John Pielmeier (Author) began his career as an actor, working at Actors Theater of Louisville, The Guthrie Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Alaska Rep, Baltimore 's Center Stage, and the O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference. It was at the O'Neill that his play Agnes of God was first staged. A co-winner of the 1979 Great American Play Contest, Agnes premiered professionally in March of 1980 at Actors Theater of Louisville, followed by several regional productions and a seventeen-month run on Broadway.

His other plays include Courage, a one-man show about J. M. Barrie that premiered in Louisville, opened the new theater at the Lambs' Club in New York City, and has been filmed by Kentucky Educational Television; Jass, presented at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference; Young Rube, a musical comedy (with music and lyrics by Matty Selman) based on the formative years of cartoonist/inventor Rube Goldberg, which premiered at The Repertory Theater of St Louis; and Willi, a one-man show based on the speeches of mountaineer Willi Unsoeld, presented (and performed by the author) at A Contemporary Theater in Seattle to great critical acclaim where it broke box office records. He has had four productions on Broadway.

For Choices of the Heart, a television movie he wrote about the slain American missionaries in El Salvador, he received a Christopher Award, the Humanitas Award, a Writers Guild of America nomination, and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from St Edward's University in Austin, Texas. He has written twenty movies for television, as well as the screenplay for the film Agnes of God (Writers Guild nomination). His latest film, a new adaptation of Sybil, will be aired this fall on CBS.

He is a member of The Dramatists' Guild, The Writers' Guild of America East, and an alumni member of New Dramatists. He is a past recipient of an NEA grant and a Shubert fellowship and has also received Alumni Achievement honors from both his Alma Maters. He is blissfully married to poet/playwright Irene O'Garden and resides in Garrison, New York.

Matty Selman (Composer and Lyricist) has now written three musicals in collaboration with playwright John Pielmeier: Slow Dance with a Hot Pickup (music and lyrics) selected for development at The New Harmony Project in 2001, Young Rube (music and lyrics) based on the early years of Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, Rube Goldberg, which had its world premiere on the Main Stage at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis in 1994; and Steeplechase The Funny Place (music and lyrics) selected for development at The New Harmony Project in 2000.

Mr. Selman is the author of Uncle Philip's Coat , the Herbert Berghof Memorial Play of 1998, which has since been continually produced across the United States. He was a guest composer at The Gathering at Big Fork, a writer's conference in Big Fork Montana (1992 and 1993) that included Terence McNally, John Pielmeier, and Paul Zindel. Recently, Matty wrote two musicals with Hair composer Galt MacDermot: Lysistrata at the American Repertory Theatre starring Cherry Jones and The Tinderbox at Carnegie Hall in Weill Hall in 2004.

Television credits include the theme music for the Emmy Award winning Martha Stewart Living on CBS and the new B. Smith with Style. Awards include a playwrighting grant from BACA (Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association) for his street opera Borough of Braggarts and a 1992 ASCAP Popular Music Award. He is married to Tillie Scarritt and has two children, Hannah and Sam. John and Matty wish to extend a great big “thank you” to their dear friend Jane Alderman.

George Pinney (Director) Nominated for a 2001 Tony Award and National Broadway Theatre Award in choreography, George received an Emmy Award for outstanding choreography for the PBS broadcast of Blast. George, a Professor of Theatre and Drama, has directed and/or choreographed over 150 productions for Broadway, international and national tours, and regional and university theatres.  Recent productions at IU include Bat Boy the Musical, Pal Joey, Sweet Charity, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street , Parade , A Chorus Line , and the IU Broadway Cabaret. At the Brown County Playhouse, George has directed Forever Plaid and Smoke on the Mountain .

Recognized for his teaching, George was awarded the Friedrich Herman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching, five Board of Trustees Awards for Excellence in Teaching, and membership in the Faculty Colloquium of Excellence in Teaching. At IU, George teaches musical theatre and stage movement and mentors numerous Independent Major Program in Musical Theatre majors.

J. Adam Burnette (Musical Director) is a second-year master's student in conducting in the School of Music . He holds a B.M. in Piano Performance from Shorter College. Adam's credits at IU include his work as the Co-Musical Director of and Conductor for A Chorus Line this past spring in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. He served as the Assistant Conductor and Vocal Coach for the Phoenix Productions national tour of Grease. Musical direction credits include West Side Story and Honk! (Shorter College) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Antidote Theatre). He is from Chatsworth, Georgia .

John Olson (Assistant Director) graduated from IU with degrees in Theatre and Drama, English, and Psychology. No stranger to the Ruth N. Halls Theatre, John has previously been seen in A Chorus Line, Macbeth, Arcadia , Sweet Charity, The Cherry Orchard and Pal Joey. John also appeared as John Wilkes Booth in Assassins for the University Players, Big Deal in West Side Story at IU's Musical Arts Center, and a member of the ensemble in Godspell at Footlite Musicals Indianapolis. Recently, he received the prestigious Faculty Memorial Award for Excellence in Theatre and Drama. He was last seen on the Brown County Playhouse stage performing the role of the Pastor in Smoke on the Mountain. John is from Indianapolis, Indiana .

Robert Bovard ( Scenic/Technical Designer ) is an Associate Professor, Head of Theatre Technology, and the Faculty Technical Director for the Department of Theatre and Drama at Indiana University-Bloomington. He received his M.F.A. in Design and Technology through the Dallas Theatre Center at Trinity University in 1977 and was appointed to IU in 2001. For the 14 years before coming to IU, he was Faculty Technical Director and Production Manager for the University of Colorado, Boulder 's Department of Theatre and Dance.

He has been involved with over 400 productions while employed as Technical Director and/or Designer at Indiana University, University of Colorado, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Trinity University, OffStage Inc., Fiesta Dinner Playhouse, San Antonio Festival, DanceArt Inc., and Dallas Theatre Center. He served as the Production Director and several other positions with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival from 1987 to 2004. He was a designer and general partner of Theater Elements/Design Group and has designed scenery and/or lights for over 120 productions. This spring, he was the lighting designer for Oklahoma State University 's production of Crazy for You. Recently, he designed the lighting for the Brown County Playhouse production of Arms and the Man.

Robbie Stanton ( Costume Coordinator ) is the costume studio supervisor for all Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center and Brown County Playhouse productions. He received his M.F.A. in Costume Design from Indiana University in 1983. Most recently, Robbie designed the costumes for the IU Department of Theatre and Drama productions of Master Harold and the Boys, Sweet Charity, Moon for the Misbegotten, Noises Off, Parade, and Falsettos. He has also designed the IU productions of The Misanthrope, Woyzeck, Guys and Dolls, Hurlyburly, Anything Goes, Twelfth Night, Pippin, Brigadoon , and the IU Broadway Cabaret tour to mention a few. He has previously designed costumes for the Brown County Playhouse productions of Smoke on the Mountain, Forever Plaid, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Not Now, Darling, Deathtrap, Barefoot in the Park, A Tuna Christmas, The Rainmaker, The Mousetrap, Lend Me a Tenor, Tintypes, Picnic, Born Yesterday, and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change , among others.

In addition to the university, outside designs include Marisol, Goodnight Desdemona, The Cocktail Hour, Visiting Mr. Green , and three years with the Star of Indiana's Brass Theatre. Robbie has also worked as a dyer for such theatres as the Old Globe Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. As a member of I.A.T.S.E local 893, Robbie has enjoyed working on many national tours doing both wardrobe and hair.

Robert Shakespeare (Lighting Designer) is a professional lighting designer specializing in theatre and dramatic architectural designs. He was Resident Lighting Designer at the Bristol Old Vic in England before moving to North America. With almost 200 theatre, opera, and dance lighting designs, his work has been seen on three continents. His architectural credits include houses of worship, resorts, skyscrapers, some of the world's largest bridges, and most recently, special focus on lighting art museum collections and exhibits. He has developed and incorporated computer visualization and collaboration tools in his design practice and has presented lectures, workshops, and courses on his lighting design process in Asia and throughout Europe and North America.

He is co-author of Rendering with Radiance: The Art and Science of Lighting Visualization, Morgan Kaufmann, 1998. Residencies include Visiting Professor of Lighting Design at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Fulbright Professor at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, where he initiated his current research into techniques to seamlessly link lighting between virtual scenography and live performers. He is Head of the Design and Technology area for the Department of Theatre and Drama, leads the M.F.A. Lighting Design program, and is the Director of the Theatre Computer Visualization Center.

Rob's recent lighting designs include the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center productions of Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, and Romeo and Juliet. Rob designed last season's Brown County Playhouse production of Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Allison Ackmann (Stage Manager) is a senior majoring in Theatre and Drama. Previously at IU, she has stage managed Honour and assistant stage managed Arcadia and Pal Joey. This past winter, she worked with the Indiana Repertory Theatre as a stage management intern on their production of Intimate Apparel. As a performer, she has appeared in the ensemble of The Laramie Project at the Wheeler Art Center . She is from Indianapolis, Indiana .

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