About the Writers
is a playwright and lyricist raised in a Japanese-Jewish home with some rabbits, a snake, and a bunch of finches. Her writing often involves ecological absurdism, politicized food, campfire stories, made-up games, unexpected sea shanties, and proscenium-less playspaces. Recent: Yoko’s Husband’s Killer’s Japanese Wife, Gloria (commissioned by 5th Avenue Theater 2021, Civilians R&D 2022, Orchard Project Performance Lab 2023, O’Neill NMTC 2023, NAMT festival 2023, Vivace Award 2023) and The People vs. American Cheese (American Opera Project 2023). Immersive work: VISARE (New Voices Winner 2020, Vivace Award Nomination 2021) and [untitled hat project] (NYFA grant 2021). She has participated in the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Play Festival, and Broadway’s Future Songbook Series. MFA New York University.
is a cross-genre composer-storyteller who loves soaring melodies, dream worlds, and stories that challenge our preconceptions about what is true, good, or worth wanting. Her work has premiered at Lincoln Center and the Public. Recent projects, in addition to Gloria: VISARE (New Voices Winner, Vivace Award Nomination), Starsong (Rattlestick, Sound Bites). As conductor-pianist-vocalist, Erika performs on Broadway (Kimberly Akimbo) and national TV (CBS Sunday Morning). Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriter, NYU Tisch MFA Fellow. The proud daughter of Chinese immigrants, Erika studied computer science & philosophy at Stanford and built products at Dropbox before deciding to follow the music.
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is a poet, playwright, and problem-solver from deep in the heart of Texas. She studied music, rhetoric, and anthropology at Texas A&M and musical theatre writing at NYU. She unravels conventions and incites chaos in the theatre world through her paradigm-shifting storytelling and general vibes. Other than Gloria, selected works include The Blazing World (Polyphone Festival of New and Emerging Musicals 2021), and libretto for Red Flag (adapted for The Latest Draft Podcast 2020). In 2020, with business partner Jessie Field, Collier co-founded Root Beer Occasion Theatre Company and orchestrated several online productions, including “The Living Room Stories Play Festival” and “The Garbage Revue Bad Play Contest.”