J. Quinton Johnson (Book, Music and Lyrics)  made his feature debut in Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some! after scoring the role while studying at the University of Texas at Austin (also literally scoring an end-credits special feature for the film). He followed that up with roles in AMC’s "The Son" with Pierce Brosnan and ABC’s Dirty Dancing with Debra Messing and Sarah Hyland, the latter prominently featured his musicianship. While working on Dirty Dancing, he met Andy Blankenbuehler, the Tony Award-winning choreographer of Hamilton, and they hit it off. From that relationship, he made his Broadway debut in Hamilton as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison and performed 500 shows. He also reteamed with Richard Linklater for Amazon’s Last Flag Flying opposite Steve Carrell, Laurence Fishburne and Bryan Cranston. On stage, he has been in productions of In The Heights and Footloose at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC as well as the Tony nominated play Choir Boy. As a composer, he was accepted as a finalist to Theatre Now New York’s SOUND BITES 10 minute musical festival with his show Headspace. When the health crisis subsides, he will join the BMI Musical Theatre Writer’s workshop as a first year student. He is currently focusing on composing musicals, film scores, and other original music.

Julia Riew (Book, Music and Lyrics) is a composer-lyricist and writer from St. Louis and NYC. She is primarily known for her musical Shimcheong, which received international support online and in the news for asking the question, “What would a Korean Disney Princess look like?” Her original work has been featured at the American Repertory Theater, 54 Below, Summerstock Austin Texas, The Coterie in Kansas City, Harvard University’s Farkas Hall and Agassiz Theater, AMAS Musical Theater, The UNC-Greensboro School of Theater, Nora Theater Company at Central Square Theater, The Harvard Art Lab, University of Missouri, and The Community Music School of Webster University. Riew graduated from Harvard University in May 2022 and is First-Year in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. She was the 2022 Fred Ebb Award winner, the recipient of the 2022 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship under the mentorship of composer Laurence O’Keefe (Legally Blonde, Heathers), the inaugural recipient of the Musicians United for Social Equity (MUSE) Linda Twine Scholarship (2021), a member of the first MUSE One-on-One Mentorship Program (2021-22) (mentor: Jeanine Tesori), and a member of the inaugural Maestra Music Mentorship Program (2020-21) (mentor: Deborah Wicks La Puma).