I guess being subscribed to American Girl Live's mailing list actually helped me for once, because I got a neat article on how girl power inspired American Girl Live's creative team on making the show- plus the team has been revealed! Click here if you want to read that, and now I'll reveal the creative team behind the show, plus some quotes by them about how they were inspired!
The show is going to be directed by Gina Rattan, who was a director and/or associate director on many productions like Cinderella, Matilda the Musical and many NBC holiday live musicals. She said this about the fact that the creative team and cast is all girls: “It’s important to understand that this is rare. There are all-male or male-dominated creative teams on most projects no matter the subject matter.“American Girl, a company for and inspired by girls, cared enough to ensure that women were the stewards of bringing this story about the positive power of girlhood to life for young girls everywhere.”
The show is produced by Simone Gianfrancesco, who has produced for many companies including Universal and New York Times before joining Mills Entertainment, the company making this show, in 2012. She said about the show, “Our production will provide girls with positive examples of friends learning from each other and celebrating each other’s strengths. It’s our hope that these lessons will extend beyond the performance and into the hearts of the audience.”
The show will be written by Sandy Rustin, who has written many critically-acclaimed musicals which have gotten performances from local companies to even off-Broadway theaters! She said, "If you go back in history to Maryellen’s time period of 1950, or Melody’s or even Julie’s in the 60s and 70s…there were no women being hired for large-scale theatrical creative teams. There weren’t many female book writers, lyricists or composers, directors or designers. So, on the shoulders of the women who have the paved the way for us, our team aims to continue to prove that women belong in positions of power and creativity. And what better world to create together, than the girl-centric, girl-positive world of American Girl?”
The show will be composed by Meg Zervoulis, who's assistant is Emily Chiu. Meg has done many roles from playing instruments for shows like Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to directing the music for off-Broadway productions. Emily has written the music for many small concerts, and American Girl Live will be her first major gig. Meg said this about the music style she was going for: "Our intended goal with the score for this musical is to involve styles of music that will be recognizable to all, while also fitting each American Girl’s characteristics and personality. We’ll also have a real ‘Broadway’ number or two, to honor the tradition of American Musical Theater.”
The show's choreographer is nicHi douglas. She hasn't done much, but she wrote, directed and choregraphed her own musical revue, the Black Girl Magic Show. nicHi said this about the choreography in the show: When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with all the latest dance moves. “I’ll be incorporating some trendy steps into the choreography, so the girls know that the people on stage are a part of the world they’re living in today. I want them to know that I know what’s up!” (Please, no dabbing or whipping or anything cringy!)
Overall, I'm glad that American Girl picked such an experienced team to make this show awesome. It will be great, I'm sure!