2016 National Music Theater Conference Writer Bios

David H. Bell has served as Artistic Director of the Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. and Associate Artistic Director to Kenny Leon at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and is currently the Artistic Director of the American Music Theatre Project and Director of the Music Theatre Program at Northwestern University. As director, choreographer, or author, David has received 44 of Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award nominations (winning 11), 5 Carbonell nominations (Florida), as well as the Dramalogue Award (LA), the Helen Hayes Award (D.C.), and numerous awards in Atlanta. His musical Hot Mikado (book, additional lyrics) was nominated for the Olivier award (London's West End). David has written and directed Cowboys and Lawyers (Goodspeed Opera House) and The Good War (Northlight Theatre), both with Craig Carnelia; Fanny Brice (Maltz Jupiter, Asolo Rep); Matador (Coconut Grove Playhouse); The Bowery Boys (Marriott Theatre); The Rules of Love (AMTP); Don’t Stop the Carnival (Coconut Grove Playhouse); Hot Mikado (Ford's Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Pittsburgh CLO, The Alliance Theatre); The Theatre of Dreams (Bridgewater Hall , Manchester England); and Die Schone und das das Biest (European Tour). He directed the world premieres of Murder for Two (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, HERO, Marriott Theatre, and Asolo Rep), Elmer Gantry (Ford’s Theatre), Peggy Sue Got Married (Marriott Theatre), and many others. He has worked on original musicals with Cy Coleman, Dolly Parton, Jimmy Buffett, Herman Wouk, Joe Kinosian, Kellen Blair, Russel Baker, George Stiles, and others.

Daniel Green is a composer/lyricist and music director. He was the associate conductor of Rocky on Broadway and has also played or conducted on Broadway for several other shows. As a composer, Daniel is a graduate of the BMI Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop. His show The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, written with Lezlie Wade, was presented at the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop for Stephen Schwartz, with guest panelists Stephen Flaherty and Dick Scanlan. It was also showcased at Bound for Broadway with Liz Callaway, the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, and the Toronto Summerworks Festival, and had a reading at the American Music Theatre Project. Other honors include a NAMT grant from the National Fund for New Musicals, a retreat at Running Deer Musical Theatre Lab, a Weston Playhouse New Musical Award nomination, and a feature in NEO at the York Theatre. Other composing credits include Fanny Brice (Asolo Rep), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Northwestern University), and Twelfth Night (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival).

Zakiyyah Alexander is a writer for stage and television. Her plays include: 10 Things To Do Before I Die (Second Stage), Sick? (Summer Play Festival), The Etymology of Bird (Central Park Summerstage, Hip Hop Theater Festival, Providence Black Repertory Theatre), Blurring Shine (Market Theater, Johannesburg; NY International Fringe Festival), Sweet Maladies (Brava Arts Center, Rucker Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival), something new (commissioned by Philadelphia Theater Company), and (900). A recipient of a Joyce Award for the development of the new musical, GIRL Shakes Loose with composer Imani Uzuri, featuring the poetry of Sonia Sanchez. Other awards include: Helen Merrill Emerging Playwriting Award, ACT New Play Award/Lorraine Hansberry Prize, Stellar Network Award, Theodore Ward Prize, Jackson Phelan Award, Van Lier Award at New Dramatists, Drama League New Directors/New Works, New Professional Theatre Playwriting Award. Education: Yale School of Drama (MFA in playwriting). Most recently, a writer for the television show Grey’s Anatomy.

Composer and vocalist Imani Uzuri’s work has been called “stunning” by New York Magazine. She travels internationally creating concerts, experimental theater, performance art, and sound installations in venues/festivals including Joe's Pub, The Kitchen, Whitney Museum, Central Park Summer Stage, Performa Biennial, and MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). The Village Voice says, “Imani Uzuri is a constant surprise...seamlessly combining jazz, classical, country, and blues motifs into highly personalized compositions.” Uzuri is currently composing a new musical, GIRL Shakes Lose with book by playwright Zakiyyah Alexander (featuring the poetry of Sonia Sanchez). She recently premiered her first orchestral composition, Placeless, at Ecstatic Music Festival and was subsequently named by The New Yorker as one of the emerging “female composers edg[ing] forward.” Uzuri was a 2015 Park Avenue Armory Artist-In-Residence, and she is currently composing her first opera, Hush Arbor, as a 2015 MAP Fund grantee. The New York Times has called Uzuri’s music “stirring.” During Spring 2016, Uzuri will mark her Lincoln Center American Songbook debut. www.imaniuzuri.com.