Creative Team
PAUL FERGUSON (Writer) has transformed the novels and songs of thirty-nine Southern writers (e.g., Allan Gurganus, Elizabeth Spencer, Clyde Edgerton, Doris Betts) into works for the stage. He was playwright/adapter and director of the original productions and regional tour of Good Ol’ Girls. Paul worked as script and performance consultant for the national tour and Broadway productions of John Leguizamo’s Sexaholix. He teaches directing, adaptation, and performance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
LEE SMITH (Writer) Originally a good ol' girl from the mountains of southwest Virginia, Lee Smith is the author of 15 books including Fair and Tender Ladies and her forthcoming Mrs. Darcy Meets the Blue-Eyed Stranger (March 2010). Her many honors include an Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; she won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award for her novel The Last Girls, also a New York Times Bestseller. (www.leesmith.com)
JILL McCORKLE (Writer) Jill is the author of five widely acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories (most recent is Going Away Shoes). Her short fiction has been published in many journals and magazines and anthologized in Best American Short Stories and New Stories from the South. After many years living and teaching in the Boston area, Jill is now back home in North Carolina where she teaches at North Carolina State University. (www.jillmccorkle.com)
MATRACA BERG (Songwriter) Matraca Berg has written numerous hit songs for country artists such as Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, The Dixie Chicks... and the list goes on. She won the CMA song of the year award for writing Deana Carter's smash hit, Strawberry Wine, and has recently been inducted into the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame, the third youngest in history and one of only a few women out of 147 inductees. (www.matracaberg.com)
MARSHALL CHAPMAN (Songwriter) was one of the earliest woman musicians to front a rock and roll band. To date she has released ten critically acclaimed albums, most notably, Jaded Virgin (1978), and It’s About Time (1996). Her songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including, Jimmy Buffett, Wynonna, and Olivia Newton-John. (www.tallgirl.com)
RANDAL MYLER (Director) was nominated for a Tony Award for 'It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues (Director/co-author) at Lincoln Center and the Ambassador Theater; nominated for an Outer Critic's Circle Award for Hank Williams Lost Highway (Director/co-author) at the Little Shubert; and his hit musical on the life of Janis Joplin ran for over two years at the Village Theater (Director/author). His musical Fire On The Mountain (based on interviews and the music of coal miners) was nominated for five Jeff Awards in Chicago and his musical Touch The Names: Letters To The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has been staged at several major regional theaters.
KEITH LEVENSON (Musical Supervisor/Orchestrations) Keith conducted the Broadway and National touring productionsof Annie, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Big River, Annie Warbucks and Dreamgirls. Music Supervisor of the National tours of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Ann-Margret, Tommy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Camelot, Oliver, Joseph. Concerts and recordings with The Who, Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper, Peter Frampton, NigelKennedy, Yes, Kiss, The NY Philharmonic,The LA Symphony, The British RockSymphony and many others. Television work includes “The Wizard of Oz in Concert” at Avery Fisher Hall featuring: Jewel, Jackson Browne, Joel Grey, Roger Daltrey, Natalie Cole, Debra Winger, Nathan Lane and The Boys Choir of Harlem. Other credits include Winchell with Martin Charnin and Starcrossed with Jeanine Tesori and Shlomo. Currently Music Supervisor/Arranger for Incredible India for Dragone.
KAREN DRYER (Music Director) Ms. Dryer is a pianist/vocalist/songwriter and teacher; and she has toured with the Broadway musicals Annie, Jesus Christ Superstar, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as associate conductor. In NYC, she has subbed as a keyboardist with the Big Apple Circus, 9 to 5, and The Fantasticks. Currently, she is a Vocal Coach with Liz Caplan Vocal Studios. (www.karendryer.com)
TIMOTHY R. MACKABEE (Sets Design) NYC: Mel & El (Ars Nova), Single Black Female (Duke), Trout Stanley (Culture Project), Gorilla Man (P.S. 122), Those Who Can, Do (Clubbed Thumb), Dance: Doug Varone’s Alchemy (Joyce), Raw, Beyond The Red & Seed all for Cedar Lake, Regional: Yale Rep, Asolo Rep, Florida Stage, Philadelphia Theater Co., Weston Playhouse, Northern Stage, Associate designer on Broadway for Fela!, Off-Broadway: [title of show.] Television: The Today Show, Film: Margot at the Wedding. BFA: NCSA, MFA: YSD, timothymackabeedesign.com.
MICHAEL BEVINS (Costume Design) Michael is pleased to be working with Aruba Productions again, after their successful collaborations on The Screwtape Letters, Mark’s Gospel, and Machiavelli. Other Off Broadway credits include Sidd; Summer Shorts 2 and 3; Intar¹s All Eyes and Ears, and She Plundered Him. Feature films include the award winning The Killing of John Lennon; Made for Each Other with George Segal and Patrick Warburton; Kiddie Ride with James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen; and the upcoming comedy It's Not You with Steve Guttenberg and Shannon Elizabeth. michaelbevins.com
BRIAN NASON (Lighting Design) Broadway: Thurgood with Laurence Fishburne; On Golden Pond with James Earl Jones ; Fortunes Fool with Alan Bates and Frank Langella ; Elaine May’s Taller Than a Dwarf with Matthew Broderick; Metamorphosis with Mikhail Baryshnikov (Tony Award nomination, Best Lighting Design); A Month in the Country with Helen Mirren (Outer Critics nom, Best Design); 3 Penny Opera with Sting, M.Butterfly and Cyrano,The Musical. Current Off Bway Emperor Jones, (Irish Rep), Ernest In Love (Irish Rep) Opera/ Music/Tours/ Special Events: Madea’s Big Happy Family (National Tour); Dead Man Walking, West Side Story (La Scala;Beirut; Japan); Live From Carnegie Hall (PBS); American Playhouse The Big On Golden Pond (National tour); Tuesday’s with Morrie.
LEW MEAD (Sound Design) Broadway design credits: WONDERFUL TOWN, THE KING AND I, URINETOWN, ONWARD VICTORIA, BUTTONS ON BROADWAY, and THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. Event and concert credits: The Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, and Julie Andrew’s The Gift of Music. Touring credits include THE MUSICAL ADVENTURES OF FLAT STANLEY, FRANKLY BEN, A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD and STORMY WEATHER WITH LESLIE UGGAMS. He is a director of Syntonic Design Group, an audio design and rental company located in New York, Orlando and Las Vegas and Autograph A2D, an audio distribution company located in London and New York.
ELIRAN MURPHY GROUP (Advertising) Established in 1991, the Eliran Murphy Group is a full-service marketing and advertising company specializing in arts and entertainment. Helmed by Barbara Eliran, CEO, and Ann Murphy, President/Creative Director, the agency's roster includes such diverse clients from numerous Broadway plays, including the new comedy starring Valerie Harper, Looped, as well as Off-Broadway successes such as Our Town.
KEITH SHERMAN & ASSOCIATES INC. (Press Representative) represents a diverse clientele in entertainment, lifestyles and corporate industries. KSA has worked for The Tony Awards, The New York Times, Focus Features, Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, the major television and cable networks, The Onion, Brian Boitano, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Town Hall, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Bolshoi Ballet as well as 250 Broadway, Off-Broadway and touring productions. Glenna Freedman, his associate, has represented a long line of Broadway shows including Nine, Annie Get Your Gun and Journey's End. She handled publicity for Studio 54 and has represented Forbidden Broadway for more than 20 years. ksa-pr.com
NOREEN HERON & ASSOCIATES, INC. (Marketing & Promotions) A full service public relations, advertising, and marketing firm based in Chicago, Noreen Heron & Associates represents a wide range of theater, hospitality, and corporate clients. The agency specializes in creating grassroots marketing campaigns directed at each client’s desired demographic, and some of their current clients include Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Chicago Dramatists and the national tour of The Screwtape Letters. www.heronpr.com
DAVE CLEMMONS CASTING (Casting) is Dave Clemmons and Joy Dewing. Broadway: Ring of Fire, Brooklyn, The Boy From Oz, The Civil War. Tours: 101 Dalmatians, Fiddler on the Roof, Movin’ Out, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd, Cinderella, Evita, Swing!, Fosse, Jekyll & Hyde, Chicago. Off-B’way: Good Ol’ Girls, Dear Edwina, Bare, Bat Boy. Regional: Dracula at La Jolla, Children of Eden at The Ford’s Theatre, Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland at Tampa Bay PAC/Alley Theatre.
WHITE SAND ENTERTAINMENT LLC (Producer) White Sand Entertainment is a newly formed partnership made up of supporters of the performing arts for many years. They are extremely proud to be a part of bringing Good Ol'Girls to the New York audience, and look forward to being a part of the generous spirit of the New York theatre community for years to come.
KEN DENISON (Executive Producer) Currently Executive Producing The Screwtape Letters, Zhivago, Officer and a Gentleman and Grumpy Old Men: The Musical. Mr. Denison is the President and CEO of Aruba Productions, LLC.
ARUBA PRODUCTIONS, LLC (General Manager) Ken Denison, with associates Samantha Schuster and Eddie Williams, develops, manages, produces, and licenses theatrical properties. Current productions include Stormy Weather, Robin and the 7Hoods, Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, Good Ol’ Girls, The Molly Macguire’s, The Screwtape Letters, Mark’s Gospel, Bingo the Musical, Brooklyn the Musical John Denver Theatrical Properties including Almost Heaven, Whisper the Wind and Holiday Concert. Mr. Denison has served as the General Manager for the Old Globe, as well as, Associate Producer for the The Lion King (worldwide), Bombay Dreams, and The Elephant Man.
MIKE WADE (Technical Director) joins the ”Good Ol’ Girls” production team while continuing his work with both the Roundabout Theatre Company and the Atlantic Theater Company as well.
JANE POLE (Production Stage Manager) Broadway: Macbeth, Tartuffe. Off‑Broadway includes: What Once We Felt (LCT3); Evil Dead The Musical; Measure for Pleasure (Public Theater); Almost Heaven; Coriolanus, Švejk (TFANA); The Oldest Profession (Signature); Franny's Way, Breath, Boom (Playwrights). BAM: The Bridge Project - The Cherry Orchard & Winter's Tale (& International Tour), Macbeth, Happy Days, King Lear, The Seagull, Medea. UK: Over 50 productions for the RSC, with Sir Peter Hall, Sam Mendes, David Leveaux, Matthew Warchus and others.
MEDIA FOCUS ASSOCIATES, INC. (Web Design) Since 1985, Media Focus has provided Design, Printing & Promotions to both start-up and Fortune 500 companies. MFA is pleased to be part of the New York Arts scene bringing to life Good Ol'Girls for the web. Media Focus