Melissa Li (she/her) and Kit Yan (they/she/he) are musical theater writers for stage and screen and recipients of the Kleban Prize, Jonathan Larson Grant, Helen Merrill Award, and Vivace Award. Best friends and collaborators for over 15 years, they're known for subversive, emotionally intimate work including Interstate and MISS STEP. Their work has been presented by Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center, MCC, The American Repertory Theater, Mixed Blood, and East West Players. They are MacDowell and DGF Fellows alums, as well as 2026 Rideback Rise fellows.

Connor Gallagher is a Brooklyn-based director and choreographer. Recent: The Big Gay Jamboree (off-Broadway, Lortel Award), Titanic (Marriott Chicago, Jeff Award nomination), Bat Boy (City Center), Beetlejuice (Broadway), The Robber Bridegroom (Roundabout), The fifth season of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, Mystic Pizza (Paper Mill Playhouse), Moana (Disney Dream), Beauty and the Beast (Disney Treasure), and fifteen national touring productions of Elf. He is attached as choreographer for forthcoming productions of The Full Monty (Roundabout revival) Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter (Broadway), the new musical Walter Paisley, and is set to direct the upcoming stage adaptation of Zootopia for Disney Theatrical Group.

Jay Jackson (Laganja Estranja) is a world renowned LGBTQIA+ icon most known for her choreography, music and cannabis advocacy. A U.S. Presidential Scholar in The Arts, Jackson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance and choreography from the California Institute of the Arts and launched to stardom after being selected to compete on RuPaul's Drag Race. Since then, Jackson has performed on numerous television shows and for artists such as Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter, Jennifer Lopez, and Christina Aguilera. Other choreography credits include Miley Cyrus, Brooke Candy, “Trixie & Katya Live,” MISS STEP, and McDonalds.