The Creative Team

GEORGE GERSHWIN (Music)

George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn on September 26, 1898, and began his musical training when he was 13. At 16 he quit high school to work as a "song plugger" for a music publisher, and soon he was writing songs himself. "Swanee," as introduced by Al Jolson, brought George his first real fame and led to his writing a succession of 22 musical comedies, most with his older brother, Ira. The Gershwins' shows include Lady Be Good; Oh, Kay!; Strike Up the Band; Girl Crazy; and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee I Sing. From his early career George had ambitions to compose serious music. These ambitions were realized in some of his masterpieces, among them "Rhapsody In Blue," "Concerto In F," "An American In Paris" and "Second Rhapsody." In the late '20s George became fascinated by the DuBose Heyward novel Porgy, recognizing it as a perfect vehicle for opera using jazz and blues idioms. George's "folk opera" Porgy and Bess opened in Boston on September 30, 1935, and had its Broadway premiere two weeks later. In 1937 George was at the height of his career. While working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies in Hollywood, he collapsed, and on July 11, died of a brain tumor. He was not quite 39 years old.

DUBOSE & DOROTHY HEYWARD (Librettist/Lyricist)

DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) was a native and life-long resident of Charleston, South Carolina. Although born into modest economic circumstances, he was of an old Charleston family and his ancestors were prominent members of Charleston society, one of whom, Thomas Heyward, Jr., was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. In the early 1920s, Heyward co-founded the Poetry Society of South Carolina and co-published Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country, which established his reputation as an American poet. In 1923 Heyward married Dorothy Hartzell Kuhns (1890-1961), whom he had met the previous year at the MacDowell Colony, an artists’ retreat in New Hampshire, and who was an aspiring author from Ohio. He then devoted himself full-time to writing. The first major result of this effort was the novel, Porgy, published with great success in 1925. In his 2000 biography of Heyward, James Hutchisson describes Porgy as the first major southern novel to present African Americans realistically and without condescension. Dorothy inspired, and collaborated in, the transformation of Porgy into a play, which ran a total of 367 performances on Broadway. The Heywards later collaborated with George and Ira Gershwin in the creation of the opera, Porgy and Bess, contributing the libretto, based largely on the play, and co-writing many of the songs. Heyward's many other works include the novel, Mamba's Daughters, which he, together with Dorothy, transformed into a play. Mamba's Daughters successfully opened in New York in 1939, with Ethel Waters in the cast; a 1997/1998 production was awarded an Obie, and was also presented at the 1999 Spoleto Festival in Charleston. Among his other works were the play, Brass Ankle, the novella, Half Pint Flask, and the novel, Peter Ashley, all of which portray the lives of African Americans in Charleston and the surrounding low country. He also wrote (for his daughter, Jenifer) Country Bunny and The Little Gold Shoes, which became an American classic children's book, and the screenplays for the movie versions of Eugene O'Neill's Emperor Jones, starring Paul Robeson, and Pearl Buck's The Good Earth.

IRA GERSHWIN (Lyricist)

Ira Gershwin, the first songwriter to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, was born in New York City on December 6, 1896. In 1917 The Evening Sun published his first song ("You May Throw All The Rice You Desire But Please Friends, Throw No Shoes"). Four years later Ira enjoyed his first major stage success, Two Little Girls in Blue, written with another Broadway newcomer, Vincent Youmans. In 1924 Ira and his brother, George, created the smash hit Lady Be Good and went on to continue their remarkable collaboration through a dozen major stage scores, producing such standards as "Fascinating Rhythm," "The Man I Love," "S' Wonderful," "Embraceable You," "I Got Rhythm," "But Not For Me" and others far too numerous to mention. During his long career, Ira also enjoyed productive collaborations with such songwriters as Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Kurt Weill, Burton Lane and Jerome Kern, with whom he created his greatest song hit of any one year, "Long Ago And Far Away." Ira Gershwin died on August 17, 1983, in Beverly Hills, California.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS (Musical Book Adapter)

With Topdog/Underdog (Broadway), Ms. Parks won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming the first African-American woman to do so. Named one of Time magazine's "100 Innovators for the Next New Wave," her plays include The Book of Grace, In the Blood (2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Venus (1996 OBIE Award), The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Father Comes Home from the War Part I: The Union of My Confederate Parts, Fucking A, and Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (1990 OBIE Award for Best New American Play). A student of James Baldwin, with whom she credits the launch of her interest in playwriting, Ms. Parks is a MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient, and has been awarded grants by the National Endowment of the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts. She is the recipient of a Lila-Wallace Reader's Digest Award, a CalArts/Alpert Award, a Guggenheim Foundation Grant and is an alumna of Mount Holyoke College and New Dramatists. She's written screenplays for Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Girl 6, written for Spike Lee, and adapted Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which premiered on ABC's "Oprah Winfrey Presents." In 2007, her project 365 Days/365 Plays was produced in over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theater history. Parks' first novel, Getting Mother's Body, (Random House, 2003) is set in the west Texas of her youth. Her work is the subject of the PBS film The Topdog Diaries. In addition to her writing, she had a lead acting role in The Making of Plus One, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Ms. Parks is currently at work on her second novel, and her Ray Charles musical, Unchain My Heart, is scheduled to premiere on Broadway within the coming year. She teaches at NYU, and is currently performing her experimental solo show, Watch Me Work, at the Public Theater, where she serves as Master Writer Chair. Please visit Suzanloriparks.com.

DIEDRE L. MURRAY (Musical Score Adapter)

A.R.T.: Best of Both Worlds (composer). Pulitzer Prize finalist, two-time Obie Award winner, innovative composer, cellist, and producer. In the 1970s and 1980s, she pioneered the use of the cello as a jazz and new world music instrument touring extensively worldwide. Musical and theater works: Unending Pain, a choral/chamber work (co-presented by the Performance Garage and the Whitney Museum of American Art); Let's Go Down to the River, a score for octet, Willasau Jazz Festival in Switzerland; The Eves of Nhor, a string trio for National Dutch Radio and De Effenaar Festival in Eindhoven Holland; Kamerados, for mixed ensemble, The Women's Improviser Festival in New York; Five Minute Tango, a score for the inaugural concert at the Danny Kaye/Sylvia Fine Playhouse, performed by the Manhattan Brass Quintet; The Conversation for the Seattle-based New Performance Group at the Walker Arts Center in Minnesota; You Don't Miss the Water, a music- theater piece, in collaboration with noted poet Cornelius Eady, produced by the Music-Theatre Group (MTG); FANGS; Women in the Dunes, a dance piece created by Blondel Cummings for the Japan Society; the jazz-opera Running Man, for which she wrote the original story and score, and book with Cornelius Eady, Here Theatre in New York City (two Obie Awards, finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama); music arrangements for Eli's Coming (Obie Award), Vineyard Theatre; in 2006 Ms. Murray composed the music for the Music Theater Group/Kathryn Walker production of the Rage of Achilles and The Odyssey which was performed at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe; The Blackamour Angel, an opera written by Carl Hancock Rux, Bard College; an adaptation by Diane Paulus of James Baldwin's Another Country, Columbia University; an adaptation of The Voice Within with Marcus Gardley, Harlem Stage and the Apollo Theatre. Current projects include a new musical, Sweet Billy and the Zooloo's, with writer Lynn Nottage, for Colored Girl Productions; and Patient Zero, book by Cornelius Eady for the Music Theater Group for a production scheduled for 2012. Ms. Murray has received numerous grants and awards for her work as a composer. She received a B.S. degree from Hunter College in ethnomusicology, and has appeared on over 100 recordings as a cellist.

DIANE PAULUS (Director)

is the Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. At A.R.T.: Porgy and Bess (2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Tony Award nomination for Best Direction), Steven Sater and Serj Tankian's Prometheus Bound, Death and The Powers: The Robots' Opera (2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist in music), Johnny Baseball, Best of Both Worlds, The Donkey Show. Broadway and London’s West End: Hair (2009 Tony Winner for Best Revival of a Musical and Tony Award nom for Best Direction. Other recent theater and opera work includes The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company); Il Mondo Della Luna (Gotham Chamber Opera at the Hayden Planetarium); Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass); Lost Highway (ENO/Young Vic). Diane was recently named one of the 50 Most Powerful Bostonians by Boston Magazine and is a recipient of a 2012 Lilly Award and the 2012 Founders Award for Excellence in Directing from the Drama League.

RONALD K. BROWN (Choreographer)

Brown founded Evidence, A Dance Company 1985. He has worked with Mary Anthony Dance Theater, Jennifer Muller/The Works and other choreographers and artists. Brown has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Cleo Parker Robinson Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Jeune Ballet d’Afrique Noire, Ko-Thi Dance Company, Philadanco, Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago and Ballet Hispanico. He choreographed Regina Taylor’s award-winning play, Crowns and won an AUDELCO Award for his work on that production. Brown has received two Black Theater Alliance Awards. Brown has received: John Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, United States Artists Rose Fellow and The Ailey Apex Award for teaching. Brown is a member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society.

RICCARDO HERNANDEZ (Scenic Design)

Broadway: The People in the Picture (Studio 54), Caroline, or Change, Topdog/Underdog, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, Noise/Funk, Parade (Tony, Drama Desk Noms) Hal Prince director, The Tempest, Bells are Ringing. Recent: Il Postino (LA Opera, PBS Great Performances), Philip Glass' Appomattox (SFO), Lost Highway (London's ENO/Young Vic. Over 200 productions US/Internationally: NYSF/Public, BAM, LCT, ART, Guthrie, Goodman, Lyric Opera of Chicago, NYCO, HGO, Avignon Festival (Cour d'Honneur, Opera Theatre; France), Theatre du Chatelet, Festival Automne, Paris, Vienna's Theater an der Wien, Opera de Nice, Oslo National Theater, MXAT Moscow, London's National, Old Vic, Royal Court. Yale Drama School, Princeton Lecturer.

ESOSA (Costume Design)

Mr. Sosa received a 2012 Tony nomination for his work on this production. For Broadway, Mr. Sosa designed TOPDOG/UNDERDOG (also London and various regional theatres). Recent Off-Broadway credits include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Second Stage); Break of Noon (MCC), also Geffen Playhouse; The Capeman (Delacorte); Juan and John; Father Comes Home from the Wars; Romeo and Juliet; The Story and Radiant Baby (Public Theater); Oroonoko and Ohio State Murders (Theatre for a New Audience); The Misanthrope; All That I Will Ever Be; The Seven and Eyewitness Blues (New York Theatre Workshop) and Trust; Crowns; Birdie Blue and Living Out (Second Stage Theatre). Regional credits include Ruined (Arena Stage); Twist (LA Ovation award winner, Pasadena Playhouse/Alliance); Best of Both Worlds (A.R.T.); American Night (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Fences (Geva Theatre); The Blue Door (Berkeley Rep); Once on this Island (Center Stage); Cuttin' Up, Senor Discretion Himself (Arena Stage) and Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring; Ain't Misbehavin'; Pippin and Once on this Island (Bay Street Theatre). Awards: 2011 Ovation Award for TWIST at Pasadena Playhouse, 2006 TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award and the 2003 Audelco Award for Crowns. Mr. Sosa is also a Project Runway Season 7 Finalist. Upcoming: Gleam at Centerstage (directed by Marion McClinton) Website: http://esosadesign.com

CHRISTOPHER AKERLIND (Lighting Design)

Christopher Akerlind received a 2012 Tony nomination for his work on this production. He has designed lighting and sometimes scenery for over 600 productions at theater, and opera companies across the country and around the world. Broadway credits include, Superior Donuts, Top Girls, 110 in the Shade (Tony nom.), Talk Radio, Shining City, Awake and Sing (Tony nom.), Well, Rabbit Hole, A Touch of the Poet, In My Life, The Light in the Piazza (Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Tony awards), Reckless, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Seven Guitars (Tony nom.), and The Piano Lesson,among others. His extensive credits in opera include productions at the Bordeaux, Boston Lyric, Dallas, Glimmerglass, Hamburg, Houston, Lyric Opera Chicago, Metropolitan, Minnesota, New York City, Nissei, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Washington National Operas, and the Wexford Festival, and over 40 productions for Opera Theater of Saint Louis where he was Resident Lighting Designer for twelve years. Recent projects include, Franco Dragone's KDO! (Foret Nationale, Brussels), Die Entfuhrung aus Dem Serail (San Francisco Opera), Janos Szasz's production of The Seagull (American Repertory Theatre), the off-Broadway revival of Martha Clarke's Garden of Earthly Delights (Minetta Lane Theatre), Dimitri Kourtakis' Kafeneion (Athens/Epidaurus Festival), Anne Bogart's production of I Capuleti et i Montecchi (Glimmerglass Opera), and Robert Woodruff's production of Rinde Eckert's Orpheus X (TFANA, Edinburgh & Hong Kong Festivals). He is the recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design, the Michael Merritt Award for Design and Collaboration and numerous nominations for the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and Tony Awards among many others. He has taught on the faculties of CALARTS, the University of Southern California and the Broadway Lighting Master Class and as a guest teacher for the graduate Design Department of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, the University of Connecticut, the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and at his graduate alma mater: the Yale School of Drama.

ACME SOUND PARTNERS (Sound Design)

The team received a 2012 Tony nomination for their work on this production. Acme Sound Partners has worked on more than 30 Broadway shows since 2000, and Tony nominations for Fences, Hair, In the Heights and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Acme is Tom Clark, Mark Menard, Nevin Steinberg and Sten Severson.

J. JARED JANAS & ROB GREENE (Wig/Hair/Make-up Design)

Recent designs include wigs for All About Me and Next to Normal on Broadway; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (world premiere); Twist at the Alliance Theatre; and Curtains and Peter Pan at Paper Mill Playhouse.

DAVID LOUD (Music Supervisor)

Broadway credits include The Scottsboro Boys, Sondheim On Sondheim, Curtains, Ragtime, A Class Act, Steel Pier, The Look of Love, and revivals of She Loves Me, Company, The Boys From Syracuse, and Sweeney Todd. Off-Broadway, he created the vocal and dance arrangements for Kander & Ebb's And the World Goes 'Round. Regional: First You Dream, Harold and Maude, The Visit, and Billy Bishop Goes to War. He originated the role of Manny in Terrence McNally's Master Class, and he made his Broadway debut in Harold Prince's original 1981 production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. Other recent projects include Noel & Cole in Love, a sold-out concert of Jerome Kern songs at Merkin Hall and On A Clear Day: the Musical Vision of Burton Lane at the 92nd St. Y. He is a graduate of Yale University and has been on the faculty of the Yale Drama School.

CONSTANTINE KITSOPOLOUS (Music Director and Conductor)

Constantine Kitsopoulos has made a name for himself as a conductor whose musical experiences comfortably span the worlds of opera and symphony, where he conducts in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Royal Albert Hall, and musical theater, where he can be found leading orchestras on Broadway. Mr. Kitsopoulos is in his sixth year as music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra and continues as General Director of Chatham Opera, which he founded in 2005. Most recently, he was appointed Music Director of the 2012 Festival of the Arts BOCA, an extraordinary multi-day cultural arts event for South Florida. Mr. Kitsopoulos started his 2011/12 season with a Philadelphia Orchestra debut at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and a summer tour of Dream with Me with young singing sensation Jackie Evancho at the Ravinia and Sun Valley festivals, Atlanta Symphony, Dallas Symphony and at the Omaha Holland Performing Arts Center. In addition, he makes appearances with the New Jersey and Napa Valley symphonies, Little Orchestra Society and returns to Indiana University where he conducts Bolcom's A View From the Bridge. Highlights of the 2010/11 season included debuts with the Dallas, North Carolina, Charlotte and Tucson symphonies, OK Mozart Festival and a reengagement with Calgary Philharmonic. In recent seasons, Mr. Kitsopoulos made debuts with the Tokyo Philharmonic in Japan and at the Festival of the Arts Boca with the Russian National Orchestra. He has also led the Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Pittsburgh and San Francisco symphony orchestras, as well as the Blossom Festival Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra and New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. In the 2010/11 season, Mr. Kitsopoulos conducted the Baldwin-Wallace College's production of La Bohème and a production of Die Fledermaus at the Indiana University Opera Theater, where he first worked in 2008/09 in a production of The Most Happy Fella. Previous seasons' operatic highlights include the Dicapo Opera Theatre's productions of The Merry Widow, Gounod's Faust and all three versions of Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Chatham Opera's debut production of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Hong Kong Municipal Opera production of Carmen in both Hong Kong and Beijing, and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice at Alice Tully Hall. He also served as Music Director and created the orchestrations for the world premiere production of Ed Dixon's Fanny Hill at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. Mr. Kitsopoulos has also continued to show his ability and interest in performing new works and conducting a wide variety of genres. He conducted the Red Bull Artsehcro, an orchestra consisting of students from the top conservatories and university music programs in the country, in a concert at Carnegie Hall featuring a program of world premieres by Raul Yanez and Laura Karpman. In addition to his orchestral and classical commitments, Mr. Kitsopoulos is much in demand as a theatre conductor, both on Broadway and nationwide. Mr. Kitsopoulos was Conductor and Musical Director of the Tony-nominated musical A Catered Affair. He conducted the Tony-nominated musical Coram Boy and the American Conservatory Theatre's production of Kurt Weill's Happy End, for which he recorded the cast album at Skywalker Ranch. Other musical theater highlights include serving as Music Director and Principal Conductor of Baz Luhrmann's highly acclaimed production of Puccini's La Bohème.

JOHN MILLER (Music Coordinator)

Recent: On a Clear Day…, Godspell, Follies, Jersey Boys, Priscilla, Sister Act, Rock of Ages, Catch Me If You Can. Musician (bass): Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith. His album Stage Door Johnny – John Miller Takes on Broadway is available on PS Classics Records. www.johnmillerbass.com

WILLIAM DAVID BROHN (Orchestrations)

Over a span of 25 years, William David Brohn has created orchestrations for Broadway and London's West End productions that have included: Miss Saigon, Oliver!, The Secret Garden, Carousel, Oklahoma!, Crazy For You, Ragtime, My Fair Lady, Sweet Smell of Success, Curtains and Wicked.

CHRISTOPHER JAHNKE (Orchestrations)

Mr. Jahnke received a 2012 Tony nomination for his work on this production. He has done orchestrations for Les Miserables (Bway/Madrid/Netherlands/London/UK Tour/US Tour/Dutch album/Spanish album/25th Anniversary album/O2 arena concert - DVD/Blu-ray), Legally Blonde (Bway & London), Cry Baby, Grease (2007 Revival), Tom Jones (Stiles/Leigh), Just So (Stiles/Drewe), Dessa Rose, A Man of No Importance. Also, Music Producer/Music Supervisor of 2010 Best Musical Memphis.

TELSEY + COMPANY (Casting)

Broadway/tours: Leap of Faith, Streetcar, Evita, The Best Man, Newsies, Magic/Bird, Godspell, Spider-Man, Sister Act, Priscilla, Memphis, Rock of Ages, Wicked, Bring It On, The Addams Family. Off-Broadway: Carrie (MCC), Rent, Million Dollar Quartet, Atlantic, Signature. Film: The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Friends With Kids, Margin Call, Sex and the City, Rachel Getting Married. TV: “Smash,” “A Gifted Man,” “The Big C.” www.telseyandco.com

NANCY HARRINGTON (Associate Director/Production Stage Manager)

Broadway includes Hair, A View From the Bridge, The Full Monty, The Play What I Wrote, I Am My Own Wife. Collaborator with Bill Irwin for 29 years, one of the creators of Fool Moon, Largely NY and The Regard of Flight.

JULIE BALDAUFF (Stage Manager)

Broadway: Hair, The Wedding Singer, I Am My Own Wife, King Lear, Henry IV parts I and II, The Play What I Wrote, The Full Monty, Fool Moon, The Little Foxes, The Rehearsal, Summer and Smoke, Getting Away With Murder.

SHARIKA NILES (Assistant Stage Manager)

Broadway: The Color Purple, First National Tour. Other Credits: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (ART); Seed; Without You (Korea); P**ssy Valley; Indomitable; F**king A; See What I Wanna See; All That I Will Ever Be; Flow; The Seven; Satellites; Richard III; Well; Take Me Out; Helen: House Arrest; A Winter's Tale; Slanguage; Cavedweller; Suburbia; Caroline, or Change; Two Gentleman of Verona; This Is How It Goes; The Book of Grace; Summerstage NYC; The Apollo Theater; KCD Worldwide; The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival; HBO; Lincoln Center. Film: Our Song.

MIA WALKER (Assistant Director)

Mia Walker has assisted Ms. Paulus at the American Repertory Theater (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Prometheus Bound) and the Public Theater (The Capeman). She directed the 2011 NYC premiere of American Sexy at the Flea Theater. BA, Harvard University.

DENISE WOODS (Dialect Coach)

Denise Woods has coached Will Smith, Ellen Burstyn, Phylicia Rashaad, Ken Watanabe, “NBC Nightly News,” “The Today Show.” Graduate, faculty: The Juilliard School; faculty: California Institute of the Arts.

J. STEVEN WHITE (Fight Consultant)

J. Steven White is pleased to be working with Ms. Paulus. He admires the works of Ms. Parks, whom he first met when he staged the fights for In the Blood, produced by the Public Theater. Mr. White is on the faculty of NYU’s Graduate Acting Program.

NEIL A. MAZZELLA/HUDSON THEATRICAL ASSOCIATES (Technical Supervision)

More than 50 Broadway productions. Recent: Enron, Ghetto Klown, A View From the Bridge, Race, American Idiot, Fela!, Finian's Rainbow and the Papal Visit: Mass at Yankee Stadium. HTA is a member of Neil's Hudson family, which includes Hudson Scenic Studio and Hudson Sound and Light. Joining Neil on the HTA team are Sam Ellis and Irene Wang.

RICHARDS/CLIMAN, INC. (General Management)

RCI was founded in 1997 by David R. Richards and Tamar Haimes (formerly Climan). Current: Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. Past credits include Chinglish, The Mountaintop, An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, The Scottsboro Boys, August: Osage County, Little Women, Annie.

JEFFREY RICHARDS (Producer)

Jeffrey Richards thanks all the writers, directors, actors and actresses and designers — and managers, agents and theatre owners, too — for making his career possible.

JERRY FRANKEL (Producer)

Jerry Frankel received Tony Awards for producing Hair, August: Osage County, Spring Awakening, Glengarry Glen Ross, Death of a Salesman and La Cage aux Folles. This season: Bonnie & Clyde, Chinglish and Gore Vidal's The Best Man. Nineteen other Broadway shows including The Merchant of Venice; Race; Blithe Spirit; Reasons to Be Pretty; Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America; Speed-the-Plow; Jekyll & Hyde; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

REBECCA GOLD (Producer)

Rebecca Gold is thrilled to be part of this significant production! Broadway: many, including the Tony Award-winning Hair and Speed-the-Plow. Off-Broadway: the Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning, groundbreaking Sleep No More and Mistakes Were Made. She is extensively involved with and committed to not-for-profit theatre, including the American Repertory Theater and Shakespeare & Co. A shout out to all who support her, especially N, S and B.

HOWARD KAGAN (Producer)

Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde. Mr. Kagan is proud to help bring Porgy and Bess to Broadway after an equally operatic career on Wall Street, where he was an accomplished banker and investment manager. His company Maxolev Productions looks for entertaining, commercial productions with atypical heroes, especially strong independent women who are not just a "sometime thing."

CHERYL WIESENFELD (Producer)

Broadway: A Steady Rain; Legally Blonde; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; 'night, Mother; Caroline, or Change; and Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (Tony Award). Off-Broadway: Play Dead, In the Continuum, Shockheaded Peter, The Exonerated, Alan Bennett's Talking Heads and The Waverly Gallery.

BRUNISH TRINCHERO (Producers)

Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde. Regional: Marv Ross's The Ghosts of Celilo. Corey co-authored, with Kim Bogus, the revue Write Myself a Letter about a fan who wrote to Sinatra for 60 years (select- shows.com). Corey's producing partner is Brisa Trinchero: passionate champion of musicals and people who create them. www.makemusicals.com

MEREDITH LUCIO (Producer)

Founder of Wild Bird Productions Inc. Off- Broadway: The 39 Steps, Paul Scott Goodman's Rooms: a rock romance. Other productions include the musicals Opa! and Take Me America. Follow Meredith's theatre blog at www.TheaterZen.com. Twitter: @TheaterZen

RON SIMONS (Producer)

Founder of SimonSays Entertainment — a stage and film production company — produced Night Catches Us (FIPRESCI Award, Best American Feature) and Gun Hill Road (Grand Jury nominees at the Sundance Film Festival). www.simonsaysentertainment.net

THE BROADWAY CONSORTIUM (Producer)

The Broadway Consortium was co-founded by Van Dean (Tony Award nominee for Catch Me If You Can) and Kenny Howard. Broadway: Evita, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Bonnie & Clyde, Chinglish. West End: Master Class. Many thanks to Barry Miller, general counsel. www.BroadwayConsortium.com

JOSEPH AND MATTHEW DEITCH (Producers)

It's rare that one gets an opportunity to be part of something that is entertaining, powerful and important. We are honored to be a part of Porgy and Bess. Recent productions include Chinglish, Catch Me If You Can, The Merchant of Venice, Race, Fela! and A View From the Bridge.

MARK S. GOLUB & DAVID S. GOLUB (Producers)

Broadway: Taller Than a Dwarf. Off-Broadway: If Love Were All. Mark' s GEM Productions, Broadway: All Shook Up, The Graduate. Off-Broadway: Tennessee Williams Remembered, It' s My Party. Mark is also president and executive producer of the Jewish television network Shalom TV.

TERRY SCHNUCK (Producer)

Terry is the Managing Member of Linden Park Productions LLC. A two-time Tony recipient, Terry's producing credits include Bonnie & Clyde; High, Race; Superior Donuts; Burn The Floor; Hair (Tony); Blithe Spirit; The Homecoming; Spring Awakening (Tony);Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me; The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial; 'night, Mother; Enchanted April; Silence! The Musical; Ministry of Progress. Other productions he has been involved in include Thoroughly Modern Millie; All Shook Up!; Summer of '42. He is currently Executive Producer of The Manhattan Monologue Slam (where "Masterpiece Theatre meets American Idol") and is a principal of The New York Reality TV School. Currently Chairman of the Board of Directors for The MUNY in St. Louis (the nation's oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre), Terry formerly served as Chair of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis and was on the board of The Professional Theatre Council which annually bestows The Kevin Kline Awards recognizing outstanding achievement in locally produced St. Louis theatre.

FREITAG PRODUCTIONS (Producers)

Barbara and Buddy have been investors and producers of Broadway shows since 1996. Credits: Memphis (Tony), The Mountaintop, August: Osage County (Tony), Blithe Spirit, The Homecoming, The Drowsy Chaperone (Tony), Passing Strange (Tony nom.), Catch Me If You Can (Tony nom.).

HENI KOENIGSBERG (Producer)

Current Broadway projects include Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Memphis, Chinglish and the current tour of Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby. Heni thanks her family and friends for their love and support.

MICHAEL FILERMAN (Producer)

Broadway: The Norman Conquests (Tony Award); the Tony nominees American Idiot, Blithe Spirit, Frozen and The Homecoming. Also Chinglish, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Driving Miss Daisy, November and Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America.

THE LEONORE S. GERSHWIN 1987 TRUST (Producer)

The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust is a management trust. It coordinates the operations of the three trusts that are the owners of Ira and Leonore Gershwin' s estate. Included are Ira' s copyrights and theatrical and financial assets.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES STAGE PRODUCTIONS (Producer)

Universal Pictures Stage Productions is the theatrical unit of the world-famous motion picture studio, currently represented by the acclaimed worldwide productions of Wicked and Billy Elliot and the national tour of Bring It On: The Musical.

KEN MAHONEY (Producer)

Ken Mahoney is an accomplished financial advisor, author and speaker. He has written several books on retirement, including Can I Retire? He is the president of Mahoney Asset Management. Ken’s opinions of finance have been published nationally. He and his wife Trish love Porgy and Bess. www.thesmartinvestors.com

JUDITH RESNICK (Producer)

Productions include The History Boys (Tony), All About Me, Desire Under the Elms, Blithe Spirit, Inherit the Wind, Flower Drum Song, Say Goodnight Gracie, The In Betweens and The Exact Center of the Universe. London: David Mamet' s Cryptogram and From the Mississippi Delta. Trustee: Channel 13/WNET, Westport Country Playhouse, Israel Philharmonic, Israel Museum.

TULCHIN/BARTNER/ATG (Producer)

Robert G. Bartner and Norman Tulchin' s productions have garnered five Tony Awards and four Olivier Awards. They frequently collaborate with theatre owner Ambassador Theatre Group in both the U.S. and UK. Recent work together: South Pacific, Ghost, Legally Blonde and Spamalot.

PAPER BOY PRODUCTIONS (Producer)

Bruston Kade Manuel and Will Dombrowski are Co-Founders and Managing Members of Paper Boy Productions LLC, an independent entertainment production company. Producer/investor roles include: Annie (Australia), The Addams Family, Colin Quinn Long Story Short, The Merchant of Venice, A Life in the Theatre, Hairspray (UK), Next to Normal, Chicago (Australia), and Little Miss Sunshine (in development). Bruston currently serves on the springBOARD of the Vineyard Theatre. He is a graduate of Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, LA), where he studied Vocal Performance and Organizational Management. Will previously worked as an investment banker and consultant. He is a member of the Juilliard Drama Council and currently serves on the Steering Committee of the 4th Street Bar Association, the Young Patrons group of New York Theatre Workshop. Will is a graduate of Boston College, The London School of Economics and The ICMA Centre/Henley School of Business (Reading, UK).

MICHAEL A. ALDEN (Producer)

Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde, High. Upcoming: Evita. Broadway/concerts (Actor): Camelot (Shubert), Brigadoon (Shubert). Rounder/Universal recording artist, #2 song Billboard Chart, hit music video CMT/GAC. MBA, UCLA. Florida associate: Marty Borell.

DALE BADWAY (Producer)

Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde. Executive producer of Badway On Broadway LLC. Actor: theatre, film and television. "Voice of God" MC, creator/host "Fame-Wall" television show, www.Fame-Wall.com.

IRENE GANDY (Producer)

Irene Gandy is thrilled to be associated with Jeffrey Richards productions for the past 25 years.

WILL TRICE (Producer)

Broadway debut! Also this season: Gore Vidal's The Best Man. Alumnus of Southern Methodist and Northwestern universities, McKinsey & Co., the Metropolitan Opera and D.E. Shaw & Co. Many thanks to Jeffrey and Jerry for this opportunity.

AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER

A.R.T., at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, is one of the country's most celebrated regional theatres and winner of numerous awards, including the Tony and the Pulitzer Prize. It was founded by Robert Brustein in 1980. Diane Paulus became artistic director in 2008 and continues A.R.T.'s mission to expand the boundaries of theatre with innovative work such as Sleep No More, Once and Prometheus Bound. She launched OBERON, A.R.T.'s club theatre, which serves as an incubator for local artists, hosts the annual Emerging America Festival and has attracted national attention for its groundbreaking model.