Creative & Production Team
from the New York Musical Theatre production
Eric Thomas Johnson (Music/Music Director)
As a composer, I have had my works premiered in cities across the United States and abroad, including New York, Minneapolis, Nashville, Cincinnati, Innsbruck (Austria), to name a few. My most recent work was the new musical dark comedy, The Hills Are Alive!, which I co-wrote with Frankie Johnson. I was winner of the 2006 Emil Beyer NFMC National Composition Competition for Best Song Cycle. In addition to musical theatre, I have written music for plays, including The Barber of Seville and Aristophanes' Frogs.
As a music director and conductor, my credits include Chicago, Into the Woods, The Wiz (AUDELCO Award nominee for "Outstanding Musical Direction"), The Drowsy Chaperone, Seussical, Bye Bye Birdie, Closer Than Ever, The Cradle Will Rock, The Last Five Years, Little Shop of Horrors, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Hills Are Alive!, and An Evening with Rodgers and Hammerstein, featuring guest speaker Oscar Hammerstein III.
I hold a Masters Degree in Music from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Bachelors Degree in Music from Vanderbilt University and a diploma with concentration in piano from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Visit www.ericthomasjohnson.com for more details.
Frankie Johnson (Book and Lyrics/Director)
Frankie Johnson is a writer and actress currently living and working in New York City. In addition to writing for musical theater, she writes sketch comedy both independently and as part of the group Dolphin Attack, and has had her works premiered at several venues around NYC, including The Peoples Improv Theater, Theatre 80, The Duplex, and The Tank.
She performs as a comedic improviser with the teams Youth Group, Gilda, and Skycopter. As an actress, she has also been seen in various productions in regional theatre and in NYC. Credits include: The Hills Are Alive!, Ionesco's The Future Is in Eggs, Pirandello's Sicilian Limes, Eurydice, Faith, Hope & Charity, The Complete History of America (abridged), Hay Fever, The Pirates of Penzance, among others.
She holds a degree from Vanderbilt University, where she studied music and theatre.
Visit www.frankie-johnson.com for more details.
Allison Plamondon (Choreographer)
Allison is a choreographer, teacher and performer. Film choreography includes the Oscar-winning short film, Curfew (feature currently in production). Theatre credits include Make Mine Manhattan (Associate, Connelly Theatre), Freckleface Strawberry (Associate, New World Stages), Bells Are Ringing directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall (SDC Observership, City Center Encores), Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids Easter Bonnet Opening Number 2012 (Associate) and Gypsy of the Year Opening Number 2012 (Associate). Other highlights include the Canadian premiere of Hello Again (Tarragon Theatre), Something Wonderful (Charlottetown Festival), The Adventures of Joseph Andrews (Tarragon Theatre) and Noel Coward’s Red Peppers (La MaMa Galleria).
An avid teacher, Allison has taught Tap at Broadway Dance Center, Abrons Arts Center and two of Canada’s most prestigious performing arts colleges: Randolph Academy and Sheridan College.
As a dancer, Allison has performed at some of the most exciting venues in North America. Favorites include Tap City -the Main Event (Symphony Space), the national tour of Tap/percussion show RhythMatix and performing with Phish (New Year’s Eve) at Madison Square Garden. Other theatre includes See Bob Run at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (Winner, Outstanding Performance in a Solo Show, 2012), Angels of Swedenborg with Ping Chong and Company (La MaMa ETC/’62 Center for Theater and Dance) and Prometheus Within (La MaMa ETC) in a performance the NY Times called a "standout". allisonplamondon.com/dance
Rhett Henckel (Fight Choreographer)
NEW YORK: RIII: Born With Teeth, Macbeth, Othello (Epic Theatre Ensemble), Jester's Dead (The Outfit), A Doll’s House (Infinite Theatre), Flies in the Snuffbox: The Bear (MITF - Outstanding Actor Nom). REGIONAL: Hamlet (Shakespeare Festival of Dallas), Dying City, Earth & Sky (2TT Dallas), Othello (Shakespeare on the Sound), Lady of Larkspur Lotion (P-Town Tennessee Williams Festival), Measure for Measure, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Restoration Comedy, Othello, Titus Andronicus (The Old Globe), Burn This, Speed-The-Plow, Pounding Nails… (Actors’ Theatre of SA), Towards Zero (Dorset Theatre Festival). FILM/TV: "Boardwalk Empire," The Last Day of August, iChannel web series (youtube.com/ichannel). MFA: USD/The Old Globe. Rhett is Co-Artistic Director of The Outfit (theoutfit.org). More at rhetthenckel.com
Jennifer Ackland (Costume Designer)
Jennifer Ackland is the Costume Director at The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival and their sister company Festival Stage of Winston-Salem. Recent designs for NCShakes include Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Star-crossed Shakespeare, and A Christmas Carol. Other designs include Oil City Symphony, The Glass Menagerie, A Moon for the Misbegotten, and 9 to 5: The Musical. She had the pleasure of designing the costumes for The Hills Are Alive!!! last year at the NY Fringe Festival and is so excited to be back for its New York Musical Theatre Festival's debut!
Jim Kent (Scenic Designer)
Jim Kent has designed scenery for Theater by the Sea (Portsmouth, NH), Guilliarde di Piazza (Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC), St. Ann’s School (Brooklyn, NY) and is currently Technical Director and Set Designer at Berkeley Carroll School (Brooklyn, NY). In his spare time he also creates and performs with puppets.
Charlie Winter (Lighting Designer)
Charlie Winter is a NYC based Lighting Designer and Assistant. Design: RAGS (Connelly Theatre); Godspell (Don Bosco Prep HS); Part of it All (NYMF); Juilliard Playwrights Evening (Juilliard School); Baryshnikov Arts Center-Fall Gala 2011 (BAC-NYC); NØA Dance (BAC-NYC, Baruch PAC); Apprentice Scenes (The Santa Fe Opera, NM); Local & Regional ALD: My Name is Asher Lev (Off B’Way) On the Town (Barrington Stage Co.); Sense & Sensibility (DCTC); The Juilliard School, Atlantic Theatre Co. – Stage 2, CBS Sports Network, MLB Network.
Becca Pickett (Stage Manager)
Previous NYMF: Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF 2011, Encore at NYMF 2012); Oklahomo! (NYMF 2010). Int'l: Central Avenue Breakdown (DIMF 2012, Daegu, South Korea); The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado (New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players Int'l Tour 2013). NY: P.S. Jones and the Frozen City (terraNOVA Collective); Blogologues (Lively Productions); The Eyes of Others, Not at the Dinner Table (Bug Company); Hostos Center for Arts & Culture; Singers Forum. Regional: Bigfoot & Other Lost Souls, A Christmas Story (Atlantic Stage, Myrtle Beach SC); The Ohio Light Opera; Mac-Haydn Theatre; West Virginia Public Theatre. Love and thanks to the Faces at home. Proud member AEA, SMA. www.beccapickett.com
Laura Lindsay (Assistant Stage Manager)
Laura hails from Kansas and is a graduate of Kansas State University. She works on many different productions in the city, including award shows and events. NYC credits include Off Broadway: My Children! My Africa! (Signature Theatre). Off-Off Broadway: Bill Bowers’ BEYOND WORDS (Urban Stages), Welcome to America (New Worlds Theatre Project), Tess: A New Rock Opera, A Letter to Harvey Milk (NYMF). Other NYC: Tea for Three (Amas Musical Theatre), God Steeling (Wave Productions), From Broadway With Love: A Sandy Hook Benefit, And Then There Were None (Water Well/PPAS), Blown Away By Poetry (Urban Stages), Don’t Shoot the Piano Player, disOriented (Theatre C), Relational Medicine Project (Emotion Theatre), Forever Dusty. Regional: Two River Theatre Company, Maine State Music Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Film: Equity (1st AD). SM for the Concert Office at The Juilliard School. Proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Justin Indovina (Producer's Representative)
Justin Indovina has been a school music and theater director for thirteen years. He is currently the Chair of the Theater Department and Director of Choirs at The Berkeley Carroll School in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Mr. Indovina has had students participate in local, regional, all-state, and all-eastern honors choirs. His directing credits include, Into the Woods, The Wedding Singer, The Drowsy Chaperone, Biloxi Blues, Antigone, and Moon Over Buffalo. Justin has also served as an adjudicator for various choral and theater festivals in Maryland, Washington DC, and New York. He holds a Masters of Music from the University of Maryland and a Bachelors in Music Education from Duquesne University.
Michael Mahadeen (Reeds)
Michael Mahadeen (b. 1986), an educator, performer, and composer, works as Production Assistant at John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, and Assistant Director of the Symphony of Winds and Percussion at New Jersey City University. In addition, Michael serves as a Music Director for the MSU Theater and Dance Department. An active woodwind instrumentalist in the New York metropolitan area, he has performed off-Broadway for the After the Storm organization, and currently plays with various NJ concert bands and freelance ensembles. As a composer, Michael has had music performed by the Czech Radio Orchestra as part of the 2007 Dvořák Festival in Prague and Vienna, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colonial Symphony, the 2012 NJSMA Region I High School Orchestra, various high school, collegiate, and community ensembles, and is known internationally for his scores to video games in the Wing Commander series. More recently, in 2013 Michael began work with Connect4Education, composing various orchestral and choral arrangements for their upcoming OnMusic Conducting course.
Michael graduated with honors from the Cali School of Music, majoring in Music Education/Music Theory and Composition, and is a recipient of the New Jersey Distinguished Student Teacher Award. Michael is a member of Phi Mu Alpha, MENC, and ASCAP. His music is published by Bandworks Publications.
Emelyne Bingham (Double Bass/Tuba)
Emelyne Bingham has lead concerts of the Nashville Symphony as its Assistant Conductor, the Columbus Women’s Orchestra as its Music Director, as well as performances of the Toledo Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Newark-Granville Symphony, Nashville Opera, Nashville Ballet, and Ars Nova Huntsville. Most recently, she has conducted recordings with the New York City Ballet Orchestra and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.
She has served as the Artistic Director for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences outreach project in partnership with the Leonard Bernstein Center and the Nashville Symphony. Currently she serves as the Artistic Director of the Young Texas Artists Music Competition and as the double bassist for the Cincinnati Bach Ensemble. In 2011, she was named a research member at the esteemed Vanderbilt Kennedy Center where she assists with research on music anc autism.
Her numerous performances in the recording, broadcast, and movie studio with colleagues ranging from Larry Gatlin to Sandi Patti to Amy Grant, have been broadcast on A&E, MTV, CMT, Public Television, the NAXOS American Classics Series, and National Public Radio. She is an active member of Pi Kappa Lambda, and the Recording Academy.
Leslie Parker (Violin)
Leslie Parker is currently a student at Montclair State University. She has studied with Deborah Buck, Brennan Sweet and Boris Kucharsky. She currently studies with the first violinist of the Shanghai Quartet, Weigang Li. Leslie has performed in several concert halls including NJPAC, Merkin Hall and Carnegie Hall. She has played in numerous competitions but recently won the MacDowell Solo Artists Concerto Competition in 2012.