moonfaker

Writers

Kyle Wilson has been collaborating with Sam French for twelve years, from The Beatles Present “The Lord of the Rings: The Musical,” to Kragtar! The American Monster Musical, to a podcast where they adapt Movies That Should Never Be Turned into Musicals into musicals, called Insert Movie Here: The Musical, to their current project: a backstage musical comedy about the faking of the moon landing called Moonfaker. His work has been presented at the West End Theatre, The Brick, the Peoples Improv Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, Irondale, and at the NYC Fringe Festival. Resident Artist at The Brick; Eugene O’Neill National Musical Theater Conference Finalist; Richard Rodgers Grant Finalist. Education: Carnegie Mellon University.

Sam French is a Brooklyn-based playwright, director, and screenwriter. Previous work has been seen at FringeNYC, the Brick, Irondale, Dixon Place, the York Theatre, Hudson Guild Theatre, 54 Below, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Third Space Theater, Atlantic Acting School, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, and more. Sam has written for multiple audio podcasts, including creating the series Rescues for KidPod Theater. With Kyle Wilson, Sam is the creator and host of the podcast Insert Movie Here: the Musical! Sam is a former member of the Williamstown Directing Corp and a former Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons. Education: BFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon University. No relation to the play publisher beyond a mutual respect for top hats. More on his work with Kyle at lofiwhimsy.com.

Producer

Cynthia J. Tong is a Tony-nominated & Drama Desk-winning producer, based in New York City. She’s currently the Senior Associate Producer at Tom Kirdahy Productions and has played a vital role in the development of several musicals and plays on Broadway, in the U.K., off-Broadway, and regionally. She is also a co-founder of The Industry Standard Group, a BIPOC-led organization innovating Broadway by creating new pathways to investment and producing. Select credits include Broadway: New York, New York (9 Tony nominations); August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson; Grey House, off-Broadway & regional: Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are; Bhangra Nation; Hadestown national tour; Little Shop of Horrors; 600 Highwaymen’s A Thousand Ways (29 venues nationally & internationally); LORDES (New Ohio Theatre). She’s been a guest speaker and educator at several organizations including Columbia University, BroadwayCon, Great Books Summer Program, and more. Proud alum of Wesleyan University; originally from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. More info: www.cynthiajtong.com IG: @cinnabunny24

Director

BILLIE AKEN-TYERS (Director) is a Made-in-Britain creative artist specializing in collaborative ensemble-based work. Billie is currently the Associate Director of Titanique Off Broadway.

Directing: Your Alice (BAM, The Arcola Theatre London, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ophelia Theatre), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Shenandoah Music Theatre), Red Winter (NYPremiere, Ophelia Theatre), Lysistrata Jones (Nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical, NYIT Awards, Ophelia Theatre), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Scranton Shakespeare Festival), You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Scranton Shakespeare Festival), Tipping The Velvet (American premiere reading, Theatre Lab) The Revolutionists (ACLU fundraiser). Billie served as the tour director for Ragtag Theatres Rapunzel (Red House Arts).

Associate/Assistant credits include: Nobody Cares directed by Annie Tippe starring LauraBenanti, Me and the Girls written and directed by Douglas Carter Beane starring Alan Cumming, To Wong Foo the Musical written and directed by Douglas Carter Beane. www.billieakentyers.com

Ginsberg

REED CAMPBELL’s most recent theater credits include Gun and Powder at The Paper Mill Playhouse, Jeff in Tootsie at The Ogunquit Playhouse, Don Kirshner in Beautiful at The Rev and North Shore Music Theatre, and Shelly Berger in Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations(1st Nat’l Tour).

Select TV/Film: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Orange Is The New Black, The Blacklist. He can be seen in the upcoming productions of Beautiful at Maine State Music Theatre and The Fulton Theatre. reedcampbell.com. Socials: @‌iamreedcampbell

Natashalia

Broadway: Hello, Dolly!

Off-Broadway: Linda (Manhattan Theatre Company), The Nomad Motel (Atlantic Theater Company), The Ultimate Beauty Bible (Page 73).

TV: “Dr. Death” (Peacock), “Succession” (HBO), “Servant” (Apple+), “The Good Doctor” (ABC), “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “Prodigal Son” (FOX), “Instinct” (CBS), “FBI” (NBC), “Bull” (CBS), “Mindhunter” (Netflix). She will also co-star in the upcoming Netflix series“The Residence”

Education: Carnegie Mellon University.

Jenny

1776 (Broadway), Jelly’s Last Jam (Off-Broadway) Little Shop of Horrors (Off-Broadway), 1776 (National Tour), A New Brain (Barrington Stage Company), The World Goes Round (Everyman Theater), The Wiz (Theatre Under the Stars, Lyric Stage Company), FivePoints (Goodspeed Opera House), 1776 (American Repertory Theatre) 

Film/ TV: East New York (Co-Star) 

Education: B. A. Theatre (Alabama State University), MFA Musical Theatre (Boston Conservatory at Berklee) Instagram: @‌offsalomebsmith

Madam Crab

SANJANA TASKER (she/her) recently graduated with her MFA in Acting from UNC Chapel Hill. Recent work includes Hero from “Much Ado About Nothing,” Narrator from “Every BrilliantThing,” and Jen from the world premiere of Bekah Brunstetter’s “The Game.”