Brian J. Dorsey Producer/Conceiver Brian J. Dorsey is an actor, writer, creative producer, and executive coach involved in a wide range of political and philanthropic fundraising activities. Dorsey is a principal owner of Sellers Dorsey, a national healthcare company specializing in healthcare reform. At Sellers Dorsey he is directly involved with corporate communications and the firm's leadership development initiative. He is certified by the International Coach Federation and has spoken internationally on topics such as coaching and humor. The focus of his philanthropic and volunteer activities include: The Trevor Project, The Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee, Victory PA, The Gill Foundation, the Allen's Lane Art Center of Philadelphia and Big Brothers Big Sisters. In 2005, Dorsey founded The Red Rose Project, a production company that creates theatrical and film projects focusing primarily on LGBTQ issues and collaboration among artists and leaders. The Red Rose Girls, a new musical, is its inaugural project, based on Alice Carter's best selling book of the same name. The Red Rose Project was inspired by the American artists/illustrators known as the Red Rose Girls: Violet Oakley, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Jessie Wilcox Smith and their domestic partner, Henrietta Cozens. They shared a dream of living a life together in art and making a positive impact on the world through their work. As artists and career women living at a time in history when both pursuits were discouraged, the group realized they could only achieve their dream through creativity, hard work, collaboration, and a life dedicated to one another. Their collaboration lasted 14 years, during which they produced work that helped to shape the American family's perspective of itself. Sadly, their collaboration ended after much public scrutiny and social pressure surrounding their living arrangement.   Jeff Blumenkrantz Music/Lyrics Jeff Blumenkrantz began his career as an actor, performing on Broadway in Into the Woods (1987), Threepenny Opera (1989), Damn Yankees (1994), How to Succeed in Business (1995), and A Class Act (2001), and on TV/film in Joseph's Dreamcoat, Will and Grace, all three Law and Order series, and the Great Performances (PBS) telecast of Candide in Concert. It was Audra McDonald's recording of his song "I Won't Mind" (lyrics by Annie Kessler and Libby Saines) that jumpstarted his songwriting career. Since then, Jeff received a Best Original Score Tony nomination for his songs in Urban Cowboy, and he contributed the song "I Think" to the acclaimed Off-Broadway production, The Audience. His one-act pieces, Woman with Pocketbook and Precious Little Jewel, have been performed at several regional theatres, and he has received song commissions from both Carnegie Hall and the Guggenheim's Works and Process program. Most recently, his songs have been recorded by Sutton Foster, Megan Mullally, Victoria Clark, and Lauren Kennedy. Jeff is a recipient of the BMI Harrington Award and the Dramatists Guild Jonathan Larson Memorial Musical Theatre Fellowship. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a longtime member of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. In 2005, he published a songbook of his music and produced The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast, which featured live performances of those songs. The podcast episodes can still be heard by visiting iTunes or www.jeffblumenkrantz.com. Jeff also produced and hosted The BMI Workshop Songbook Podcast, featuring never-before-available music by members and alumni of the acclaimed musical theatre writers workshop. It, too, can be found on iTunes or at www.bmiworkshopsongbook.com. Laura A. Shamas Book Laura Shamas' plays have been produced in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Her work has been performed and/or developed at many theaters, including: The Public Theater, Native Voices at the Autry, Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto), The Lark Development Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Golden Thread Productions, Walnut Street Theater, Utah Shakespearean Theater Festival, West Coast Ensemble, The Glines, Philadelphia Theater Company, Soho Theatre (London), Free Rein Theatre (Australia), The Old Globe, The Geva Theater, and the Denver Center Theater Company. Among her playwriting honors are: the 2008 Garrard Best Play Award from the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, a 2006-2007 Aurand Harris Fellowship from the Children's Theater Foundation of America, a Fringe First Award for Outstanding New Drama (Edinburgh), and a Drama-Logue Award. Her published plays include LINCOLN VACATION, MOLIÉRE IN LOVE, RE-SOURCING, UP TO DATE, LADY-LIKE, PORTRAIT OF A NUDE, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (adaptation), AMELIA LIVES, and THE OTHER SHAKESPEARE. VENUS IN ORANGE, co-authored with Paula Cizmar, was a recent collaboration project, produced at the Victory Theater Center in Burbank. Laura is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Her playwriting is archived at NAWPA (Native American Women Playwrights Archive), Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. She has a B.A. from UCLA, a Masters in English/Creative Writing from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. For more info: laurashamas.com. Alice A. Carter Author, Creative Advisor Alice A. Carter is an illustrator, writer, and a professor in the School of Art and Design at San Jose State University. Her illustration clients have included LucasFilm Ltd., Rolling Stone magazine, The New York Times, and ABC Television. Her illustrations have been exhibited at the New York Society of Illustrators, in the Communication Arts Art Annual, the Print Regional Design Annual and The Japan Creators Annual. She has won Best of Show Honors from the AR Show USA: 100 Best Annual Reports, the Hatch Awards of the Boston Ad Club, Simpson Printed Paper, and the Western Art Directors West Coast Show. Her work has been exhibited at a number of galleries and museums including, the New York Society of Illustrators' Museum of American Illustration, The Norman Rockwell Museum, the Art Institute of Houston, the New Britain Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Erie Art Museum. In 1997 Professor Carter was selected the outstanding Professor at San Jose State University, a large metropolitan campus in the Silicon Valley with an enrollment of 30,000 students. She was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in 2000 and traveled to Cairo where she lectured at Helwan University. In 2004, she was elected as a trustee at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Massachusetts. Her recent publications include, The Art of National Geographic: One Hundred Years of Illustration, (National Geographic, 1999), The Red Rose Girls: An Uncommon Story of Art and Love, (Abrams, 2000 and 2002), The Essential Thomas Eakins, Abrams, 2001), and Cecilia Beaux: A Modern Painter in The Gilded Age, (Rizzoli, 2005). In conjunction with her publications, Professor Carter has curated exhibitions at the Woodmere Art Museum, The Norman Rockwell Museum, and The Society of Illustrators' Museum of American Illustration. Lillian Faderman Consultant Lillian Faderman is an internationally-known scholar of lesbian history and literature, as well as ethnic history and literature. Among her many honors are six Lambda Literary Awards, two American Library Association Awards, and several lifetime achievement awards for scholarship, including Yale University's James Brudner Award, the Monette/Horwitz Award, the Publishing Triangle Award, the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives Culture Hero Award, and the American Association of University Women's Distinguished Senior Scholar Award. The New York Times named two of her books, SURPASSING THE LOVE OF MEN and ODD GIRLS AND TWILIGHT LOVERS, on its "Notable Books of the Year" list. Her work has been translated into numerous languages, including German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Turkish, Czech, and Slovenian.