Brannon Bowers

Producing Director, American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern

MX. BRANNON BOWERS (Producing Director) is a creative theatrical producer dedicated to new work and unexplored forms of performance, bridging genres, artistic mediums, and communities to make theatre accessible to all audiences. They joined the American Music Theatre Project in 2016 and during their tenure has developed over 40 musical projects & produced 6 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe through an ongoing partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Brannon was a co-producer on the Wirtz Center’s mainstage productions of The Battlefields of Clara Barton and Something In The Game, and just completed their seventh year producing the Johnny Mercer Foundation’s Songwriters Project. Brannon recently produced the concert We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust at Carnegie Hall in January 2023, and is the creative producer of Get Out Alive, an autobiographical afrogoth musical by Nikki Lynette which they developed into an award-winning independent film in 2021 and is still in development for the stage. Brannon is on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) and is in their second year as co-chair of the NAMT Festival of New Musicals. They were a judge of the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival and has spoken at several NAMT conferences, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the Segal Centre in Montreal, Canada. Prior to their time at AMTP, Brannon worked at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ, under Artistic Director Emily Mann where they coordinated readings and assisted on productions of new works by Emily Mann, Christopher Durang, Ken Ludwig, Nilo Cruz, Heather Raffo, Dipika Guha, and Sharyn Rothstein. Brannon has also produced work in the Chicago nightlife community and has held internships at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Redmoon Theater. Brannon is a proud graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Theatre, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Integrated Marketing Communications.

Marco Gomez

Producer/Director, DOMA Theatre Company

Marco is an award winning director (Broadway World, LA Weekly, NAACP, etc) in Los Angeles for his work with DOMA Theatre Co and his recent Broadway credits include – An Act of God, Matilda, On Your Feet, The Color Purple, Latin History For Morons. He is also a film producer and has developed films in the US, Rio de Janeiro, and Rome. He is also the Chief Financial Officer for Spare Some Change, a California non-profit organization dedicated to preventing and assisting run away youth and other arts based non-profits. Marco has over 20 years of experience in real estate development and construction, asset/project/property management, financing, and production and investment. He maintains professional memberships with the National Association of Realtors, California Association of Realtors, Burbank Association of Realtors, Pacific West Realtors, Affordable Housing Management Association and The Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers.

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.

Brad Willcuts

Associate Professor of Musical Theatre, Michigan State University Department of Theatre / New Musical Laboratory

Brad’s credits as a choreographer, movement director, fight director, director and assistant span Broadway, National Tours, International Theaters, Regional Theaters and the Metropolitan Opera. He currently serves as Associate Director/Choreographer for the new Dolly Parton musical entitled Here You Come Again touring the country.

Broadway and National Tour: Amazing Grace (Assistant Fight and Military Movement Director), International: Legende Holmes (Holmes the Legend) at the Karlin Theater in Prague, Czechia (Dance, Movement and Fight Assistant), Met Opera: Porgy and Bess (Assistant Violence Director), Mother Courage and Her Children, starring Kathleen Turner (Assistant Movement Director) at the Tony Award Winning Arena Stage in Washington D.C., Hello, Dolly (Director/Choreographer) at San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre. He recently choreographed the World Premiere of The Fantasticks at Flint Repertory Theatre.  Brad is Associate Professor of Musical Theatre and Choreography at Michigan State University where he also oversees the New Musical Laboratory. As a tenured professor, Brad has won multiple awards and grants including the All-University Teacher/Scholar Award, the AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award, The Fintz Award for Excellence in Teaching and multiple Catalyst Grants to continue working with new media practices for actors and dancers in the classroom.

As a performer, Brad has worked across the country and in England as singer, dancer and actor performing with Bette Midler, Marvin Hamlisch, Christina Aguilera, Emily Skinner, and the international touring group The 12 Irish Tenors to name a few.