JOEL ZWICK (Director) Joel Zwick directed My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time, produced by Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Gary Goetzman. Recent films include Fat Albert (with Bill Cosby) and Elvis Has Left the Building, starring John Corbett and Kim Basinger. Mr. Zwick directed the Broadway production of George Gershwin Alone at the Helen Hayes Theatre, as well as all other productions. Mr. Zwick began his theatrical career at La Mama E.T.C., as director of the La Mama Plexus. He has directed on Broadway, off-Broadway and Broadway touring companies. Currently, Mr. Zwick is recognized as Hollywood’s most prolific director of episodic television, having the direction of five hundred and twenty-five episodes to his credit. These include having directed twenty-one pilots, which have gone on to become regular series. Television shows include: Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Bosom Buddies, Webster, Perfect Strangers, Full House, Step By Step, Family Matters, It’s a Living, Bros. Wayans, Joanie Loves Chachi, Jamie Fox, Kirk, Parent’ Hood, Angie, On Our Own, Two Of A Kind, Love Boat, and Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, among others. Previous New York productions have included Dance With Me (Tony nomination), Shenandoah (Broadway national tour), Oklahoma(national tour) and Cold Storage (American Place Theater). Mr. Zwick acted in the original New York production of MacBird. He directed Esther (Promenade Theater, NY), Merry-Go-Round (Chicago and Las Vegas), Last Chance Saloon and Woycek (West End, London). Mr. Zwick has taught drama at Yale University, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Wheaton College, and the University of Southern California. He is a graduate (B.A., M.A.) of Brooklyn College.

YAEL PARDESS (Scenic Designer) first collaborated with Hershey Felder on George Gershwin Alone in Los Angeles, followed by productions on Broadway, London, and throughout the U.S. Prior projects with Mr. Felder include Romantique, Sing, and Back from Broadway. Her work has been seen on Broadway and many major regional theatres including the Mark Taper Forum, the Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Hartford Stage. Ms. Pardess began her theatre career designing sets and costumes in Israel. Since moving to the United States eighteen years ago, she has designed more than 150 sets, many of which were award winners such as: Blade to the Heat, Scenes from an Execution, Richard II, Much Ado About Nothing, Burn This, Stand-Up Tragedy, The Cherry Orchard and Death and the Maiden, to name a few. She has collaborated with leading directors such as Joel Zwick, Tom Moore, Assad Kelada, David Lee, Kristofer Tabori, Robert Egan, Jo Bonney, Peggy Shannon, Seret Scott and Ron Link. In addition, Ms. Pardess is art directing for commercials and multimedia venues. While working at a Los Angeles-based design company, she art directed theatre shows with multiple stages and sets, multimedia and special effects for “Movie Magic” (in collaboration with Steven Spielberg), for Universal Studios in Japan; The Star of Destiny, at the Bob Bullock History Museum in Austin, Texas (Theo Award-winning production); Lincoln Eyes, which is on display at Springfield Lincoln Library, IL. Ms. Pardess currently works as a visual director for Disney Entertainment.

MICHAEL T. GILLIAM (Lighting Designer) returns to Arizona Theatre Company, where he has designed lighting for The Mystery of Irma Vep, Blue, The Fantasticks, Play On!, A Perfect Ganesh and The Old Matador. On Broadway, he has designed Brooklyn, Big River, Stand-Up Tragedy. He was the Lighting Designer for George Gershwin Alone in London’s West End. Off-Broadway, Mr. Gilliam’s work includes Striking 12, Blue, End of the World Party, Zooman and the Sign, Menopause the Musical. He has also designed the national tours of Brooklyn, Big River, Guys and Dolls. Regionally, he has worked with Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, The Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Prince Music Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company and Arizona Theatre Company. Among his awards are the Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Drama-Logue Awards, Garland Awards, and the 1999 Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.

JON GOTTLIEB (Original Sound Designer) serves as Resident Sound Designer for Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum/Ahmanson Theatres and heads the Sound Design program at California Institute of the Arts. Recent Broadway designs include QED (Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts), Master Class and Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party. Recent Los Angeles credits include King Lear for The Center for New Theater at California Institute of the Arts, Oscar and Felix at the Geffen Playhouse and The Moliere Comedies at the Mark Taper Forum. Mr. Gottlieb has received eight Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, over 60 Drama-Logue and L.A. Weekly Awards, Career Achievement Awards from The Los Angeles Theatre Alliance, the L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and was recently presented with the Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center Club 100. For Disney Imagineeering, he created original sound effects and design for two attractions at Walt Disney World in Florida.

EIGHTY-EIGHT ENTERTAINMENT, LLC (Producer) Eighty-Eight Entertainment was created in 2001 by Hershey Felder, and is devoted to the creation of new works of music theatre. Eighty-Eight’s projects include the “Composer Trilogy” featuring the lives and work of George Gershwin: George Gershwin Alone, Frédéric Chopin: Monsieur Chopin, and Ludwig Van Beethoven: Beethoven, As I Knew Him. Other projects include artist promotion, as well as musical and film works in development. All members of Eighty-Eight LLC productions are creative artists in their own right, and all members are requested to advise and contribute on all aspects of production.