Chad Henderson (Director, Playwright)
	“I’m very excited that this project has taken flight. It’s been great having a committed group of creatives, as well as a theatre that supports local talents. This is an exciting journey to take Daniel’s music on, and I’m glad I’m getting to direct it.”

Chad has been involved in theatre for 11 years.  Currently a theatre minor at The University of South Carolina, Chad hopes to get an MFA in Directing  over the next few years. He started Scot Free Productions, a college-aged theatre group in Spartanburg, with his best friend, George Pate.

Chad has directed All In The Timing, Wonder of The World, and Ballad of Four (which he also wrote) for Scot Free. He also directed Pied Piper of New Orleans for the Spartanburg Youth Theatre.  As an actor at USC, Chad has appeared in Flaming Guns of The Purple Sage, Measure For Measure, A View From The Bridge, and The Country Wife.

Chad currently is working on a children’s play for the Department of Health and Environmental Control.  He will direct Hedwig And The Angry Inch—a project he’s been working on since the beginning of 2006—at USC’s Lab Theatre in February.

Daniel Machado (Composer, Playwright, Music Director)
	“I was honored when Chad asked to adapt my song-written story of David into a musical. It will be exciting to watch the story come to life on the stage and to be able to share his experiences with a wider audience.  As my freshman attempt at adapting narrative rock for the stage, this project is a departure from my usual introverted songwriting process.
I am continually amazed at how many people are involved in creating the final product and the quality of the work produced by the seasoned veterans who are giving their time to make this show great."

Daniel has performed in musical theater since his youth, including productions such as director George Boozer's Great Songs and Great Dances from Great Movies. Daniel began his musical career at age 10 with classical training on violin and soon thereafter picked up drums, piano, bass, and guitar.

A self-taught pop/rock songwriter, Daniel has composed songs that fill 4 full-length pop/rock albums and one 5-song EP. His albums, self-released under the band name Guitar Show include Guitar Show (2001), Once Around the Sun (2002), The Beast EP (2003), The Ghosts of Our Childhood (2004), and the pre-production of Guitar Show Album 4 (2007). Songs from the second section (entitled “Of David, My Father”) of Ghosts as well as songs from Daniel’s new album constitute the majority of the musical’s numbers. 

In August 2006, Daniel released his first self-directed and self-edited music video to promote “Themes in American Friction,” which will be released on his new album in 2007.  After graduating with a degree in graphic design this fall, Daniel will perform in Chad Henderson’s production of Hedwig And The Angry Inch as Skszp, performing lead guitar.  Daniel is a graphic designer for the state of South Carolina.

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Jessica Labbé (Playwright, Stage Manager)

“Being an admirer of Chad’s and Daniel’s musical and other artistic works, it has been a real pleasure to see them in operation on this project.  As a professor, I always find it inspiring to work with talented, hard-working, creative people and I am really looking forward to seeing the brain-child of this dynamic duo hit the stage. I believe in the quality of the product we are creating and think this production could become a considerable addition to theater and music.”

Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing and two Bachelor’s degrees in English and Women’s Studies from Florida State University.   She is in the final stages of a joint Doctorate degree in Literature and Women’s Studies at the University of South Carolina.  As a literary and pop-culture critic, Jessica’s reviews and articles have been published in numerous newspapers and journals, including International Quarterly, Cleave and Symplokë. After writing her first play at the age of 12, Jessica pursued writing in various genres including script writing, freelance prose writing, journalism, as well as research and history analysis.  She also performed lead roles in Florida community theater, including productions of Auntie Mame, Arsenic and Old Lace, and The Actor’s Nightmare. Jessica has enjoyed the chance to meld the worlds of the actor, the critic and the writer with her work on this project.

Jessica currently is writing her dissertation on American women’s journey narratives through the lens of modernist women writers Edith Wharton and Nella Larsen.  She teaches women’s studies, literature survey, and composition courses at the University of South Carolina.


DESIGN BY DANIEL MACHADO