John Chatterton (Executive Producer) started OOBR (“the off-off-broadway review”) in 1993. One of his reviewers suggested that “someone” should start a Midtown theatre festival. Eight seasons later, the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF) is still going strong. John’s rehearsal studio/theatre complex, Where Eagles Dare, is now in its fifth year. John is also a commercial general manager (Secrets) and a playwright (Frankenstein the Musical Drama, Beyond the Veil).

Emileena Pedigo (Managing Producer) joined the festival four years ago and has been working alongside John ever since.  In addition to the festival, she co-produced The Merry Wives of Windsor and Sweet Love Adieu in rep on Theatre Row with Oberon Theatre Ensemble for their 10th season, and 6 Figure's 14th Season at the West End Theatre. As a Production Stage Manager, she has worked Off-Broadway, opera, a national tour and regionally at length.  Select Off-Broadway: Barbara's Blue Kitchen at the Lamb's Theatre; two seasons at Right Down Broadway Productions; Mirror Repertory.  Select NYC: GYPSY at PPAS; The New School for Drama's 10 Blocks from the Camino Real;  Golden Fleece's annual Commissioned Opera Works.  Regional: TheaterWorks Hartford; Bailiwick Rep (Chicago); world premiere of Meet John Doe at Shattered Globe (Chicago); Foothill Music Theatre (CA Bay Area); Teatro Vision (CA Bay Area); and Shakespeare in the Park with Bus Barn Stage Company (CA Bay Area).  Emileena received her B.A. in theatre from Purdue University and completed the Foothill Theatre Conservatory in California, both with honors.

Glory Sims Bowen (Artistic Director for plays) Directing credits include: North of Providence (Altered Stages), Serenading Louie (Stella Adler) Anomal (ATA-Off Broadway), Avolan (Looking Glass Theatre), The Tempest, Measure For Measure, The Snow Queen, Special Delivery, Foursome (HERE), Evening with Family (The Brick), Jack or the Submission (The Bank Street Theater), tryin t' touch the sun (Raw Theater Space), Golem Stories (Chashama), Anything For You (440 Theater). Regional Credits Include: The Glass Menagerie, Pippin, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Uncommon Women and Others, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in The Moon Marigolds, The House of Bernarda Alba, and Ten Little Indians.  She has been the recipient of the Meritorious Achievement Award in Direction from the Kennedy Center A.C.T.F. and the recipient of the Spotlight On Off Broadway Awards for Best Director of a full length play.  She is an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab Classes of 2006 and 2007.

Jamibeth Margolis (Artistic Director for Musicals) comes to MITF with a strong background and interest in new works and the development of new musicals.  Previously, Jamibeth served as the New Works Program Director at the National Alliance for Musical Theater.  She was also a script reader and evaluator for the Next Link series of the New York Musical Theatre Festival for three years.  As a professional director, Jamibeth is attached to a number of new musicals currently being developed for Broadway including Warsaw and Owl Creek. She has directed readings, showcases and productions of a dozen new musicals in the last three years at prominent New York venues. She also recently served as assistant director to Jerry Zaks on The Caine Mutiny Court Martial on Broadway and A Bad Friend at Lincoln Center Theatre.  Jamibeth is also a professional casting director with twelve years of experience in NYC.  She worked for Johnson-Liff Casting, Margolis-Seay Casting, and is now a freelance casting director with her own office.  Past casting projects include the Broadway and National Touring Companies of such shows as Cats, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and many others.  Member: Society Of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The Casting Society Of America, and Actors’ Equity Association.  She is thrilled to be part of MITF this year.

CLAYTON PHILLIPS (Artistic Director for the Commercial Division) is the recipient of the 2007 New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Direction of a Musical, Best Musical and Best Original Play, for the world premier of John Pielmeier’s Slow Dance With A Hot Pick-Up, with music by Matty Selman. He held the position of Producing Artistic Director for The Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth NH for three years and also won the New Hampshire Theatre Award for Professional Excellence in 2006. He directed a workshop Empire, the musical in Los Angeles, which was nominated for an Ovation Award as Best New Musical and won for Best Choreography (Sergio Trujillo) and is currently being developed for Broadway Clayton was Harold Prince’s Assistant for the national tours of Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Parade and has directed Kiss of the Spider Woman in Tokyo and Buenos Aires where it won the national award for Best Musical and Direction of a Musical. He directed the NETWorks tours of Show Boat (nominated for American Theatre Award as Best Direction and Best Musical), and Kiss of the Spider Woman. He also served as Associate Director for the National tour of Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Oliver! Clayton was recently asked to aid in the development of the new commercial division of Midtown International Theatre Festival and has directed the world premiers of Gaugin, the musical (by Grant Robbin) in Chicago, Third Person (by Herschel Garfien and Robert Aldridge) and Postcards On Parade (by Kenward Elmslie) at the York Theatre, and The Classics Professor (by John Pielmeier) at CAP21. On Broadway Clayton served as a Production Stage Manager for Starlight Express and Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Candide, and Parade. Other regional directorial credits include: The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dirty Blonde, Breaking Legs, Gypsy, Our Town, Of Mice And Men, An Evening of Original One Acts, The Apple Tree, The Last Five Years, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, and Into The Woods. He was also the Executive Producer of NETwork’s national tour of The Full Monty. Clayton is a proud member of SSDC (The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers).

Susan Rankus (Artisitc Director for International Shows) In 2001, Susan graduated Summa Cum Laude from Point Park Conservatory. Immediately afterwards, she was awarded the 2001/2002 Dorothy Haas Acting Apprenticeship at the prestigious Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia where she had the pleasure of understudying the roles of Biddy/Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations and the joy of performing on their main stage as Ensemble in Damn Yankees, Dori in School House Rock, and The Ghost of Christmas Past/Mrs. Cratchet in A Christmas Carol. Some of her favorite roles include: Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Caliban in The Tempest, Rita in Sisters, Bertie in The Club, Lady Elaine in Avalon, and Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods. After several workshops at Stage Left Studio, Susan is thrilled to be producing and performing her piece Renaissance as part of Outroverted at the 2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival. Special thanks to Matt Hoverman and Cheryl King for their brilliant coaching and constant encouragement. Susan is also producing and starring in Previous Tenants, a short but sweet film inspired by the cultural diversity of the lower east side. For more information and to find out about future screenings please visit www.previoustenants.info. For more information on Susan, please visit www.susanrankus.com.

ERIKA CREAGH  (Marketing Director)

Judd Hollander (Press and Publicity) Over the years Judd has worked on everything from Chekhov to Moliere, as well as whole lot of Shakespeare and all eight Midtown International Theatre Festivals. Judd can be reached at 212-242-1648 or BNCHPEOP@AOL.COM. He thanks his wife Cindy, his friend John Chatterton and of course, Leslie Austin.

Stuart Hershkowitz (web developer/webmaster) has over a decade of graphic design experience, working as a desktop publisher, technical writer and web designer in the Information Technology and entertainment industries. Stuart has designed marketing materials for the Off-Broadway shows A Stoop on Orchard Street and Secrets, After School Productions, and for the BEHRLE NYC fashion event. Stuart also created the web presence for Emerging Image, Inc., Alliance Repertory Theatre Company, and has developed web-based help systems and self-paced training for K. Hovnanian Enterprises. As a Board member of Ryan Repertory Company, Stuart has been instrumental in maintaining the professional appearance of their marketing materials. As actor and singer Stuart Marshall, he has most recently been seen Off-Broadway replacing Emmy Award winner Michael Badalucco in The Rise of Dorothy Hale. He has also appeared on the NY stage in Picon Pie opposite Tony Award nominee June Gable, Trolls, A Stoop on Orchard Street, Shuberts' Alley, The Locket, and A Broadway Story. A regular performer with National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Stuart has been in their Off-Broadway productions of the Drama Desk nominated Di Yam Gazlonim ("The Pirates of Penzance"), Yentl, and The House of Love and Prayer. He has also been featured in many regional theatre productions, including The Odd Couple, The Fantasticks, Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha, Phantom, Pocahontas, Moon Over the Brewery and Pigeons on the Walk. Stuart has been seen on TV in The Sopranos, the LAW & ORDER franchise, the HBO Actual Joke Ten to One, and on film in The Stepford Wives, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, and the soon-to-be-released films Enchanted and The Brave One. As a singer, he regularly performs in Union City's (NJ) public concert series, singing "Rat Pack" songs from his new CD, Ain't That a Kick in the Head. Stuart is a member of New Jersey Repertory Company, a Board member of Ryan Repertory Company (NY), and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild. For information about Stuart's web design and web management services, contact him at shershkowitz@hotmail.com.