DES McANUFF received Tony Awards for his B'way stagings of "Big River" (1985) and "The Who's Tommy" (1993). He directed Lee Blessings's "A Walk in the Woods" on B'way in 1988 and in Moscow and Lithuania in 1989-90.

Eaton Magoon, Jr. author, Luricist and composer of 13 Daughters, was born and raised in Hawaii. He left the Islands to attend Yale University and, upon his graduation in 1945, returned to Hawaii.

Eleanor Harder is an author, composer/lyricist, has written over 20 plays and musicals, many with her husband, Ray. A graduate of UCLA in theatrer and music, she has received numerous awards for her work and a grant from the state of Michigan for a new musical.

George Abbott - an actor, writer, director and producer, had one of the most active and distinguished careers in the entire history of the American theater.

Jo Swerling: Born in Russia in 1897, Jo Swerling was a playwright, screenwriter and vaudeville sketch writer. Mr. Swerling's long career began as a reporter and feature writer in New York and Chicago.

JULE STYNE made B'way sing for 50 years as composer of High Button Shoes; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Two on the Aisle; Hazel Flagg; Gypsy; Peter Pan; Bells Are Ringing; Say Darling; Do Re Mi; Subways Are for Sleeping; Funny Girl; Fade Out-Fade In; Arturo Ui (the dramatic score); Hallelujah, Baby!;

Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 - December 27, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing STARDUST, which has been called the most-recorded American song ever written.

FRANCESCA BLUMENTHAL won the Backstage Bistro Award, MAC Award and special ASCAP Prize in 2001.

A long-standing member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in January 2002, an inductee into The Theater Hall of Fame, Charles Strouse's first Broadway musical, BYE BYE BIRDIE (1960), won him a Tony® Award and the London Critics Best Foreign Musical Award.

Cheri Coons has co-written ten musicals which have received professional productions. Her newest project, River s End, was selected for the 2004 Eugene O Neill Theater Center s National Music Theatre Conference, as well as Chicago Disney/ASCAP Workshop.