Jon Vellante* (Alex) is a Boston-based theater, film & TV actor. Recent credits include: A Raisin in the Sun and DIASPORA! (New Repertory Theatre); Julia (HBO Max); Fairview (Speakeasy Stage Company); Much Ado About Nothing (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); the short film Automate (Winner – Best Actor, London Shorts); and The Taming of the Shrew (Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare). Jon also works as an actor with Theater Espresso, performing interactive historical dramas for schools throughout the state. For upcoming projects, visit jonvellante.com
or @guessimjonvellante on Instagram.

Tom Kitt (Composer) is a two-time Tony, two-time Emmy, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winner. As a musical theater composer, he has written the music for six Broadway shows: Next to Normal (Tony Award), If/Then(Tony Nomination), Almost Famous (Tony Nomation), Flying Over Sunset (Tony Nomination), High Fidelity, and Bring it On, The Musical. His work for the stage has also been seen Off Broadway at Second Stage (Next to Normal, Superhero), The Public Theater (The Visitor, Shakespeare in the Park) and he has worked at some of the most prestigious regional theaters including The Old Globe, Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep, The Signature Theater, and ART.

In addition, Tom’s Broadway credits as an orchestrator include: Next to Normal (Tony Award), The SpongeBob Musical (Tony Nomination), Jagged Little Pill (Tony Nomination), Almost Famous, Head Over Heels, Everyday Rapture, and American Idiot.

Tom has also been active in the world of film and TV. As one of the vocal arrangers working on the Pitch Perfect films, Tom most notably helped create the classic “Riff-off.” Tom also served as music supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for Grease Live and contributed songs for Royal Pains and Penny Dreadful. He also provided music supervision for the NBC series, Rise and has written numerous songs for Sesame Street. And he is known for his two original opening numbers for The Tony Awards, “Live” in 2019, written with David Javerbaum for James Corden, and the Emmy Award winning “Bigger” in 2013, written with Lin-Manuel Miranda for Neil Patrick Harris. Tom is also proud that his musical adaptation of Freaky Friday, co-written with Bridget Carpenter and Brian Yorkey was turned into an original movie musical for Disney Channel. Most recently, Tom served as a Supervising Music Producer on the new Bobby Lopez/Kristen Anderson-Lopez/Steven Levenson/Thomas Kail musical television series Up Here.

Brian Yorkey (Writer) received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2009 Tony Award for Best Score, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Next to Normal and was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. He partnered again with the Next to Normal team on If/Then(Tony Award Nominee for Best Score) starring Idina Menzel. Brian co-wrote the libretto for The Last Ship (Outer Critics Nomination, with John Logan), with a score by Sting. He wrote lyrics for the Disney Theatricals musical adaptation of Freaky Friday, which also became a Disney Channel Original Movie. Brian most recently served as the Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner for the Netflix series Echoes. Prior to that, Brian was the Creator, Executive Producer and Showrunner of 13 Reasons Why for Netflix and Paramount Television. He has also directed for theatre and television. Brian is a graduate of Columbia University, where he was artistic director of the Varsity Show, an alum of the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, the WGA, and the DGA.

Pascale Florestal¹, she/her/hers (Director and Choreographer) is a first generation Haitian American Queer Woman. She is an Elliot Norton Nominated Director, Educator, Dramaturg, Choreographer, Writer and Collaborator based in Boston, MA. Recent Directing Credits: MidSummer; Kinda? Written and Directed by Pascale Florestal at Suffolk University, World Premiere of Phaedra Michelle Scott’s DIASPORA! With New Repertory Theater, Magic Flute with MassOpera, Fairview with SpeakEasy Stage, Spring Awakening at Brandeis University, The Colored Museum with The Umbrella Performing Arts Center, Once On This Island with SpeakEasy Stage, This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing with Emerson Stage, Everybody with Boston Conservatory and others. As an Assistant to the Director she has worked with Timothy Douglas, Liesl Tommy, Billy Porter, Paul Daigneault and M. Bevin O’Gara. Pascale served as the Associate Director to Gil Rose on X:The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Odyssey Opera and Kimberly Senior on Our Daughters, Like Pillars at The Huntington Theater. Pascale also serves as the Associate Director for The Broadway National Tour of Jagged Little Pill. Pascale was named one of the WBUR ARTery 25 Artists of Color Transforming the Cultural Landscape in Boston. In 2020 she won the Inaugural Greg Ferrell Award for her excellence in teaching and supporting young people. She serves as the Director of Education for The Front Porch Arts Collective in residence at The Huntington Theater. She is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music and Visiting Guest Artist Professor in Practice in the Theater at Suffolk University. SDC Union Member