Madhuri Shekar (Book) is a playwright and screenwriter. She wrote the Amazon/Blumhouse feature Evil Eye produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas and starring Sarita Choudhury, based on her Audible original audio drama. Her TV credits include “Three Body Problem” on Netflix, executive produced by Benioff and Weiss, Alex Woo, and Rian Johnson, and the HBO fantasy epic “The Nevers.” She worked on Sister Act 3 for Disney, and has multiple pilots in development. Her play A Nice Indian Boy has been adapted into an upcoming film starring Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni, produced by Levantine Films. She received her MFA from USC and graduated from the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard. Her plays have been produced across the United States and internationally. They include House of Joy, Queen (2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Outstanding Original Full Length Script; Edgerton New Play Award), In Love and Warcraft (Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award), A Nice Indian Boy, Antigone: Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s, The Incredible Book Eating Boy (TYA musical based on the book by Oliver Jeffers), and the TYA play Bucket of Blessings (Suzi Bass Award for Outstanding Original Work – TYA).

Christian Magby (Music) is an actor and composer who recently starred opposite Raul Esparza in the world premiere of the rock musical, Galileo at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The show was written by Danny Strong and directed by Michael Mayer. He had a supporting role in the Oscar nominated, Amazon feature, One Night in Miami, directed by Regina King, starring opposite Leslie Odom Jr., Aldis Hodge and Lance Reddick. He was a recurring guest star for two seasons on The CW’s hit series, “The Flash,” and he also recurred on The CW series, “Legacies.” Born in Atlanta, he started his acting career with the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta. At the age of 16, he wrote his first musical, Love DOES Cost a Thing, which premiered at 7 Stages Theatre and since then, has written and composed several musicals. Magby composed the music for The Incredible Book Eating Boy, that ran for two seasons at Alliance Theatre. He composed the music for Milo Imagines the World, which is currently workshopping and will premiere at Chicago Children’s Theatre in October of this year, and Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis in February of 2025. In addition, he executive produced and composed the musical Mother of God, that premiered at the Southwest Arts Center in Atlanta in December of 2022. Magby has worked as an actor and music director in a number of Atlanta theatres, including Alliance Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Horizon Theatre Company, Theatrical Outfit, and Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company. He is a graduate of SCAD and in 2015 he was commissioned to arrange the school’s alma mater.

Christian Albright (Lyricist) is a lyricist whose credits include the Seattle Film Festival Selectee, The BoomBox Saints, and librettist and co-lyricist for the Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival Selectee, Mother of God. Albright continues to write songs and lyrics for numerous artist in Atlanta as well develop musicals and screenplays. Mother of God, co-created with Christian Magby, made its premiere last December. 

Joslynn Cortes* (Ms. Penny/Mom/Artist/Others) Hola Iím Joslynn and I am a Los Angeles based actor, singer and vocal teacher! Iíve been singing in front of people since I was 4 years old. After going on a field trip to see Tarzan on Broadway, I made the decision I was going to perform for a living. Thatís quite a big decision to make at 12 years old, but when you know, you know. In high school, I studied at the Apple Farms Theatre Academy in New Jersey and then studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy Conservatory in New York City and earned my BFA at AMDA Los Angeles. Before I made my move across the country to Los Angeles, I was afforded the opportunity to play some iconic roles of characters I grew up being obsessed with, like Junie B. Jones in Junie B. Jones the Musical and Arlene (Garfieldís girlfriend) in Garfield the Musical with Cattitude. I also had so much fun on tour playing a Superhero Dog named Fiber in Nick Nutrition and His Wonder Dog Fiber! I absolutely love what I do and I know that my success would not exist if it werenít for the constant support, love, wisdom and constructive criticism gifted to me by my family and my teachers all throughout my elementary, middle and high school years. My advice to you would be: Pursue your dreams wholeheartedly. Itís not going to be easy and sometimes you will want to quit, but if you are really passionate about it, go for it. Donít let anyone bully you out of it, or make you feel like your dreams are impossible. That passion and spark was given to you for a reason.

Adam Leiva* (Henry) I started to sing when I was 4 years old, it just was something I liked to do. I had no idea Iíd found one of the things that makes me the most happy in life: music. When I was 11, I watched a Disney Channel show where I saw a young actor named Cameron Boyce who reminded me of myself. It was the first time I saw someone on tv who reminded me of me. Seeing him on TV showed me that I could be an actor too, and from that day on, I knew thatís what I wanted to be. Mom: thank you for loving me with all your heart since I was born, and supporting me 100% in me following my dreams, I love you to infinity and beyond. To my best friends: thank you for always lifting me up and telling me to keep going, I love you all so much. To everyone at the Chance Theater: Thank you for giving me a safe haven to explore theatre storytelling in and for trusting me with wonderful stories. I am incredibly honored to make my South Coast Repertory debut as Henry in The Incredible Book Eating Boy; thank you to the entire creative team and H. Adam for trusting me with him. I hope you all enjoy :)

Brian Kim McCormick (Dad/Host/Others) (he/him/his) I am a Korean adoptee who grew up in the ìLand of 10,000 Lakes,î also known as Minnesota, and is now based in Los Angeles. I graduated from St. Olaf College, majoring in Pre-Medicine, Psychology, and Statistics, but discovered my true calling was to be an artist after performing in the musical, Bat Boy. Whether as an actor, writer, director, or producer, the arts allow me to use all of my skills and education to bring people together through storytelling. As a musical theatre performer, you may have seen me in Youíre a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Little Shop of Horrors, right here at South Coast Repertory, or The Sound of Music with Musical Theatre West. As a voiceover artist, I have voiced characters for ìPokÈmonî and ìYu-Gi-Oh!î and narrated the YA Audiobook, Winston Chu versus the Whimsies by Stacey Lee. My advice: keep dreaming, and dream BIG!

Erica Schaeffer* (Olivia/Doctor/Others) (she/her) When I was 3 years old, one of my favorite things to do was watch Disney movies (like Hercules) and act them out in my living room. My parents saw how much I loved to perform, so they put me in ballet lessons. Fast forward many years and classes later, I studied Musical Theatre at UC Irvine. As much as I enjoy telling serious and dramatic stories, I LOVE making people laugh. I also love teaching young artists, lifting weights and making jewelry. Whoever is reading this right now: Keep being your wonderful and multi-passionate self! It is your greatest superpower.

Bradley Sharper* (Rover/Jeff/Others) (she/they/ella/elle) I grew up in Southern Maryland, where I spent my childhood singing, acting, and dreaming of big adventures. After high school, I followed my dreams to The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, where I studied acting, singing and performing. Later, I moved to sunny Santa Monica and taught acting classes to amazing kids like youóit was so much fun! Iíve always loved music, too. I started playing guitar when I was eight years old, and now I play in a rock band called Sharperís Florist. Back in New York, I played folk music at bars and cafes all over Manhattan, fueled by Chipotle burritos and Red Bulls (donít recommend). Now, as a Los Angeles-based actor, you might see me in commercials or hear my voice in video games and cartoons. I love bringing stories to life and inspiring others to follow their creative dreams!

H. Adam Harris (Director) My name is H. Adam Harris, but everyone calls me H! Iím an actor, teacher, and the director of this production of The Incredible Book Eating Boy. I got into theatre because I had an incredible high school theatre teacher (who won a Tony Award for teaching!) who inspired me. When I graduated from college, I acted on stages, narrated family concerts with orchestras and led story time with local libraries. As a director, I believe in telling heart-first stories that center possibility, tenderness and grit. All things youíll see in this production. When Iím not directing, I work here at SCR as the Artistic & Audience Engagement Associateó enjoy the show! hadamharris.com

Zachary Dietz (Music Director) Hello! I am a music director, conductor, and keyboardist who helps bring musicals to life! Iíve worked on big Broadway shows like Mrs. Doubtfire, School of Rock, In the Heights, Wicked, and The Lion King. I teach music at UC Irvine, where I help students learn how to lead and direct music for theatre. I love working with kids and young performers! Iím currently adapting a new childrenís musical based on the Catstronauts! graphic novels.

Fred Kinney (Scenic Designer) I build the models and create the drawings that the carpenters and the painters use to build the scenery that you see on stage. This is my 13th production at SCR. For past shows, I designed various locations such as the dark forest for Snow White, the neighborhood for Last Stop on Market Street, and interiors and exteriors that Nate the Great traveled to in order to unravel the mystery. For A Year with Frog and Toad, a marsh, the scaffold playground that lit up for Pinocchio, the woods for Robin Hood and the elephant for The Emperorís New Clothes. When I was a small boy, I thought I might become a painter, sculptor or an architect. But in high school, I started to design the scenery for our school productions and really enjoyed itóand I still do. Iím the proud father of Gigi and Kate, who will be seeing The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

Adriana Lambarri (Costume Designer) When I was a kid, my interests were design, drawing, and all things theatre-related. I also enjoyed playing dress-up and took Halloween very seriously. (I still do!) I went to art school in San Francisco and learned all about design and how to build clothes, which later helped me when I began to pursue costume design. As luck would have it, I had an actor friend ask me if I could help him with the costume designs of a film he was working on, which I did and LOVED. I havenít stopped designing since! Now I get to tell stories with other designers through clothing. My very first professional theater gig was sewing in the costume shop here at SCR, but my favorite gig is building my son Bramwellís Halloween costume every year. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed designing it!

Avery Reagan (Lighting Designer) I am an Orange County-based Lighting Designer. I received my BS from the University of Evansville in Indiana, and I received my MFA from UC Irvine. Once upon a time, I thought I was going to be an actor. I spent so many years acting and singing in plays and choirs, but then I started helping with other jobs in the theatre and fell in love with lighting. I always loved math while in school, and lighting design allows me to combine my math brain with my art brain. Now that Iím a full-time designer, I travel all over the world turning lights on and off for a living. You might have seen some of my work at SCR with the Theatre Conservatory Summer Players productions of Matilda or Seussical!

Eric Backus (Sound Designer) I work in Southern California and Chicago as a composer and sound designer. I am currently a graduate student at UC Irvine. I started playing music when I was in fourth grade, and developed an interest in theatre tech when I was in high school. After I graduated college, I moved to Chicago where I began to write music and sound design for theatre. Since then, Iíve worked on productions all over the country, including Off-Broadway. Many of the shows Iíve worked on have been adaptations of books like Bunnicula, Peter Pan, Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, A Wrinkle in Time, The Secret Garden, The Hobbit, Cinderella and Sherlock Holmes. If you want to listen to some of the music I have written, you can go to ericbackus.com

Annie Yee (Choreography) I am a Los Angeles based choreographer. I love dance and have been dancing my whole life. I started at age 5 and took ballet, tap, jazz and hula. My Mom wanted me to see which style of dance I liked best, and it was all of them! She said I should learn all kinds of dance and the music of each kind because it tells you what the dances are about. I love theatre too! My Mom took me to my first musical when I was nine, thatís when I knew I wanted to dance on stage. My Dad took me to Chinese Opera, which has dance, martial arts and singing, it taught me about my culture. My parents, Tommy and Nancy Yee, are my heroes and inspiration. They taught me to be happy and brave. I love them so much. As a grown-up, I studied dance with Alvin Ailey in New York.

Natalie Figaredo (Stage Manager) I started stage managing many years ago in a school called California State University, Long Beach, where I worked on musicals, plays and Shakespeare! Then I went to school in London, England where I learned how to build sets, focus lights and production manage. Plus, I got to see cool shows like Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I also used to work at Disneyland with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy! But my favorite thing to do is work on the Theatre for Young Audiences and Families plays here at SCR! Iíve worked on Snow White, Amos and Boris, Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing, Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook!, Mr. Popperís Penguins, A Year With Frog and Toad, The Night Fairy and Robin Hood. Also my favorite food is mac and cheese!

Kyrsten Goodrich (Assistant Stage Manager) (she/ her) I fell in love with live performance in high school, singing in all three of the choirs, and then finally auditioning for the spring musical. As fun as it was to sing and dance on stage, I found it to be much more fulfilling to be backstage and help make the show run as smoothly as possible. So I traded my character shoes for a headset and I now have a theatre degree from CSU Chico and a Masters degree in Stage Management from UC Irvine. I have enjoyed travelling the country in order to work on all kinds of shows for all kinds of audiences, and my favorite are the shows that make me laugh! When not in a theatre, I can be found watching stand-up comedy, reading about dragons, or cuddling my dog, Marley. Cheers!