CREATIVE TEAM BIOS

---

Check back closer to Opening Night for the complete Creative Team.

SANDY BOREN-BARRETT (CO-DIRECTOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF STAGES THEATRE COMPANY)

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 worked with Racially Conscious Collaboration (RCC) to gain her certification in racial equity organizational leadership.

---

ANN MARIE OMEISH (CO-DIRECTOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF ESCALATE DANCE)

Ann Marie Omeish is the owner and director of Escalate Dance and Theatre Studio. She has taught and choreographed dance and theater for the past thirty years in many venues throughout the region. After receiving a B.A. in Dance from Gustavus Adolphus, Ann Marie went on to incorporate theater in her experience, performing in and choreographing various productions including shows at Stages Theatre, Orchestra Hall, Lyric Arts and Normandale College. Ann Marie's passion for dance and theater led her to the decision to open her studio in the fall of 2004. She absolutely loves doing the dance collaboration with Stages Theatre every year!

---

JC LIPPOLD (MUSIC DIRECTOR)

JC is grateful to walk alongside amazing storytellers at Stages Theatre Company in this production! As music director, JC has worked on 9 productions at Stages Theatre Company, his favorites including Bridge to Terabithia, I Love You, Stinky Face, and James and the Giant Peach. Theatre is truly a gift that brings ideas to life. May this production inspire you to bring your ideas to life.

---

KOBI YAMADA (BOOK AUTHOR)

Kobi Yamada is a New York Times best-selling author and the creator of many inspiring gift books as well as the president of Compendium, a company of amazing people doing amazing things. He happily lives with the love of his life and their two super fun kids in the land of flying salmon where he gets to see unbelievable possibilities unfold every day. He thinks he just might be the luckiest person on the planet. What Do You Do with An Idea?, published in 2013, was his first children’s book. He has since written more than a dozen more, including What Do You Do with a Problem?, What Do You Do with A Chance?, Because I Had a Teacher, She..., and Maybe.

---

GABRIELLA BAROUCH (ILLUSTRATOR)

My name is Gabriella Barouch, I’m an award winning illustrator, Visual explorer, designer toys & art collector. Represented by MA world group. Since beginning my path as an artist in 2001 I’ve been fortunate to work with clients such as the French post office, Le Monde newspaper, soft Gallery fashion, Dalton winery, Penguin books, Sabon luxury products and more. I taught two illustration courses at Lehigh university (PA, USA) in 2013, was chosen as artist of the season at Jerusalem season of culture 2012 and was a lecturer at Pecha Kucha at the same year. My debuted picture book “Maybe” written by Kobi Yamada won two gold medals and was translated to over 8 languages around the world. My work was exhibited around the world and has been showcased online at My Modern Met, Creative Bloq, Aww yours, TheChildrensBookReview, Book Page, Idn, Illustration Rally, Creative Boom, Picame, The Journal, The Jealous Curator, Art Attacks, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Frame, Ycn, Ballad Of, Koikoikoi, Illustration Age, Illustrators Lounge, Trend Hunter, Partfaliaz, Lamono, Ladder And Key and more.

---

SHARON KENNY (COMPOSER & LYRICIST)

Sharon Kenny writes songs and the words that go with them.  She lives in New York. Kenny's solo projects include Songs About You; (Songs About Me), Holiday Happy, My Name Is Sharon, Adjectives & Nouns (EP), and Pianocentric.  Her music has been prominently featured worldwide on television, most notably with five placements on Lifetime’s hit show, Dance Moms.  Kenny’s song "Hotel Heart" reached #68 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts; her music has cumulatively garnered nearly 25 million views on YouTube. Sharon’s theatre work has been commissioned and/or developed at New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Theatreworks Palo Alto, Yale Institute of Music Theatre, The Institute of American Musical Theatre, and Stages Theatre Company. She is an alum of ANTFest (Ars Nova), The Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Project (American Music Theatre Project), Prospect Theatre Company's Musical Theatre Lab, and Space on Ryder Farm. She has performed sold out shows to Joe's Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, and the Gramercy Theatre, and has been a finalist for the Fred Ebb, Jonathan Larson, and Richard Rodgers Awards. As a pianist, she has played extensively on Broadway. www.sharon-kenny.com, @sharonkennymusic

---

CRISTINA PIPPA (PLAYWRIGHT)

Cristina Pippa is an award-winning playwright, filmmaker, and recipient of an Artist Initiative grant. Her play Cell Cycle is published and included in More Scenes from the Best New Plays. Amelia, a short film she co-wrote and directed, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival Kids International Film Festival, and won the Golden Gateway Award at the Mumbai Film Festival. Previous adaptations for Stages Theatre Company include Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo and The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires. Avalon Theatre Company commissioned and produced her play, Little Bosnia. Her work has also been produced by companies such as The Hangar Theatre Lab, Six Figures Theatre Company, Gallery Players, Axial Theatre Company, and The Looking Glass Theatre in New York. Cristina completed her BA at Columbia University and her MFA at the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop, where she received the Iowa Fellowship for the Arts and the Norman Felton Fellowship.

---

Return to the top of the page