Production Team

Joe Drymala (music/lyrics/arrangements) is the composer and lyricist of STREET LIGHTS, an R&B/hip hop musical which premiered in October 2009 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and received subsequent development at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, CA. Prior to STREET LIGHTS, Drymala was the primary composer and original bookwriter for the satirical musical WHITE NOISE, which received its premiere at the 2006 NYMF and which received a Summer Theater Award for Outstanding Score that year; WHITE NOISE was recently produced regionally in both New Orleans and Chicago and was optioned by Whoopi Goldberg for a Broadway production. In 2003-4, he was the primary speechwriter on Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign where he wrote a feature-length article in Vanity Fair magazine on poverty in America on behalf of Gov. Dean, as well as writing a speech on race relations that was hailed by The Black Commentator magazine as "the most important statement on race in American politics by a mainstream white politician in nearly 40 years."  He is also the co-founder of Broadway U (BroadwayUOnline.com), a website which connects Broadway talent with potential vocal and dance students through Skype.

Sonny Paladino (music supervisor) Broadway (Assistant Conductor/Keys): Jesus Christ Superstar, Billy Elliot, Grease, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Keyboards: Guys and Dolls, Mama Mia, Promises, Promises, Addams Family, Women on the Verge. Music Supervisor for Disney’s High School Musical (Milan/Italy tour.) 1st National Tours: Disney’s High School Musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Grease. Work with Alicia Keys, Ke$ha, Matthew Morrison. As a composer: The Return of the Blue Cat (with poet F.D. Reeve.) Music supervisor for the upcoming new musicals The Happy Embalmer and Mercy Street. TV: The X-Factor (Australia), The Next Big Thing. B.F.A. in Jazz Piano from CUNY City College. www.sonnypaladino.com



Justin Hornback (music director) Justin Hornback, a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Music, has worked as a music director, conductor, pianist, arranger, and orchestrator. Broadway: Bring It On (Keyboard 2), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Conductor/Keyboard 1 and Keyboard 2), Jesus Christ Superstar (Keyboard 3), and Baby It's You (Asst. to Music Supervisor). NYMF credits include: Street Lights (Asst. to Composer/Copyist), The 10th Floor (Keyboard 2), Frog Kiss (Associate Music Director), and Central Avenue Breakdown (Music Director/Orchestrations – 2011 NYMF Award for Excellence in Orchestration). Justin would like to thank his family and the love of his life, Jenn, for always supporting him through the years.

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McKenna Dabbs (director/producer) is a director and producer based in New York City. She has produced work at such venues as Joe’s Pub, 3LD, Theatre for a New City, and The Tank. Directing Credits include: New York: A Banshee Killed My Boyfriend (45th Street Theater) At the Edge (The Tank), At the Edge (TNC), What the Butler Saw (Secret Theatre), Less Talk More Efficiency, Behind the Scene (Looking Glass Theatre) Suicide Note (Tip My Cup Productions), and multiple pieces with Fresh Ground Pepper. Regional: Doubt, Rumplestiltskin, 7/10 Split (B Street Theatre), For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls (Blue Jacket Outdoor Drama). She proudly graduated Catawba College with a BFA in Directing/Performance. McKenna is a member of The Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. She has interned at Maximum Entertainment Productions (Peter and the Starcatcher, Annie, Merchant of Venice), Fincannon and Associates Television and Film Casting and The B Street Theatre.

Sarah Anne Simmons (production manager) is a theater artist living in New York City, originally from Washington State. She relocated two years ago to continue her education. Prior to then, Sarah was pursuing performance opportunities in the Pacific Northwest when her focus turned to the theater production side of the industry as a director and choreographer. This led to a concentration in direction for completing her B.A., in Theater at Marymount Manhattan College from 2010-2012. Sarah serves as a member of the Literary Committee for Urban Stages and previously interned with Jean Doumanian Productions covering various script submissions. Selected credits include What Is Your Opinion on Spontaneous Human Combustion? (Director) Bar 82; Intellectual Property (Director/Host) Playlab NYC; Flyballs (Director) Strike 38 Festival; Good Person of Szchewan (AD - Director Ashley Kelly Tata) Columbia University Stages; Pumpkin Goat Milk (Director) Coffee Black Productions; The Stakeout (Director/Sound Designer) Looking Glass Theater; The Human Comedy (Dramaturg) Astoria Performing Arts Center; The Bald Soprano and Geography of a Horse Dreamer (Dramaturg) Marymount Manhattan College; 15 Miles to the Horizon (AD - Director William Addis) Gallery Players; Bat Boy: the Musical! (AD) SecondStory Repertory Theatre.

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Performers Gisela Adisa, Jerome Bell, Alexander Elisa, Joy Lynn Matthews, Devere Rogers, Miguel Sierra, Vladimir Versailles, Kaitlin Becker, Andi Bohs, Egyp Johnson, Shanna Locklair, Nathaly Lopez, DeSean Stokes