Gary Briggle is a versatile singer-actor, director and teacher with over 25 years of professional experience in the full range of Music Theater genres.  Born in Minnesota in 1953, he was raised in Maryland and received his Bachelor of Music/Speech-Theater degrees from St. Olaf College in 1975.  While there he received the ACTF’s Irene Ryan Award for Best Actor (“Jesus” in Godspell) and upon graduation was chosen by revolutionary director and teacher H. Wesley Balk (“The Complete Singer Actor”, etc.) for his Studio training program, in conjunction with The Minnesota Opera Company.
            For the next decade Gary performed as a member of the Opera’s resident ensemble in works ranging from the premieres of Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allen Poe, Susa’s Black River and Mayer’s A Death in the Family to classics including Mozart’s The Abduction from the  Seraglio, Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel and Weill’s Mahagonny and Three Penny Opera.  Gary did MFA work in Vocal Performance at the University of MN while a member of the adult acting/teaching staff at the world-renowned Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis, under the visionary guidance of John Clark Donahue(librettist for Postcard from Morocco, etc.) While at CTC he worked with one of the founders, Wendy Lehr, and together they make the Twin Cities their home.
            In 1982 Gary embarked on the peripatetic career of a freelance artist in regional theaters and opera companies nationwide, quickly establishing himself as an artistic associate with Seaside Music Theater (FLA) and principal tenor with Lyric Opera Cleveland.  (He served as artistic director of LOC from 1995-98.)  He continued his affiliation with Wesley Balk and associates through Nautilus Music Theater, creating roles with La Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Lulu, Don Juan Giovanni), and has an ongoing association with The Arizona Theatre Company, where he served in the resident ensemble for several years.  He has created roles in the premieres of Libby Larsen’s Mrs. Dalloway and Barnum’s Bird to international acclaim, and gained rich fulfillment from the challenges of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Follies and Sweeney Todd, Weill’s Street Scene and Three Penny Opera.  Gary’s “personal best” experiences include Tateh in Ragtime, Voltaire in Candide,  the premiere of Granger’s A Tale of Two Cities, playing both Mozart and Salieri in productions of Amadeus during the Bicentennial Celebration of the composer’s death, and performing in Britten’s chamber operas Albert Herring, The Rape of Lucretia and The Turn of the Screw.
            In recent years he has been highly sought-after as an exponent of the Gilbert & Sullivan canon, completing the circle to his initial childhood inspiration to perform.  Directoral credits include Sacramento Opera (Romeo et Juliette, Falstaff, Faust, Carmen), The National Opera Company (The Rake’s Progress), Seaside Music Theater (La Belle Helene, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Pirates of Panzance), CTC (The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Good Person of  Setzuan, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Florida Rep (Oh, Coward!, Sleuth, Patience) and The National Theatre of Hungary/Miskolc (the premiere of A Little Night Music).  Gary has  taught throughout the Upper Midwest, at his alma mater and The University of MN, Valparaiso University, The Colleges of St. Thomas and St. Catherine, MacPhail Center for the Arts, and Boston University and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory.

          Diane Ciesla's Off-Broadway credits include Great Expectations (Lucille Lortel), Mamillius (La MaMa), No Time for Comedy (The Mint), and Macbeth, Cinderella (Playhouse 91/Riverside Shakespeare).  Other New York credits include deathvariations (59 E 59), Night Sings Its Songs (Culture Project), Cannibal’s Waltz (Abingdon), Clubbed Thumb and New Dramatists.
          Her Regional credits include Doubt (Riverside Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (New Harmony), The Bird Sanctuary (Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Public), String of Pearls (Playmakers Rep), Gigi, Carousel (North Shore Music Theatre), Mount Allegro, A Christmas Carol (GeVa Theatre), Oliver! (Kansas City Starlight/Muny), The Hostage (BoarsHead), Mrs Warren’s Profession, The Taming of the Shrew (International Theatre Festival-Staller Centre for the Arts/ Riverside Shakespeare), The Cemetery Club, Broadway Bound (Jupiter Theatre), Cheap Sunglasses (McCarter Theatre), Splitting Infinity (Brand: New Hartford Stage), and the tour of Lost in Yonkers.    
          Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ciesla has worked at the Goodman Theatre, Pheasant Run Theatre, Illinois Theatre Center, and Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks.
          Television & Film: “Law & Order”, “All My Children”, “Guiding Light”, Under New Management.  
          Ms. Ciesla has been on the theatre faculty of New York University’s Steinhardt School/ Department of Music and Performing Arts, the Neighborhood Playhouse Junior School and a Guest Artist/ Teacher at University of Findlay and the University of Rochester.  She has taught at the 92^nd Street Y (Young People’s Musical Theater Workshop) and was Coordinator and Acting Instructor of the Theatre Program Center School, P.S. 199 and Assistant Director and Acting Coach at the First All Children’s Theatre Company.

Bruce W. Coyle's career has spanned many worlds of musical performance. As well as being an orchestrator, arranger, writer, teacher, coach, and cabaret performer, Bruce has conducted and/or performed as pianist in concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and The State Theatre, The Shauspielhaus of both Vienna and Berlin, and he's even performed a gig playing in Macy's window in NYC for Adolph Green and Phyllis Newman.
            One of his first New York engagements was as pianist and musical director for an Off Off Broadway production of Marc Blitzstien's The Cradle Will Rock. 
            On Broadway, Bruce was assistant musical director for Phyllis Newman's one woman show, The Madwoman of Central Park West.  He later served as the musical director for the national tour.
            Off Broadway, Bruce was musical director and arranger for many musicals including Tallulah staring Helen Gallagher.
            Mr. Coyle also starred and performed as musical director and pianist for the first in a series of composer revues, What A Swell Party This Is; The Music of Cole Porter at Rockerfeller Center's Rainbow And Stars, where he also performed Laurie Beechman and Phyllis Newman's Acts.
            Bruce was season conductor of Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and Kansas City's Starlight Theatre as well as musical director for many musicals regionally.
            He has also conducted symphony orchestras across the U.S. and Canada in an evening of Stephen Sondheim's music as well as other concerts and shows starring Helen Reddy, Kathy Rigby, Betty Buckley, Robert Guillam, Carole Lawrence, Judy Kaye, David Carroll, Laurie Beechman, to name a few
            Bruce has won 2 of the Florida Critic's Carbonell Awards for his musical direction of Side By Side By Sondheim starring Helen Schneider and Berlin to Broadway: The Music of Kurt Weill.
            In addition to Side By Side, Bruce has worked with Ms. Schneider by conducting the German production of Sunset Boulevard and performing various German and New York Cabaret concerts including Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. 
            In LA, Bruce was associate conductor with Peter Matz for The Most Happy Fella and Musical Director for Ruthless!: The Musical.  He was also arranger and conductor for the world premiere of Romeo and Bernadette played at Coconut Grove and Paper Mill Playhouses.
            Also in L.A., Bruce taught musical theatre performance at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and Cabaret Classes in at The Norris Performing Arts in Palos Verdes in tandem with Kathryn Morath. With Ms. Morath, he co-wrote Day Dreaming: Channeling Doris Day which they performed in Los Angeles and throughout the U.S.
            On CD Bruce can be heard on A Walk On The Weill Side and A Voice And A Piano both with Helen Schneider;  the cast album of Tallulah starring Helen Gallagher and Souvenirs with Claudia Beechman.
            A very recent move to Charlotte N.C. keeps Bruce closer to NYC and Germany where he still is very active performing, conducting, playing piano and settling into writing.

Ms. Merrill is a recipient of the Spirit of the American Woman Award in Opera for extraordinary contributions to the arts in Houston.  Ms. Merrill lives in Ohio with her husband, coach/accompanist David Hapner, and their two children, Michael and Emsie.  Ms. Merrill is on the music faculty of Wittenberg University and the musical theater faculty of Wright State University.

            Martin Moran grew up in Denver and attended Stanford University and the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He lives in Manhattan, where he makes his living as an actor and writer.
            His memoir, The Tricky Part, won the 2005 LAMBDA Belles Lettres Award and Second Prize for the 2005 Barnes and Noble Discover Award.
            He has appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including, Titanic, Cabaret, Bells Are Ringing, Big River, How To Succeed in Business…, Floyd Collins, and The Cider House Rules.  
            Currently he is playing ‘Sir Robin’ in the Broadway Production of Spamalot.
            He won a 2004 Obie Award for his one-man play, The Tricky Part, which he continues to perform all over the country.

Kathryn Morath's career in the theatre has spanned over three decades. As an actress, Ms. Morath has appeared on Broadway many times, including The Pirates of Penzance (produced by the late Joseph Papp) and Arthur Laurents’ Nick & Nora.  Off-Broadway, she has premiered many new works including David Ives' All in the Timing, Marta Kaufman and David Crane's Personals, Liz Swados' Alice in Concert (starring Meryl Streep), Darrah Cloud's adaptation of Willa Cather's O, Pioneers and many others.  Her extensive regional theatre credits include productions at The Guthrie Theatre, The Denver Center Theatre, Baltimore's Center Stage, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Goodspeed Opera House, Syracuse Stage, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Chautauqua Opera, The Kennedy Center, and The Dallas Theatre Center, in roles ranging from Sarah Brown in the revival of Guys and Dolls at The Guthrie, to the leading role in Nagel Jackson's adaptation of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? at The Denver Center Theatre. Favorite roles in national tours and stock productions include Julie in Carousel, Gabby/Bobbi in City of Angels, Kate in Kiss Me, Kate and Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella.  Television appearances include Law & Order, Walker Texas Ranger, Kate & Allie, Loving, All My Children, Another World and One Life To Live. 
            While in residence at New York's Circle-in-the-Square Theatre, The American Project staged readings of American Classics such as Albee's The Lady From Dubuque and The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman.  She has also written for media and business-to-business communications.  Currently, she is at work on a screenplay based on the letters of Victorian lady traveler Isabella Lucy Bird, A Ladies Life in the Rocky Mountains.  Ms. Morath is a member of the Dramatists' Guild, BMI and ASCAP Workshops, Dallas Screenwriters' Association and Women in Film.
            Since moving to Los Angeles in 2000, in addition to pursuing her acting career, she worked in development for Midge Sanford & Sarah Pillsbury. Ms. Morath produced the play Asylum by Brett Rickaby at the Court Theatre.  Ms. Morath’s theatrical cabaret, Daydreaming...Channeling Doris Day, co-written with her Musical Director, Bruce W. Coyle, played at Masquers' Cabaret in West Hollywood and toured the West Coast.
            Ms. Morath is currently on the faculty at AMDA NY/LA where she teaches Musical Theatre Performance and Musical Theatre History.  Born in Colorado Springs, Ms. Morath holds a B.A. in English Literature from Brown University.  Her father is noted pianist and historian, Max Morath.