Nina Faso made her directorial debut with Peter Ustinov’s, THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER AND HIS WIFE. Following a stint with the improvisational comedy group: The Committee, she became one of the creators of GODSPELL and directed most major productions of the show in America and Europe. She then took THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW from Los Angeles to Broadway. She co-adapted and co-directed the musical, WORKING based on Studs Terkel’s book, for the Goodman Theater in Chicago and for Broadway. She co-wrote the teleplay for WORKING for the PBS series AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE. She is the author and director of the children’s television special, THE FABLE COMPANY, and the co-producer and co-director of a short film called SING FOR YOUR LIFE. Among her other directing credits are the musicals JUST ONCE and IS IT JUST ME, OR IS IT HOT IN HERE? which enjoyed long runs in New York and Los Angeles, respectively.

Stephen Schwartz was born in New York City on March 6, 1948. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School of Music while in high school and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a B.F.A. in Drama. Upon coming back to live in New York City, he went to work as an A&R producer for RCA Records, but shortly thereafter began to work in the Broadway theatre. His first major credit was the title song for the play BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE; the song was eventually used in the movie version as well.

In 1971, he wrote the music and new lyrics for GODSPELL, for which he won two Grammys among other awards. This was followed by the English texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, for Bernstein’s MASS, which opened the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The following year, he wrote the music and lyrics for PIPPIN, and two years later, THE MAGIC SHOW. At one point, GODSPELL, PIPPIN and THE MAGIC SHOW were all running on Broadway simultaneously.

He next wrote the music and lyrics for THE BAKER’S WIFE, followed by a musical version of Studs Terkel’s WORKING, to which he contributed four songs and which he also adapted and directed, winning a Drama Desk Award as best director. He also co-directed the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS “American Playhouse” series.

Other work for the musical theatre includes lyrics to RAGS (music by Charles Strouse), music and lyrics for CHILDREN OF EDEN, and two musicals produced overseas, MIT EVENTYR (MY FAIRY TALE) in Denmark and SCHIKANEDER in Austria.  He has also written songs for two musicals for young audiences, CAPTAIN LOUIE and MY SON, PINOCCHIO.  Compilation revues of his work include SNAPSHOTS and, for Princess Cruise Lines, MAGIC TO DO.

For film, he collaborated with composer Alan Menken on the songs for Disney’s POCAHONTAS, for which he received two Academy Awards and another Grammy, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, and ENCHANTED. He also provided songs for DreamWorks’ first animated feature, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, for which he won another Academy Award for the song “When You Believe.”   THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE PRINCE OF EGYPT have both been adapted for the stage.

Mr. Schwartz’s most recent stage musical, WICKED, opened in the fall of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway and in several other productions around the world. He received another Grammy for the cast recording, and in 2008, WICKED reached its 1900th performance on Broadway, making Mr. Schwartz the only songwriter in Broadway history ever to have three shows run more than 1900 performances.

His first opera, SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON, premiered at Opera Santa Barbara in the fall of 2009 and was subsequently produced by New York City Opera.  His frequently-performed choral works include “Testimony”, based on the It Gets Better Project, “Keramos” and part of the “Tyler Clemente Suite.”  He has also released two singer/songwriter CDs, RELUCTANT PILGRIM and UNCHARTED TERRITORY.

Mr. Schwartz has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  In 2015, he received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his humanitarian and mentorship contributions to the theatre.  A book about his career, “Defying Gravity,” has been released by Applause Books.

Under the auspices of the ASCAP Foundation, he has been the artistic director of musical theatre workshops in New York and Los Angeles for over twenty years, as well as conducting workshops for aspiring musical theatre writers and performers in countries around the world, including Australia, Germany, Latvia and Kenya.  He is also a past President and current Council Member of the Dramatists’ Guild.

Mark St. Germain has written the plays FREUD’S LAST SESSION (Off Broadway Alliance Award), CAMPING WITH HENRY AND TOM (Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award) FORGIVING TYPHOID MARY, (Time Magazine’s “Year’s Ten Best”) and BECOMING DR. RUTH, the story of Dr. Ruth Westheimer. He’s written ELEANOR, starring Harriet Harris and RELATIVITY, starring Mike Nussbaum, as well as the plays BEST OF ENEMIES, EARS ON A BEATLE, SCOTT AND HEM, OUT OF GAS ON LOVER’S LEAP and FORGIVENESS. THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH, originating at Barrington Stage Company, was subsequently produced in London,  premiered at Barrington Stage Company as did his newest play, FORGIVENESS.

With Randy Courts, he has written the musicals THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI, JOHNNY PYE AND THE FOOLKILLER and JACK’S HOLIDAY. Mark’s musical, STAND BY YOUR MAN, The Tammy Wynette Story, was created for Nashville’s Ryman Theater. With John Markus he

wrote the comedy with music, THE FABULOUS LIPITONES and with Josh Bergasse co-created the dance musical, A CROSSING.

Great Barrington Public Theater premiered his plays DAD and PUBLIC SPEAKING 101.

Mark wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of FREUD’S LAST SESSION which starred Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode. He co-wrote the screenplay for Carroll Ballard’s Warner Brothers film, DUMA. His play THE GOD COMMITEE has been made into a film with the same name.  He directed and produced the documentary, MY DOG, An Unconditional Love Story, featuring Richard Gere, and Glenn Close among others. Television credits include THE COSBY SHOW and Dick Wolf’s CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.

His books include the comedic memoir WALKING EVIL and the thriller, THE MIRROR MAN.

He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writer’s Guild East and an Associate Artist at the Barrington Stage Company.  Barrington Stage named their second stage “The St. Germain Stage.”