Josh Ben-Ami and James Salem,
New York, New York, United States

Website (Josh Ben-Ami) — Website (James Salem)

Josh Ben-Ami and James Salem are a musical theater songwriting duo. They met in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU Tisch, where both received their MFA in May 2020. While at Tisch, James and Josh wrote two new musicals together: “#Masc4Masc: A Totally Masculine Musical,” and “Maya’s Mother.” Josh wrote the score, and James wrote the book and lyrics. James is also the co-creator and director of musical webseries “Is This Art Now?”, to which Josh has contributed several songs. Outside of their collaborations, James and Josh are both developing solo song cycles, titled “About Last Night” and “Unpopular Opinions,” respectively. When they are not writing songs, James is a licensed and practicing attorney, and Josh hosts a queer film podcast.

Austin Gatus, San Diego, California, United States

Website — Instagram — Twitter — Soundcloud

Austin Gatus is a 24-year-old singer-songwriter-saxophonist from San Diego, California. As a saxophonist, Austin has had the pleasure of performing with artists such as Dave Koz and Kenny G. As a solo artist, Austin has produced three EPs and currently leads his own jazz fusion/alternative pop band that performs his originals. Aside from performing, Austin additionally does work in film and media composition, arranging, and producing. A recent graduate of UCLA (‘19), Austin majored in Ethnomusicology with an emphasis in Jazz performance, and minored in Cognitive Science. During his senior year at UCLA, Austin was a part of the 42nd SPCN Committee as the Music Coordinator. Here, he wrote the music and lyrics for PARA SA’YO, a musical following the life of a young Filipino-American teen and her struggle to connect with her culture and family in the Philippines. This experience inspired Austin to continue pursuing composition for musicals.

Charlie Romano and Will Wegner,
The Bronx, New York, United States

Website (Charlie Romano) — Website (Will Wegner) — Instagram (Charlie Romano)

Charlie Romano (he/him/his) is a Latinx/Italian American Composer from the Chicago area. As a member of a large family, he is used to sharing everything and spending time with many different kinds of people. As a result, Charlie is passionate about telling untold stories. As a composer/lyricist, his recent work includes Call Me from the Grave, a new musical about the life and legend of Robert Johnson (2020 O’Neill Semifinalist, 2020 NAMT Semifinalist). His work with Will Wegner includes Onward and Upward, AlakaZoom!, Video Rental Store, and Puppet Pioneers. He is also currently working on Tita, a new musical about his Panamanian-immigrant grandmother (a hyper-energetic polyglot whose life touched countless others across the world). Pre-COVID, Charlie was enjoying a part-time writing residency at NYCSongSpace. He is also a member of the Dramatists Guild and the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Will Wegner (he/him/his) is a lyricist and librettist from Wisconsin. He is currently a junior at Yale, where he has dabbled in theater, comedy, journalism, marching band, and the occasional class. He and Charlie first met as members of the musical improv group Just Add Water, and they have been collaborating ever since. Together, they have written Onward and Upward, a new musical about a failed inventor and a family in crisis, Video Rental Store, a brief exploration of human connection in the face of disaster, AlakaZoom!, a satirical take on Yale’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Puppet Pioneers, a children’s musical about friendship and the pursuit of purpose. At Yale, Will also penned the lyrics to So, Betsy!, a metatheatrical portrait of American seamstress Betsy Ross. He is recognized professionally as a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Caitlin Thomas, Leonia, New Jersey, United States

Website — Instagram

Caitlin Thomas (she/her/hers) is a composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Leonia, New Jersey. She is a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music (’19), where she double-majored in Contemporary Writing & Production and Songwriting, with a minor in Musical Theater Writing. This fall, Caitlin joined Cycle 31 at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program. Most recently, she held the Cello/Guitar chair in the band of the 2nd Nat’l Tour of Waitress, before the tour was cancelled due to Covid-19. Her work has been featured by the Berklee Women’s Musicians Network, and performed at Berklee’s Curtain Up: Original Musical Theater Showcase in 2018 and 2019. She is currently co-writing music and lyrics for PENELOPE, a musical which tells the story of Homer’s The Odyssey from the perspective of Odysseus’ wife. Her debut single, Love Me from St. Louis, was released on all streaming platforms on Friday, September 25th, 2020.

Joshua Vranas, Brooklyn, New York, United States

Website — Instagram

Joshua Vranas is an award winning composer, writer, and orchestrator from Richmond, VA. He is known for EMMA AND THE WEST, a 20-minute musical audio drama with words by Clare Bierman; #SEXYGIRLS, with words by Katie Hazdovac; and LOVE IS IN THE AIR, with book and lyrics by Daniel Arguello Elias. He has recently received the Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowship in 2020 and the Frederick Loewe Scholarship Award from ASCAP in 2019 for his dedication to the craft of music composition for entertainment. Currently, Joshua is studying at the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program (Cycle 30) in New York, where he lives with his husband and his rabbit.