Cate Caplin

Producer/Director/Choreographer

Cate Caplin has produced, directed, and choreographed over 200 productions and her work has been seen on television, in films, music videos, commercials, and in theatrical venues world wide from the Paris Opera House to the Broadwater Stage.

She is a 34 times Regional and International Theatrical Ballroom Dance Champion, a published writer, and an acting and dance coach.

Cate wrote and directed her first feature film, Mating Dance, which won an Accolade Award, and she has been the recipient of a Garland Award, a Women in Theatre Red Carpet Award, multiple LA Stage Alliance, Ovation, Eddon, and Scenie Awards and an Award of Excellence from the LA Film Commission for her work as a writer, director, choreographer, and producer.

Cate is a Directing Member of Actors Studio West, an Associate Member of SDC, and was honored to receive Playwright Arena’s “Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community.”

John Coppola

Director/Choreography

A native of Brooklyn, New York, John Coppola is a multi-talented director and acting coach, whose clients have starred on HBO, Showtime, ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, Netflix, FX, AMC, USA, Lifetime, Fox, WB, TNT and Showcase.

As a director, John has helmed more than 100 theatrical productions in New York, Los Angeles and abroad. His credits include groundbreaking productions of Shakespeare, Brecht, John Patrick Shanley and Caryl Churchill, as well as critically acclaimed adaptations of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Cabaret. Reviews available upon request.

As a film director, John’s accolades include the award for Best Director at the New York International Film & Video Festival for his film, Possibility, which also took the Grand Jury Prize for short film In Los Angeles. Then, he directed Bourbon Street, a New Orleans television pilot for Rampart Entertainment. Most recently, he directed In the Basement, a short film that is scheduled for screening at festivals across the country.

John began his career as an actor, whose career took him from the footlights of Broadway to the soundstages of Hollywood. After attending Yale’s prestigious drama program, John first appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, followed by Biloxi Blues, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, American Buffalo, and the European revival tours of Hair and West Side Story.

John’s television acting credits include Fox TV’s Herman’s Head, NYPD Blue, and Chicken Soup for the Soul, among others. On film, John starred in Into the Paradise and has also appeared in Last Exit to Brooklyn, Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap, and Terry Southern’s You Gotta Leave Your Mark. John also produced and starred-in his award-winning one-man show entitled The DeVivo Variation, which premiered at the prestigious HBO Workspace in Los Angeles, and successfully ran for more than two years on both coasts, garnering two Critic’s Choice Awards and a Dramalogue Award.

John currently lives in Los Angeles, where he is in demand as one of Hollywood’s top acting coaches. He offers his unique style of teaching and private coaching to a thriving group of students, established actors and movie stars.

Joseph Hayward

Associate Producing Director, The York Theatre Company

Joseph Hayward is a director and producer of theatre and live events based in New York. His artistic home is The York Theatre Company, where he currently serves as the Associate Producing Director and coordinator for the Developmental Reading Series. Like The York, Joseph is passionate about developing new works and rediscovering musical gems from the past. 

Most recently, he directed How to Steal an Election at The York (the first New York revival), A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder at the South Orange Performing Arts Center, Julie Benko Sings Jule Styne at The York, Lullaby of Broadway with Lee Roy Reams, Karin Baker & Karen Ziemba at The York, and Desperate Measures at Saint Michael’s Playhouse. Other credits include: And Then There Were None at St. Bart’s/Moss Theatre, Remembering Jerry Herman at The York, and You Can’t Take It With You at St. Bart’s/Hudson Guild Theatre. 

Joseph began his career as an assistant and associate to a variety of directors and producers including Bill Castellino, Ray Roderick, Austin Pendleton, Jack Hofsiss and more. For eight years, Joseph continued to hone his craft under the guidance of these directors at theaters across the country. 

John Mitchell

Independent Producer

John has been a theater producer and director for over thirty years.  Over his many years, he has produced shows in Sacramento, Los Angeles and New York.  Mr. Mitchell began producing at his own theater company in Sacramento at age 25 and completed two seasons of shows before he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career in theater and television writing.  John has developed three sitcom pilots which were sold (the shows were not picked up), and currently is working on an animated show called Agro Squirrel.  Mr. Michell produced “Bumpersticker” for the Hollywood Fringe in 2016 and working with the same team, Mr. Mitchell produced “Bukowsical!” at the New York Fringe, where it took Best of Fringe 2008.  The following year, he brought the one-woman show “Now That She’s Gone” to the NY Fringe.  In between Mr. Mitchell has been busy developing new works and has three current musicals in development.

He has been active in the management of theater companies and non-profit organizations for more than 30 years as well and currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of New Musicals Inc.

James Morgan

Producing Artistic Director, The York Theatre Company

The York Theatre Company occupies a unique spot in New York’s theatrical landscape. Now in its 50th year, the York is the only theater in the city, and one of the few in the world, whose two-fold mission is to produce new musical works and rediscover musical gems from the past.

The York’s intimate, imaginative producing style has become its trademark.  Its productions have won critical acclaim, a host of honors and awards, and a loyal audience. Just as important, the York provides a nurturing, constructive environment for new artists to hone their craft, and for some of the masters of the musical theater’s Golden Age to take fresh looks at their classic works.  A special Drama Desk Award was presented to the company for its “vital contributions to theater by developing and producing new musicals.”

Founded by Janet Hayes Walker, the York has presented more than 70 full-scale musical productions, including such classics as The Golden Apple, The Grass Harp, On the 20th Century, A Doll’s Life, Lost in the Stars, Carnival!, and Merrily We Roll Along.  Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, the York has focused exclusively on  musical theater: newer musicals in its Mainstage Series (most of them world, American or New York premieres) and revivals in its popular Musicals in Mufti series of semi-staged readings.

Recent Mainstage productions have included Desperate Measures (Best Musical, Off-Broadway Alliance Award, Outer Critics Circle), Marry Harry, A Taste of Things to Come, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Rothschild & Sons, Cagney, Texas in Paris, Inventing Mary Martin, Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter, Storyville, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Closer Than Ever (Best Musical Revival, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Ionescapade, The Road to Qatar!, Falling for Eve, Yank!, Blind Lemon Blues, Enter Laughing, Asylum, Thrill Me, Souvenir, and The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!).

Among the York productions that have had commercial transfers are Desperate Measures, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Souvenir, Jolson & Company, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, and Cagney, starring Robert Creighton as James Cagney and members of the original York cast, which ran at the Westside Theatre for over 500 performances with the original York cast.  Cast recordings are available for 35 York productions.

In the spring of 2019, the York celebrated its 125th Musicals in Mufti production: Stephen Sondheim’s Saturday Night.  The Muftis, now in their 25th year, constitute a lovingly-curated catalogue of rarely produced musicals, some of them under-appreciated in their initial  productions, but all of them worth re-examination.  Recent Mufti presentations have included Alan Jay Lerner’s Carmelina (with Joseph Stein), The Day Before Spring (with Frederick Loewe) and Lolita, My Love (with John Barry); three shows of Jule Styne, Hallelujah, Baby!, Bar Mitzvah Boy, and Subways Are for Sleeping; a celebration of Jerry Herman’s Dear World (starring Tyne Daly) and Milk and Honey, Berlin to Broadway to Kurt Weill, Starting Here, Starting Now, and Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.

The York’s New2NY series presents simply-staged concert performances of new musicals, providing a stage between developmental lab and full production. Previous shows in the series have included In Transit (which ran on Broadway in 16/17 season), The Times, Larry Grossman’s Compose Yourself!, and 2017’s Mark Felt, Superstar and How to Be an American!.

Each year, the York presents some 30 readings of new musicals in its Developmental Reading Series, which has been the incubator for such shows as Avenue Q, Summer of ‘42, Harold and Maude, Yank!, In Transit, Souvenir, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Mark Felt: Superstar, and We Foxes.

Started in 2015, the York’s Musical Theatre Training Program (MTTP) brings working professionals in to work with eager and dedicated theatre students.  Our rigorous yet nurturing programs offer training in singing, acting and movement and often include master classes with some of New York’s top theatre artists. Most of our programs culminate in a showcase performance on the York’s Off-Broadway stage.  We currently offer a Summer Intensive for middle and high school students and a Winter Intensive to college students from across the nation.

The York also produces the annual NEO Concert recognizing New, Emerging and Outstanding musical theater writers, and is proud of its longtime association with Marymount Manhattan College, its Education partner.  The company recently honored Joel Grey with the 25th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theater. Other recent recipients  Angela Lansbury in 2015, and Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty in 2014.

Bren Thor

Associate Producer, Musical Theatre West

Bren Thor is the Associate Producer at Musical Theatre West, supervising the Production and Marketing departments, and working on everything from hiring and casting to editing sizzle reels, but frankly gets the most joy out of sinking his fingers into a good spreadsheet. He spearheaded the virtual Keep The Lights On concert series, which got the 72 year old company through the pandemic, and founded MTW’s New Works Reading Series, which just opened submissions for its 4th season (check musical.org/new-works for details). In a previous life, Bren performed with greats such as Carol Channing, Nicole Parker, Shoshana Bean, Cathy Rigby, Jo Anne Worley, and more. Bren has a passion for sustainable models of theatre.