Lucky Stiff Creative

Director
Randy Bobish
Mr. Bobish teaches theater at both the middle and high schools here in the Caldwell-West Caldwell district. At JCHS he's directed "Clue," "Chicago," "Peter and the Starcatcher," "Grease," and "Radium Girls" and co-directed "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Once Upon a Mattress" at GCMS. Prior to teaching he was a professional actor in NYC having performed on Broadway ("42nd Street," "Fiddler on the Roof"), in national tours ("Sunset Boulevard," "Grease"), and at regional theaters throughout the U.S. including Actors Theater of Louisville, Goodspeed Opera House, Houston Theater Under the Stars, Westbury Music Fair, and Paper Mill Playhouse. Born and raised in New Orleans, Mr. Bobish has a BFA in Theater from the University of Miami. He thanks his wife Danielle and their daughter Maddie for all their love and support.
Choreographer
Heather Downey
Ms. Downey is a choreographer, dancer, and high school mathematics teacher from New Jersey. She graduated from Muhlenberg College in 2020 with a B.A./B.S. Dual Degree in Dance and Mathematics, and will graduate this spring with her M.S. in Mathematics from Montclair State University. She has been dancing since age three and grew up in the competition dance world studying ballet, jazz, tap, and lyrical. In college, she performed in multiple Muhlenberg College concerts in pieces choreographed by Shelley Oliver, Yoshito Sakuraba, and Randall Anthony Smith, amongst others. Ms. Downey focuses her time in dance on her contemporary & tap choreography, which has been showcased at Muhlenberg in addition to other concerts in the Lehigh Valley, Boston, and New Jersey. She currently teaches Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 here at James Caldwell High School and has helped to pioneer the school’s Dance Club. Outside of JCHS, she has been teaching ballet, tap, and jazz for the past few years for both children and adults. In addition, Ms. Downey is now the Assistant Artistic Director for Extensions Dance Project based out of Madison, NJ, having danced in all of the company’s shows and has been a featured guest artist in shows in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and beyond. "Lucky Stiff" is the first musical Ms. Downey is credited with choreographing, and cannot wait for the audience to see what she and the students have come up with!
Music Director & Conductor
Kaeden Oh
Originally from South Korea, Kaeden grew up in Upstate New York; he started taking piano lessons at the age of six, and hasn’t stopped playing since! He is an experienced pianist, vocalist, and music director whose résumé reflects a wide range of productions (favorite shows include "Urinetown," "Little Shop of Horrors," and "Cabaret" with Barrington Stage Company). A staunch believer in the power of music to heal, provoke, and unify, Kaeden’s end goal is to win a Tony for the musical he hasn’t started writing yet. 🎵 @𝗸𝗮𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗻_𝗼𝗵
Scenic Artist
Nikolette Sciancalepore
This is Ms. Sciancalepore's first year in the Caldwell–West Caldwell school district where she teaches Art at Grover Cleveland Middle School. She is thrilled about this opportunity and has loved applying her creative skills to theater production. Ms. Sciancalepore is excited to collaborate with such a talented team.
Scenic Construction
Christopher Altonjy
This is Mr. Altonjy's sixteenth show as set designer and builder. He previously designed and built sets for Clue, Chicago, Peter and the Starcatcher, Godspell, Legally Blonde, Three Little Pigs, Fiddler on the Roof, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Mamma Mia, The Laramie Project, Into the Woods, Puffs, Matilda, Radium Girls, and Grease. This is his 9th year at JCHS where he teaches Woodworking, Technology, and Architecture. He is grateful for the help and support of the stage crew with their assistance. Break a leg, everyone!
CPA Manager & Audio Engineer
Mike Scalera
Mr. Scalera is in his 10th year as Center for Performing Arts Manager at JCHS. After spending 30 years in Distribution Management, Mike continues to be grateful to the Caldwell–West Caldwell school district for this amazing opportunity at a 2nd career, which has been gratifying and fulfilling beyond his imagination! His favorite part of his job is working with the student crew and performers behind the scenes and watching everything come together in real time. Mike has also worked as an Audio Engineer and Stage Technician at Kean University’s Wilkins Theatre, for university events as well as for professional touring acts. In his free time, he enjoys making music and has played with many musical groups over the years. Currently he is in his fifteenth year as front-man, lead vocalist and keyboardist for Driftin’ Back, a “Good Old Days” party band, playing hits from the 50’s/60’s/70’s. facebook.com/driftinback
Stage Properties
BB Props
The brainchild of Emiliano Pares, BB props began as a small prop construction service and has grown into a leading design and fabrication shop servicing the Film, Television & Theatrical industries. Our team has worked in all forms of live theater, motion pictures, television, advertising, trade shows and live events. Visit us at www.bbprops.biz
Costume Supply
Playtime Costumes
Playtime Costumes has been servicing all costume needs for stage productions from middle schools to colleges, community theaters and everything in between and all throughout New Jersey! We are a small business with a big and bold creative spirit and passion for the arts. With 20+ years of professional costuming experience, Jacquie and Gloria are highly accomplished and enthusiastic about delivering outstanding costumes to every production no matter how big or small. Visit us at www.playtimecostumesnj.com.

Original Creative Team

LYNN AHRENS won Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards and received two Grammy nominations for Broadway's Ragtime. For Twentieth Century Fox's animated feature film Anastasia, she was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. She and longtime collaborator Stephen Flaherty received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement, and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Broadway: Anastasia; Once On This Island (Olivier Award, Best Musical; Tony nominations, Best Book and Score); Seussical (Grammy nomination); My Favorite Year; Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life; Rocky; Madison Square Garden's A Christmas Carol; Ragtime (2010 Broadway revival). Off-Broadway and regional: Lincoln Center Theater's Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones (both Drama Desk-nominated) and A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical); Lucky Stiff; Little Dancer (Kennedy Center world premiere). Film and television credits include “A Christmas Carol" (NBC-TV); Camp (IFC Films); "Schoolhouse Rock" (ABC-TV) and others. (Emmy Award and four Emmy nominations). She is a Council member of the Dramatists Guild of America, a co-founder of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program, and a Lilly Award winner for Lyrics.

 

STEPHEN FLAHERTY is the composer of the Broadway musicals Ragtime (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Awards, two Grammy nominations), Seussical (Grammy, Drama Desk nominations), Once on This Island (Tony nomination, Olivier Award, Best Musical) and Rocky. Additional Broadway includes Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (original songs) and Neil Simon's Proposals (incidental music). Stephen has also written four musicals at Lincoln Center Theatre: The Glorious Ones (OCC, Drama Desk nominations), Dessa Rose (OCC, Drama Desk nominations), A Man of No Importance (OCC, Best Musical, Drama Desk nomination) and My Favorite Year. Other theater includes In Your Arms (Old Globe), Little Dancer (Kennedy Center), Lucky Stiff (Playwrights Horizons) and Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (Chicago's Jefferson Award, Best New Musical.) Film includes Anastasia (two Academy Award and two Golden Globe nominations), the documentary After The Storm and Lucky Stiff. Mr. Flaherty's concert music has premiered at the Hollywood Bowl, Boston's Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, and Symphony Space. Stephen and Lynn are members of the Dramatists Guild Council and co-founders of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program. In 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

For more info, visit the Ahrens & Flaherty website.

 

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior® shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.