CREATIVE TEAM

SIDNEY KINGSLEY - “DEAD END” PLAYWRIGHT -  Mr. Kingsley studied at Cornell University, where he began his career writing plays for the college dramatic club. He joined the Group Theater for the production of his first major work. In 1933 the company performed his play Men in White. Set in a hospital, the play dealt with the issue of illegal abortion, 1930s medical and surgical practices and the struggle of one promising physician who must choose to dedicate his life to medicine or devote himself to his fiancée. The play was a box-office smash.

Kingsley followed this success with the play Dead End in 1935. A story about slum housing and its connection to crime, eventually spawning the Dead End Kids.

Despite reaching the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II, sometime soon after 1951, HUAC put Kingsley's name on the Hollywood Blacklist, the main reason he never had a Hollywood film adaption after 1951.

In 1943, Kingsley returned to his previous success with the historical drama The Patriots. This play, which told the story of Thomas Jefferson and his activities in the young American republic, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Kingsley continued writing for the theater late into his career, adapting Arthur Koestler's novel Darkness at Noon for the stage in 1951, and writing Lunatics and Lovers in 1954 and Night Life in 1962.

In addition to his work for the stage, Kingsley wrote a number of scripts for Hollywood productions, mostly based on his own work. He later also wrote the scripts and templates for numerous television series and television films.

Kingsley was the founding chairman of New Jersey’s Motion Picture & Television Development Commission in 1977. He was a president of the Dramatists Guild and was a longtime supporter of Ellen Stewart’s New York home for experimental and international work, the La Mama Experimental Theater Club. He was also a board member of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Kingsley was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1983, and in 1988 he received the William Inge Award for lifetime achievement in the American theater.

Sidney Kingsley died on March 20, 1995, at his home in Oakland, New Jersey.

BOOK BY PETER C. PALAME

Mr. Palame has been in the business of entertaining audiences for almost 50 years, from Off-Broadway and Regional theater to Casino and Cabaret revues and Celebrity Concerts. As Executive Producer and Artistic Director for his production company Palame Productions LLC, he has produced hundreds of plays and musicals, as well as numerous original musicals and revues.

As a director, Mr. Palame has been at the helm of over two hundred professional productions, including just about all the musicals from the golden age of Broadway including, Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, Damn Yankees, Singin’ In The Rain and Hair.

His has written the Librettos for several original musicals including, ELLIS ISLAND, JOLSON, MOON LIGHT SERENADE (The Glen Miller Story), and the hit Andrews Sisters musical, APPLE BLOSSOM TIME.

On September 10, 2002, Mr. Palame’s, original production, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, a tribute to the city after the terrible events of the previous year, debuted at The Brook Theater. This production was commissioned as a fundraiser for the FDNY and NYC POLICE FOUNDATION with the proceeds going to help the first responders and their families. The musical received citations from both the city and the first responders’ organizations and went on to have a six-month run..

As a director and venue representative for celebrity concerts, Mr. Palame worked directly with the artists, executing and overseeing the venue and all technical needs for the concert. The artists included Willie Nelson, Marie Osmond, Robert Klein, Phillys Diller, and Joe Piscopo, among others.

Mr. Palame’s collaboration with Mr. Fishman and Mr. Edelman began in 1982 with their critically acclaimed, ON THE AIR, an all-original musical comedy tribute to 1940’s radio. The original OFF-BROADWAY production was unanimously, praised by the NY and East Coast critics, and went on to be produced by theaters across the U.S. to this day.

Dead End the Musical was first developed through the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and was chosen to present a reading of the musical at the Dramatist Guild, for an audience made up of Broadway composers, lyricists and book writers. Mr. Palame’s adaptation of Mr. Kingsley’s play is one of the highlights of his career, affording him the chance to meet and spend time with the late Mr. Kingsley, both in NY and at his home in Oakland, NJ. Mr. Palame states “Coming out of retirement to collaborate with Harvey and Neil on this project has been one of the most creative and fun times I have had in the theater.

Mr. Palame has an MFA degree from Miami University of Ohio. He received a graduate assistantship scholarship and taught undergraduate courses in the theater department at the university. A native of NY and NJ for over thirty-five years, Peter now resides in Phoenix, Arizona with Linda, his spouse of forty nine years. Mr. Palame is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

MUSIC BY NEIL FISHMAN - LYRICS BY HARVEY EDELMAN -  Mr. Fishman and Mr. Edelman are the authors and producers of the first multicast audiobook musical, entitled “Spin: The Rumpelstiltskin Musical,” distributed by HarperAudio, and featuring Jim Dale, legendary Broadway performer and the voice of the Harry Potter series. The music of Spin was composed by Mr. Fishman, who also did the musical arrangements for the audio book. Mr. Edelman wrote the book and lyrics and co-adapted his original stage play to the audio book with David B. Coe. The cast of Spin, a witty musical re-imagining of the Grimm’s fairy tale, also features a stellar list of Broadway and audiobook performers. Spin won an Audie for Most Original Work and was the recipient of two 2018 SOVAS awards including “Outstanding Production - Audiobook” and “Audiobook Narration - Children, Best Voice Over (the cast)”. Spin also won a 2018 Parents Choice Silver Medal.

Their audiobook musical, “Puss In Boots a Musical,” released in August 2019, also features Jim Dale as narrator, along with a stellar cast of Broadway veterans. Edelman and Fishman adapted their 1992 stage play with the help of Khristine Hvam, a veteran audiobook narrator, director, and producer. “Puss in Boots a Musical,” won two 2019 SOVAS Awards for Best Voiceover in a Children’s Production and Outstanding Audiobook Production.

The pair first collaborated on a musical adaptation of George Farquar's restoration comedy, "The Beaux' Stratagem," entitled, "To Bed a Fortune," which was produced in 1976. 

The writing duo have also collaborated on a number of educational works including "Songsleuth" a musical designed to be performed by sixth graders for their classmates.  Songsleuth was published in the Macmillan Publishing Educational Series, "Music and You" and a recording of the songs is part of the accompanying "Music and You" soundtrack on CBS Records.  The 1995 edition of "Music and You" contains "Earthkids," a musical that teaches children about environmental concerns.  "Earthkids" has also been performed live in theaters in the New York area.

Mr. Edelman and Mr. Fishman have also written and produced a number of songs about hygiene, nutrition, and dental care for the national Headstart Program, sponsored by the Soap and Detergent Association, Weightwatchers, and Colgate-Palmolive, respectively.

In 1989, they were commissioned by the Pittsburgh Playhouse to write a musical version of "Puss 'n Boots," for its Spring Season and serve as Artists In Residence prior to its debut.  "Puss In Boots, the Musical" was subsequently produced in other regional and community theaters.  The genesis of that commission was the Pittsburgh Playhouse's production of an earlier Edelman/Fishman children's musical, "Rumpelstiltskin," originally produced in northern New Jersey.

Their other works include "On The Air," a musical spoof of the Golden Age of Radio, which first appeared Off-Broadway in 1984 with numerous subsequent theater productions, and a musical about independent business people entitled, "Entrepreneurs,” which they wrote with Mel Friedman. Their current project, “Dead End the Musical” adapted from Sidney Kingsley's landmark play, "Dead End," was first developed in the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop and subsequently chosen for a staged reading at the Dramatists Guild Musical Theater Workshop.

“Nighlights” is a collection of songs that recounts the true story of how people of all faiths and races came together in the town of Billings, Montana in 1993 to successfully fight a group of haters threatening the town’s tiny Jewish population and other minorities.  Songs from “Nightlights” were first performed in a musical at the Passage Theatre in Trenton, New Jersey in 2005.

Mr. Fishman received his formal musical education at Juilliard Preparatory Division and later earned his degree at Yale University.  Beside his work as a composer and producer, he has also done extensive work as musical director, vocal coach, and arranger. Mr. Fishman is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Mr. Edelman earned a degree in Journalism from Georgia State University.  In addition to his work as lyricist and producer, he has written the librettos for a number of their musicals including, "Rumpelstiltskin," "Songsleuth," "Earthkids," and "Puss 'n Boots." He also has a blog, The Accidental Caddie, recounting his experiences with his son as a junior golfer. Mr. Edelman is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.