About The Creators
Deborah lived for many years in Alaska, where she was one of the original company members with Perseverance Theatre. She is a two-time winner of the Frederick Loewe Award for Musical Theatre, first for King Island Christmas, with David Friedman and then for Coyote Goes Salmon Fishing, with composer Scott Davenport Richards. She and David also wrote Goodbye My Island, a companion musical to King Island Christmas, which is based on another children’s book from Alaska by Jean Rogers. She wrote the libretto to Embedded, a one-act opera inspired by Edgar Allan Poe stories with composer Patrick Soluri and Steal a Pencil for Me, a full-length opera about Holocaust survivors with composer Gerald Cohen based on the book of the same title. She is writing Crossing Over, an Amish hip hop musical with composer Stephanie Salzman.
Deborah is best known for her play The Women of Lockerbie, which is currently being produced all over world after winning the silver medal in the Onassis International playwriting competition. It is published by Dramatists Play Service. Other plays include: The Comfort Team, about military families, commissioned by Virginia Stage; Blue Moon Over Memphis, a Noh Drama about Elvis Presley (published by Applause Books); The Poetry of Pizza, (produced by the Purple Rose Theatre, Mixed Blood, Virginia Stage, Theatre in the Square, Centenary Stage and others); The Blue-Sky Boys (commissioned by the EST/Alfred Sloan Foundation Science and Technology project; produced at the Barter Theatre) and Into the Fire, and Signs of Life, both published by Samuel French. She has received grants from the NEA, NYFA, Rockefeller Foundation, CEC Arts Link, Harpo Foundation and others. She is an alumnus of New Dramatists and a co-founder of Theatre Without Borders, dedicated to international theatre exchange.
With multi-platinum recordings, Broadway shows, Disney Animated Films, Television scores and a teaching and lecturing career that spans the nation, David Friedman is truly someone who has made his mark in all areas of show business.
From We Can Be Kind to Listen to My Heart, Help is on the Way, We Live on Borrowed Time, Trust The Wind and I’ll Be Here With You, David has written songs of inspiration, love and hope that take on new emotional meaning in these challenging times.
After conducting musicals on Broadway, including Grease, Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Song and Dance, David went to Hollywood where he conducted and vocal arranged Disney classics including Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. David also wrote music and lyrics for Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Lizzie McGuire, Bambi II, and three animated television series, and music supervised Broadway’s Beauty & The Beast.
David started his own company, MIDDER Music Records, and wrote for and produced all of Nancy LaMott’s CD’s.
David’s songs have been sung and recorded by luminaries such as Diana Ross, Barry Manilow, Allison Krauss, Petula Clark, Laura Branigan, and many others.
Musicals include King Island Christmas, Chasing Nicolette, (Barrymore Award – Best Score), Desperate Measures, (a 6 character country & western version of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure) and Front Page Girl (about the life of Nellie Bly.)
David appears regularly on The Today Show, writing new songs for the Everyone Has a Story segment. David also co-wrote the score to the Broadway musical Scandalous! with Kathie Lee and David Pomeranz, which opened at The Neil Simon Theater on November 15, 2012.
David’s songs have raised money for Duke Children’s Hospital and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS who have used his song Help Is On The Way as their theme song.
David’s Off Broadway revue Listen To My Heart has had over 20 productions and will be seen all over the country this year. (Original Cast CD is available on MIDDER Records.)
Also available are David’s songbook, (63 songs) and 3 solo CD’s of him singing his own songs.
David’s book, The Thought Exchange has been called “the missing piece” in New Thought. David spends part of his time teaching workshops coaching privately all over the U.S, in schools, theaters, churches and Fortune 500 Companies.
Jean Rogers wrote the original children’s book King Island Christmas upon which the musical is based.
Jean was born in Wendell, Idaho. She holds a B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She now lives in Juneau, Alaska with her husband George.
She is the recipient of an Honored Author citation from the Alaska State Reading Association and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Alaska Southeast.
Her other books for children include “Goodbye, My Island,” “The Secret Moose,” “Dinosaurs are 586,” “Raymond’s Best Summer,” “Runaway Mittens,” and “Left Field Bear.”
Rie Muñoz created the illustrations for the original children’s book King Island Christmas upon which the musical is based. Her original artwork also graces the covers of the Song Book and original Cast Recording CD.
During her many years in Alaska, artist Rie Muñoz has lived in a variety of small communities, including prospecting and mining camps.
From 1951-52 Muñoz taught school on King Island in the Bering Sea. Rie Muñoz has had many solo watercolor exhibits at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and in other cities in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.
In May of 1999 Muñoz received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities Award from the University of Alaska Southeast.
In September of 2000 she was named Artist of the Year at the Pacific Rim Art Exhibition in Seattle and in September of 2002, Artist of the Year at the Puyallup Fair.
For more information on Muñoz’s work, refer to
www.riemunoz.com
With multi-platinum recordings, Broadway shows, Disney Animated Films, Television scores and a teaching and lecturing career that spans the nation, David Friedman is truly someone who has made his mark in all areas of show business.
Jean Rogers wrote the original children’s book King Island Christmas upon which the musical is based.
Rie Muñoz created the illustrations for the original children’s book King Island Christmas upon which the musical is based. Her original artwork also graces the covers of the Song Book and original Cast Recording CD.