Carol, The Reluctant Dragon and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, among others. (As of 2008)

Michael Friedman

Credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway and the Public Theater) Unknown Soldier, The Fortress of Solitude, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Mr. Burns. With The Civilians: Canard Canard Goose, Gone Missing, Nobody’s Lunch, This Beautiful City, In the Footprint, The Great Immensity, Paris Commune, Pretty Filthy, and The Abominables. He was the Artist-in-Residence and Director of the Public Forum at the Public Theater and Artistic Director of City Center Encores! Off-Center. He received the 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence and was honored with a star on the Playwright’s Sidewalk at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2018.  (photo by Jared Siskin)

(Updated Mar 2019)

Rinne Groff

Plays and musicals, including In the Bubble, What Then, The Ruby Sunrise, Inky, Jimmy Carter Was a Democrat, The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem and Orange Lemon Egg Canary, have been produced by The Public Theater, the American Music Theatre Project, Trinity Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Women’s Project, P.S.122, Clubbed Thumb, Target Margin and Andy’s Summer Playhouse, among others. She is a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Obie Award grant. Residencies include MacDowell Colony, the Sundance Theatre Lab, Australian National Playwrights Conference and The Chautauqua Theater Company. Associate Teacher at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Founding member of Elevator Repair Service. New Dramatists, Dramatists Guild. (As of May 2008)

• “THIS SHINY, HAPPY NEW MUSICAL IS A BIG-HEARTED, FEEL-GOOD FABLE.”

  — Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

• “COMPLETELY WINNING! Celia Keenan-Bolger as Mary is warm and hilarious, and Mary Faber is adorably obnoxious as Hilary. Curtis Holbrook as Roland is easily capable of charming the dangerously edgy, tough girl Cassandra of Morgan Weed.”

  — Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg News

• “FIVE STARS. THIS FRESH, FUNNY SHOW IS THE ANSWER TO A MUSICAL-THEATER LOVER’S PRAYERS!”

  — Adam Feldman, Time Out New York

• “A Keeper! This winning new musical features a jaunty pop/rock score, Gary Griffin’s sprightly staging, appealing performances by the cast, and amusing book and lyrics.”

  — Frank Scheck, New York Post