SMJ
SMJ (They/Them - Book) is a NYC-based, mixed-Latiné, and Trans non-binary playwright, musical theater writer, educator, & theatermaker originally from Mount Vernon, OH. They are a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Currently, SMJ is creating work with Ars Nova, The Road Theatre Company, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab, Lincoln Center Theater, The Orchard Project, American Theater Group, Tisch New Theatre, and The Uptown Collective. Their work has been seen in various forms throughout the US including the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, Lincoln Center, National Queer Theater, Carnegie Mellon University, Otterbein University, Wright State University, Art House Productions, UTEP, Andy's Summer Playhouse, The Tank, The Uptown Collective, and DR2 Theatre. SMJ has been a semifinalist for the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (2022, 2023, & Current 2024), Princess Grace Award at New Dramatists, Van Lier New Voices Fellowship, and The Civilians R & D Group (2021 & 2022) as well as a Finalist for the 2023 Parity Development Award, Write Out Loud Contest, 5th Avenue Theater's First Draft Commission, and the Doric Wilson Playwright Award. They’re a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys. Graduate of Otterbein University & the National Theater Institute. www.smjwrites.com
Maggie Marie Rodgers
Maggie Marie Rodgers (She/Her - Music and Lyrics) is a NYC-based songwriter and actor. The music for 'this old haunt' has been in the works for 3 years, including development with Fresh Ground Pepper ‘PALS’ Lab, a staged reading at Fort Salem Theatre, an academic premiere at Carnegie Mellon University, and the Latiné Musical Theatre Lab’s Julia de Burgos Cohort. On January 22nd, selected songs will be performed at the New Musicals Mixtape concert produced by the Latiné Musical Theatre Lab and Prospect Theater Company. Maggie is also in the studio working on her first EP!
Selected performance credits include Noises Off! (U/S, Walnut St. Theatre), The Club (Berkshire Theatre Group), and Small Town Icons (PEA Fest at The Tank). This past year, Maggie’s co-created comedic short, ‘Back of House’ was a part of the official selection of the 2023 Madavera Expojour JazzTimes Film Festival. She also co-developed a short titled ‘Saturn’s Return’ produced by Stone Street Studios. She is a graduate of George Mason University and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Follow her journey on instagram @maggiemarierodgers.
Rebecca wahls
Rebecca Wahls (She/Her - Collaborator) is a catalytic leader who tells ensemble stories about the formation of family and the romance of friendship. She directs, writes, and produces film, theatre, and new media. Her first feature film, Him, will premiere in 2024. She has served as Artistic Associate for Acting for Young People since 2015, where she has directed and written over 50 plays for children. In 2017, she founded the non-profit theatre Who What Where Productions, where she produced and directed world premiere play Spills by Ruthie Rado, which has since run in NYC and London. Other favorite projects include socially distant webseries Rebecca and Becca in Space; Memory Card, a live digital horror play; and this old haunt, a new musical co-created with Maggie Marie Rodgers and SMJ. MFA, Carnegie Mellon University (John Wells Fellow). BFA, George Mason University. She is also a TEDx speaker. rebeccawahls.com
Dillon Feldman
Dillon Feldman’s (He/Him - Addt’l Music, Orchestrations, Vocal Arrangements) original musical, Siren, held a 29-hour AEA reading in NYC in April 2022, produced by Con Limón Productions in association with The Shubert Organization, starring Brittney Mack (Six), Marcy Harriell (In the Heights), Troy Iwata (Be More Chill), iris menas (West Side Story), among others. The production was directed by Elena Araoz. Siren was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Eugene O’Neill NMTC. It has had development in the Untitled Writers Group in NYC and La Porte Peinte Residency in Noyers, France. Dillon was a finalist in the 2022 Write Out Loud Contest. He also composed an original folk/MT score to a new adaptation of the German folk tale, Allerleirauh, which held an NYC workshop in March of 2023 at the Alvin Ailey Theater.
Film: Halflight Productions—e.ro.sion(noun), Deus Meus Adiuva Me. Theatre (Underscoring): Out Front Theatre Company—Jerker; Ty Autry—Southern Fairytale. Video Game (In Development): Sorrowtide. Podcast: RYCO Theatricals–Podcast Series. Instagram: @dillon_feldman