JANELLE McDERMOTH
Gemini Behavior
Janelle McDermoth (she/her) is a multi-platform creator from The Bronx, New York and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Broadway: A Bronx Tale. Off Broadway: The Fires (Obie Award), We’re Gonna Die (Lortel Nomination, Antonyo Nomination, Outer Critics Circle Honor), The Chronicles of Cardigan and Khente, Soul Doctor. Film: Caught Stealing, To All The Boys: Always and Forever, Daughter of the Bride. TV: “Law & Order: SVU”, “Blue Bloods”, “Blindspot”, “High Maintenance”. Janelle has also been the voice over and narration talent for numerous national commercial campaigns as well as documentary shorts for ESPN and Hulu. Her original music combines the poetics that compel her, the hip hop that raised her, and her penchant for the aforementioned theatrics. www.janellemcdermoth.com @janellemcdrmth.
Project: Gemini Behavior
GEMINI BEHAVIOR is a genre-bending one-woman theatrical experience fusing stand up comedy, astrological education, and vibrant original music. If you let the stars tell it, Gemini are quick-witted, known for asking questions and looking for answers. Enter Janelle McDermoth. A generational yapper, award-winning theater maker, and certified Gemini trying to figure out WTF is going on..
Ari Afsar
We Won’t Sleep
Ari Afsar (she/her) is a Bangladeshi-American singer, songwriter, and storyteller who deeply believes in art changing culture and culture changing policy. She is best known for originating Eliza Schuyler in Hamilton (Chicago), where her featured Hamildrop performance of “First Burn” has garnered over 74 million streams worldwide. Afsar starred in Netflix’s Top 10 original romantic comedy Wedding Season and led the company of Bhangin’ It in its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse. Her concept album We Won’t Sleep was released by Sony Masterworks in 2020. Alongside Pasek & Paul, Afsar composed music for Sony’s film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, including the song “Carried Away,” performed by Shawn Mendes, which has amassed over 5 million streams. The stage adaptation for young audiences made its world premiere at Pasadena Playhouse in 2025. Her latest musical, I & You, co-written with America’s most produced playwright Lauren Gunderson, premiered at McCarter Theatre Center in 2025 and is slated for a co-production at Olney Theatre Center in spring 2026. Afsar is the recipient of the 2025 ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Musical Theatre Award, in addition to honors including the Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award, the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, and the Broadway Advocacy Coalition Fellowship. She was crowned Miss California, placed Top 10 at Miss America, and was a Top 36 finalist on American Idol. Her performance work includes opening for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Gloria Steinem, and Hillary Clinton, and she recently made her sold-out solo debut at Joe’s Pub featuring music across her discography. Ari Afsar holds a Master of Public Administration from NYU.
Project: We Won’t Sleep
We Won’t Sleep is a theatrical activation using music, testimony, and community engagement to explore American democracy: past, present, and future. Born nearly a decade ago and continually evolving, the piece interrogates a nation in flux, asking whether the United States is merely in transition or undergoing a fundamental redefinition. Ultimately asking whether democracy can withstand the rise of authoritarianism.
Emily Maltby & Sam Willmott
[UNTITLED] Virginia Galilei Project
EMILY MALTBY (Book)
Emily Maltby is an NYC-based theater director, choreographer, and writer. Recent credits include the world premiere of DARE TO DREAM, JR (Disney Theatrical Group) and IT’S A MIRACLE (Vineyard Theater), EVITA (A.R.T., S.T.C., and NYCC), THE KING AND I (TOHO – Tokyo), THE MUSIC MAN (TOHO – Tokyo), SUNSET BOULEVARD (The Kennedy Center), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (McCarter Theatre Center), FOR YOU PAIGE (TikTok), ALLEGORY (La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival) and LOLITA, MY LOVE (York Theatre Company). Upcoming projects include adapting and directing a new play, premiering in London in 2027. Associate credits include FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE (The Public Theater), THE LION (Manhattan Theater Club). In addition to her creative work, Emily has guest taught at Princeton University, Emerson College, Michigan State University, New Rochelle High School, Musical Creators Institute, and the Institute for American Musical Theater. Emily holds a Bachelors degree from Northwestern University. www.emilymaltby.com @emilymaltby
SAM WILMOTT (Music & Lyrics)
Sam Willmott is a musical theater composer / lyricist. THEATER: Bhangra Nation (Birmingham Rep UK, 2024 — recipient of the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award for Best Production; La Jolla Playhouse 2022); Yo, Vikings! and Wake Up, Daisy! (both with Marcus Stevens); Standardized Testing – The Musical!!!! and the mini-musical Scarlet Takes a Tumble. TV: HBO’s Song of Parkland (dir. Amy Schatz, two Emmy nominations). AWARDS: Kleban Prize for Most Promising Lyricist, Fred Ebb Award, Jonathan Larson Grant, Richard Rodgers Award, the ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson and Cole Porter Awards. Sam has been a guest lecturer and/or taught courses at Harvard, Pace, and the Lincoln Center Songwriting in Schools Program. In the aftermath of the 2018 Parkland FL school shooting, Sam co-founded and coordinated the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Songwriting Initiative, pairing student and teacher survivors with NYC composers to collaborate on 31 new songs. He is also a proud contributing writer to the Korean children’s language program English Egg, for whom he’s written over 190 educational kids’ tunes. For more info, visit SamWillmott.com.
Project: [UNTITLED] Virginia Galilei Project
When twelve-year-old Virginia Galilei is stripped of everything when she arrives at the convent of San Matteo: her possessions, her family, and even her name. Outside, her father Galileo Galilei’s star continues to rise while hers seems destined for extinguishment. But in her isolation, cut off from the gravitational forces of Renaissance society, her mind and imagination ignite and launch her into her own odyssey through the cosmos. This original one-act musical is purpose-built to be performed underneath a planetarium dome, featuring a virtuosic performance from a solo actress and choir. Together, they hurtle from San Matteo to the Vatican to the icy moons of Jupiter, reenvisioning space, time, religion and history as seen through the eyes of the remarkable and forgotten Virginia Galilei.