Avenue Q - Off-Broadway Creative Team

Broadway: co-creator/writer of The Book of Mormon (nine Tony Awards including Best Book, Best Original Score and Best Musical), co-creator/songwriter of Avenue Q (three Tony Awards including Best Original Score and Best Musical). Regional: Frozen (Denver Center), Up Here (La Jolla Playhouse), 1001 Nights (Atlantic Theater). Film: Pixar's Coco (Oscar Best Original Song win for "Remember Me"), Frozen (Oscar Best Original Song win for "Let It Go"). TV: songs for The 87th Academy Awards, "The Simpsons," "South Park," "Scrubs," "The Wonder Pets." Upcoming projects include Disney's Frozen 2. One of 12 artists to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony ... read more Jeff Marx is an American composer and lyricist best known for co-creating the musical Avenue Q, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2004. Born on September 10, 1970, in Hollywood, Florida, Marx grew up in a musical family and began playing the piano at a young age. He attended the University of Michigan, where he studied music composition and theater. After college, Marx moved to New York City to pursue a career in musical theater. He worked odd jobs to support himself while writing music and lyrics in his spare time. In 1998, he met Robert Lopez, a ... read more STEPHEN OREMUS received the 2013 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for Kinky Boots, for which he also served as Music Supervisor and Arranger. He received the 2011 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for co-orchestrating The Book of Mormon, as well as the 2012 Grammy Award for producing the cast recording. In addition to orchestrations for The Book of Mormon, he wrote the vocal arrangements and serves as music supervisor for the Broadway, National Tour, and London productions. Stephen is the music supervisor and arranger of the original Broadway production of Wicked, and of the subsequent productions of this hugely popular musical ... read more Gary has been working as a theater musician in New York for over 25 years. As a pianist and conductor, his credits include Avenue Q, Kinky Boots, Next to Normal and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. As a writer, he wrote music and lyrics for the long-running Off-Broadway musical Altar Boyz, for which he received two Drama Desk Award nominations. Other writing credits include Disney Channel’s “Johnny and the Sprites” and a number of contributions to the “Carols for a Cure” album series. ... read more Bender joins Paper Mill Playhouse directly from her role as a member of the musical theater faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Previously, Bender was Senior Vice President of Production and Development at The Araca Group in New York City. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Programming and Artist Services for the New York Musical Festival (NYMF), and as Resident Director for the Broadway productions of The Lion King and Avenue Q. She was the Assistant Artistic Director for Cirque du Soleil's Ovo for productions in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, ... read more Scott Elliott is a renowned American theater director, who has directed over 70 productions in his career. He is the founder and artistic director of The New Group, a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company. Elliott was born in 1960 in Ohio and grew up in a small town. He attended Ohio University where he studied theater and graduated in 1982. After graduation, he moved to New York City to pursue his passion for theater. In 1987, Elliott founded The New Group, which quickly became known for its edgy and provocative productions. The company has produced many successful plays including "Hurlyburly," "The Starry ... read more Anna Louizos is an American scenic designer and art director. She is known for her Tony Award-nominated sets for the musicals In the Heights and High Fidelity, as well as the London, Broadway, Las Vegas, and touring productions of Avenue Q. Louizos was represented on Broadway with Cinderella at the Broadway Theatre in 2013-15. ... read more Originally from Rochester, NY, and now based in the New York City area, Mr. Lyon studied theatre at Penn State University, and puppetry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut Internationale de la Marionnette in France. While he was studying in Connecticut in 1986 he met the late Jim Henson, which later led to him working for Mr. Henson as a puppeteer with the Muppets, and with Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Mr. Lyon has also worked in television and film for Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema, ABC, CBS, PBS, The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, ... read more Jason Moore studied acting and directing as a theater arts major at the University of California, Los Angeles, and continued at UCLA as a film directing major in the M.F.A. program. His thesis film, Paradise, Nebraska, won UCLA's top prize, the Spotlight Award for best film of the year. Paradise was a hit on the festival circuit and was sold to more than 20 domestic and international networks, including Showtime and the Sundance Channel. After graduating, he began directing commercials. He found them to be a natural extension of short filmmaking, and he enjoyed the fast pace and quick turnaround of ... read more