CHRISTOPHER ANSELMO is an award-winning songwriter and playwright. His musicals include ATLANTIC (Edinburgh), FABLE (NYMF) and the NYT Critic’s Pick adaptation of THE POUT-POUT FISH, which premiered at the New Victory Theater in 2019, continues to tour the nation with TheaterWorksUSA, and recently released its official cast recording. His latest musicals include FOUNTAIN, which was developed at the O’Neill NMTC and NAMT Festival of New Musicals, and is currently under option from Hendel Productions; and PRINCESS KAY OF THE MILKY WAY, developed at the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Grove at Goodspeed Musicals and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and will have its world premiere at Minneapolis’s Children’s Theatre Company in Spring 2027. Also with Jared Corak, he is currently developing a new commission from Two River Theater and a new licensing project for Disney Theatrical Group. As a team, they have been named finalists for the Larson Grant and Kleban Prize. In addition to his work as a writer, Anselmo has served as associate to composer Jeanine Tesori on her projects, most recently KIMBERLY AKIMBO and SOFT POWER. Member of ASCAP, Dramatists Guild and the BMI Advanced Workshop.
Jared Corak (he/him) is a Brooklyn-based writer and lyricist. His musicals include the New York Times Critic’s Pick adaptation of The Pout-Pout Fish, which premiered at the New Victory Theater in 2019 and continues to tour the nation with TheaterWorksUSA; Fountain, which was selected for the O’Neill’s 2023 National Music Theater Conference and NAMT’s 2023 Festival of New Musicals; and Princess Kay Of The Milky Way, which has received development through Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals. He is the recipient of the BMI Foundation’s Ellen Schwartz Award for Outstanding Literary Merit in Lyric Writing and the Jean Banks Award. With collaborator Christopher Anselmo, he has been a finalist for the Larson Grant and Kleban Prize. When he is not writing musicals, he works on the CBS TV show “FBI.”
