MAURY YESTON (Music and Lyrics) music and lyrics include his internationally acclaimed Broadway musicals Nine, Titanic (both earned Tony Awards® for Best Score and Best Musical, as well as Grammy® nominations), and Grand Hotel (Tony® nomination, Olivier Award). The Broadway revival of Nine, starring Antonio Banderas, won the Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Musical. Yeston received Academy Award®, Golden Globe, and Critics’ Choice nominations for Best Original Song for the film of Nine. Off-Broadway, his additional musicals are Phantom, Death Takes a Holiday, and In The Beginning. He works in a wide variety of styles, from his symphonic Tom Sawyer – A Ballet in Three Acts to December Songs (a song-cycle commissioned by Carnegie Hall), his Cello Concerto premiered by YoYo Ma, his American Cantata commissioned by the Kennedy Center (premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra), and the concept album Goya – A Life in Song written for Placido Domingo.
MARIO FRATTI (Adaptation) is an internationally acclaimed playwright and drama critic. Born in Italy in 1927, he moved to NYC, at the prompting of Lee Strasberg who saw his play, Suicide, at the 1962 Spoleto Festival. Fratti’s nearly seventy plays have received some six hundred productions in two dozen countries and have been translated into many languages. Works include The Cage, The Return, The Academy, Mafia, and The Bridge. He is best known for his collaboration with Maury Yeston and for his adaptation of Fellini’s film 8 ½, which they developed into the musical Nine. In its original production in 1982, it won the O’Neill Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards, and five Tony Awards®. In its 2003 revival, Nine won three Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Tony Awards®. In 2000, it was a recipient of the Otto Award for Political Theater. In addition to his writing achievements, Fratti served as New York drama critic for nine European newspapers and was a professor emeritus of Italian literature at Hunter College. His archives are housed at the Italian Cultural Institute in NYC.
ANDY BLANKENBUEHLER (Director and Choreographer) Blankenbuehler is a proud recipient of the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors for his work on the musical Hamilton. He is a three-time Tony Award® winner for his choreography in the Broadway productions of Bandstand, In The Heights, and Hamilton, for which he also received London始s Olivier Award. The Broadway production of Bandstand (director/choreographer) also received the Drama Desk and Chita Rivera Award for Best Choreography. Other Broadway credits include Bring It On (Tony® nomination), 9 To 5 (Tony® nomination), The People In The Picture, The Apple Tree, Annie, and the revival of Cats. Most recently, Blankenbuehler is very proud to have co-written, directed, and choreographed the world premiere musical Only Gold, Off-Broadway with British singer/songwriter Kate Nash (Lortel and Chita Rivera Award). Other theatrical work includes Desperately Seeking Susan (West End), the world premiere of the new musical FLY (La Jolla Playhouse), The Wiz (City Center Encores!), A Little Princess (Andrew Lippa), and the international tour of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Upcoming theater projects include the first Broadway revival of the Tony Award®–winning musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. Blankenbuehler served as choreographer for the Universal/Working Title feature film of Cats, starring Taylor Swift and Judy Dench among others. On television, Blankenbuehler co-produced and choreographed the Emmy®- winning limited series Fosse/Verdon (FX), starring
Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams. Other work includes the Lionsgate/ABC remake of Dirty Dancing, America始s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, the Sopranos, Sesame Street featuring Janelle Monae, as well as many commercials. He has staged concert work for both Elton John and Bette Midler, and he conceived, directed, and choreographed the hit Caesars Palace production Nights On Broadway. Blankenbuehler staged the 2022 Met Gala featuring Leslie Odom, Jr. and Lenny Kravitz, in collaboration with Baz Luhrmann. Blankenbuehler is very proud to have recently premiered his first ballet, entitled Remember Our Song, for the Tulsa Ballet company. As a performer, Blankenbuehler has danced on Broadway in Fosse, Contact, Man of La Mancha, Saturday Night Fever, Steel Pier, Big, and Guys and Dolls. He is thrilled to have met countless inspiring dancers through his teaching at New York City Dance Alliance, Steps, Broadway Dance Center, Juilliard, the University of Cincinnati, Michigan, Texas State, Carnegie Mellon, as well as many other universities and dance schools internationally. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Blankenbuehler resides in New York City, with his wife Elly and two children, Luca and Sofia. Blankenbuehler is a proud recipient of both the Drama Desk and Dance Magazine Awards for his achievement in the theatre.
LILY LING (MusicDirector) Lily Ling is a Chinese Canadian music director, conductor, and educator. BROADWAY: Hell始s Kitchen, How To Dance in Ohio, Hamilton, Moulin Rouge!. OFF-BROADWAY: john & jen (20th anniversary revival). NATIONAL TOUR: Hamilton. INTERNATIONAL: The Lion King (Shanghai), A Gentleman始s Guide To Love And Murder (Shanghai). Passionate about education and outreach, Ling is a mentor for MAESTRA, MUSE, and is pursuing an Ed.D. in music and music education at Teacher始s College, Columbia University.
DEREK MCLANE (Scenic Design) BROADWAY: MJ the Musical, Moulin Rouge!, Purlie Victorious, A Soldier’s Play, American Son, The Parisian Woman, The Price, Noises Off, Fully Committed, Beautiful, Gigi, Anything Goes, The Heiress, The Best Man, Follies, How to Succeed In Business Without Even Trying, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, 33 Variations The Pajama Game, I Am My Own Wife. OFF-BROADWAY: HereThere Are Blueberries, Black No More, Merrily We Roll Along, The True, Jerry Spring the Opera, If I Forget, The Whirligig, Into The Woods, Love, Love, Love, Sweet Charity, Evening at the Talk House, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Buried Child, The Spoils, Sticks and Bones, The Last Five Years, A Lie of the Mind, Ruined, Hurlyburly. TELEVISION: He designed the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Academy Awards®, 2024 SAG Awards, 2024 Met Gala, as well as NBC LIVE! Musicals The WIZ and Hairspray and others. AWARDS: Winner of 1997 + 2004 OBIE Awards, 2004, 2005, 2007 Lortel Awards; 2009 + 2021 Tony Award®, 2011+ 2021 Drama Desk Award, 2015, 2016 Art Directors Guild Award, 2014 + 2017 Emmy Award®.
ALEJO VIETTI (CostumeDesign) Originally from Argentina. His Broadway credits include Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical; Allegiance (Drama Desk Award nomination); and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (also national tour, West End—Olivier Award nomination, Australia, Japan, and UK tour). Other NYC credits include, Titanique (Lucille Lortel Award), Smokey Joe始s Café, Amy and the Orphans, The Dance of Death, and The Last Sunday in June among others. He has designed for the Radio City Rockettes, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City Opera, Second Stage, Atlantic Theater Company, and NY Theatre Workshop among others. Further work for the West Side Story world tour, Disney始s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Japan, Germany, and Austria), Annie national tour, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, Donesk Opera (Ukraine), Colorado Ballet, and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Recipient of the 2010 TDF Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. @alejo_vietti_costume_design.
CORY PATTAK (Lighting Design) Twelfth BCS show including 50 Years of Broadway at the Kennedy Center. Broadway: The Great Gatsby, Spamalot, A Wonderful World (Upcoming). Off-Broadway: The Lucky Star, Final Follies, Stalking the Bogeyman, Handle with Care, Skippyjon Jones, Unlocked. Regional: Shows at Paper Mill Playhouse, Old Globe, Portland Stage, Ordway, Goodspeed, KC Rep, Everyman, Philadelphia Theatre Comp, Asolo Rep, Miami New Drama, Olney, Alabama Shakespeare, Ogunquit Playhouse. In the Heights in Puerto Rico, shows for Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises. National Tour of Flashdance. International: Pretty Woman, Sunset Boulevard, Singin始 in the Rain (Brazil). corypattak.com. IG: @corypattak.
HALEY PARCHER (Sound Design) is a Seattle based sound designer. Recent design credits include; Broadway: Monty Python’s Spamalot, Regional: Something Rotten (Stratford Theatre Festival), Cabaret (The Old Globe), The Wiz, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, White Christmas and Something’s Afoot (5th Avenue Theatre), Blue (Washington National Opera), MAMMA MIA! (Village Theatre), How Can I Love You (Cave B), and We’ve Battled Monsters Before (ArtsWest). Previous designs for Broadway Center Stage at the Kennedy Center include Bye Bye Birdie, tick tick…BOOM!, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Sunset Boulevard and Guys and Dolls.
PAUL TATE DEPOO III (Projection Design) is an award-winning Cuban American scenic, projection, and production designer based in NYC. Broadway: The Great Gatsby (Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award winner); Spamalot; The Cottage (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). Broadway Center Stage at the Kennedy Center: Tick, Tick… Boom!; Spamalot; Sunset Boulevard; Guys and Dolls; Tommy; The Music Man; Footloose; Next to Normal; 50 Years of Broadway. Additional highlights: Titanic, Dear World (City Center Encores!); Usher: My Way the Vegas Residency (Park MGM, Caesars Colosseum); Cynthia Erivo & Friends (The Kennedy Center; PBS); Dancing with the Stars: Live! (2023 & 2024); Cosi Fan Tutte (Santa Fe Opera); Turandot (Oper Im Steinbruch, Austria); Titanic and Sweeney Todd for OD Company, Seoul; and Grand Hotel (Helen Hayes Award winner), Titanic, and A Little Night Music for Signature Theatre. www.pauldepoo.com
TOM WATSON (Hair & Wig Design) originally from Northern Ireland, headed the wig/makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years. He has designed more than 100 Broadway productions. Harmony, Spamalot (2023), Wicked, Rock of Ages, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo, Falsettos, The Little Foxes, Junk, My Fair Lady, King Kong, All My Sons, Great Society, and Plaza Suite.
JESSICA BOGART (Associate Director) is a professional director, teacher, and actress. She is presently an assistant professor of musical theater at The University of Michigan. Bogart has played leading roles on Broadway in Dear Evan Hansen, Les Misérables, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Rent, Oklahoma!, Beauty and the Beast, Boeing Boeing, Brief Encounter, In My Life, and A Little Night Music at Lincoln Center. Her various TV/ Film credits include The Good Wife, The Late Show, and Strangers With Candy. She has directed award- winning regional theater productions in Chicago, Raleigh, and New York. Bogart served as an associate artistic director at Chicago始s Apple Tree Theatre, and she holds a BFA from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and a master始s from New York University.
BETTYWEINBERGER (Associate Choreographer) is thrilled to be making her Kennedy Center debut. She has choreographed numerous music videos, short films, and live performances and has collaborated with global brands including Dunkin始 Donuts and Galderma on international commercials, industrials, and live events. She most recently wrote, produced, directed, and choreographed a full-length dance play titled 20Something. She has worked with choreographers such as Al Blackstone, Karla Puno Garcia, Jennifer Jancuska, Billy Griffin, Marcos Santana, and Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and is currently an associate choreographer for SIX: The Musical. Performance credits include Freddie Falls in Love at the Joyce Theatre, Met Gala, various regional theater productions and national tours, and featured roles on Law and Order and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Thank you to Andy for your trust, guidance, and mentorship, to the entire Kennedy Center team, to CESD, and to mom for enrolling me in dance at age three. Bettymoves.com/@bettymweinberger.
PATRICK FANNING (Associate Music Director) is a New York–based pianist and conductor. On Broadway he has worked as associate music director for How to Dance in Ohio, substitute conductor and keyboardist for Hamilton, substitute keyboardist on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and rehearsal pianist for Hell始s Kitchen. He was Music Director for Hamilton (Angelica Tour) and performed in over 40 cities across North America. Further credits include: Pretty Woman (First National Tour), Elf the Musical (National Tour), An American in Paris (Ogunquit Playhouse), Mary Poppins (Syracuse Stage), and Billy Elliot (The Fulton Theatre). Before moving to New York, Fanning was an active member of the freelance music community in Phoenix, Arizona, and regularly performed with The Phoenix Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, Arizona Musicfest, The Phoenix Boys Choir, and Ballet Arizona. Love to Matti, Mom, and Lily.
GIGI BUFFINGTON (Voice And Text Coach) Broadway: Stereophonic (Tony Award® Best Play), The Outsiders (Tony Award® Best Musical), Mother Play, Prayer For The French Republic, Grey House, Between Riverside and Crazy, Cost of Living, The Minutes, Clyde’s, Slave Play (Remount), Pass Over, Linda Vista, Straight White Men; Off- Broadway: Jonah, Stereophonic, King James, Camp Siegfried, Downstate, Evanston Salt Cost’s Climbing, Corsicana, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Catch As Catch Can, On Sugarland, Prayer for the French Republic, The Thin Place, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, Dying City, Mary Page Marlowe; Eight Seasons at Steppenwolf; One Season at the Royal Shakespeare Company; Arts Professor, Tisch Drama, NYU; Text Consultant for Spike Lee and Ron Wimberley’s screenplay, Prince Of Cats; Upcoming: Romeo and Juliet, directed by Sam Gold.
GEOFF JOSSELSON, CSA (Casting) Previously for the Kennedy Center: Guys and Dolls, Sunset Boulevard, Spamalot, tick, tick...BOOM!, Bye Bye Birdie. Broadway credits include: Into the Woods (Artios Award), Sweeney Todd, Spamalot, The Velocity of Autumn. Off-Broadway includes: Kinky Boots, Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Altar Boyz, Southern Comfort, Yank! Select Regional and Off- Broadway Theatre companies: Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Civilians, The Irish Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre, South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre, Village Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and the York Theatre Company.
MATTHEW LACEY (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to return to the Kennedy Center. Broadway Center Stage: Spamalot, Sunset Boulevard, Guys and Dolls, and The Music Man. Broadway/Tour: Spamalot, MJ The Musical, Tootsie (Chicago & Broadway), SpongeBobSquarePants,SunsetBoulevard, Waitress, An American In Paris, On the Twentieth Century, Motown The Musical, Ghost The Musical, Flashdance (tour), Relatively Speaking, Arcadia, La Bête, A Little Night Music, Chicago, Swing!, and Urinetown. Off-Broadway: Stomp, Mnemonic, Johnny Guitar, World of Mirth, Pete 始n始 Keely. Regional/ Dance: Radio City Christmas Spectacular, St. Louis Muny, Kansas City Starlight, and American Ballet Theatre. Graduate of The Sargent Conservatory at Webster University.
W ILLIE PORTER (First Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to be back at the Kennedy Center! Broadway: Spamalot, Almost Famous, MJ: The Musical, Moulin Rouge!, The Music Man. Other: Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Spamalot and The Music Man (Kennedy Center), Evita (NYC Center) and nine seasons at The Muny. Big thanks to Matt & Michael.
MICHAEL DOMUE (Second Assistant Stage Manager) is honored to return to the Kennedy Center once again with this incredible SM Team! Previous Kennedy Center productions: Monty Python始s Spamalot; Sunset Boulevard; Company; A Streetcar Named Desire; Master Class and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Broadway: Monty Python始s Spamalot. NYC Stage Management Credits: Dom Juan (Bard SummerScape), Coriolanus (Public Theater/ Delacorte), Twelfth Night & As You Like It (Public Works/Delacorte); Urge for Going; Knives and Other Sharp Objects; Last Cargo Cult and Ruby Sunrise (Public Theater); Mile Long Opera (High Line); Marie and Rosetta (Atlantic); New York Spring Spectacular; Heart and Lights; Christmas Spectacular (Radio City Music Hall). Other Stage Management Credits: New York Stage and Film; Old Globe; Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival; Trinity Repertory Company; Philadelphia Theater Company; Totem Pole Playhouse (17 Summer Seasons!). Production Management Credits: A Delicate Balance (Transport Group/NAATCO), NYC Free (Little Island); Carnegie Hall (5 seasons).
BEN DARMANIN (Managing Director Impossible Giant, Inc.) Originally from Malta, Ben is a theatrical consultant and creative who splits his time between the West End and Broadway. Alongside Andy Blankenbuehler he has worked on Cats - The Movie, 2022 The Met Gala and the Off-Bway musical Only Gold, among others. Additional credits include: Les Misèrables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Barnum, Half a Sixpence, Sweeney Todd, Wicked, as well as the casting team for both late Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday Celebrations and the Concert For Diana at Wembley Stadium.
BROADWAY CENTER STAGE (Jeffrey Finn, Artistic Director & Executive Producer) is a theater initiative launched in 2018 showcasing beloved musicals exclusively created and produced for the Kennedy Center. The mission of the series is to collaborate with the best artists and creative teams direct from Broadway to offer unique programming that can only be seen at the Kennedy Center. The inaugural season featured sold-out productions of Chess, In the Heights and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. BCS shows have been hailed by the Washington Post as “a premiere addition to the Kennedy Center’s programming and a magnet for top Broadway talent.” Other productions include: Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man, The Who’s Tommy, Footloose, Next to Normal, Guys and Dolls, Sunset Boulevard, tick, tick… BOOM!, and most recently, Bye Bye Birdie. In November 2023, the BCS production of Spamalot transferred to Broadway and ran at the St. James Theatre for 26 weeks. Broadway Center Stage initially presented semistaged concert musicals, but with the growing success of the series, the shows are now produced as fully staged musicals which proudly feature the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
