Creative
Creative
PRINCE ROGERS NELSON (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of all time. A singer, songwriter, musician, and music producer, he received countless awards, nominations and accolades for his music, performances, and skill as a multi-instrumentalist, frequently playing all or most of the instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, rhythm and blues, rock, new wave, soul, blues, jazz, and hip-hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound.
Prince has sold over 150 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2016. He received seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, six American Music Awards, four MTV Video Awards, and Academy Award for Best Original Score for Purple Rain, and a Golden Globe Award. Two of his albums, Purple Rain (1984) and Sign o’ the Times (1987), received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year. His albums 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign o’ the Times have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. At the 2013 Billboard Music Awards he was honored with the Billboard Icon Award.
SAHEEM ALI (Director). Saheem is a proud immigrant from Kenya, currently serving as the Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director of New York’s Public Theater. He is a Tony Award nominee for Buena Vista Social Club and Fat Ham, the latter of which also earned the Joe A. Callaway Award and Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations. His Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Merry Wives were recorded for PBS Great Performances and were the subject of the HBO documentary Reopening Night. Other productions include Goddess, Good Bones, Fires in the Mirror (Signature Theatre), The Rolling Stone (Lincoln Center Theater), Passage (Soho Rep), and Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC). He is the recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Directing, a Sir John Gielgud SDCF Fellow, and a Shubert Fellow. MFA: Columbia University
EBONY WILLIAMS (Choreographer). Known for her work with renowned Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as the company’s first African American female dancer, and as a pop culture icon featured in Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” Emmy Award-winning Ebony Williams has quickly positioned herself as Hollywood’s go-to choreographer. Williams’s choreography credits include: Sneakerella (Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography, Disney+), choreographer of Jennifer Hudson’s 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade performance, choreographer of Doja Cat’s Scarlet Tour and Meta VR capture, choreographer of Doja Cat’s 2021 and 2023 MTV VMAs, co-choreographer of Doja Cat’s 2022 Coachella performances, Rosé (F1 promo, movement director), Future (Yellow Coins Gala, choreographer), and FKA twigs (“On My Mind” music video, choreographer/movement director). Ebony has been the choreographer for Alicia Keys (2021 KEYS promo tour), Beyoncé (Black Is King), and Tate McRae (MTV EMA performance); she also provided additional choreography for Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour and the In the Heights feature film. Theatre: choreographer (Fangirls, Lyric Hammersmith London), choreographer (Toni Stone, Huntington Theatre), associate choreographer (Jagged Little Pill on Broadway/National Tour). Commercials/brand choreography: Grove, NY Lottery, US Open, Alice + Olivia, and Lululemon.
JASON MICHAEL WEBB is a Special Tony Award recipient, two-time GRAMMY nominee, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, producer, and music director whose work sits at the intersection of Broadway, gospel, film, and popular music. Raised on the Jersey Shore, Webb began playing piano at age four and was working professionally for churches by the age of nine, an early foundation that continues to shape his approach to music, collaboration, and storytelling. Webb currently serves as the Music Director of MJ the Musical, for which he received Tony and GRAMMY nominations for his orchestrations. Recent projects include the Sia musical Saturday Church (New York Theatre Workshop) and Revolution(s), featuring the catalogue of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tom Morello. His Broadway credits include Choir Boy (for which he received a Special Tony Award), The Color Purple, and Motown: The Musical. His film credits include The Greatest Showman, Respect (Executive Music Producer), and serving as director of the acclaimed 2021 filmed production of The Last Five Years. Throughout his career, Webb has collaborated with artists including Jennifer Hudson, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, and Mariah Carey, reflecting a musical voice equally at home on stage, on screen, and in the recording studio. Jason also now serves as Music Supervisor, Arranger, and Orchestrator of the Broadway-bound Purple Rain, collaborating with the creative team to reimagine Prince’s landmark score for the stage. As a lifelong student of Prince’s music, Webb views the project as more than a career milestone; it is the rare opportunity to devote his own artistic voice to the music that first helped shape it.
PETER DUCHAN wrote the book of the musical Dogfight, which had its world premiere at Second Stage Theater (directed by Joe Mantello). Dogfight won the 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and was also nominated for five Outer Critics Circle Awards (including New Off-Broadway Musical and Book of a Musical) and two Drama League Awards (including Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical). The London production was nominated for Evening Standard Awards, including Best Musical. As a playwright, Peter was a 2011–2012 Dramatists Guild Fellow and a 2014 recipient of the Robert Chesley Playwriting Award. Other theater credits include writing the books of the musicals The Illusionist (Nissay Theatre, Tokyo) and Stu for Silverton (Intiman Theatre, Seattle), as well as co-creating a revue with director-choreographer Warren Carlyle, Carefree: Dancin’ with Fred & Ginger (RKO/NJPAC). He served as Script Consultant for the long-running Broadway musical Waitress and Creative Consultant for Lempicka, which opened on Broadway in 2024. Film credits include co-writing the screenplay for Breaking Upwards (IFC Films), as well as the short film Unlocked (Tribeca Film Festival). He graduated from Northwestern University and lives in Manhattan.
DAVID ZINN (Scenic Designer). Broadway: Becky Shaw, Liberation, Stereophonic, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Notebook, Kimberly Akimbo, Funny Girl, Diana, The Humans, The SpongeBob SquarePants Musical, Choir Boy, The Boys in the Band, Torch Song, and Fun Home. Recent Off-Broadway: The Saviors (Atlantic Theater), Saturday Church (NYTW), Prince Faggot (Playwrights Horizons/Studio Seaview), Here We Are (The Shed). UK/Europe: West End, National Theatre, Young Vic (London); Berlin Staatsoper, and Theater Basel. He’s received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Hewes, and Obie Awards for his work.
NATHAN AMZI (Video & Projection Designer). Rent, Halsey, Dolly A True Original Musical, Sunset Blvd., The Human Body, Romeo + Juliet. As director/editor: Buena Vista Social Club, Dead Outlaw, Ragtime, The Outsiders, The Great Gatsby, Macbeth, Tammy Faye, Merrily We Roll Along, Water for Elephants, Suffs, Death Becomes Her, & Juliet, Great Comet, Fiddler on the Roof, Dear Evan Hansen, Parade, Funny Girl, Shucked, A Beautiful Noise, Cabaret, Next to Normal, Matilda. Couldn’t do it without his family.
JOE RANSOM (Video & Projection Designer). Live Video and Cinematography: Sunset Blvd.; The Human Body, Romeo + Juliet, Halsey Tour, Dolly, Dancing with the Stars Live. Cinematography in Theatre: Buena Vista Social Club; Maybe Happy Ending; Ragtime; Dead Outlaw; Sunset Blvd.; Cabaret; The Outsiders; The Wiz; & Juliet; A Doll’s House; The Shark is Broken; Parade; New York, New York; A Beautiful Noise; Funny Girl. Commercial Cinematography: Disney, ITV, BBC, Paramount, Pokémon, Sony, Red Bull, Puma, Amazon, Tesla, Discovery, Nintendo, PlayStation, EA Sports, The FA, Manchester City, Manchester United, Five Guys, Uber, Sipsmith, Wimbledon, F1, Campari, Glenlivet, Total War.
MONTANA LEVI BLANCO (Costume Designer). Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth (Tony Award) and A Strange Loop. Select Off-Broadway: Fairview, Is God Is, Prince F, Ain’t No Mo’, Fefu and Her Friends, and The House That Will Not Stand. Opera: Macbeth, Lincoln in the Bardo, El Niño, and Champion (Metropolitan), Rinaldo (Glimmerglass), La Rondine (Minnesota). Awards: Tony, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Henry Hewes, and Obie. Education: Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music, Brown University, and The Yale School of Drama. www.montanaleviblanco.com
JUSTIN TOWNSEND (Lighting Designer). Broadway lighting designs include Just in Time, Death Becomes Her (Tony nomination), Once Upon a Mattress, Here Lies Love, Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Jagged Little Pill (Tony nomination), American Psycho (Tony nomination, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Henry Hewes Awards), The Humans (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Nap, Little Foxes, Present Laughter, Casa Valentina, A Night with Janis Joplin (NAACP Theatre Award), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Other Place, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Hewes, OCC nominations). Off-Broadway work includes Bat Boy, Wild Party, Urinetown, Oliver! (Encores); Here Lies Love (The Public, Drama Desk Award); Vietgone (MTC); Pretty Filthy (Civilians); Mr. Burns, a Post Electric Play (Playwrights); Odyssey, A Winter’s Tale (Publicworks); Venus (Signature Theater), Unnatural Acts (Classic Stage Company), Lucille Lortel Award. Chair, Department of Design for Stage and Film at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. http://www.justintownsenddesign.com/
GARETH OWEN (Sound Designer). Paddington, The Heart, Boop!, Hell’s Kitchen (Tony nom.), Tommy, MJ the Musical (Tony win), Back to the Future (Olivier nom.), & Juliet (Tony nom.), Starlight Express, Bad Cinderella, Elf, Come From Away (Olivier win), A Bronx Tale, End of the Rainbow (Tony nom.), A Little Night Music (Tony nom.), Diana, The Devil Wears Prada, Bat Out of Hell (Olivier nom.), Memphis (Olivier win), Summer, Top Hat (Olivier nom.), Merrily We Roll Along (Olivier win). @garethowensound
COOKIE JORDAN (Hair & Wig Designer). Broadway: The Queen of Versailles, Prince F*ggot, The Piano Lesson, Into the Woods, Trouble in Mind, Clyde’s, POTUS, Slave Play, Choir Boy, The Cher Show, Once on This Island, Sunday in the Park with George, In Transit, Eclipsed, Side Show, After Midnight, Fela, A View From the Bridge, South Pacific. Television: Emmy nominated for makeup design for NBC’s The Wiz Live!. Recipient of 2019 and 2020 Obie Awards.
KYLE KRUEGER (MAKEUP Designer). Broadway: Floyd Collins, McNeal, Ghosts, Into the Woods (Mask Design). Assoc. Design: The Collaboration, Camelot, POTUS, A Strange Loop, The Skin of Our Teeth, Clyde’s. Off-Broadway: Prince Faggot, Five Models in Ruins, 1981, Orpheus Descending, (Design); The Wiz, Disney’s Hercules (Paper Mill) (Assoc. Design). Regional: Rhinoceros (ART), Purple Rain (State Theatre), La Cage aux Folles (Barrington), Clyde’s (Goodman & LAPC), I Put a Spell on You (Webster Hall), Virgin Voyages (Persephone, Red Hot, Up With a Twist). TV: “Impractical Jokers,” “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Emmy nom), “The View” (Emmy nom), “Saturday Night Live,” MTV’s VMA’s (HMU Guild Award nom). Film: The Bride, Homesick, Snatched.
AMANDA SPOONER (Production Stage Manager) specializes in the development of new works for Broadway and beyond. She attended the Yale School of Drama, San Francisco State University, and Las Positas College. Amanda is a member of the faculty at Ithaca College and produces interactive experiences for stage managers of all experience levels. She thanks BJJ for his endless support and dedicates this production to her sister and all of the Sunday night regulars in the AOL Paisley Park chatroom.
Record producer and musician BOBBY Z was the drummer in Prince’s legendary band, The Revolution, from 1978 to 1986. Along with his fellow bandmates, he appeared in the film Purple Rain. Bobby played on many of Prince’s most legendary albums, including Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Controversy, Around the World in a Day, Parade, and Sign o’ the Times.
MORRIS HAYES was a member of Prince’s band, The New Power Generation, for almost two decades and served as Prince’s Musical Director for several years. In addition to Prince, Morris Hayes has performed live with such acclaimed artists as Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Sheila E., H.E.R., Elton John, Maceo Parker, John Legend, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Usher, Maroon 5, D’Angelo, Common, Kanye West, and many others. Morris Hayes performed in the historic Super Bowl Halftime Show with Prince in 2007 and was the Musical Director for the official Prince Tribute Concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, in October 2016.