ROBERT LOPEZ Composer/Lyricist

Robert Lopez is an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning songwriter whose work spans Broadway, film, television, and animation. With his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, he wrote the Academy Award-winning songs for Disney’s Frozen, Frozen 2, and Pixar’s Coco (“Remember Me”), as well as the Emmy-winning “Agatha All Along” for Marvel’s WandaVision. Together they adapted Frozen for Broadway and co-created the Hulu series Up Here.

Lopez co-created and co-wrote the Tony Award-winning musicals Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon. His additional credits include Finding Nemo: The Musical, songs for The Wonder Pets (earning two Emmy Awards), and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh. Both Lopez and Anderson-Lopez serve on the Dramatists Guild Council. A graduate of Yale University, Lopez lives in Brooklyn with his family and continues to create award-winning work for stage and screen.

JEFF MARX Music & Lyrics

Jeff Marx met Robert Lopez at the the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. It was there that Avenue Q was born. Originally from Hollywood, FL, Jeff attended the workshop as a as a young lawyer, looking for clients, and ended up leaving law and becoming a songwriter. Forever grateful to the BMI Workshop, he has worked on such projects as NBC’s Scrubs and Disney’s Bear in the Big Blue House.

JEFFREY CASS  Director/Artistic Director

Jeffrey Cass is a Joseph Jefferson Award Nominee and Lou Award Recipient,  has successfully directed over 30 Productions for BrightSide Theatre, most recently Phantom in Concert, The Rocky Horror Show and Pippin. He also played “Edna” in BST’s production of Hairspray. He holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater Performance from Roosevelt University. He previously served as the Producing Director for Circle Theatre where he directed 8 Productions including The Who’s Tommy (6 Joseph Jefferson Nominations including Best Musical and Best Director).

CHERYL NEWMAN Costume Designer

Cheryl has been a theater kid her whole life. She recently quit her day job in special education to do theater stuff and is thrilled to join Brightside for the upcoming season. She also costumes the award-winning BAM children’s theater in Hinsdale, and directs and costumes for Wheaton North High school, the Westmont Park District and Westview Hills Middle School.

KURT OTTINGER  Lighting Designer

Kurt is happy to be working for BrightSide Theatre again. He retired a few years ago after 31 years as theatre technical supervisor/resident lighting and sound designer for the Northbrook Park District.  Kurt has designed lighting for Northbrook on Ice, York High School, St. Patrick’s High School, Loyola Academy, Big Noise Theatre, Highland Park Players and many other groups over the years.

JEFF WHITTY  Book

Jeff Whitty won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Avenue Q. Plays include The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Hiding Place, The Plank Project, Suicide Weather, and Balls. Theaters presenting his work include the Atlantic Theater Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Whitty wrote the libretto for Bring It On: The Musical with music by Tom Kitt, Amanda Green, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and co-wrote the libretto for Head Over Heels. TV credits include Bad Fairy. 

Whitty was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me?.

PHIL VIDECKIS Music Director

is classically trained at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. At BrightSide he has musically directed Phantom in Concert, The Rocky Horror Show, Pippin, Jekyll & Hyde in Concert, and Jesus Christ Superstar. In recent years, Mr. Videckis has become involved in musical theater, working with local middle schools, high schools, and community theater groups, music directing and/or accompanying shows like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, City of Angels in Concert, and Gypsy.

ARIEL MOSES Scenic Designer