Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Olivier Award-winning songwriters/producers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul are best known for their work on La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Greatest Showman. Their songs “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” (co-written with Justin Hurwitz) from La La Land were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, with “City of Stars” winning the Academy Award as well as the Golden Globe in the same category. The following year, in 2018, Pasek & Paul won their second Golden Globe for Best Original Song for “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman, which was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Ari Afsar is a writer and performer whose work has been featured at Berkeley Rep, LJP, McCarter Theatre, and NMTC at O’Neill, where she won the Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award. Credits: Netflix’s Wedding Season, Eliza in Chicago’s Hamilton, Top 10 Miss America and Top 36 American Idol.

Emily Xu Hall is an actor, composer, lyricist, and playwright. Her musicals center feminist narratives and meaningful roles for people of color. Awards include the Lilly Award, Jonathan Larson Award, and Dramatists Guild’s Stephen Schwartz Composer Award. Current projects include a modern adaptation of The Cherry Orchard and original musicals Mei-Do and Nascent Phase.

Joriah Kwamé is most known for writing the viral song “Little Miss Perfect.” Projects include Trolls Jr. (Dreamworks), Sinister (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Little Miss Perfect (Goodspeed Musicals). 2020 Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project. 2022-23 Dramatist Guild Foundation Musical Theatre Fellow. ASCAP Cole Porter Award, Harold Adamson Lyric Award.

Mark Sonnenblick is an Emmy and Drama Desk-nominated songwriter. Film: Theater Camp, Spirited, Lyle Lyle Crocodile. TV: Harlem, Saturday Night Seder, Song of Parkland. Theater: Midnight at The Never Get, The Devil Wears Prada. Jonathan Larson Grant and Harold Adamson Award winner.

Timothy Allen McDonald is an acclaimed playwright, producer, entrepreneur, and educator. His notable credits include the librettos for Willy Wonka and James and the Giant Peach, both among the top ten most produced shows in schools, as well as Between the Lines, available for streaming on Broadway HD. As the Founder and CEO of iTheatrics, he adapts musicals for MTI’s Broadway Junior Collection and Concord’s Young Performers Editions, reaching an estimated annual audience of 36 million—three times that of Broadway. Tim is also the Founder and CEO of Junior Theater Festivals Worldwide, serving in-person audiences exceeding 20,000, and hailed by the New York Times as “a raucous, joyous, and celebratory event—a megachurch of theater!” He has received multiple awards for his contributions to theatre education and continues to inspire the next generation of artists through workshops and training programs.

Sara Wordsworth is an award-winning musical writer with experience creating shows and content for Broadway, television, arenas, recordings, tours, concert, theaters, cruise ships and theme parks all around the world. Favorite credits include  “In Transit,” Broadway’s 1st a cappella musical and numerous shows for Walt Disney Live Entertainment. www.SaraWordsworth.com

Bernard Waber (September 27, 1921 – May 16, 2013) was the author/illustrator of numerous children’s books. He is best known for the Lyle the Crocodile series, which began in 1962 with The House on East 88th Street, which has been adapted for screen by both Columbia Pictures and HBO, and a nationally touring children’s play. He is also known for Ira Sleeps Over, Ira Says Goodbye and Courage. Published after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Courage uses familiar scenarios to depict the meaning of bravery in terms children can see within themselves. Many of Waber’s books such as Do You See a Mouse?, Evie and Margie, An Anteater named Arthur, and A Lion Named Shirley Williamson, focus on animals. 

Nina is an award-winning TYA director, playwright, and producer and a dedicated arts educator, with expertise in creativity and communication. Nina was the founder of Bay Area Children’s Theatre, which was the largest TYA company in California prior to Covid. Nina boot-strapped the organization to a $5 million annual budget with a reach of 1 million audience members. Nina’s theatrical work for young people has toured nationally and internationally. She has commissioned new musicals for young people based on the New York Times Bestselling book, Press Here by Herve Tullet, Chelsea Clinton’s book She Persisted, Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and Sherry Duskey Rinker’s Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, just to name a few. Nina dreamed up and spearheaded the first ever 41-theater co-commission of A Kids Play About Racism during the pandemic to produce an online show that subsequently reached 400,000 kids at no cost to the children or the schools. 

Her work as a playwright includes the world-premiere adaptation of Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman, Wheels on the Bus, Bloom Kaboom, all four award-winning K’ilu Adventures co-created with Jonathan Shmidt Chapman and, in collaboration with Daniel Mertzlufft, the Kids Fight Evil Villain Audio-Choose-Your-Own-Adventures musicals produced during the Pandemic to ensure that kids at home still had access to engaging and entertaining theatrical experiences. 

Nina served as the board president of TYA/USA for five years and has had the honor of being an invited speaker for the National Endowment for the Arts in Partnership with TCG. She has been a featured speaker for the Conscious Leadership Group (guest speaker with Diana Chapman), EO (Entrepreneur Organization), at Visioni, the largest festival in the world focused on Theatre for the Very Young in Bologna, Italy, and many other organizations and podcasts. Nina has been a workshop leader and adjudicator at Junior Theatre Festivals across the USA and in Australia. She has proudly been featured as a speaker at two TedX events with a focus on the importance of creativity in everyday life.

Nina holds a BS in Theatre from Northwestern University and a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco and is currently working on her PhD in Creativity Studies. She is also a certified yoga instructor. Her work has been spotlighted in the New York Times, LA Times, American Theatre Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Barron’s, Red Tricycle, ABC, NBC, and CBS.

Brad Gardner is a conductor, pianist, and film orchestra contractor. He is regularly a part of the orchestra at the Pantages, Ahmanson, and Dolby Theatres (recent/upcoming: Old Friends, Wicked, Once Upon A Mattress, Back To The Future, Kimberly Akimbo, Funny Girl, A Christmas Story). Brad was the associate conductor of the first national tours of Frozen, Aladdin, and An American In Paris, and the music director of the Japanese language premiere of An American In Paris in Tokyo. Broadway credits include Mean Girls and The Addams Family. Brad has worked on over 40 Netflix films as a music production executive and has been the assistant orchestra contractor for John Williams since 2023.

Max Antonio Gonzalez (he/him) is an actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer based in Brooklyn, NY. Recent credits: The Music Man (Marriott Theatre), Cabaret (Barrington Stage Co.), The Three Musketeers (The Acting Company National Tour), Romeo & Juliet (The Acting Company National Tour), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), and The Angel Makers (She-NYC Arts Festival). Developmental: Lempicka (Broadway Choreography Pre-Pro), The Death of Desert Rose (Off-Broadway Work Session), Aura (29-Hour Reading at New York Theatre Workshop), and Stuck in the 90’s (29-Hour Reading). Training: NYU Tisch at the New Studio on Broadway. Get in touch: Maxantoniogonzalez.com and @maxgonzo13

David (he/him) is thrilled to be back at the Pasadena Playhouse – last year he designed Grumpy Monkey, The Musical. Other recent Los Angeles Productions include: Tiny Father, Ava: the Secret Conversations (Geffen Playhouse), Head Over Heels, The Father, Native Gardens, Belleville, King Charles III, Our Town (Pasadena Playhouse). Off-Broadway: A Sucker Emcee, The Way West, Empanada Loca, A Family for All Occasions (LAByrinth Theater Company). Regional: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (The Hangar Theater, Syracuse Stage), Merrily We Roll Along (Muhlenberg College). Feature Film Production Design: Flight Risk, Father Stu, Without Remorse (add’l photography), Corporate Animals, John Wick: Chapter 2 (add’l photography), Permission. Feature Film Art Direction: Joker: Folie à Deux, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Top Gun: Maverick, Vice, Birdman, The Wolf of Wall Street. David studied Architecture and Theater at Syracuse University and received his M.F.A. in Production Design for Stage and Film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. www.davidmeyerdesign.com

The Ring Cycle and Samson et Dalila (Virginia Opera), La bohéme and Rigoletto (Wolf Trap), The Sound of Music, Jonny spielt auf, Annie, and Hänsel und Gretel (Salzburg), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Beijing), Annie Get Your Gun, Blizzard at Marblehead Neck, and King for a Day (Glimmerglass), Hannah Senesh, It Must Be Him, and Dear Edwina (Off-Broadway), Little Shop of Horrors, Guys & Dolls, and Liberty Smith (Ford’s Theatre). Wanderlust was his first monograph and solo art exhibition at the SoHo Project Space. He acts as Chair for the USA829 Costume Design Exam Committee and serves on the Boards of the Behind the Scenes Foundation. He is a member of the faculty at NYU Undergrad Drama. MFA, NYU. www.courtwatson.com

Hilda Kane is a Lighting Designer in Los Angeles who designs theatre, dance, immersive experiences, and events. She is excited to return to the Pasadena Playhouse. Member of IATSE Local 33. Graduate of Emerson College. Proud mother of two Grumpy Monkeys, Calvin and Noah.

Recent local work: Wish You Were Here (South Coast Repertory), Cyrano de Bergerac and Little Shop of Horrors (Pasadena Playhouse), A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill and The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse), and Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Kirk Douglas Theatre). She has designed at Cornerstone Theatre, Theatre at Boston Court, East West Players, IAMA Theater Company, Denver Theatre Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ford’s Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Folger Theatre, Olney Theatre, Everyman, Yale Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre (VA), Kansas City Starlight Theatre, and others. Outside of the theatre, she has taught undergraduate and graduate students, and worked as a sound designer at Walt Disney Imagineering in California, Shanghai, and Paris. BFA, California Institute of the Arts; MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Anney Fresh Ozar is a creator and performer of puppets, costumes, and things that go. She won five Daytime Emmy Awards for Sesame Street. Credits include: Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Happytime Murders, Johnny and the Sprites, The Book of Pooh, Bear in the Big Blue House, Blue’s Room, and Broadway’s The Lion King, Little Shop of Horrors, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Anney puppeteered in Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas at the Studebaker in Chicago, the New Victory Theater in NYC, and twice at Goodspeed Opera House. Also at the New Victory and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Anney was Leonardo in Manual Cinema’s Leonardo: A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster. www.anneyfresh.com.

Kimberly (she/her) is a Los Angeles based stage manager. Previous credits include Cyrano De Bergerac, Wheels on the Bus, and Grumpy Monkey (Pasadena Playhouse), Measure STILL for Measure (Boston Court Pasadena), Smile (IAMA Theatre Company). She is a graduate of Wagner College. Kimberly is ecstatic to return to Theatre for Young Audiences and hopes children and their families learn and most importantly have fun during the show! She would also like to give a special thanks to her niece Melissa who plays a role in inspiring her to work on shows for kids. Happy 3rd Birthday chica!

Jasmine Leung is a Canadian stage manager and writer. Past credits include A Going Away Party Play, The Body’s Midnight, Measure STILL for Measure, Unrivaled (Boston Court Pasadena), Grumpy Monkey: The Musical (Pasadena Playhouse), Ojai Playwrights Conference, Delusion: Valley of Hollows, Safehouse ’77 and Safehouse ’82 (Spy Brunch). She’s thrilled to be returning to Theatre for Young Audiences and hopes this show can be a joyful respite for kids and their adults.

• The Box Office is located inside the theater lobby and will be open one hour before all scheduled performances.
• If you have questions, please contact Patron Services by calling 626 356 7529 or emailing boxoffice@pasadenaplayhouse.org.
  • ‘Contact Us’ Hours:
    Tues – Sat: 12 PM – 6 PM
    Sun: 12 PM – 4 PM
• If you are looking to purchase advance tickets in person, please visit the Pasadena Playhouse Box Office located at 39 S. El Molino Ave. Pasadena, CA 91101 during the hours listed above.

• We strive to offer barrier-free access to all performances. Accessible seating options, parking and restrooms are available. Please add a note in the ‘Order Notes’ at checkout if you or someone in your party requires accessible seating.
• Accessible parking is available in the Colony Theatre parking lot.
• Service Animals are welcome.
• Please email us at boxoffice@pasadenaplayhouse.org if you have additional questions about accessibility.

• Kid-friendly snacks and drinks will be available for purchase prior to each performance and will be allowed in the theater. Feel free to bring your own snacks as well!

• If you already have your tickets, please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your performance time. Late arrivals will be seated at the discretion of the House Manager.

• Children of all ages are welcome!
• For Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile: The Musical, tickets are required for children ages 2+. Children under the age of 2 will be admitted without charge but will be required to sit on an adult’s lap.

• Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile: The Musical is recommended for children ages 5 – 12 years old and their families.

• The house will open 20 minutes prior to each performance.

• Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile: The Musical is approximately 55 minutes with no intermission.

• Accessible restrooms including changing tables are available at the venue.
• Stroller parking is available in the Colony Theatre lobby.