Xanadu 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 "Midsummer/Jersey," "Lucky Stiff," "Clue," "Chicago," "Peter and the Starcatcher," "Grease," and "Radium Girls." He's also co-directed "Frozen, Jr.," "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 received 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
Heather Downey is a choreographer, dancer, and high school mathematics teacher from New Jersey. She has a B.A./B.S. Dual Degree in Dance and Mathematics from Muhlenberg College and a 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 Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. She currently teaches Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Pre Calculus here at James Caldwell High School and is the coach of the newly established Dance Team. She choreographed our production of Lucky Stiff in March 2025, and cannot wait for you to see what we have done with Xanadu. Outside of JCHS, Ms. Downey has been teaching ballet, tap, contemporary, and jazz for the past few years for both children and adults. In addition, she 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 all along the east coast.
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 second year in the Caldwell–West Caldwell school district where she teaches Art at Grover Cleveland Middle School. She has painted scenery for JCHS productions of "Midsummer/Jersey," "Lucky Stiff," and "Clue" as well as "Frozen, Jr." at GCMS.
Scenic Construction
Christopher Altonjy
This is Mr. Altonjy's eighteenth show as set designer and builder. He previously designed and built sets for Midsummer/Jersey, Lucky Stiff, 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 11th 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
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.
Wardrobe Supervisor
Dina Lucariello
Who says you can't come home? Ms. Lucariello is a 1993 JCHS graduate, she learned to sew here at JCHS and went on to have a 30 year career in the fashion industry. Ms. Lucariello pivoted mid-life to become a teacher, and this is her second year at JCHS teaching Clothing. She is very happy to be back home at JCHS supporting TAP as Wardrobe Mistress!

Original Creative Team

Douglas Carter Beane has written six shows for Broadway. His play The Nance, starring Nathan Lane, received five Tony Award nominations and won three. It was filmed for Live from Lincoln Center, screened in movie theaters, and later broadcast on PBS.

His comedy The Little Dog Laughed was nominated for both the Tony Award for Best Play and London’s Olivier Award for Best New Play.

Beane’s adaptation of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella ran on Broadway for two years and received Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical Revival. His stage version of Xanadu also ran for two years on Broadway, earning Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical, as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. His book for the musical Lysistrata Jones received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Best Book of a Musical. Sister Act, for which he co-wrote the book, played a two-year Broadway run and received Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical.

Beane’s Off-Broadway plays include Fairycakes; The Closet starring Matthew Broderick; Shows for Days, featuring Patti LuPone and Michael Urie; The Country Club, starring Cynthia Nixon and Amy Sedaris; Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, starring John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle; Music From a Sparkling Planet; and As Bees in Honey Drown, which won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award and earned an Obie Award for its star, J. Smith-Cameron. His first play, Advice from a Caterpillar, was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award and adapted into a film starring Cynthia Nixon and Timothy Olyphant, winning the Aspen Comedy Festival’s Best Feature Award.

For film, Beane wrote To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, which starred Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, Robin Williams, and Stockard Channing.

He also wrote the book for the stage adaptation of MGM’s The Band Wagon, produced at the Old Globe and at City Center’s Encores! in New York. Additional credits include the summer show for the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and the libretto for Die Fledermaus at the Metropolitan Opera, which remains in the company’s repertoire.

Beane is married to composer Lewis Flinn. They have two children, Cooper and Gabrielle, who love the theater—just not doing it.

Jeff Lynne formed the Electric Light Orchestra, or E.L.O., in the 1970 s. The group gradually developed from cult favorites into one of the 70s' leading recording acts, scoring international success with several platinum-selling albums, including A New World Record and Out Of The Blue . Lynne's dual talents as a composer and producer ensured the group's status but, sensing an artistic sterility, he abandoned his creation in 1986. The artist then assumed an increasingly backroom role, but won praise for his production work with George Harrison ( Cloud Nine ), Randy Newman ( Land Of Dreams ) and Roy Orbison ( Mystery Girl ) and he has also contributed his distinctive production qualities to much of Tom Petty s recent output. Lynne's work with Orbison coincided with his position as 'Otis Wilbury' in the Traveling Wilburys, an informal 'supergroup' completed by Orbison, Harrison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. This particularly prolific period was also marked by his work with Brian Wilson on the ex-Beach Boys' first long-awaited solo album.  In recent years, Lynne has produced the Beatles lost tapes, notably Free as a Bird and Real Love . He co-produced Paul McCartney's Flaming Pie in 1997.

John Farrar left Australia in 1970 at the invitation of the legendary English group The Shadows; they recorded six albums together. During a break he began working with Olivia Newton-John. He went on to produce 14 albums for her. After winning a Grammy (Record of the Year) for "I Honestly Love You," he moved to L.A. where he wrote and produced many of her hits: "Have You Never Been Mellow?," "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (Academy Award nom.), "You're the Once That I Want" (Golden GLobe nom.), "Don't Stop Delieving" "A Little More Love," "Magic," "Suddenly," "Sam," "Make a Move on Me." He also produced the mega-hit "Physical." In 1995 he co-wrote with Tim Rice the songs for the Cliff Richard musical Heathcliff. He co-wrote with Francis Ford Coppola the songs for a new musical, Gidget.