PASSING STRANGE, which Stew starred in and co-wrote with Heidi Rodewald, premiered at Berkeley Rep and the Public Theater (2006/2007) before transferring to Broadway in 2008. The show has been honored with the Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and the 2008 Obie Award for Best New American Theater Piece, as well as a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Stew also received Tony nominations for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations. Stew is the critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, founder, and leader of The Negro Problem, a pop-rock combo from Los Angeles whose works include “Post Minstrel Syndrome” (1997), “Joys and Concerns” (1999), and “Welcome Black” (2002). Along with Heidi Rodewald, he cofounded the Afro-Baroque cabaret ensemble known as STEW. Their works include “Guest Host” (2000), “The Naked Dutch Painter” (2002), and “Something Deeper Than These Changes” (2003). He was an artist-in-residence at the California Institute of the Arts (2004-2005), Sundance Theater Lab (2004-2005), Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab (2005), and Sundance Director’s Lab (2005). Stew is also the composer of “Gary Come Home” for the “SpongeBob SquarePants” cartoon.

Heidi Rodewald has spent over a decade as a performer, arranger, producer, and composer for both The Negro Problem and the multi-disciplinary ensemble known as Stew. She cowrote the musical PASSING STRANGE, which premiered at Berkeley Rep/The Public Theatre (2006-2007) and then transferred to Broadway in 2008, where it was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations. The show has been honored with the Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and the 2008 Obie Award for Best New American Theater Piece. She composed music for Karen Kandel’s PORTRAITS: NIGHT AND DAY (2004) and cowrote with Stew the screenplay “We Can See Today,” Sundance Screenwriters Lab/Director’s Lab (2005). She wrote and performed with seminal female punk band Wednesday Week.

Annie Dorsen is a theater director working at the intersection of algorithmic art and live performance. Dorsen is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Spalding Gray Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant to Artists Award, and the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. She is the co-creator of the 2008 Broadway musical Passing Strange, which she also directed. Spike Lee made a film of her production of the piece, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, and was released theatrically by IFC in 2010. She recently completed a J.D. from NYU School of Law, where she concentrated on tech policy and civil rights. Currently, she is Guest Curator for Art and Technology at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Zhailon Levingston won a 2026 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Cats: The Jellicle Ball. The immersive reimagining of the classic musical first premiered in 2024 at NYC Perelman Arts Center earning Zhailon an Obie Award Win as well as nominations for a Drama Desk Award, Two Drama League Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical alongside co-director Bill Rauch. The Broadway production won three Tony Awards and received 9 Tony Award nominations (including Best Revival of a Musical)

A Louisiana-raised director, storyteller, and activist, Zhailon’s first “Broadway” job was selling tickets to Broadway shows in Times Square. In 2017, he sold concessions for multiple Broadway theaters and at 27 years old, he became the youngest Black director in Broadway history by directing the Broadway production of Chicken And Biscuits to critical acclaim.  

Zhailon’s other most recent directing credits include Wonderful Town at New York City Center Encores; Reconstructing at Brooklyn Academy of Music (co-directed with Rachel Chavkin); Little Miss Perfect (Olney Theatre Center); Patience at Second Stage Theatre; and Table 17 at the MCC Theater (Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Director) and the Geffen Playhouse LA (NAACP nominee for Best Director). This Fall 2026, Zhailon brought Table 17 to the Kiln Theatre in London, where it runs through the end of October.

Levingston is the board chair of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Artistic Director of Inheritance Theatre Project, and co- created a ‘Theatre of Change’ course at Columbia University School of Law that is still being taught today. Once a year he returns to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct theater as a way to stay connected to his roots.

Gregory Nabours is an award-winning composer/lyricist, music director, and arranger. Music Direction credits include: The Color Purple (NAACP Winner, LA Weekly Winner, and LADCC Winner for Best Music Direction), The Rockwell Musical Parody of It! (Off-Broadway), Cabaret, Spring Awakening, In the Heights, Ragtime, and Rent. Composer/lyricist credits include: The Trouble with Words (Ovation Winner – best music/lyrics), Marilyn! The New Musical at Paris Casino in Las Vegas, Masque of the Red Death (Telly Award Winner – best original music), The Sparrow (Ovation Winner – best original music), Bettie Page: Queen of the Pinups at the Lyric Theatre on London’s West End, A Candle In Jien’Jenu, and Mozart: Her Story, which was presented at Carnegie Hall, Off-Broadway, and the prestigious Theatre Royal in London.

Tislarm Bouie is a Brooklyn native, choreographer, and creative director. He received a Princess Grace Award in Theater and a Drama Desk nomination for his choreography in The Bandaged Place at Roundabout Theatre Company. His choreographic work includes The Color Purple (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera) and The Salvagers (Yale Repertory Theatre). He has creatively directed immersive projects for Amazon, Columbia Records, and Lil Nas X. His narrative dance films have been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and Ars Nova. As a performer, Tislarm appeared in In the Heights (film), Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (Broadway), Saturday Night Live, and performed for Alicia Keys, Coldplay, and Jon Batiste. His print and commercial work includes Vogue, Estée Lauder, Cadillac, Samsung, and Toyota.

Chicken & Biscuits (Circle In The Square); [NYC] The Ripple, The Wave That Carried me Home (Playwrights), The Verge (Fiasco & The Public) Guide for the Homesick (LDK Productions), Reconstructing (BAM), Ghost of John McCain (Soho Playhouse), The White Chip (MCC) Covenant (Roundabout), Patience (2ST Uptown), STEW (Page 73) [Regional] Purpose (La Jolla) Senior Class (Olney), Much Ado… , Fences, Bartleby, Henry 6: One & Two, Twelfth Night, Trouble In Mind (Old Globe), ¡VOS! & Gem of The Ocean (Two River), Black Cypress Bayou (Geffen) Bulrusher (McCarter & Berkeley Rep), Tosca, Silent Night, Cosí Fan Tutte, & Faust (Wolf Trap Opera), Blues For An Alabama Sky (McCarter & Guthrie), The Knock, Ballad of Baby Doe, Master Class, (Central City). Member: USA 829. www.motendesigns.com; IG: @motendesigns

Devario D. Simmons (he/him/his) is an American costume designer whose work spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, opera, regional theatre, film, and television. His Broadway credits include Thoughts of a Colored Man, with Off-Broadway credits including BEAU: The Musical, TABLE 17 (MCC), The White Chip, Bees and Honey, TUMACHO, Between the Bars, EMERGENCY!, and P.S. Simmons has been a guest artist with Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Metropolitan Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. His regional credits include Hartford Stage, The Geffen Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, Asolo Rep, TheatreSquared, Geva Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Baltimore Center Stage. His screen credits include Rustin (Netflix), AMC’s TURN, In the Heights National Tour, and PBS’s Mercy Street. Simmons is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829.

Recent Pasadena Playhouse credits include Topdog Underdog and A Little Night Music. An Ovation and LADCC Kinetic Lighting Award recipient, his internationally presented work encompasses theatre, opera, musicals, dance, attractions, and exhibits. Jared designed The Illusionists on Broadway and national tours. Regional credits: Center Theatre Group, South Coast Repertory, McCoy Rigby Entertainment, LA Opera, 5 th Avenue Theatre, Phoenix Theatre Company, Reprise, Ensemble Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, The Wallis, & Indiana Rep. He has designed in London’s West End as well as in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Notable projects: lighting Pope Benedict XVI NYC and the USA International Ballet Competitions. Jared became the youngest admitted into United Scenic Artists, Local 829, and now serves as vice chair to the executive board. www.jaslighting.com

Andrea Allmond is a Sound Designer and Composer for Theatre, Audio Dramas and Immersive Installations. Select Theatre Credits: Off Broadway: Gloria A life, Regional: Westport Country Playhouse: Primary Trust, The Old Globe and Pasadena Playhouse: One of the Good Ones, Mark Taper Forum: The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Composer), The Fountain Theatre: Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience, Fly Me To The Sun, Alabaster and Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, Musical Theatre West: In The Heights, Hello Dolly!, Village Theatre: How To Break, South Coast Repertory: Nina Simone: Four Women, Prelude to a Kiss The Musical, Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Wild Fire, Dallas Theatre Center: Twelfth Night. andreaallmond.com

Ryan’s work spans theatre, film, and television, with over a decade of experience in Los Angeles and New York. Theatre credits include dozens of productions at Pasadena Playhouse, with recent highlights including Amadeus, Inherit the Wind, A Doll’s House, Part 2, La Cage aux Folles, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Eureka Day, as well as work with The Wallis and Center Theatre Group. Additional credits include the Off-Broadway run of Drag: The Musical and the New York premiere of Messy White Gays. On screen, their credits include the Wicked films, This Is Us, Atypical, and more. Their work is grounded in a commitment to inclusion and authentic representation. Through RBT Casting, they champion artists who reflect the full spectrum of human experience and advocate for stories that challenge industry norms. @rbtcasting rbtcasting.com

Dria Brown is a creative producer working between New York City and Los Angeles. She is the founder of The Creative Doula Studio, a storytelling, strategy, and production studio that develops artists, ideas, and collective experiences. Dria previously served as Producing Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition, where she produced the Webby Award-winning Broadway for Black Lives Matter. Her theater producing credits include work at Signature Theatre, MCC Theater, Playwrights Horizons, The Tank, and Abrons Arts Center. She has produced for leading arts institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Performa, and the Aspen Art Museum, and has produced concerts at Joe’s Pub, Sony Music Hall, Nublu, and Rockwood Music Hall.

Audrey Casteris (Associate Set Designer, she/her) is a San Diego-based scenic designer and fabricator. Recent design credits include Job, The Hot Wing King (Cygnet Theatre), Macbeth, Julius Caesar (The Old Globe’s Globe for All Tour), and Airness (Loud Fridge Theatre Company). She is also the Resident Set Design Assistant at The Old Globe. @audreycasterisdesign

Andrew (he/him/his) is currently the Assistant Professor of Sound Design at the University of Oklahoma. Recent select designs include: The Pajama Game, Young Frankenstein, Company (University of Oklahoma), In the Heights (Musical Theatre West), Mr. Ballen’s Strange Dark and Mysterious Tour (16 shows, United States), Thankmas (Orpheum Theatre). Recent select associate designs include: Wicked Soul on Cherry Hill, The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse), Little Shop of Horrors, Cyrano (Pasadena Playhouse), Prelude to a Kiss (South Coast Repertory), Public Works: Winter’s Tale, Public Works: As You Like It, Twelfth Night (Dallas Theater Center), Quack (Center Theatre Group).

Broadway: The Cottage, for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf, Chicken & Biscuits, A Soldier’s Play (Tony Award Winner), Stick Fly Off-Broadway: Dorothy Dandridge! The Musical, The Best We Could. Tours: Anne & Emmett, Bring in the Noise, Bring in the Funk with Savion Glover, Dreamgirls with Jennifer Holiday. Regional: Alliance Theatre (30-plus years), Delaware Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, Pasadena Playhouse, Dallas Theater Company, Indiana Rep, Arena Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, San Jose Rep, Arizona Theatre Co., Trinity Rep, MUNY, N.C. Black Repertory Company. lark is a long time Line Producer/Executive Assistant/Gala Director for Winston-Salem’s National Black Theatre Festival. Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Stage Managing (NBTF), Outstanding Achievement for a Howard Alumni (Howard University).

Past Productions at Pasadena Playhouse include The Visit (PSM), Amadeus (PSM), Eureka Day (PSM), Jelly’s Last Jam (ASM), KATE (ASM), Inherit the Wind (PSM), The Sound Inside (ASM), The Father (ASM), Defiance, Showtune (The Music of Jerry Herman), and Sisterella. Over at Center Theatre Group highlights include: Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème, Curtains, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, God of Carnage, Red, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Bent, Zoot Suit, Archduke, Linda Vista, King James, A Transparent Musical, American Idiot, Hamlet, and Kim’s Convenience. Los Angeles Theatre Center in its heyday from 1985–1990. Regional: Geffen Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre. New York: Public Theater. Tours: Europe — Quotations from a Ruined City, Law of Remains (with Reza Abdoh’s Dar a Luz company).