bios:

Mel Brooks Director, producer, writer and actor, Mel Brooks is the recipient of three 2001 Tony Awards (Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Musical) and two Grammy Awards (Best Musical Show Album and Best Long Form Music Video) for THE PRODUCERS. Mr. Brooks began his distinguished career during television's "Golden Age" as a writer for Sid Caesar on YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS in 1951. In 1955 and in 1957, Brooks received Emmy Award nominations (with others) for the best comedy writing for CAESAR'S HOUR, and in 1956 he was nominated (with others) for best writing for a variety or situation comedy. In 1952, Brooks wrote sketches for Leonard Sillman's Broadway smash-hit revue, NEW FACES OF 1952, and in 1957, together with Joe Darion, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical SHINBONE ALLEY, which starred Eartha Kitt. In 1962, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical ALL-AMERICAN, starring Ray Bolger. In the'60s, Brooks teamed up with Carl Reiner to write and perform THE 2000 YEAR OLD MAN albums, which became immediate bestsellers. In 1960 and 1961, Brooks and Reiner received Grammy Award nominations for the best spoken word comedy for 2000 YEARS and for best comedy performance for 2000 AND ONE YEARS, respectively. In 1997, Brooks and Reiner teamed up again for THE 2000 YEAR OLD MAN IN THE YEAR 2000. Both a book and a CD were released, the CD winning a Grammy Award in 1998 for the best spoken word album: comedy. Brooks wrote and narrated THE CRITIC, a short satire on avant-garde art films, which received the Academy Award for best animated short subject in 1964. In 1965, he teamed up with buck Henry and created GET SMART, the long-running televisions show starring Don Adams as Agent 86. Brooks, along with others, received an Emmy Award for outstanding writing achievement in a comedy-variety in 1967 for THE SID CAESAR, IMOGENE COCA, CARL REINER, HOWARD MORRIS SPECIAL. In 1968, he wrote and directed his first feature film, THE PRODUCERS, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, which earned him an Academy Award for the best original screenplay written directly for the screen. He then went on to create a remarkable string of hit comedies: 1970, he wrote, directed and acted in THE TWELVE CHAIRS; 1974, co-wrote, directed and acted in BLAZING SADDLES, and was nominated, along with John Morris, for the best title song, "Blazing Saddles"; 1974, co-wrote and directed YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN; 1976, co-wrote, directed and starred in SILENT MOVIE; 1977, co-wrote, directed and starred in SILENT MOVIE; 1977, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART 1; 1983, produced and starred in TO BE OR NOT TO BE; co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in the hit sci-fi spoof, SPACEBALLS; 1991, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in LIFE STINKS; 1993, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS; 1995, co-wrote, directed, produced an starred in DRACULA; DEAD AND LOVING IT. For three successive seasons, Brooks won the Emmy Award for his role as UNCLE PHIL on the hit comedy show, MAD ABOUT YOU. His visionary film company, Brooksfilms Limited, founded in 1980, has produced some of America's most distinguished films, among them: David Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN, David Cronenberg's THE FLY, FRANCES, Richard Benjamin's MY FAVORITE YEAR and 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mr. Brooks' wife Anne Bancroft.

Joe Darion’s collaboration with Kleinsinger extended beyond Shinbone Alley. Together they wrote several cartoon shorts as well as a Christmas opera for the Little Orchestra Society. His greatest success came in the 1965-66 season with Man Of La Mancha (with a score by Mitch Leigh) winning the Drama Critics Circle Award as well as five Tonys. In 1967 came Illya Darling based on the popular Jules Dassin film Never On Sunday (with a score by the movie's soundtrack composer Manos Hadjidakis) bringing the Greek film star Melina Mercouri to Broadway. His point of view about the responsibility of the lyric writer offered the following advice: "Write a lyric with beautiful words but with open vowels in the wrong places, and you won't live to hear the applause, because if the composer doesn't kill you, the singer will." And he echoed the Hammerstein dictum of what show music was all about: "Today the music must be woven into the warp and woof of the play to add a dimension, to put up another wall for the weight of the play to rest upon."

George Kleinsinger Composer, Orchestrator. Productions: SHINBONE ALLEY Music & orchestration [Original, Musical] (Apr 13, 1957 - May 25, 1957) OF V WE SING Featuring songs by Kleinsinger [Original, Musical, Revue] (Feb 11, 1942 - Apr 25, 1942)

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior® shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.