A Chorus Line Creative

Director

Hans Boeschen

Hans Boeschen (Director and Greg) is excited to be a part of this Broadway classic. Previous directorial credits at Workshop include Barefoot in the Park, Shrek Jr., Frozen Jr., and the All You Need is Love Youth Cabaret. Other directorial credits include Elf: the Musical and A Christmas Story both at Town Theatre. Although appearing onstage in this show was not in the original plans, he is grateful to tread the boards with such an amazing group of performers. He will never be able to repay the dedication, trust, and support this cast has shown him since day one. He wishes big love to his cast and he “won’t forget what we did for love.”

Producer

Jeni McCaughan

Jeni McCaughan (Producer) has been actively volunteering at Workshop for the last fourteen years. By day, she works as the Executive Director of Workshop Theatre. Some of Jeni’s favorite shows that she has produced and been the props mistress for are Caroline, or Change, Disney Camp Rock, The Color Purple, The Wedding Singer, and Kinky Boots. Jeni would like to thank Hans for being an absolute rockstar. She wants to thank this amazing cast, crew, and production team for sharing their time and incredible talents with us. As always, a big thank you and lots of love to her very patient and talented husband, Dean. Jeni would like to thank Taylor, Andie, Blythe, and Katie for their constant support and love. Jeni would like to dedicate her work on this show to the memory of her dad, Don. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him. "I love you always, dad."

Costume Designer

Andie Nicks

Andie Nicks (Costume Designer) is a Columbia native. She has a BA in fine arts from the University of South Carolina-Aiken (USCA) and her MFA in costume design from Southern Illinois University (SIU). She is a licensed Cosmetologist after studying at Paul Mitchell the school Columbia. She co-owns an Etsy store, Theodocia Originals, with her mother selling handmade jewelry and home décor. Most recently she designed costumes for Workshop’s 2022 Torch Song, Death of a Salesman, Kinky Boots, The Wedding Singer, God of Carnage, and The Color Purple and Trustus’ 2021 Intimate Apparel and 2022 Dance Nation, First Date, and True Crime Rep. Previous design experience includes Children of Eden (SIU), Pinkalicious (McLeod Summer Playhouse), and Murder for Two (Cape Fear Regional Theatre). She is beyond grateful for the continued opportunity to be a part of telling important stories about acceptance, love and celebrating individuality in a safe and loving environment. andienicks.com

Choreographer

Erin Bailey

Erin Bailey is a South Carolina native who discovered her passion for dance at The Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC (1999-2003). She is a graduate of Columbia College, SC (BFA) and Texas Woman’s University (MFA), where she received the Excellence in Choreography Award (2012) and the Pauline Bishop Leman Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement (2014). Erin is a graduate of the Integrated Movement Studies program (2016) and is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst and Somatic Movement Educator. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Moving Body Dance Company and has performed and presented work nationally and internationally at the Charlotte Dance Festival, Asheville Fringe, BOOM Fringe, Capital Fringe, and in Guatemala, Australia, and Prague. Erin was the FY21 South Carolina Arts Commission Fellowship recipient for Dance Choreography. For years she has served as an adjunct dance professor at Columbia College (SC), Coker University, and the University of South Carolina. She is currently a full-time Lecturer of Dance and Musical Theater at Columbia College.

Music Director

Kathy Seppamaki

Kathy Seppamaki has almost 30 years of experience working as a music director. She holds both bachelor and master’s degrees in vocal performance and has been appearing as a performer on the Workshop Theatre stage for over 25 years. She has musically directed main stage shows at Town Theatre such as A Christmas Carol and Hello Dolly and was formerly the music director for the Youth Theatre Program there, where she has musically directed The Lion King Jr, Frozen Jr, My Son Pinocchio, Elf Jr, and Peter Pan Jr. At Workshop she’s been seen onstage in shows such as Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal) and Legally Blonde (Paulette). Kathy was the music director for Aladdin Jr at Workshop this past summer. She both musically directed and performed in both Fierce and Fabulous Cabarets and the We Need a Little Christmas Cabaret this past December. She is excited to be musically directing her first main stage show at Workshop Theatre and sends big thanks to Hans, Erin, Jeni for their support and for being amazing! And big congratulations and lots of love to her cast for their hard work, determination and willingness to face whatever challenges have been thrown at them and shining brightly in spite of them! Shine on friends!

Technical Director

Patrick Faulds

Patrick Faulds (Set Design, Lighting Design) has been a part of Columbia College’s Cottingham Theatre staff since 1987, and is currently the artistic technical director. Both an actor and designer, the New York native graduated from Morrisville College in New York with a degree in broadcast journalism. First appearing as a stunt performer in water ski shows nearly 50 years ago, he continued as an actor, magician, comedian, musician, and professional storyteller with hundreds of stage and television credits. Currently a professional Santa Claus, Patrick has appeared for network and local television, as well as radio, stage, and commercial print work. As a designer for lighting, scenery, and special effects, he has hundreds of shows to his credits, including 25+ with Workshop Theatre. He has provided scenic and lighting designs for Academy Award winning director Delbert Mann and Tony and Grammy award winner Jennifer Holliday. He has been with the theatre faculty for the Tri District Arts Consortium since 1989 and has worked with two Verner Award winning programs for arts in education.

Original Creative Team

Marvin Hamlisch
June 2, 1944—August 6, 2012

As composer, Marvin Hamlisch won virtually every major award that exists: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, three Golden Globe awards, and the Pulitzer Prize (won by A Chorus Line). Only Hamlisch and Richard Rodgers have won a “PEGOT” (P.E.G.O.T. = Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony awards).

For Broadway, Hamlisch wrote the music for his groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line, as well as They’re Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success. Additional theatrical scores include Jean Seberg (1983) and The Nutty Professor (2012).

He was the composer of more than forty motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films include original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Save the Tiger and The Informant!, starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

At the time of his passing, he had just finished his last musical score for film, Liberace—Behind The Candelabra. Directed by Soderbergh and starring Michael Douglas and Damon, the movie was shown at the 2013 Cannes Festival and later aired on HBO to great reviews. It went on to win several Emmys including Best Actor for Douglas.

Hamlisch was Musical Director and arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the U.S. and England as well as of the television special, Barbra Streisand: The Concert (for which he received two of his Emmys).

Hamlisch held the position of principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, The Buffalo Philharmonic and The National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. At the time of his death he was preparing to assume responsibilities as Principal Pops Conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Hamlisch was a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and Queens College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He believed in the power of music to bring people together.

James Kirkwood

James Kirkwood (1924–1989) was an American playwright, author and actor. In 1976 he received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work on A Chorus Line.

Born in Los Angeles, Kirkwood began his career as an actor, appearing on television in Valiant Lady and Perry Mason, and on Broadway in Small Wonder and Dance Me A Song, among others. As an author, he penned the semi-autobiographical novel There Must Be a Pony, along with P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, Good Times/Bad Times, Some Kind of Hero, and Hit Me with a Rainbow. In 1970, he wrote the non-fiction American Grotesque, about the trial of Clay Shaw. His comedic play Legends! toured the United States starring Mary Martin and Carol Channing. He later wrote an account of the experience, titled Diary of a Mad Playwright: Perilous Adventures on the Road with Mary Martin and Carol Channing.

Kirkwood died of AIDS-related complications in 1989. In his memory, friends and admirers established the James Kirkwood Literary Prize to honor new generations of fiction writers for their literary achievements.

Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett (1943–1987) was an American musical theatre director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven.

Bennett's choreography credits include Henry, Sweet Henry; Promises, Promises; Coco; and Company. He directed and choreographed Follies, Seesaw and Ballroom, among several others. In 1976, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Choreography for A Chorus Line. Under the aegis of producer Joseph Papp, Bennett created A Chorus Line based on a workshop process which he pioneered. In 1982, Bennett directed and, with Michael Peters, co-choreographed Dreamgirls, winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Choreography.

Nicholas Dante

Nicholas Dante (1941–1991) was an American dancer and writer, best known for having co-written the book of the musical A Chorus Line. Born Conrado Morales in New York City, Dante began his career as a dancer and performer, appearing on Broadway in Applause, Ambassador and Smith, among others.

In 1974, Michael Bennett invited Dante to participate in interview sessions with Broadway dancers who, almost anonymously, serve as a backdrop behind star performers. Those sessions provided ample material for a Broadway musical. Collaborating with Bennett and James Kirkwood Jr., Dante created A Chorus Line, which earned him the 1976 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Book of a Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The character of Paul, a gay Puerto Rican dancer whose early career consisted of working in a drag show, was based primarily on Dante. Sammy Williams, who originated the role, won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Dante later assumed the role himself.

In 1991, at age 49, Dante died in New York City from AIDS-related complications.

Edward Kleban

Edward Kleban (1939-1987) was the lyricist of A Chorus Line, for which he won the 1975 Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Desk and Olivier Awards. His score for the musical A Class Act, produced posthumously, was nominated for the 2001 Tony and Drama Desk Awards and won an Obie Award. A Class Act is a musical biography of Kleban, with a score comprised of his own music and lyrics. A New York revival is scheduled for February 2022.

Mr. Kleban was a graduate of the High School of Music and Art and of Columbia College, where he wrote the music for the Varsity Show of 1960 with a book by Terrance McNally. Upon graduation from Columbia, Kleban was hired as a record producer by Columbia Records. Throughout the sixties he produced original cast albums while developing his own musicals in Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. Every song that he wrote for A Chorus Line was tested in the BMI Workshop. During the 1980s he carried on Mr. Engel’s tradition and taught songwriting in the workshop.

Mr. Kleban died in December 1987 at the age of 48, after a two-year bout with a cigarette-related cancer. In his will, he created and endowed The Kleban Prize, a unique grant that is bestowed not for a writer’s previous achievements, but for the promise of creativity to come, chosen by a panel of Broadway’s most respected artists. Recipients have gone on to garner four Tony Awards, 30 Tony nominations, 10 Drama Desk Awards and four Obies.