That Time of the Year

The Original Holiday Musical Revue

The writers gather together at the off-Broadway opening:  (l. to r.) Brad Ross, Laurence Holzman, Felicia Needleman, Mark Wherry, Wendy Wilf, Sanford Marc Cohen, Donald Oliver, Nicholas Levin & Kyle Rosen.

LAURENCE HOLZMAN & FELICIA NEEDLEMAN (Concept & Lyrics) are the winners of the prestigious Kleban Award for Most Promising Musical Theatre Librettists (2006). They have been collaborating on the book & lyrics of musicals for many years, after first meeting in Modern Drama class at Columbia College. Their original holiday musical hit, That Time of the Year (with music by seven different composers), premiered off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company in 2006, and is now being licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide. The original cast recording of that show was released on JAY Records. In addition, songs from That Time of the Year have been recorded on the albums, Carols for a Cure Volumes 5 and 6; Susan Egan: Winter Tracks; The North Coast Men’s Chorus: Sugar Plum Fairies; and The Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale: Celebrate the Sounds of the Season. The song “Little Colored Lights” was performed by Broadway star Kelli O’Hara on the CBS-TV special, “Holiday in Bryant Park.”  Laurence and Felicia's musical drama, Wallenberg (with music by Benjamin Rosenbluth), premiered at White Plains Performing Arts Center in the fall of 2010.  Prior to that, staged readings of the show had been presented in the “First-Draft Readings” series at Symphony Space in Manhattan and in the New York Musical Theatre Festival. A workshop of the show, with director Martin Charnin, is now in the works.  Laurence & Felicia’s original musical comedy, The Jerusalem Syndrome (with music by Kyle Rosen), was produced in the fall of 2008 as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival’s Next Link Project, where it won the Theatre for the American Musical Prize for Most Promising Book Musical. Their musical, Suddenly Hope, (with music by Morris Bernstein & Kyle Rosen), had its world premiere at the Stamford Center for the Arts in 2000, with subsequent productions at the Garfield Theatre in La Jolla, CA and the Denver Civic Theatre. Their first show, based on the 1942 film I Married a Witch, was presented in the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, and its lyrics earned them ASCAP’s Sammy Cahn Award for Outstanding Lyricists. Laurence & Felicia’s children’s musical, We All Are America (with music by George Swietlicki), premiered in the spring of 2012 at the Springhurst School with special guest narrator Meredith Vieira.  In 2013, their second children’s musical, All the Same, premiered, featuring Maddie Corman.  Prior to that, Laurence collaborated with George Swietlicki on The Hudson River, another musical for children, which has been performed numerous times. Laurence and Felicia are currently working on One Night, a chamber musical about two married couples (with music by Douglas J. Cohen), and developing another original musical with Benjamin Rosenbluth. Laurence and Felicia’s children’s song, “Everyone Can La-La-La-La-La” (with music by David Grover) has been performed in concerts across the U.S., and was recorded by David Grover & the Big Bear Band on their album, Listen to the Music Band. Suddenly a Song, a collection of their cabaret material, was presented at the Duplex in Manhattan. Laurence and Felicia are alumni of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and members of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. As a principal of Bard Theatricals, Laurence was also one of the producers of Looped, the Broadway comedy starring Valerie Harper; the Broadway premiere of David Mamet’s The Anarchist starring Patti LuPone and Debra Winger; and the Latin American premiere of El Chico de Oz in Lima, Peru, starring Marco Zunino (Luces Award, Best Musical).  In addition, Laurence was also on the producing team of Kander & Ebb’s last Broadway musical, The Scottsboro Boys, and a member of the Scottsboro Boys LLC for its UK premiere at the Young Vic. He is now proud to be on the producing team of the show’s West End premiere, currently running at the Garrick Theatre.  In addition to his work in theatre, Laurence is the co-author (with Marc Goldsmith) of the original screenplays Fella and The Queen is in the Parlour, and the author/illustrator of My Zoo, a rhyming picture book for children. He is also a graduate of Columbia Law School and the Commercial Theatre Institute. Felicia toured with 42nd Street as a member of Actor’s Equity, and was a featured performer with the A & G Dance Company. For several years, she was on the faculty of Broadway Dance Center, where she taught tap.  Her new blog, Unwritten Recipes, offering easy, delicious, family-friendly recipes, is steadily gaining in popularity.

SANFORD MARC COHEN (Music) was nearly age 20 when he began playing the piano--by accident! Originally from Savannah, GA, he has been in NYC for 20 years. Mr. Cohen was a participant in the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop for several years and he won the ASCAP showcase, chosen by Charles Strouse and Stephen Schwartz, in 1994. His musical Mall Story was presented at Manhattan Theatre Club and the York Theatre in 2001-02 with members of the Broadway cast of Rent. In addition, he has written songs for Andrea Marcovicci and Mandy Patinkin

NICHOLAS LEVIN (Music) was a 2006 MAC Award "Song of the Year" nominee, and his patriotic anthem "Higher Ground" is in performance by the USO, who premiered it atop an aircraft carrier(!) in New York Harbor. His music and lyrics were recently showcased in Come Back for More: The Songs of Nicholas Levin (Upstairs at Etcetera, Etcetera), and Sounds Like Heaven: The Nicholas Levin Songbook (Donnell Library Center). His theater scores include The Exception and the Rule (Edmonton Fringe Festival) and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Theater-On-The-Green) and he's contributed material to shows and revues including Encounters with John O'Hara (Neighborhood Group Theatre), Now That You've Seen Me Naked (Sage Theatre), andUnheard Of! (Woodstock Fringe Festival). Nicholas was a South Carolina Arts Commission Artist-in-Residence, and is an alumnus of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theater Writing Workshop.

DONALD OLIVER (Music) composed the score for the musical The Case of the Dead Flamingo Dancer, (book & lyrics by Dan Butler), produced in the US and England. He wrote the book “How to Audition for the Musical Theatre”, and he played piano for Angela Lansbury’s Gypsy. As co-owner of Chelsea Music Service, he has worked on over 120 Broadway shows, including Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Cabaret and The Lion King. For more info, call his mother.

KYLE ROSEN (Music) is currently working on the score for The Jerusalem Syndrome with Laurence Holzman and Felicia Needleman. He recently composed music for the original musical Suddenly Hope (Stamford Center for the Arts; Garfield Theatre, La Jolla; Denver Civic Theatre). Trained as a classical pianist, he has performed and composed music for numerous television and film projects. He orchestrated the music for the NBC Movie-of-the-Week A Child Lost Forever, and played piano for the NBC comedy “The Naked Truth”. While attending Princeton University, he was president of the Princeton Triangle Club, composing and conducting many musical productions for them. He is the recipient of the Milton Lyon Award for songwriting and an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. Kyle would like to thank his parents for their unending love and support.

BRAD ROSS (Music) wrote the music for A Family for Baby Grand which has been performed nationwide by The National Symphony at The Kennedy Center, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The San Diego Symphony, The Jacksonville Symphony, The San Antonio Symphony, The Milwaukee Symphony, The Orlando Philharmonic, The Rochester Philharmonic and many other orchestras. Brad was commissioned by The Kennedy Center to write the music for The Tales of Custard The Dragon, a musical for family audiences based on the classic books by Ogden Nash. His musical Little By Little was produced Off-Broadway at The York Theatre in New York City. The original cast recording was released on the Varese Sarabande label and the show is licensed by Samuel French. Varese Sarabande selected “Watching The Show” from Brad's musical The Times for its Broadway Bound CD release. The Times was produced at The Long Wharf Theater and the show won a pretigious Richard Rodgers Development Grant from The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Songs from both The Times and Little By Little are published by Hal Leonard Music Corp. Karen Akers, Tovah Feldshuh, Nancy Dussault, and Marin Mazzie have all performed Brad's song "How Sad No One Waltzes Anymore." Brad's songs have been featured by Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Recital Hall and Lucie Arnaz at The 92nd Street Y, both prominent New York City venues. His music has been heard across the USA on CNN and PAX-TV. He is a graduate of Cornell University and the New York University Graduate Musical Theater Program. Brad is a member of ASCAP.

MARK WHERRY (Music) began a performing career as an understudy to Larry the Cable Guy at the Nebraska One Act Play Festival, then switched to composing and education. He is an alumnus of the BMI-Lehman Engel Music Theater Workshop. His latest work, It’s Only Business, an original musical about Bugsy Siegel, will be premiered in Las Vegas in April 2007. Mark has also composed the children’s musicals The Intergalactic Wonder Tour and JAMMIN’, which was commissioned by North Carolina State University as a part of their “Theater in the Schools” outreach program. Mr. Wherry is the Director of Vocal Music at the Community College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, where he conducts the College Singers, Chamber Choir and CCSN Jazz Singers. Choirs under his direction have performed with Joe Williams, Robert Goulet, Barry Manilow and Dee Dee Bridgewater. He has an earned doctorate in choral conducting and jazz pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado and a Masters of Music degree from the University of Miami.

WENDY LEIGH WILF (Music) is a composer, lyricist and jazz musician. Her theatre music has frequently graced stages in New York and Chicago (not to mention Independence Kansas, during a stint as Artist-in-Residence at the William Inge Festival), and her songs have been recorded by a number of major musical theatre artists, including Sara Ramirez, Emily Skinner, Kerry Butler, and most recently, Susan Egan on her new album, Winter Tracks. As a performer, Wendy has played in jazz clubs throughout the world, most notably in New York, Paris and Rome. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and an alumnus of the BMI Workshop, and holds a Masters in Jazz Piano fom Manhattan School of Music. Wendy is married to lyricist Glenn Slater. They have two sons.

ANNIE PASQUA (Original Musical Director) is a composer, pianist and singer whose performance credits include Carnegie Hall and the Nassau Coliseum, as well as an appearance on Good Morning America with Kenny G. Annie studied classical piano with Morton Estrin and went on to receive her Bachelors Degree in Music Education from New York University. She received her Masters Degree in Music Composition from Queens College and has gone on to write music for stage, film, and television. Annie has worked with Dr. Joseph Church, musical director of Broadway’s The Lion King, as well as Maury Yeston through the BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop in Manhattan. Annie is very pleased to be working with Laurence, Felicia and Annette on That Time of the Year after having just served as Musical Director on their musical Wallenberg. Currently, Annie is writing music and lyrics for her new musical Tess (based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles). For more info, visit the show's website, TessTheNewMusical.com.

JAMES MIRONCHIK (Additional Musical Arrangements) 

ANNETTE JOLLES (Original Director/Choreographer) has created a diverse body of work as a director, writer and producer for stage and television. WithThat Time of the Year creators Laurence Holzman and Felicia Needleman, she is currently developing two original musicals, A Million Tomorrows and The Jerusalem Syndrome. She directed a staged reading of A Million Tomorrows (formerly titledWallenberg) for the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Other recent credits include directing her fourth season of New Voices Concerts at Symphony Space and “Johnny Mercer at the Movies” for the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists series. Also for Symphony Space, she directed “Broadway and Beyond” with host Rob Fisher and staged their monumental "Wall to Wall Sondheim" tribute. For The Little Orchestra Society, she directed and choreographed fourteen seasons of Lolli-Pops Concertsand productions including Amahl and the Night Visitors, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and Peter and the Wolf at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. Ms. Jolles has developed and directed several original musicals including Little by Little (The York Theatre Company, Coconut Grove Playhouse) and Suddenly Hope (Denver Civic Theater, Rich Forum Theater). Her work in television has earned her an Emmy Award as producer of the 9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero and four additional Emmy nominations. Highlights of broadcasts include "Broadway Under the Stars" (CBS), "Egypt Week Live" (Discovery), "The Dr. Joy Browne Show" (Discovery Health), Romance/ Romance, Nunsense 1, 2 & 3, Stop the World… (PBS, A&E, TNN), Trading Spaces “Home Free” Finale (TLC), and the Times Square New Year’s Eve festivities from 1997-2004. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale University, where she currently teaches musical theater song performance, and recipient of a Drama League Directors fellowship. She is also a proud mother of two.

Jonathan Rayson, Erin Maguire & Nick Verina perform "It's Everywhere"