Introducing the Cast & Creatives for
The Yellow Wallpaper!
Sam Norman (Book/Lyrics) is a prizewinning lyricist, librettist and poet originally from England. His three full-length musicals, written with Aaron King, have been workshopped and produced in London, Oxford and the Edinburgh Festival to five-star reviews. His twenty-minute musical THE YELLOW WALLPAPER, written with Eliza Randall, has appeared on the podcast The Latest Draft, and he’s thrilled that it’s being produced by HARP Theatricals and later showcased in the Irvington Theater Short Play Fest! He has been profiled in The Huffington Post and will soon be profiled in Tin Pan Alley 2; his work has been performed at Rattlestick Theatre and reached the finals of the Mercury Songwriting Contest (judged by producers of SIX). He has authored a book of comic poems, A Teen’s Guide to Modern Manners (Little, Brown), warmly reviewed by Buzzfeed, and he’s won The Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation. He graduated from Oxford University with a congratulatory first-class degree, and is currently studying for an MFA in musical theatre writing at NYU Tisch. https://www.samuelnorman.com
Eliza Randall (Music) is a composer, pianist, and music director from Southern Nevada. She began composing music when she was 6 years old and has been hooked ever since. Her twenty- minute musical THE YELLOW WALLPAPER, written with Sam Norman, has appeared on the podcast The Latest Draft, and she’s so excited to have it fully produced by HARP Theatricals! Her various other stand-alone compositions have been performed by the Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre off-Broadway, the Gallatin Theatre Troupe, and Tin Pan Alley 2. She did her bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Brigham Young University and is currently pursuing an MFA in musical theatre writing at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Max Mackay (Director) is a UK based director for theatre and film, with a particular love of new musicals and fresh adaptations of classics. She is currently developing a climate-centric adaptation of Biedermann and the Arsonists for a festival at Southwark Playhouse in June 2021 as a member of the StoneCrabs Young Directors group for 2020-2021. Her previous work includes directing Sam Norman and Aaron King’s acclaimed original musical Nice Guy (Burton Taylor Studio 2019), and Made in Dagenham for 472 Productions (Oxford Playhouse 2019).
Max is also a writer for stage and screen. Her adaptation of Huxley’s Brave New World for 472 Productions was staged at the Keble O’Reilly Theatre in 2018, and her debut short film In Perpetuum, which tells the story of a grieving gamer organising an in-game funeral, was commissioned by BBC Arts under the New Creatives scheme in 2020.
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Kayla Michelle Williams (Stage Manager)
is an artist, writer, and stage manager from Austin, Texas. She studied Theatre Production & Management, Digital Media & Video Production, and Playwrighting at Marymount Manhattan College. There she discovered her passion for storytelling, the creative process, and the community art creates. She previously worked with HARP Theatricals on The Lady Power Project and Death And Taxes as the
Production Stage Manager.
KC "Karate Chop" Harris
(Motion Graphics Designer / Video Editor)
is a mograph guy and video connoisseur based in Brooklyn, NY. When he's not making TikToks, you can find him working with ad agencies and watching the latest Vox video. His favorite color is Teal, and in his free time he likes riding his vintage road bike through the Lower East Side. You can check out more of his work at www.karatechop.me.
Vaibu Mohan (Charlotte) is an Indian-American writer, singer, songwriter, dancer, and storyteller currently based in Brooklyn. Vaibu began her journey has a Bharatanatyam dancer (South Indian classical dancer) and Carnatic vocalist. She gained a deep appreciation for the stories she was told and portrayed as a child through music and dance and her love for storytelling brought her to the world of musical theatre. Vaibu received her BM in musical theatre performance from ASU and is currently receiving her MFA in musical theatre writing at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Vaibu made her debut as a director at ASU with the show Fly By Night and has credits as a leader producer on The Color Cabaret (ASU) and Zoom For The Holidays, a show with all original music crafted for the 2020 holiday season. Vaibu is dedicated to creating anti-racist theatre pieces which highlights BIPOC voices and her personal mission is to bring more South Asians into the theatre on stage, backstage, on the creative team, and in the audience.
Mason McDowell (John) is an award-winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, and an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Most recently, he self-produced his mini-musical The Adventures of Inspector Lockshire (Book, Music, and Lyrics), which was presented virtually through the BMI Workshop, and is now available online. He also co-wrote the mini-musical Possumneck with collaborator Julian Bliss, which has been making the rounds in several NYC theatre competitions. As a songwriter, Mason has written/produced one full-length album Pictures in My Mind (2016), and two EP's, The McDowell Brothers (2011) and Looking Glass (2019). He was the winner of the 2010 Earlville Opera House Songwriting Competition, and has performed on many NY stages, including Rockwood Music Hall, the Ithaca State Theatre, and Arlene's Grocery. He was a featured writer for the New York Songwriters Circle in 2017, immediately after graduating Summa Cum Laude from the Purchase College Conservatory of Music with a degree in Studio Composition. He has also worked extensively as a music director, pit musician, and actor. His MD credits include West Side Story at Hamilton College (2019), Girlfriend at the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca (2018), Assistant MD/Keyboard II for 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Colgate University (2017), Hazel Come Home at Purchase College (2016), and Little Shop of Horrors at Purchase College (2015). His acting credits include Brace For Impact (2020), The Adventures of Inspector Lockshire (2020), and Perry Pareé (2018), in which he originated the lead role at the Palace Theatre in Hamilton NY. Regional theatre acting credits include The Grapes of Wrath, The Sound of Music, and Fiddler on the Roof, at Syracuse stage. Mason currently lives in NYC, and is honored to be a part of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (Cycle 31) as a composer.
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Hannah Fernandes (Mary) is a multiracial theater artist who has performed roles, ranging from "Jasmine" in the brand new production of DISNEY'S WHEN YOU WISH, to "Carrie Pipperidge" in a fully staged concert of CAROUSEL (Music Theatre Wichita/Wichita Symphony) to "Velma" in CHICAGO (directed by Stephen Kopel of Roundabout Theatre Company), in addition to her work in the resident ensemble of MTWichita's 2015-2017 summer seasons. Hannah holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Wichita State University and just recently graduated from the 2-Year Meisner Acting Program at The Maggie Flanigan Studio in NYC. REGIONAL THEATRE: MTWichita – Carousel (Carrie Pipperidge), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ethel), Jesus Christ Superstar (Soul Sister), Hello, Dolly!, Beauty and the Beast, Oklahoma!, Mamma Mia!; EDUCATIONAL THEATRE – Chicago (Velma) dir. Stephen Kopel, The Spitfire Grill (Percy) dir. Wayne Bryan, Into the Woods (Cinderella); ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Signature Theatre– Fiddler on the Roof (Hodel). Hannah was last seen in HARP Theatrical's production of Death And Taxes.