The Creative Team

Jamibeth Margolis (Director)

NYC directing credits include assistant director to Jerry Zaks on the 2006 Broadway revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial and also on A Bad Friend by Jules Feiffer at Lincoln Center Theatre. Jamibeth directed Plane Crazy and Far From The Madding Crowd at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, as well as developmental productions and readings of Owl Creek: A New Musical, Dreamweavers, Berlin, Great Googley Moo, Family Dinner, Dear Maudie, and Don’t Blame Me...I Voted For Helen Gahagan Douglas and more at prominent NYC venues. Recent regional directing credits include Do I Hear A Waltz? and Jekyll and Hyde at the Arvada Center in Denver. Jamibeth is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and specializes in the development of new plays and musicals. She has a BA in Drama/Directing from Ithaca College and is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. She is also a professional casting director with twelve years of experience in NYC, including numerous shows on Broadway, Off Broadway and national tours. Jamibeth is pleased and honored to continue her association with John Atkins and William Wade and Warsaw. She has directed readings of Warsaw at the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the New York Musical Theatre Festival and the 48th Street Studios.

William Wade (Composer, Orchestrator, Additional Lyrics)

William has written in a variety of forms and styles. Musicals: Warsaw (music) with John Atkins, Alice (music & lyrics) with Frank Blocker (BMI & York Theatre), and Wounded Knee which is currently in development; Ballets: The Empty Pot: A Chinese Fable, Mole Music, Madeline (presented at Symphony Space), and Snow White. William’s orchestrations have been used by the Broadway Theatre Project, National Dance Institute, and Rosie’s Broadway Kids. He has worked for ABT, Alvin Ailey, AMDA, Cedar Lake, Donald Byrd, The Julliard School, Mark Morris Dance Group, Metropolitan Opera, Swan Lake (Broadway), among many, and is a founding faculty member of the Professional Musical Theatre Workshop at Manhattan School of Music. BA in Music Composition, University of South Florida; BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop.

John Atkins (Book & Lyrics)

John has previously written book and lyrics for the musical Stages and libretto for the opera Redemption. He is currently developing the musical Space. He received a BA from Louisiana State University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University. He is an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop.

Joel E. Silver (Lighting Designer)

Recent design credits include Class of 2007 (Cape Cod Rep), Lunch Hour (Heiress Productions), The Charm of Preparedness (Baruch College), Homefront (La MaMa), Big Bang for Cleo Mack Dance Company, Behind the Limelight (NYMF & NYSaF), La Gioconda (Theatre Row), Chita Rivera’s Cabaret tour, and many others. As an Assistant & Associate Designer, Joel has worked on Avenue Q (Las Vegas), Grey Gardens, Kiki and Herb Alive on Broadway, Curtains, and he is currently assisting on Young Frankenstein: The New Mel Brooks Musical. Joel has also worked with the Spoleto Festival USA, MTC, LAByrinth, Playwrights Horizons, and the Cherry Lane Theatre.

John Pinckard (Associate Producer)

John is an inaugural recipient of the prestigious T. Edward Hambleton Fellowship for gifted commercial producers, via which he is working under the mentorship of Broadway legend Hal Prince to develop a new musical for Broadway. Prior to this, John had back-to-back successes at the New York International Fringe Festival: in 2005 with Silence! the Musical, the best selling show in Fringe Festival history (Outstanding Musical, FringeNYC; "Silence! is Golden," Variety, 25 Aug, 2005); and in 2006 with the return engagement of Never Swim Alone, which Jason Zinoman at the New York Times dubbed "a 45 minute triumph." Currently John is producing Gutenberg! The Musical at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago. Other notable credits include the New York premiere of the Chicago hit Verbatim Verboten (director/producer), the US premiere of Michael MacLennan's The Shooting Stage at The Culture Project (also director/producer), and over one hundred shows as lighting designer.

Michele Firestone (Associate Producer, Dramaturge)

Michele specializes in the development of new musicals and plays. Recent NYC credits include sold-out productions of Warsaw at the New York Musical Theater Festival and the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. She has worked at McCarter Theatre (Tony Award-winning season), the Broadway agency Johnson-Liff Casting, The Cleveland Play House (Ain't Misbehavin', Lettice and Lovage), Cain Park (The Robber Bridegroom), and The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (Love's Labour's Lost). Michele received her dramaturgical training at Columbia University's MFA program where she served as dramaturg of the Monday night reading series, hosting playwrights such as Wendy Wasserstein and Wallace Shawn. She holds a BA in English literature and Directing from Bucknell.