Who We Are
Book: JENNIE S. REDLING
Jennie's plays were performed at Soho Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mint Theater, Urban Stages, Abingdon Theatre, The Barrow Group, Penguin Repertory Theater and others. Jennie is the book writer for the musical My Heart is The Drum (with composer Phillip Palmer and lyricist Stacey Luftig), recipient of Fred Ebb and Kleban awards, which premiered at Village Theatre in 2016. Drum was featured in NAMT’s 46th Minute Concert in October 2017 and Prospect Theaters Good to Go Festival of New Music by Women in 2018. All productions of My Heart is the Drum were directed by Schele Williams (The Notebook; The Wiz, Aida). Jennie is recipient of BMI’s Jerry Harrington Musical Theatre Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement as a Librettist, the national Stanley Drama Award for her play Gone Astray and the Arlene R. and William P. Lewis Playwriting Award for Women for her play A Rape in Glorious. A past resident of Goodspeed Opera’s Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, she is a finalist for the 2020 American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson Grant, the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, the 2020 Ensemble Studio Theatre Alfred P. Sloan Project, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Arts & Letters Prize for Drama. Jennie's monologues and scenes are published in Smith & Kraus’s "Audition Arsenal for Women in Their 20s” and "Winners' Scenes for Kids and Teens," JAC Publishing’s "Monologues at the Heart of Human Nature,” Volumes I and II and the International Centre for Women Playwrights publication “Scenes from a Diverse World.” Jennie is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, BMI Musical Advanced Book Writers Workshop, the International Centre for Women Playwrights, AEA and SAG-AFTRA. She is a Sanford Meisner trained Professional Drama Instructor and Coach and a certified rape crisis counselor, having served survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Composer: CHRIS BLACKER
Chris Blacker is a pianist, composer, and songwriter. He was a winner of the 2006 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards, and has released four albums to date: one of original jazz compositions and three of original songs with lyrics.
He spent seven years performing professionally on the West Coast with an eclectic array of artists such as the cabaret-noir group Circus Contraption, gypsy-jazz group Pearl Django, and classical pianist/composer Amy Rubin, as well as leading a jazz quartet of his own.
Chris currently lives in New York City. His musical “The Lady Takes The Mic” (with a book by Romie Faienza) was a semi-finalist for the National Music Theater Conference, and his 10-minute musical “First, Contact” (also with a book by Romie Faienza) was presented as part of Theatre Now’s Sound Bites XII Festival at the Kaufman Center. He is currently a composer and lyricist in the Advanced Songwriting group of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, and he works as a collaborative pianist at New York University, piano bar entertainer, and freelance musical director.
Composer/Lyricist: ED KOBAN
Ed Koban is the Music Director and House Band Coordinator for the Annual Native American Music Awards (Nammys) and is an accomplished multi instrumentalist. Ed currently tours nationwide as guitarist for multi award winning native rock group Blackbird, who were recently featured in Rolling Stone, and have collaborated with John Popper of Blues Traveller, Portugal the Man, & Jason Cropper of Weezer. Ed also performs with the instrumental improvisational act The Blackbird 3. Ed is a sought after session/live guitarist, and musical director who has worked, recorded, and performed live with artists including: Academy Award winner Wes Studi, Nelly Furtado, Members of The Village People, & Taste of Honey, Joanne Shenandoah, Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas, R&RHOF inductee Nokie Edwards of the Ventures, WWE Champion Mickie James and many more, Ed’s 2015 solo CD, How to Fly garnered him a Nammy nomination for Flutist of the year.
Ed is active in educating and raising awareness of issues facing indigenous people in the USA & Canada, speaking to youth and educators, and active involvement in his community.
Our Philosophy
Gone Astray, The Musical, expresses our belief that the performing arts have the power to transform lives and enrich and enlighten communities.
