Meet The Creative Team

Book, Music, and Lyrics

Neville Grusd

NEVILLE GRUSD was born in Cape Town, South Africa and emigrated to the United States in 1978. Having the choice of the world where to settle, Neville chose New York because of his love of Broadway shows and jazz, and he wants to be where the action is. Trained in accounting and finance, Neville was always involved in theater and musical composition. He has a 100% record of making money in  Broadway musicals, having invested in the 2009 revival of West Side Story. One of his songs, “All at Once, It’s Spring” was featured in the TV show “ Gene Simmon's Family Jewels” in the wedding scene. He has produced a number of jazz albums , with International stars , including his latest: “Passion Flower- the music of Billy Strayhorn”. “My Father’s Play” is his first full-length musical, and a tribute to his father, who introduced him to theater , but discouraged him pursuing it as a career. Let’s prove him wrong!

Director / Choreographer

Liz Piccoli (SDC)

Liz Piccoli- SDC Director/Choreographer/Dramaturg Select previous credits include: Director/Choreographer/Dramaturg for Spandex the Musical- The Audio Musical mixed by Tony Award winning Kai Harada and written by Daniel Levin, with productions Off-Broadway at 777 Theater and at the Minnsky Theater in Minneapolis (www.spandexmusical.com,)  Director/Choreographer for Billy Elliot at the Axelrod Theater in NJ, Director/Choreographer for Cinderella and Footloose at the Okoboji Summer Theater and Director for a zoom developmental reading of Noble Family developed by Kierstead Productions.  Liz was an SDC Observer for Lysistrata Jones at the Judson Memorial and was the Assistant Choreographer for the TVLand Awards Opening featuring Liza Minnelli.  Just before the pandemic, she choreographed Miss Saigon at the University of HI, in Oahu for Ohana Arts.  Recent Directing work includes: Into the Woods for the Proctors Broadway Camp andThe Secret Garden at the Virginia Children's Theater.  Last summer she choreographed her first feature film, Dirty Rhetoric, starring Tovah Feldshuh.  She is thrilled to be working with the incredible cast and creative team for My Father's Play- thank you Neville for trusting me with your (and your father's) work.  Love to my husband Michael and thank you for the support and A.I. artistic experience.   www.lizpiccoli.com

Musical Director

Seth Weinstein

Seth Weinstein wrote the music for the Off-Broadway musical How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes (New World Stages) and The Magic Fishbone (developed at the Broadway Mentors Program). He also wrote and recorded “The Chagall Suite” (eight piano movements inspired by Marc Chagall’s artworks) and “Conversations” (a musical meeting between Chagall and Elvis Presley) and has performed them around the USA and Germany and in France.

Seth has toured internationally with Fosse and Ivan Jacobs’s The Phantom of the Opera and in the USA with Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver. He has been the musical director of Black House (Zagreb, Croatia), Do I Hear a Waltz? (Arvada Center), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), and Ben, Virginia & Me (Acorn Theatre, NYC), among other shows. He is the pianist for the MAC and Bistro Award-winning Screen Gems: Songs of Old Hollywood (featuring Sarah Rice) and Operation Opera (featuring Adelmo Guidarelli), and he performs regularly with soprano Jodi Keogan.

Seth has played for Holland America Line and Hapag-Lloyd cruises, has won Scrabble tournaments in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, and is halfway through an endeavor to walk the perimeters of 26 islands from Aruba to Zanzibar. For more information, visit sethweinstein.com.

Stage Manager

Michaella Craver *

Michaella Craver (Stage Manager): Off-Broadway: Our Brothers Son, Chushingura - 47 Ronin. National Tour: Jabari Dreams of Freedom! Regional: A Little Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet (Two River Theater), Little Women (Skyline Theater Company), Norwegian Cruise Line. James Madison University alumni. Proud member of AEA. For Mom, Dad, and Allegra. @michaellacraver

Lighting Designer

Sarah Woods

Sarah Woods is very excited to be a part of this production! She is a lighting designer for all types of live performance and film. Previously she has worked with Williamstown Theatre Festival, Two River Theater, New York Comedy Festival, Princeton University, Rutgers University, and more. When not designing, she works as an electrician for Saturday Night Live, the Public Theater, and other Off-Broadway venues. She graduated this winter from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. See more of Sarah’s work here:woodslighting.com

Costume Designer

Julia Squire

Julia Squier is an NY/NJ based costume designer with a BFA in Theatrical Costume Production and Design from Marymount Manhattan College. Recent costume design credits include Lysistrata, Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play, Urinetown (MMC); Let’s Dance! (Transcendence Theater Co.); The Winter’s Tale (NY Shakespeare Exchange); The Lesbian Play (The Tank). Other recent credits include costume coordinator for The Harder They Come, A Raisin in the Sun, Fat Ham (The Public Theater), fitter/stitcher for As You Like It (The Public Theater), and wardrobe for She Loves Me and Le portrait de Manon & Angélique+ Fauré’s Pavane (MSM).

Associate Choreographer

Deborah Wilson

Deborah Y Wilson (Debbie) (Associate Choreographer) a native New Yorker is currently the Apprentice to the Choreographer JoAnn Hunter for the Broadway Musical Bad Cinderella. Debbie also currently teaches Commercial Jazz at Broadway Dance Center. Along with teaching Master Dance Workshops all over the world she has also taught at Steps on Broadway, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Peridance Capezio Center and Dance Theater of Harlem here in New York. She was the Apprentice to Director/Choreographer Jerry Mitchell for the Broadway Musical National Tour of Pretty Woman. Choreography credits include the Off Broadway Musical Futurology, Sirens after Dark and Carnival Choreographers Ball. Debbie can be seen in Apple TV’s “Severance” as a featured scientist and in the TV Show “The Other Two” as a principal dancer choreographed by Kathryn Burns. Performance credits include The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, The Wizard Of Oz National Tour, Porgy & Bess in Bregenz Austria, The Rosie O’Donnell Christmas Show and Sesame Street Live International Tour where along with performing she was also the Performance Director. Thank You to Liz Piccoli for giving her this amazing opportunity.

Production Assistant

Andi Kolodny

Andi is thrilled to be supporting the cast and creative team as production assistant for My Father’s Play, especially because it is her father’s play!  This is Andi’s first experience working in theater and she is so impressed with the amount of work and talent that goes into bringing a play of this quality to life. Andi has taken a lead role in Gemini Music Co., LLC as Executive Vice President

Andi received her BA in Business Management from Hofstra University, a Master’s in Public Administration from Baruch College,  and a post graduate certificate in health data analytics from Cornell Medical College. Andi is also a conscious parenting coach and is the founder of Parent Do Overs.