playbill vip

Jeanine Tesori

Jeanine Tesori is a composer of musical theatre, opera, and film. Her musicals include Kimberly Akimbo, Soft Power, Fun Home, Shrek the Musical, Caroline, Or Change, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Violet. She is a two-time recipient of the Tony Award® for Best Score and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Her operas include A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck; The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; Blue, which received the MCANA Award for Best New Opera; and Grounded. She is one of the first women to be commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera.

In addition to her work as a composer, Tesori is the Co-Founder of tall popPy, inc, an artist-led social enterprise that seeks to instigate systemic change in theatre. She has also served as Supervising Vocal Producer on Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Founding Artistic Director of New York City Center’s ENCORES! OFF-CENTER series, and lecturer in music at Yale University.

David Lindsay-Abaire

David Lindsay-Abaire was most recently nominated for two Tony Awards for his work on Shrek The Musical: Best Book of a Musical and Best Score (with composer Jeanine Tesori). Prior to that he was awarded the 2008 Ed Kleban Award as America's most promising musical theatre lyricist and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole, which premiered on Broadway at MTC. Rabbit Hole also received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, and the Spirit of America Award. His other shows include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World, High Fidelity and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, David's screen adaptation of Rabbit Hole is scheduled for release this month. It stars Nicole Kidman and is directed by John Cameron Mitchell. David is a proud New Dramatists alum, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Juilliard School, as well as a member of the WGA and the Dramatists Guild Council.