CREATIVE TEAM BIOS

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SANDY BOREN-BARRETT (DIRECTOR) - Sandy Boren-Barrett has been with Stages Theatre Company (STC) since 1990, allowing her to pursue her passion for theatre production and education, along with community building theatre serving young audiences. During her time in leadership STC has been awarded National recognition with the 2017 Harold Oaks Award for Innovative Contributions to the Field of Theatre for Young Audiences, as well as the 2018 – 50/50 Applause Award for promoting gender equity with playwrights. STC’s 2019-2020 season selection was highlighted in TYA Today Magazine as an example of “a promising increase in representation specifically in works that feature the stories of contemporary young people of color”. Sandy led an international performance tour and artistic exchange with “the egg Theatre, the Young Peoples Theatre of Theatre Royal” in Bath England. Collaboration is at the core of her work, and as an accomplished director has directed over 75 productions at STC which include many new works, dance-inspired productions, and world premieres. She directed the local premier, mainstage production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the musical which remains the highest attended production at Stages Theatre Company. Sandy remains on the Executive Committee, as former chair of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (MCA) and last spring worked with Racially Conscious Collaboration (RCC) to gain her certification in racial equity organizational leadership.

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SARAH HOHENSTEIN BURK (MUSICAL DIRECTOR) - A performer and recording artist on keyboard, violin, vocals and percussion, Sarah Hohenstein Burk has toured the U.S., Europe and the Middle East with a variety of ensembles and theatre troupes. Ongoing endeavors include directing and performing with her jazz trio, as well as dates with various jazz, big band, R&B, gospel, classical chamber, international dance and variety ensembles. She has played the roles of music director, conductor, composer, instrumentalist and arranger in countless theatre productions and is actively involved in the development and production of new works at Stages Theatre Company, the History Theatre, Theater Latté Da and Green T Productions.

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LAURA MAHLER (CHOREOGRAPHER) - Laura started with Stages Theatre Company long ago as an 8 year old actor and eventually used her training to graduate from The Goodman School of Drama- Depaul's Theatre Conservatory program in Chicago. For the past 10 years, she has been back in MN working for Stages as an Education Associate, teaching Middle School Drama at The FAIR School, Crystal. Most recently she appeared on the STC stage in Disney's The Little Mermaid JR as Ursula. She also loves to Roller Skate and plays Roller Derby with North Star Roller Derby and just recently earned her Masters in Education from the University of Minnesota. Laura also perform with physical comedy comedy: DANGEROUS PRODUCTIONS and is an ushertainer with the ST PAUL SAINTS! Don't Hate - Roller Skate.

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NICK BLAEMIRE (BOOK, LYRICS) - Nick was born in Washington, DC. He grew up in Bethesda, MD, where he began doing theater at a young age, and continued until he was accepted to the University of Michigan's music program, where he graduated in 2006. He subsequently moved to New York City until he got his first Equity job touring the country in Altar Boyz, an Off-Broadway musical spoof of boy bands. He returned to New York after being cast in the Original Broadway Cast of Cry-Baby, based on the John Waters film. Simultaneously, Nick wrote the music and lyrics for the original musical Glory Days, which played on Broadway at the same time as Cry-Baby. His career has continued to blossom with film and television roles, and the opportunity to work with actors such as Lois Smith, Oliver Platt, Bruce Willis, Debra Monk, Larry Bryggman and other stage and screen legends. Nick is the youngest person ever to have written a Broadway musical (Glory Days) while also performing in another Broadway musical (Cry-Baby) at the same time.

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MADELINE SMITH (MUSIC ADAPTATION, VOCAL AND INCIDENTAL ARRANGMENTS) - Broadway: Waitress (Piano/Conductor sub), War Paint (Key 1 sub). Off-Broadway: Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future (Ars Nova), Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience), Futurity (Soho Rep/Ars Nova), 1001 Nights (Atlantic Theater Company), The Light Princess (New Victory Theater), An Octoroon (Theatre for a New Audience). Regional, etc.: We Live In Cairo (ART), Loch Ness (FLMTF), Ragtime on Ellis Island. Adaptations: Frozen JR. and Frozen KIDS (Disney); B.A. from Harvard University. When she took up the baton for “Waitress” in 2016, the then 24-year-old Madeline A. Smith ’14 became the youngest female conductor on Broadway. Today, Smith wears many hats in the musical theater world, from directing and conducting “Ragtime on Ellis Island” to adapting, arranging, and orchestrating a stage adaptation of Disney Channel’s “Descendants” for high school productions. Located in New York City, the music director, arranger, and conductor has taken advantage of a slower-paced arts industry during Covid-19 to reflect and try new things. “I recorded an album of a show that I worked on in 2019 and I finally learned how to cook,” she said with excitement. “I’m also doing a lot of yoga and keeping plants.” But just two years before carving her name into Broadway history, Smith was at Harvard, working on a joint Music and Classics senior thesis.

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MATHEW TISCHLER (ORCHESTRATIONS, MUSIC PRODUCTION) - Matthew Tishler is an Emmy-nominated, multi-platinum songwriter and music producer who has written and produced songs for film, television, radio, stage, and theme parks. He is known for his work with teen pop artists such as Ashley Tisdale, Dove Cameron, Olivia Holt and JoJo Siwa, as well as popular K-pop/J-pop artists like EXO, Taeyeon, Namie Amuro, Kumi Koda, EXILE Atsushi, Twice, Stray Kids and BTS. His projects have combined sales of over 20 million units.

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JOSANN MCGIBBON (WRITER) - McGibbon has been screenwriting with Sara Parrot for over 30 years. Other works include, The favor, Three Men and a Little Lady, Runaway, and The Starter Wife which received nominations from the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. Her work on Descendants won the Writers Guild of America Award in television for Outstanding Children’s Long Form. She also was responsible for Descendents 2 & 3.

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SARA PARROT (WRITER) - Parrot has been screenwriting with Josann McGibbon for over 30 years. Other works include, The favor, Three Men and a Little Lady, Runaway, and The Starter Wife which received nominations from the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. Her work on Descendants won the Writers Guild of America Award in television for Outstanding Children’s Long Form. She also was responsible for Descendents 2 & 3.

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