The Artists
Gemma Cooper-Novack (book, lyrics), a lyricist, arts educator, director, writer, and playwright, was born and raised in New York City and lived in both Chicago and Ghana before moving to Boston. Her written work has appeared in various forums, including the magazines Hanging Loose, ByLine, The Saint Ann’s Review, and Imagine…, the blog Feminist Review, and the Chicago radio show The Callback. Her play I’m Coming In Soon was produced by Young Playwrights in New York in 2000; Blindside, directed by Laura Blegen, was produced in Chicago in 2008, as was Chicago Chronicle #1, a documentary theater project in which Gemma collaborated with six other playwrights and Chicago’s American Theatre Company. Gemma is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Arts in Education at Harvard University.
Joshua Tyra (music, lyrics) has been active in theater throughout his life through performing, writing, and accompanying. He was born in Indiana and raised on a steady diet of music: Broadway, operetta, classical, classic rock, folk, gospel and church hymns. He began writing music and lyrics at age 12, and his first musical was produced by his high school drama club in 1997. He directed a staged reading of his musical The Romance of the Rose at the University of Chicago in 2001, and completed a new revision of the show in 2006. Josh is currently pursuing an MA in archaeology and Near Eastern languages at Trinity International University.