High School Musical Creative

Producer and Stage Manager

Robert Decker

Robert P. Decker, Jr. is thrilled to bring Disney’s High School Musical to the PHS stage as the ninth musical since he and our director, Christopher Sperat brought musicals back to the district. Bob has been both the producer and stage manager for all of those musicals: Grease, The Wiz, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Hairspray, Seussical, and Godspell and Shrek. He has been awarded the PSD Superintendent’s Award for successfully returning musicals to the PHS stage. Bob is excited to continue to be able to showcase the talents of so many Pottstown students as they work behind the scenes and in the spotlight for many years to come. In prior musicals at Pottstown, he performed various cameo roles. He was the puppeteer who brought Audrey the plant puppet to life at EPAC’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. He has served as a stage manager for Genesius Theatre and is very proud of his performance as Chef Louis in its production of The Little Mermaid and considers his role as Sir Danvers in the Genesius production of Jekyll and Hyde as the pinnacle of his performing career. He is looking forward to bringing Florenz Ziegfeld to life in December in Funny Girl at Genesius.

Director

Christopher Sperat

CHRISTOPHER SPERAT (Director) is celebrating 25+ years with the Pottstown School District. He is currently a Kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Elementary. Mr. Sperat has been directing the PSD Musicals since their “revival” in 2015. Those productions include: Grease, The Wiz, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Hairspray, Seussical, Godspell, and Shrek. He is also an active member of Genesius Theatre in Reading where he has worked as a former Vice President, Board Member, actor, director, musical director, and accompanist. His directing credits include: Jekyll & Hyde, Mamma Mia!, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Bridges of Madison County, Agnes of God, Side Show, Rock of Ages, Mary Poppins, 9 to 5, Hairspray, The King and I, Carrie, Legally Blonde, Sunset Blvd., Annie, Titanic in Concert, The Sound of Music, Aspects of Love in Concert, Evita in Concert, The Wedding Singer, Chess in Concert, Gypsy, Grease, Little Women, Oliver!, Cats, Meshuggah-Nuns, Nuncrackers, Blood Brothers, Really Rosie, Rags and The Rocky Horror Show. He looks forward to directing Funny Girl at Genesius in December 2023. He has also worked with Amity Childrens’ Theatre, Reading Community Players and Steel River Playhouse. As an actor, Mr. Sperat has appeared onstage in A Berks County Cristmas Carol, Mamma Mia!, Rocky Horror, Chicago, Fun Home, Memphis, Forum, The Music Man, Company, Spamalot, Miss Saigon, Tuesdays with Morrie, Man of La Mancha, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 1776, Sweeney Todd, Art, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mass Appeal, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Titanic.

Set Designer & Properties Manager

Candi Haas-Simmons

Candi Haas-Simmons is an alumna of Pottstown and Temple University's Tyler School of Art. She is an PHS Honor Roll inductee, honored for her professional standing as an artist and her service to community and school. She has served groups as diverse as the Pottstown Area Artists Guild, Pottstown Business and Professional Women and Berks County Amateur Astronomical Society in numerous roles, indicative of her wide ranging interests. Her award winning art work has been shown locally, regionally and nationally. Most recently, she has focused her artistic skills on mentoring the students of Pottstown through the Scenery Crew for the musicals. In addition, she continues in her mother's footsteps, working to empower women and eliminate racial injustice, especially in areas that affect Pottstown's students.

Pit Orchestra Director & Accompanist

Amy Anderson

Ms. Anderson has been involved with musical theater productions in several different organizations, both as a pianist and as a music director and/or pit orchestra conductor. She has played keys in recent productions for Pottstown School District (The Wiz, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Hairspray), Genesius Theater (Bridges of Madison County, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia, Beauty and the Beast, Bright Star, A Berks County Christmas Carol) and Steel River Playhouse (Little Shop of Horrors). She has served as pit orchestra director in recent productions for Pottstown School District (Seussical, Godspell- also music director, Shrek), Genesius Theater (Jekyll & Hyde- also music director), and Agnes Irwin School (The World Goes Round, Legally Blonde-music director only). Over the course of her career, she has played keys at additional theaters (Cabaret, Godspell) and directed music and led the pit orchestra at other schools (Annie, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Little Shop of Horrors, Wizard of Oz). When she isn’t working on musicals, she teaches mathematics at the Agnes Irwin School and serves as Music Minister/organist at Elverson United Methodist Church.

Lighting Design & Directions

Nick Yashinsky

NICK YASHINSKY is the Director of Lighting and Design. He is a graduate of Pottstown High School’s Class of 2006. Mr. Yashinsky has shared his talents in all of the school musicals since “Hello Dolly.” Over the past 20 years, he has participated in stage crew, set design, painting, construction, sound and lighting. A graduate of Penn State with a degree in Information Sciences and Technology, he is an IT Technician for the PSD. Mr. Nick is also Stage Manager of the HS and MS Auditoriums during the musical off season.

Costume Designer

Liane Livote

Liane Livote is pleased to be the Costume Designer for the first time here at Pottstown High School. She is a licensed therapist and a School Counselor at Lincoln Elementary. Her love of musicals and theater comes from growing up in New York City and frequently attending Broadway shows. She grew up with her grandmother who is a seamstress and taught her how to sew and design clothing.

Publicist

Emma Spade

Emma Spade is the Publicist for Pottstown High School musicals. She has previously been a secretary and alumni event planner for Albright College and other organizations as well as a box office manager. She is currently a social studies teacher at the high school. Emma is very excited to be a part of musicals here at Pottstown for a fourth year.

Original Creative Team

David Simpatico-David's work has been presented at major theatres around the globe, including London's Hammersmith Apollo, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the New York Shakespeare Festival. Highlights include the stage adaptations of Disney's High School Musical 1 and 2; the full length opera commission, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing with composer Justine Chen (American Lyric Theater); Whida Peru, with a score by Josh Schmidt; and The Screams of Kitty Genovese, a rock-opera with a score by Will Todd. David also wrote the libretto for Pulitzer Prize-winner Aaron J. Kernis' millennium symphony, Garden Of Light, which received its world premiere with the NY Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Kurt Masur, in the Fall of 1999.

David is currently working on LIFEafterLIFE, a one-man musical with composer Josh Schmidt. He is also adapting Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with composer Will Todd. David has recently been commissioned to write the original sci-fi rock opera, Rose of Sharon, with composer Heather Christian. David completed his Masters degree in Creative Writing (2017) with the MountainView Writers (SNHU); his thesis project, a two-man play, Wilde About Whitman, takes us behind doors during the little known, historic meeting of the two literary giants. His play, Waiting for the Ball to Drop, has been optioned by director/producer Stephen Lloyd Helper.

David is an alumnus of the Composer Librettist Development Program at American Lyric Theater, and a graduate of Northwestern University. He also writes, directs, edits and stars in Zombie Hideaway, a webisodic series, as well as Rev. Jimmy's Lake of Fire, both of which are featured on his new Youtube channel, Noise Ball Simpatico. Along with playwright Darrah Cloud, he leads A Howl of Playwrights, a weekly workshop for local playwrights in Rhinebeck, NY.

David lives in Rhinebeck NY with his husband and muse, Robert Strickstein, and wonder-dog, Elmo

Bryan Louiselle (KIDS music adaptation and arrangement) adapted the scores and wrote additional music and lyrics for Disney’s stage adaptations of High School Musical and High School Musical 2. He wrote the music for The Turn of the Screw (Two Turns Theatre Company); The Jungle Books (Berkeley Playhouse); the documentary films Sacred Space, Saints and Strangers, and Prisoners of Hope; Elaine May’s Adult Entertainment (Off-Broadway); Simon Gray’s The Late Middle Classes (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Red Memories (New York Stage and Film); Radio City Christmas Spectacular; and song cycles A Bestiary, My Night Forest, and Quattro Sonetti. His chamber music includes Vagaries 1, 2, and 3; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Does New York Really Need to Legislate Super-Sized Sugary Soft Drinks?, and 10 Thought Experiments in Search of a Bassoon Quartet. From 1984-2002, he was variously the conductor, musical director, arranger, and/or producer for Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Super Bowl, Miss America, Silver Burdett Ginn’s Making Music music education CD, and MacMillan/McGraw-Hill's Spotlight on Music series. From 2002-2007, he was the resident music supervisor, adaptor, and recordings producer for MTI/Disney KIDS, JR., and TYA musicals, including Cinderella KIDS; 101 Dalmatians KIDS; Aladdin JR., KIDS, and Dual Language; Sleeping Beauty KIDS; The Aristocats KIDS; Alice in Wonderland JR.; Mulan JR.; High School Musical JR.; High School Musical 2 JR.; Seussical JR.; and Thoroughly Modern Millie JR.

Faye Greenberg along with composer/husband David Lawrence contributed songs to Disney's "High School Musical 1 & 2", Disney's "Cheetah Girls 2" and MTV's "American Mall". Their song "Stick To The Status Quo" was part of the best selling CD of 2006 and continues to be performed all over the world. "New York's Best Kept Secret", their latest Disney song, is featured in "Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure". Faye received a Denver Post Ovation Nomination for her work on "The 1940's Radio Christmas Carol" (with librettist Walt Jones and composer David Wohl), an LA Weekly Award for her work on "An Elephant Never Forgets, an evening of trunk songs" (with composers Jerry Sternbach and John Kroner) and has written many family musicals (with librettist Michael Slade and composer David Evans) including "The Swiss Family Robinson", "Where's Waldo, "The Gift of Winter" and a musical adaptation of Judy Blume's classic "Superfudge. Her play, "The Beast of Broadway" (written with the awesome Robert L. Freedman) recently enjoyed a successful run in Naples, Florida. She lives in Los Angeles with composer/husband David, extraordinary daughter Mabel and an assortment of neurotic dogs.

David Lawrence was most recently part of Disney s television musical High School Musical as the writer (with Faye Greenberg) of the song Stick to the Staus Quo and composer of the original underscore. He has also composed the scores to American Pie , American Pie 2 , Van Wilder , as well as Ambulance Girl , Pop Rocks , and the soon to be seen Cheetah Girls 2 , to name but a few. His songs have been recorded and/or performed by Earth Wind & Fire, Diane Schuur, Catherine Cox, Ann-Margaret, Faith Prince and Raven. He is currently working with lyricist/wife Faye Greenberg on The Mall for MTV, on the original musical Big Rosemary , with a book by Blake Edwards and on perfecting daughter Mabel s soccer skills.

Greg Cham has nearly 18 years of creative and technical experience in the entertainment industry. As a representative of music writers/producers, his clients have contributed to a variety of successful contemporary and tween-driven recordings, including Christina Aguilera, (RCA) Tyrese, (J/RCA) Sting, (A&M), Will Smith, (Columbia), Alejandro Sanz (Universal Latin) and a number of successful film soundtracks, including Legally Blond (A&M) and The Cheetah Girls (W. Disney Records). Greg has served as music supervisor for films, DVDs and soundtracks. Recent projects include the Martin Chase/Sony/BMG release, Byou , a dance workout DVD/album soundtrack for tweens , featuring Sabrina Bryan of The Cheetah Girls ; the Disney Channel feature films The Cheetah Girls (RIAA certified 2x platinum) and Gotta Kick It Up . He s also served as music coordinator for feature films Made In America (W. Bros.), Renaissance Man (Columbia/Sony) and Sister Act II (Hollywood/Disney). Greg has produced live tours/events, of which include the City of Hope Spirit of Life Awards 2001 - honoring Edgar Bronfman, Jr.; Christina Aguilera s 1999 2000 U.S./International tour; the Destiny s Child 1999 2000 U.S./International tour; the Paulina Rubio 2002 U.S./International tour and the 2006 Radio Disney Totally Ten Birthday Concert;.

Matthew Gerrard

*wrote & produced three songs for the #1 Album High School Musical for Disney, including 2 gold singles We re All In This Together and Start Of Something new

* wrote the #1 single and title track Breakaway for Kelly Clarkson s multiplatinum album

* wrote Underneath for Jessica Simpson s triple platinum current album In This Skin

* produced and wrote songs and singles for multi platinum artist Hilary Duff including Why Not I Can t wait & Do You Want Me

* produced and wrote 7 songs for Jesse McCartney s platinum album on Hollywood Records including She s No You

* wrote Feels Like Home for Melissa Ethridge for Brother Bear II upcoming Disney release

* wrote 6 songs on upcoming Smashmouth record including Story Of My Life and Everyday Superhero

* produced and wrote single Help Me for Nick Carter of The Backstreet Boys solo release on Jive Records

* produced and wrote international star Delta Goodrem s #1 single Lost Without You

* produced and wrote #1 single Get Over Yourself for Eden s Crush (Popstars)

* Produced and wrote #1 single Shine for Shannon Noll

* wrote three songs including first single I I Still Hear It for The Webb Sisters upcoming album on Universal

*also produced and wrote for 12 Stones Graham Colton Josh Kelly Jo Jo Aly & Ajay Bethany Joy Lenz Cheetah Girls Lindsay Lohan Jaci Velasquez Kimberly Locke Natalie Grant Chris Botti

Robbie Nevil- Ashley Simpson, Jesse McCartney ,Jessica Simpson W/ Destiny s Child, Smash Mouth, Mark McGrath, , Melissa Ethridge, Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana ,Cheetah Girls 2, Raven, High school Musical Sundtracks including , The Pacifier, Princess Diary 2

Drew Seeley, was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and spent most of his childhood in the suburbs of Toronto. At 12, he was cast in Hal Prince s revival of Showboat, and stayed with the show for a year. This is when Drew really discovered music, and decided it was what he wanted to do.

He moved to Orlando, Florida in high school and lived there through college. While studying, Drew fronted a rock band, and R&B group, and a jazz quartet, while learning the guitar. He immersed himself in many types of music from Stevie Wonder to Soundgarden. During this time, he also honed his performing chops sharing the stage with Mya, Tyrese, and K-ci & Jojo and appeared on television shows such as One Tree Hill, Dawson s Creek and Guiding Light.

Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles in 2004, Drew began collaborating with producer Ray Cham of Last Man Standing (Christina Aguilara, Cheetah Girls) and they garnered an Emmy Nomination along with Greg Cham for writing Get cha Head in the Game.

Drew’s upcoming projects include Cheetah Girls 2, Jump, B You, and Fly Kids, as well as a much anticipated solo CD. Visit www.drewseeley.com for current news, pictures, and music.

Randy Petersen- Emmy nominated songwriter, arranger and producer, Randy has composed the theme songs for Sister, Sister, Disney s Goof Troop, Recess, Bonkers, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Fired Up, and Nearly Departed. He has composed featured songs for Disney s High School Musical, Teacher s Pet-The Movie, The Proud Family, Kronk s New Groove, Lion King II: Simba s Pride, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, The Return of Jafar, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. His songs are featured in more than 20 series, including Kim Possible, Pepper Ann, Mickey s Magical Christmas, Hercules, LIttle Mermaid, Timon and Pumbaa. He received an Emmy nomination for his theme for Disney s Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, along with collaborator Kevin Quinn. The pair has received numerous other nominations for their song writing including the Annie awards and the DVD Premier awards. In addition to song writing, Randy served as musical director for artists Paula Abdul and Sheena Easton.

Kevin Quinn– Kevin began his career writing songs that were used nation wide as popular ad campaigns for Target Stores and featured such artists as Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Michael W. Smith, Betty White, and the Muppets.

He went on to compose theme songs, with collaborator Randy Petersen, for a number of television series including Sister, Sister, Bill and Ted s Excellent Adventures, Fired Up, Nearly Departed, Gravedale High, Disney s Goof Troop, Recess, Bonkers, 101 Dalmatians, and Brandy and Mr. Whiskers for which he received an Emmy nomination.

He has composed featured songs for Disney’s High School Musical, Teacher s Pet-The Movie, The Proud Family, A Goofy Movie, Kronk s New Groove, Lion King II: Simba s Pride, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, The Return of Jafar, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and Mickey s Magical Christmas. His songs have been featured in many television shows, including Kim Possible, Pepper Ann, Hercules, Little Mermaid, Jungle Cubs, All Dogs Go To Heaven, and Two Stupid Dogs.

Peter Barsocchini wrote the Emmy Award-winning smash-hit Disney Channel Original Movie "High School Musical" (he says, for his tween daughter Gabriella), as well as it's sequels, High School Musical 2, the highest rated original cable telecast in history, and the worldwide box office feature-film sensation, High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Barsocchini began his professional writing career while attending high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, writing more than 300 columns about popular music for the San Mateo Times, spending his weekends backstage at the legendary Fillmore West, covering artists such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, The Grateful Dead, and Elton John.

Upon graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a degree in creative writing, Barsocchini was hired by the Merv Griffin Show as an interviewer. In 1979, Barsocchini was named producer, a position he held for seven years. He won an Emmy Award twice as producer, the youngest talk-show producer ever to receive the award.

His first novel "Ghost" was published to laudatory reviews in the late 1980's with the screen rights being purchased by Paramount Pictures, beginning the transition to the film business. His action/thriller screenplay "Drop Zone" was produced by Paramount and starred Wesley Snipes.

Currently, his film projects include a musical about the fashion industry for Dream Works, a Christmas film for HBO which he is creating in collaboration with Mariah Carey, a romantic thriller feature film entitled 'Cuba and the Night" for Hannibal Films, a new young adult novel and, of course, 'High School Musical 4' for the Walt Disney Company.

Adam Watts and Andy Dodd have been writing and producing music together for over 6 years and have enjoyed a great deal of success from their combined efforts. Recently, they wrote and co-produced the RIAA Platinum selling breakout hit for Jesse McCartney, Beautiful Soul . A huge hit on radio, Beautiful Soul reached the top 5 on Billboard s Top 40 Mainstream chart, as well as spending 50 days in the top 10 on MTV s TRL. Along with being one of the most downloaded songs on the internet, Beautiful Soul has also appeared on 8 other albums including the Cinderella Story Soundtrack (RIAA Gold), That s So Raven TV Soundtrack (RIAA Gold) and Kidz Bop 7 (RIAA Gold). Andy & Adam also received a 2006 ASCAP Pop Award, recognizing Beautiful Soul as one of the Most Performed Songs of 2005 .

Recently, Andy & Adam have co-written 5 songs and produced 6 songs for Jesse McCartney s sophomore release on Hollywood Records, including the title track and first single, Right Where You Want Me . Just weeks after it s release, the single has already entered the Top Ten on MTV s TRL and is currently one of the most added songs on Mainstream CHR radio.

Andy and Adam also wrote and produced the song, What I ve Been Looking For, (RIAA Gold Dig. Single) featured in the movie and on the soundtrack for Disney s High School Musical (RIAA 3x Platinum). As the highest selling album of 2006, the soundtrack spent two weeks at the #1 spot on Billboard s Top 200, and has been in the top 10 for 28 straight weeks.

Andy and Adam have also written and produced songs for Aly & AJ s RIAA certified Gold album, Into The Rush on Hollywood Records. The song, On The Ride , co-written and produced by Andy and Adam, has already received multiple television placements.

Andy and Adam recently received an award at the 2006 ASCAP Christian Music Awards, for the song What If which they co-wrote with Jadon Lavik, one of the top 25 Christian songs of 2005. Other credits include production on three GOLD albums, including seven #1 hits, for Christian music mega-star, Jeremy Camp. Recognized as the 2004 and 2005 ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year, Jeremy Camp has risen to the top of the Christian music industry. Adam and Andy s productions are also featured on the platinum selling WOW Hits 2004, WOW Hits 2005 and WOW #1 s along with records for the O.C. Supertones, Avalon and Jadon Lavik.

Adam and Andy have also written the theme song for the hit animated series W.I.T.C.H. Appearing multiple times weekly on ABC, Toon Disney and ABC Family, W.I.T.C.H. is also currently broadcast internationally. Their songs and productions have also been featured in the Disney Channel movies/shows, Hannah Montana , Read It And Weep , Cowbelles , Go Figure , Stuck In The Suburbs and Halloweentown High .

In addition to lending his writing and producing talents to other artists, Adam Watts released his critically acclaimed, debut solo album The Noise Inside in November of 2004 on BEC Recordings. Adam was recently named one of the best new artists of 2004 by Christianity Today.