 Daniel F. Levin (Co-Writer/Producer) is a playwright, composer and lyricist living in Brooklyn. His musical, To Paint the Earth, written with composer Jonathan Portera, won the Richard Rodgers Development Award, was selected for the New York Musical Theatre Festival (37 Arts) and recently was part of From Page to Stage at the Southwark Playhouse in London. The show tells the story of the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto and the ultimate decision to fight back. A staged reading of Daniel’s musical Luna Park (book), commissioned by SUNY Cortland, was presented at an earlier From Page to Stage in London. Daniel’s play, Hee-Haw: It’s a Wonderful Li_e, a counter-telling of the holiday classic from the perspective of Sam Wainwright, was called a “delightful surprise” by the New York Times (Nuyorican Poets Café). Daniel’s other works have been presented at La Mama, Long Wharf Theater, the 92nd Street Y’s Steinhardt Center, and 13th Street Rep, and and have been published in three editions of Applause Books’ BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS: 2008, 2010, and 2014. Daniel served as a Jonathan Larson Memorial Fellow at the Dramatists Guild and is a MacDowell fellow. He holds an MFA from NYU Tisch and a BA from Yale. Nothing in this bio makes him a likely candidate to have written Spandex. |
 Julian Blackmore (Composer) is a British composer and musician living in New York City, where he writes, produces & performs music for theatre, film, television, radio and new media. Drawing from a rich variety of genres his original music can be as driving and persuasive as it can be lyrical and sensitive. His composition and production work has been used in film, tv, radio, apps, games, theatre and children’s activities around the globe. As a performer he plays keyboards for the world famous Cafe Wha? house band, as well as with other artists and organizations around New York City. Previous theatre credits include: Academia Nuts (Composer) (Broadway’s Future at The Lincoln Center); A Year With…. Veronica Sexton (Composer) (R.A.W Theatrical); The Assistors (Lee Strasbourg Institute); Jasmine (Composer) (Gragad Films), 348 (Composer) (Dixon Place); The Suicide Club (Composer) (NYU); Dying For A Kipp (Composer) (Greenwich Theater, London); Mirrorball Diva (Songwriter/Production) (Shed Records). http://www.julianblackmore.com |
 Annie Grunow (Co-Writer/Co-Creator) is an archivist living in San Francisco. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in history from New York University. This is her first play since All My Laundry, an original production co-written and produced with the Sullivan and Francis children and performed for their parents in the Francis’ basement on New Years’ Eve 1991. She enjoys bird watching and writing jokes. |
 Liz Piccoli (AEA/AGMA/SDC Director/Choreographer) loves coffee and wearing many hats!! Director/Choreographer credits include: Assist. Director/Choreographer to Tricia Brouk, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Central Coast Theater), Assist. Choreographer- Ionescopades (York Theater/Lucille Lortel Nomination,) SDC Observer-Dan Knechtges (Lysistrata Jones, Off-Broadway which moved to Broadway) Assist. Choreo.-TVLand Awards opening number starring Liza Minnelli. Liz performed and choreographed pieces for Erotic Broadway at the Triad produced by James Gandolfini and was the Choreographer for the Tennessee Williams play Now the Cats with Jewelled Claws, Directed by Jonathan Warman Off-Broadway at the legendary La Mama Theater in NYC. She also worked with Jonathan as a Choreographer and Assistant Director for a new musical in workshop based on the artist Pink’s album True Love. She is a part of the NYC Jazz Choreography Project at Alvin Ailey and choreographed The Wizard of Oz, Oliver and Footloose and Hairspray for the Ohana Arts Program in Oahu, HI, as well as helping them develop a dance program for four years. Recent Credits: Director/Choreographer for Cinderella at the Okoboji Summer Theater, Associate Director/Choreographer for Dragon Slayer at Hudson Guild Theater, Choreographer for Bare Opera’s Goyescas production and Director/Choreographer for Billy Elliot at the Axelrod Theater. Liz is 100% thrilled to be a part of the Spandex movement of stretchy LOVE!! Keep updated on Liz at Lizpiccoli.com |
 Andrea Andresakis (Original Co-Director) loves Spandex (it’s so comfortable!) Selected New York directing and/or choreography credits: Little Shop of Horrors (BHT); The Little Prince (Merkin Concert Hall); Malvolio’s Revenge (NY Classical Theatre); Wait Until Dark (ACC Theatre); Lee Blessing’s Down the Road; Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451; Neil Simon’s Star Spangled Girl (Playwrights Horizons). She was the Associate Artistic Director of the American Playwrights’ Theatre where she also directed several plays. Tours: The Barber of Seville and Maiden’s Consent. Regional: The Marvelous Wonderettes (East Coast premiere); Crimes of the Heart (Chenengo River); Evita (JHU, Baltimore); Fame (Barrington Stage Company) and four operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan. She is currently developing an original Hip Hop musical called Make That Move. |
 Ming Aldrich-Gan (Original Music Director) is thrilled to make his Off-Broadway debut with Spandex! A recent graduate of Bard College & Conservatory of Music, with a B.M. in piano performance and a B.A. in computer science & math, his true passion has always been for musical theater. All through college, he directed, music-directed, and acted in many shows. After graduating in 2010, he spent an additional year in residence at Bard as a Collaborative Piano Fellow, working with students of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program led by Dawn Upshaw. Recent music-directing credits include the Troy Acting Guild’s next to normal, the Schenectady Light Opera Company’s Hairspray, and Legally Blonde at Cohoes Music Hall. Love to Margaret, her parents, and Mom & Dad. http://amazming.com |
Daniel F. Levin (Co-Writer/Producer) is a playwright, composer and lyricist living in Brooklyn. His musical, To Paint the Earth, written with composer Jonathan Portera, won the Richard Rodgers Development Award, was selected for the New York Musical Theatre Festival (37 Arts) and recently was part of From Page to Stage at the Southwark Playhouse in London. The show tells the story of the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto and the ultimate decision to fight back. A staged reading of Daniel’s musical Luna Park (book), commissioned by SUNY Cortland, was presented at an earlier From Page to Stage in London. Daniel’s play, Hee-Haw: It’s a Wonderful Li_e, a counter-telling of the holiday classic from the perspective of Sam Wainwright, was called a “delightful surprise” by the New York Times (Nuyorican Poets Café). Daniel’s other works have been presented at La Mama, Long Wharf Theater, the 92nd Street Y’s Steinhardt Center, and 13th Street Rep, and and have been published in three editions of Applause Books’ BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS: 2008, 2010, and 2014. Daniel served as a Jonathan Larson Memorial Fellow at the Dramatists Guild and is a MacDowell fellow. He holds an MFA from NYU Tisch and a BA from Yale. Nothing in this bio makes him a likely candidate to have written Spandex.
Julian Blackmore (Composer) is a British composer and musician living in New York City, where he writes, produces & performs music for theatre, film, television, radio and new media. Drawing from a rich variety of genres his original music can be as driving and persuasive as it can be lyrical and sensitive. His composition and production work has been used in film, tv, radio, apps, games, theatre and children’s activities around the globe. As a performer he plays keyboards for the world famous Cafe Wha? house band, as well as with other artists and organizations around New York City. Previous theatre credits include: Academia Nuts (Composer) (Broadway’s Future at The Lincoln Center); A Year With…. Veronica Sexton (Composer) (R.A.W Theatrical); The Assistors (Lee Strasbourg Institute); Jasmine (Composer) (Gragad Films), 348 (Composer) (Dixon Place); The Suicide Club (Composer) (NYU); Dying For A Kipp (Composer) (Greenwich Theater, London); Mirrorball Diva (Songwriter/Production) (Shed Records). http://www.julianblackmore.com
Annie Grunow (Co-Writer/Co-Creator) is an archivist living in San Francisco. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in history from New York University. This is her first play since All My Laundry, an original production co-written and produced with the Sullivan and Francis children and performed for their parents in the Francis’ basement on New Years’ Eve 1991. She enjoys bird watching and writing jokes.
Liz Piccoli (AEA/AGMA/SDC Director/Choreographer) loves coffee and wearing many hats!! Director/Choreographer credits include: Assist. Director/Choreographer to Tricia Brouk, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Central Coast Theater), Assist. Choreographer- Ionescopades (York Theater/Lucille Lortel Nomination,) SDC Observer-Dan Knechtges (Lysistrata Jones, Off-Broadway which moved to Broadway) Assist. Choreo.-TVLand Awards opening number starring Liza Minnelli. Liz performed and choreographed pieces for Erotic Broadway at the Triad produced by James Gandolfini and was the Choreographer for the Tennessee Williams play Now the Cats with Jewelled Claws, Directed by Jonathan Warman Off-Broadway at the legendary La Mama Theater in NYC. She also worked with Jonathan as a Choreographer and Assistant Director for a new musical in workshop based on the artist Pink’s album True Love. She is a part of the NYC Jazz Choreography Project at Alvin Ailey and choreographed The Wizard of Oz, Oliver and Footloose and Hairspray for the Ohana Arts Program in Oahu, HI, as well as helping them develop a dance program for four years. Recent Credits: Director/Choreographer for Cinderella at the Okoboji Summer Theater, Associate Director/Choreographer for Dragon Slayer at Hudson Guild Theater, Choreographer for Bare Opera’s Goyescas production and Director/Choreographer for Billy Elliot at the Axelrod Theater. Liz is 100% thrilled to be a part of the Spandex movement of stretchy LOVE!! Keep updated on Liz at Lizpiccoli.com
Andrea Andresakis (Original Co-Director) loves Spandex (it’s so comfortable!) Selected New York directing and/or choreography credits: Little Shop of Horrors (BHT); The Little Prince (Merkin Concert Hall); Malvolio’s Revenge (NY Classical Theatre); Wait Until Dark (ACC Theatre); Lee Blessing’s Down the Road; Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451; Neil Simon’s Star Spangled Girl (Playwrights Horizons). She was the Associate Artistic Director of the American Playwrights’ Theatre where she also directed several plays. Tours: The Barber of Seville and Maiden’s Consent. Regional: The Marvelous Wonderettes (East Coast premiere); Crimes of the Heart (Chenengo River); Evita (JHU, Baltimore); Fame (Barrington Stage Company) and four operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan. She is currently developing an original Hip Hop musical called Make That Move.
Ming Aldrich-Gan (Original Music Director) is thrilled to make his Off-Broadway debut with Spandex! A recent graduate of Bard College & Conservatory of Music, with a B.M. in piano performance and a B.A. in computer science & math, his true passion has always been for musical theater. All through college, he directed, music-directed, and acted in many shows. After graduating in 2010, he spent an additional year in residence at Bard as a Collaborative Piano Fellow, working with students of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program led by Dawn Upshaw. Recent music-directing credits include the Troy Acting Guild’s next to normal, the Schenectady Light Opera Company’s Hairspray, and Legally Blonde at Cohoes Music Hall. Love to Margaret, her parents, and Mom & Dad. http://amazming.com
After a career change from theme park management, Sam Port (Associate Producer/Business Manager) spent nearly two years as a principal singer in the classic Jubilee! at Bally’s Las Vegas, followed by contracts with Celebrity and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Regional theater highlights: Miss Saigon (Schultz) at the Ogunquit Playhouse, Rent (Benny) and 42nd Street (Pat Denning) at the NH Palace Theatre, Songs for a New World (Man 2), and Abbey Road at American Music Theatre in Lancaster, PA. As Spandex’s business manager in charge of monitoring budgets, Sam has fostered a wonderful and fulfilling relationship with Microsoft Excel. Thanks to all who’ve helped make this show a reality! Proud AEA member. www.SamPortOnline.com
Kai Harada (Sound Designer) attended Yale University before leaving to pursue a career in theatrical sound design. Associate design credits to Tony Meola include A Christmas Carol; The Sound of Music; Disney’s Der Glöckner von Notre Dame; Kiss Me, Kate; The Man of La Mancha; and Wicked. Designs include Two Cities; Under the Bridge; Barbie Live in Fairytopia; She Loves Me (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Million Dollar Quartet (Chicago, New York, London); Zorro (Moscow); Hinterm Horizont (Berlin); Follies (Broadway: Drama Desk & Tony Award nominations); First Date (ACT Seattle); First You Dream (Kennedy Center); and Rent (5th Avenue). In his spare time, he supervises the sound for Wicked around the world.
Dustin Cross (Costume Designer) is a New York based designer who has been designing on and off Broadway and regionally for the last 10 years. His designs have received accolades such as “…Spot on Perfect” by Artes Magazine and “Excellent!” by The New York Times as well as other nods from many different publications. SoHo Playhouse (The Other Josh Cohen/Lortel nom: Best Musical), Carnegie Hall (The Christmas Rose starring Jane Seymour), The American Airlines Theater (The 24 Hour Plays), The Westside Theater (The Last Smoker in America/ Assistant), LaMaMa (Mr. Irresistible), St Lukes Theater (Cougar The Musical and Zelda at the Oasis), The LABA Theater/AMAS Musical Theater (Suessical and Hello Dolly) and The Players Theater (Phantom, Cinderella, A Christmas Carol) are just a few of the venues that have showcased Cross’s work. Like Spandex, Dustin hopes to continue to “stretch” his talents across the world for many years to come. www.dustincross.net
PLEASE DON’T TELL HER DAD, but Nicole Ansbacher (Props Designer) was born to be in Spandex. She was introduced to Spandex as a child through gymnastics. Disappointed by the limited selection of outfits, she moved on to aerial arts, training at Circus Smirkus, but returned to the gym as a USAG certified instructor. Dor L’Dor, introducing Spandex from generation to generation as it should be. It was only a matter of time before Spandex was to find its way to the theatre. Soon after her dance audition, she was offered admittance to the technical theatre department at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. Now her Dad works overtime to pay tuition for her first year at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. So although she should probably be preparing for class, please don’t tell her Dad she is living her dream in search of that sensuous stretchable synthetic, Spandex.
Matilda Sabal (Assistant Props Designer) hails from Boston MA. She has been working in theatre since she got lost her first day of high school and wandered into the scene shop. Such is fate. Now she is at NYU Tisch studying set and costume design and is thrilled to be working on Spandex!
