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Chicago Creative Staff

Iris Burnett (co-author and producer of “Gefilte Fish Chronocles, the Musical) is a skilled writer and communication strategist. Her credits include Senior of SVP Corporate Communications and Public Affairs for the Sci-Fi Channel and USA Networks. Creation of the award winning, “”Erase the Hate”, Chief of Staff at The United States Information Agency and Founder of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence. Burnett has been political advisor to two Presidents and many elected officials. Among other achievements she was the Director of Security for a National Political Convention, she remains the first and only woman to serve in this position. Burnett produced the acclaimed documentary “The Gefilte Fish Chronicles”.. And is the author of three books; “So You Think You Can Be President”, “Schlepper, a Mostly True Tale of Presidential Politics” and “The Gefilte Fish Chronicles Companion Cookbook”.

Matty Selman (co-book writer, music and lyrics) is the author of Uncle Philip’s Coat - a Herbert Berghof Memorial Play, part of the permanent collection of the Foundation for Jewish Culture and which continues to be performed throughout the United States. Matty was selected by A.R.T. Founder and Artistic Director, Robert Brustein, to write the lyrics for Lysistrata, with music by HAIR composer, Galt MacDermot, starring Tony Award winner, Cherry Jones. Lysistrata was a co-production of A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA and The Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Galt and Matty then wrote Goddess Wheel, which has had two concert performances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall , and which had its world premiere at The Snug Harbor Cultural Center in April 2012, produced by Wagner College. Matty has written three musicals in collaboration with Agnes of God playwright, John Pielmeier; Young Rube (music and lyrics) based on the early years of Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, Rube Goldberg, had its world premiere on the Main Stage at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis; Steeplechase The Funny Place (music and lyrics) selected for development at the New Harmony Project will have its world premiere in July 2013 at the Warner’s Theatre, Torrington CT; and Slow Dance with a Hot Pickup (music and lyrics –also selected for development at The New Harmony Project – was selected by CETM’s Next Wave Festival of New Musicals, Montreal and had its world premiere at The Boulder’s Dinner Theatre in October 2011. Matty has co-authored the new musical, The Gefilte Fish Chronicles with writer Iris Burnett, and has also written the music and lyrics for the show which will also have its first workshop at CETM in December 2012 and its world premiere in March 2013 at the Warner’s Theatre, Torrington, CT.

Emily Maltby (Director) - Emily Maltby is an NYC based director and choreographer. Recent credits include Under My Skin (Little Shubert), Julian Po (NYMF), Ring of Fire (Milwaukee Rep), A Wind in the Willows Christmas (Two River Theater Co.), Eastland (Lookingglass Theater Co.), and Fiction in Photographs (New World Stages), as well as 42nd Street and Ragtime at Northwestern University. She has also worked with Stage Entertainment, Goodspeed Musicals, CAP21, and The Smithsonian Institute, where she created four musical pieces to commemorate the AIDS Memorial Quilt. She has directed many incarnations of The Gefilte Fish Chronicles, including a command performance at The White House. Proud Northwestern graduate. www.emilymaltby.com

Jermaine Hill (music director) is a voice teacher, vocal and acting coach, music director, orchestrator and arranger who has called Chicago home on and off for the past six years. Equally well-versed in musical theatre, opera, classical art song, and pop/rock, he is the Assistant Professor of Theatre at North Central College in Naperville, where he coordinates the musical theatre and dance programs. Originally from New York City, he received degrees from Ithaca College and the New England Conservatory of Music and enjoyed an active and diverse career as a performer on the operatic, concert and theatrical stages. Having sung at Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival in the U.K., and acted in The Lost Colony (2013 Tony Award Winner for Excellence in Theatre), he now devotes himself full-time to teaching, coaching and directing. He worked extensively in the cruise ship industry as a music director, vocal coach, arranger, orchestrator, and an award-winning show creator, and his arrangements have been aired nationally on PBS and public radio, and continue to be performed internationally. His students and clients perform on Broadway, on national tours, and at regional companies throughout the world. He also serves on the Board of Directors for The Other Theatre Company. www.jermainehillmusic.com

Stephen Kossak (casting and stage manager) is a Chicago-based casting director and theatre technician. Finishing up his BA at North Central College, Stephen currently serves as the company Casting Director for The Other Theatre Company, a new company dedicated to telling the stories of those who are othered or marginalized in and by society. He has cast recently for Haven Theatre Company, Pursuit Productions, Gefilte Fish Chronicles, and assorted staged readings of new plays and film scripts. In addition to casting, Stephen also works as a regional stage manager, most recently stage managing Gefilte Fish Chronicles at the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival. His other work can be seen in the forms of props, sets, and lights. 

James Higgins (music supervisor and arrangements) is a music director and orchestrator living in NYC. In his 25 years as a professional musician, James has performed in over 80 countries on all 7 continents (including a performance in the middle of the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica!). His broad range of experiences and abilities allow him an extraordinary versatility, making him as comfortable and proficient in musical theatre, classical music and opera, as in pop, rock and jazz. Pre-B'way: Jeanne La Pucelle (dir. Martin Charnin). Off B'Way: Old Jews Telling Jokes, Living With Henry (NYMF 2012).  NYC: Goddess Wheel by Galt McDermott (world premiere), The Gefilte Fish Chronicles (also performed at the White House!). Regional: Slow Dance with a Hot Pick Up (Boulder Dinner Theatre), All I Ask of You, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey (Surflight), Music of the Night (North Shore Music Theatre), Ragtime, South Pacific, Bat Boy, Candide, and many others (Music Theatre Southwest in Albuquerque- as resident music director and co-executive director). 

iamjameshiggins.com  @higgypiggy38 on twitter 

Nathan Sheffield (producer and legal consultant) - Nathan Sheffield is a partner in the law firm of Herzog & Sheffield, P.C. in NYC. His legal practice focuses on the development and production of book, film, television, theatre and music projects. Clients include producers, talent, creative team members and other affiliated parties involved with hit television series (including Glee, Mad Men), Broadway productions (including GODSPELL!, Driving Miss Daisy, The Addams Family, and Hair), award-winning independent films, and promotional and endorsement deals for actors, directors and celebrity chefs. A sought after public speaker, Nathan holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida and received his Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University.

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