Marissa Jaret Winokur is perhaps best known for creating the iconic role of Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical Hairspray, for which she won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. She was crowned winner of the inaugural season of Celebrity Big Brother, and danced her way into the hearts of America on the hit series Dancing with the Stars, making it all the way to the Final 4.
Marissa just starred in Alex Timbers’ critically acclaimed Batboy at City Center and a new play, When Playwrights Kill, with Beth Leavel and Kevin Chamberlin. She is also currently touring the country with her hit Off-Broadway musical Mama I’m a Big Girl Now, which she co-created, directed, wrote, and produced with Laura Bell Bundy and Kerry Butler. Following a sold-out and extended run, the show received rave reviews and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Marissa's Netflix movie A Dog's Perfect Christmas starring alongside Dennis Quade and Mary Steinberger will be out this fall.
Recently, Marissa has shifted into directing. She just finished putting up Hairspray (full company) at the Scherr Forum Theatre At Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. Starring Garrett Clayton. The comedy she directed, Ice Cats, was a breakout hit at the LA Fringe Festival and is now in television development. Her next directing endeavor is the stage production The Radium Girls—a female-driven, horror-infused dark comedy inspired by the true story of the factory workers at the U.S. Radium Corporation in the 1920s. She just completed directing her first feature film, Bali High, a romantic traumedy starring Ashley Argota and Mick Torres. She loves LA theater and directed the hit musical parody Bridesmaids, Ryan O'Connor's Eat, Pray, Vote, and John Hill’s Wellness Check. After starring in many Christmas movies, she is excited to be writing her own Christmas movie musical for 2026!
As an actress, she can currently be seen in recurring roles on several hit shows including Emmy-nominated What We Do in the Shadows, Bupkis, So Help Me Todd, and Clone High. On Netflix, she stars in the family musical Feel the Beat and the comedy Trouble.
She recently returned to the Hollywood Bowl to star in Kinky Boots alongside Wayne Brady, and Beauty and the Beast with Rebel Wilson and Taye Diggs.
Marissa began her career on Broadway in Tommy Tune’s production of Grease!. She has hosted numerous talk shows, including The Talk, The View, Dance Your Ass Off, All About Sex, and Off the Block with Ross and Marissa.
Her television credits span a wide range of fan-favorite series including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls, Crashing, Playing House, A Million Little Things, Perfect Harmony, Stacked, and Retired at 35. She has voiced characters on hundreds of animated shows including American Dad, King of the Hill, The Cleveland Show, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Shrek the Halls.
Marissa and her husband, comedy writer Judah Miller, split their time between New York and Los Angeles with their son Zev (when he’s not playing tennis), and their two labradoodles. A cancer survivor, Marissa is passionate about educating women on cancer awareness and works closely with Stand Up To Cancer.
The Director
Tony Winner
Music & Book
Orchestrator/Arranger
THE WRITERS
Lyrics & Book
Sami Horneff is an award-winning lyricist and bookwriter based in NYC. Credits include: The Radium Girls (Lyrics & Book, dir. Marissa Jaret Winokur); Single Rider (Lyrics & Book, Off-Broadway); Judy Moody & Sthink (Lyrics, ArtsPower National Touring Theatre); A Never-Ending Line (Lyrics, Off-Broadway); Bandit Queen (Lyrics & Book); Ccoming Attraction (Lyrics); The Under 5ers web series (Writer/Producer, 2016 Indie Series Award Nominee for Best Original Song); and two original songs for the feature film A Ring for Christmas (UPtv).
Her work has been performed at venues and educational institutions from Nebraska to Paris. With Amanda D’Archangelis, she has been a 2019 York Theatre Company New/Emerging/Outstanding Writer; an Artist-in-Residence at The Legacy Theatre and Drama Club Camp; a 2024 Playbill Songwriter Series Featured Writer; a 2025 Grand Prize Winner of the Write Out Loud Songwriting Contest; and a recipient of the 2026 Lucille Lortel 121 Project and 2026 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. She is proud to be a graduate of Brown University and an Advanced Bookwriter and Lyricist in the BMI Workshop.
@sami.horneff | www.samihorneff.com
Lyrics & Book
Lisa Mongillo is a Brooklyn-based writer who hails from the rolling strip malls of Illinois. She is an advanced lyricist and bookwriter in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, an alumna of The College of William & Mary, and a contributing humor writer for the viral satire publication Reductress. Select credits: The Radium Girls (Lyrics & Book, directed by Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur, NAMT Finalist, produced by High Octave Productions); Party People (Book, Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Festival); A Never-Ending Line (Lyrics, Off-Broadway, album released by Broadway Records); We Are the Benjamin Harrison High School Horse Girls (Lyrics & Book, Out of the Box Theatrics’ New Works, in development for film); Forever Noon (Lyrics & Book, Pendragon Theater Residency); Hospital Kids (Lyrics & Book, Best Book at TheaterNow NY Sound Bites); and more.
Her work has been performed on stages from LA to Paris—including Joe’s Pub, the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Feinstein’s/54 Below, and Lincoln Center; showcased in Playbill’s Songwriter Series; and selected for festivals and incubator programs including Western Connecticut State University's New Works New Voices, Chicago Sketchfest, The Phoenix Theater's Choreography Lab, and the Johnny Mercer Foundation's Writers Colony. She studied comedy at The Second City, iO Chicago, and The Annoyance Theater, and worked on Comedy Central’s The President Show.
Amanda D’Archangelis is a composer and actress in NYC. She holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory, and is an advanced member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Credits include: Single Rider (Music & Book, Off-Broadway); Broadway-aimed The Radium Girls: A Jaw Dropping New Musical (Music & Book); Bandit Queen (Music & Book) Hamlet: A Pop Musical (Music & Lyrics); Blatantly Blaine (Off Broadway Music & Lyrics). Winner of Write Out Loud Contest, The Lucielle Lortrel 121 Project, Soundbites 6.0, Drama Club Camp, and Rhinebeck retreats.
Her music has been performed on Good Morning America and SiriusXM’s The Jay Thomas Show, Lincoln Center, Feinstein's 54 Below, The Duplex, Green Room 42, The Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall, and more.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Associate Director
Olivier Winner
Chadd McMillan is an award-winning producer, director, and designer for theater, film, and television. New York City theater credits include the Lortel and Olivier Award-winning Titanique, currently on Broadway (Producer) and Off-Broadway/London/Australia (Co-Producer); the Tony Award-winning Dana H. / Is This a Room (Co-Producer); Drama Desk-nominated Mama I’m a Big Girl Now! (Co-Producer, Production Designer); Exorcistic: The Rock Musical (Director, Costume Designer, Producer); The Box NYC (Costume Designer); and IT! A Musical Parody (Production Designer, Co-Producer). Regional credits: Mouth of the South (Costumes, Wigs, Projections); Hairspray (Associate Director); Yes! Live (Costumes); Scissorhands: A Musical Tribute (Co-Producer/Production Designer); Horror Camp: A Musical Massacre (Co-Writer/Director, Producer); and Cherry Poppins (Producer).
His film/TV credits include: Henry Danger (Costumes); Cruel Intentions: The Musical (Lighting Designer); Summoning Silvia (Producer); Rock of Ages Reunion (Producer); and Bali High (Production Designer). He is a Co-Founder of Diamond Dog Entertainment.
Jonathan Bauerfeld is an award-winning composer, arranger, orchestrator, and music director. Specializing in new work, he has been a member of the music team in various capacities for numerous Broadway shows, tours, and workshops, including Hamilton, All Out, The Who’s Tommy, King Kong, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Recent music directing credits include Galileo (Associate MD, Berkeley Rep); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Associate MD, Kennedy Center BCS); Mother Road (MD, Berkeley Rep); Split (MD, Transport Group); I Love This Song (MD, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor); and The Gospel According to Heather (MD, Add'l Vocal Arrangements, Off-Broadway). Bauerfeld's original musical with collaborator Casey Kendall, The Last Time I Died (previously titled The Jury), was produced Off-Broadway at A.R.T. New York's Gural Theater, won a 2025 Pipeline Award, a Frank Young Grant, and was a top finalist for the Richard Rogers Award, NAMT, and the Eugene O'Neill conference.
His short musical, Book Lovers, written with collaborator Talaura Harms, is available through MTI in two languages and has been produced around the world. Additionally, Bauerfeld has worked as a copyist or associate for shows on London’s West End, the Alliance Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, the Public Theater, live on FOX, and beyond. Graduate of Northwestern University and member of the advanced BMI MT workshop.
Additional credits/info at www.jonathanbauerfeld.com
THE PRODUCERS
Founder & CEO
Wendy Morgan-Hunter is the Founder and CEO of High Octave Productions and an award-nominated producer, director, and performing artist whose career spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, theater, film, and documentary.
Her producing credits include the Broadway productions of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, starring Eddie Redmayne; Days of Wine and Roses, starring Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James and directed by Michael Greif; and The Sound Inside, starring Mary-Louise Parker and directed by David Cromer, which earned Ms. Morgan-Hunter a Tony Award nomination. Additional credits include the Broadway national tour of Jitney, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson; The Visitor, starring David Hyde Pierce, with music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and directed by Daniel Sullivan at The Public Theater; and Endlings by Past Lives writer/director Celine Song at New York Theatre Workshop, produced in partnership with Andre Braugher.
Expanding her work into film and documentary, Ms. Morgan-Hunter served as an executive producer on the feature documentary Satisfied, which follows Tony Award-winning Hamilton star Renée Elise Goldsberry. Produced in collaboration with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, Steven Cantor, and Stick Figure Productions, the film premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. Her documentary credits also include the Blumhouse docuseries He/She/They and Rainbow Railroad, a docuseries for Beech Hill Films.
As a director, Ms. Morgan-Hunter has helmed more than 100 musicals, operas, plays, and concerts throughout the United States. Her credits include Guys and Dolls with the New Haven Symphony, starring Brian Cheney, Curt Olds, and Broadway’s Megan Osterhaus, as well as Uphill Walkers, starring Academy Award winner Mercedes Ruehl and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Madeleine Blais.
Ms. Morgan-Hunter is also a dramatic coloratura soprano whose performance career encompasses opera, oratorio, musical theater, and orchestral concert work. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, from Lincoln Center to the Hollywood Bowl, as well as in Europe and Asia. Her musical theater credits include the Witch in Into the Woods, directed by Enchanted director Kevin Lima in the first post-Broadway production.
Ms. Morgan-Hunter holds a BM from the USC Thornton School of Music, where she studied opera and received the Marilyn Horne Endowment. A former Academic All-American basketball player, she is the mother of three grown children and has been married for more than three decades to Jeffrey Hunter, Founder and CEO of Talentism, LLC.
Producer
Tami Benanav is a producer at High Octave Productions. She is an Executive Producer on a documentary feature based on the life of Tony Award-winner and Hamilton star Renee Elise Goldsberry, in collaboration with Steven Cantor and Stick Figure Productions, with Steven Spielberg and Amblin Productions. She has also produced local musicals for 5 years. Tami has traveled extensively, including all 50 states and to many international locations, and has lived and worked in multiple Spanish-speaking countries.
Tami is the Founder of Campus View Consulting, a college consulting firm that works with students and families to help navigate the college search and application process. She is a skilled financial services professional with over 25 years of experience. From 2005–2022, Tami worked as an independent consultant for small businesses. Previously, Tami worked in both private equity investing and investment banking, with a focus on mergers & acquisitions and privatizations.
Tami has an MBA from Wharton and an MA in International Studies from The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. She has a BA in Economics and Spanish from Bucknell University. Tami is fluent in Spanish.
Producer
Marisa F. Schafer is a Producer at High Octave Productions. Marisa sits on the Board of Directors of A.C.T. of CT (A Contemporary Theater of Connecticut) in Ridgefield, Connecticut and Troupers Light Opera based in Norwalk, Connecticut. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the historic Lounsbury House in Ridgefield, Connecticut. She is a mezzo-soprano and performer, having appeared in productions with Troupers Light Opera, the Fairfield County Chorale, and other ensembles throughout the tri-state area.
Marisa graduated cum laude from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2005 and is admitted to practice law in Connecticut, New York, and Federal District Court. She is a founding partner of Schafer Law, a boutique law firm in lower Fairfield County specializing in administrative law litigation. She has undertaken hours of pro bono legal work for Lawyers for Children America and Child Advocates of Connecticut, and has served as counsel for the Office of the Chief Public Defender in child protection matters.
Chris Bolan is a multi-hyphenate artist with a distinguished career spanning stage and screen. His acting credits include Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, as well as performances with leading regional theaters across the United States and Canada. He has also appeared in numerous film and television roles.
Beyond his acting career, Mr. Bolan is an accomplished director, producer, and writer. His recent feature documentary, Satisfied, based on Tony Award-winning actress and Hamilton star Renée Elise Goldsberry, premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival in the famed Beacon Theater to critical acclaim, and just completed a successful wide national theatrical release through Fathom Entertainment. The film is a collaboration with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Stick Figure Productions and features Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ariana Debose.
Mr. Bolan also directed and co-wrote the critically acclaimed Netflix Original Documentary, A Secret Love, which tells the story of a member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, famously depicted in Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own. An official selection of the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, A Secret Love was produced by Ryan Murphy Productions, Blumhouse Television, NowThis, and Beech Hill Films. The film garnered nominations from the Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Director (First Feature Documentary) and Best Documentary Feature, as well as a Dorian Award nomination for Best LGBTQ Documentary. It won the AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Documentary and is listed at #3 on the 161 Best LGBTQ+ Films of All Time with a 100% certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Mr. Bolan is also a recipient of the Jerome Foundation Emerging Artists Award for directing.
Mr. Bolan is producing partner with High Octave Productions, with projects including: The Sound Inside (Broadway/Studio 54), starring Mary-Louise Parker; The Visitor (The Public Theater), starring David Hyde Pierce; Jitney (Broadway National Tour); and Endlings (New York Theater Workshop). He is a company member of the award-winning New York-based Wheelhouse Theater Company, is on the Board of Directors for LUMBERYARD Center for Film and Performing Arts, and is a member of the faculty at the Norwalk Conservatory for the Arts and Western Connecticut State University. Mr. Bolan holds an MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Upcoming projects include a narrative feature film adaptation of his documentary A Secret Love with renowned writer and actress, Paula Pell, and Rainbow Railroad, a feature documentary with Academy Award winner, Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.
Executive VP, Head of Television & Film
Gwen Goldbloom has 20 years’ experience in television, digital media, and film, most recently as Vice President, Global Marketing for Fox 21 Television Studios, now part of Disney Television Studios. Prior to the Disney acquisition, Fox 21 focused on making creatively ambitious, award-winning, and critically acclaimed scripted series for cable and streaming platforms, including The Americans (FX), Homeland (Showtime), POSE (FX), The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (FX), Sons of Anarchy (FX), Burn Notice (USA), and White Collar (USA).
As head of studio marketing, Gwen was responsible for managing the marketing and promotion of Fox 21’s shows across multiple distribution channels and platforms—Home Entertainment, SVOD, Consumer Products, and International TV Distribution—to generate awareness, drive incremental revenue, and build long-term brand value for the shows. Prior to Fox 21, Gwen served as Digital Executive Producer at both Electus and Generate, two digital studios that were among the pioneering companies creating professionally produced, original online content. Prior to Generate, Gwen managed partner relations at AOL Television, working with all the TV studios and networks to promote their shows on AOL.
Gwen received her BA in Russian Studies from UCLA and earned joint graduate degrees from The Wharton School (MBA) and The Lauder Institute (MA, International Business and Russian) from The University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of both the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (TV Academy) and the Producers Guild of America (PGA).
Producer
