BOARD OF ADVISORS                                                                                                            

JAMES BURROWS         James Burrows is one of television’s most respected and honored creative talents. Over his distinguished career, Jim has been the recipient of ten Emmys, four Directors Guild of America Awards, and the 1996 American Comedy Awards’ Creative Achievement Award. He has been the recipient of 20 nominations for the Director’s Guild of America Award, thus bestowing him the honor of being the most nominated director in the history of television at the Guild.         Jim’s success as the director of television pilots is legendary. He directed every episode of the NBC hit series, “Will and Grace,” and currently directs "Gary Unmarried." Jim is probably best known as co-creator, executive producer and director of the critically acclaimed series, “Cheers.” The hit show, which aired for 11 seasons, is the most nominated series in the Television Academy’s history and is in third place for most Emmys received.  He has also received numerous awards for his work on “Frasier,” “Friends,” “Wings,” “Night Court,” “Taxi,” and “Dear John.”          For the first time in 25 years, he returned to the stage in the spring of 1998 to direct the highly acclaimed Man Who Came To Dinner at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, starring John Mahoney.          Jim learned his trade from the very best, the legendary writer/director Abe Burrows, whose noted career included such Broadway/film classics as Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Cactus Flower.          Born in Los Angeles and raised in New York, Jim graduated from Oberlin College and continued his education at Yale Drama School, where he earned a Master’s degree in fine arts.  Jim and his wife, Debbie, reside in Los Angeles and between them have a quartet of daughters.   ELINA de SANTOS          Elina de Santos’ Los Angeles directing credits include: for the Pasadena Playhouse, the highly acclaimed Vincent in Brixton; for the Pacific Resident Theatre, Rocket to the Moon (LADCC Nominee for direction 2004), Death of a Salesman, A Delicate Balance, and Orpheus Descending, which garnered multiple awards including the top LADCC Awards for performance, direction and production 2003; for the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, the LA premiere and multi-award winning Speed the Plow, All My Sons and a nine month run of Awake and Sing!;  for the Ark Theatre Company, A Doll’s House which garnered a LA Weekly nomination for Best Director 2007.         Regional credits include: Orphans (OC Weekly Best Production, BackStage West Best Production, LADCC Best Production Nomination), Tennessee in the Summer, Romeo and Juliet: Circus Verona (Ovation Nomination), Awake and Sing! (Winner of LADCC award, LA Weekly nomination, multiple BSW awards), All My Sons, Speed the Plow (West Coast premiere, several BSW awards), and shows with Berkshire Theatre Festival, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Deaf West Theatre, International City Theatre. www.elinadesantos.com LYNNE MEADOW           Lynne Meadow has been Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) since 1972, where she has been responsible for directing and/or producing over 400 New York and world premieres.           Lynne has brought MTC to the forefront of the American stage and has created one of the nation’s most acclaimed not-for-profit theatres. Plays developed by MTC include Love! Valour! Compassion (with Nathan Lane); Putting It Together (with Julie Andrews); Sylvia (with Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner); Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Ain’t Misbehavin’; Crimes of the Heart; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Proof (with Mary Louise-Parker) and Doubt. Under her direction, MTC has been honored with every prestigious theatre award offered by the industry, including 16 Tony Awards, six Pulitzer Prizes and numerous Obies, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards.           Her directing credits include Our Leading Lady, The American Pilot , Moonlight and Magnolias (MTC, Alliance Theatre), The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (Broadway, MTC, U.S. national tour), Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nomination, Best Director), The Loman Family Picnic, Woman in Mind (Drama Desk nomination, Best Director), A Small Family Business (Broadway),  Ashes (Obie Award) and NY premieres of plays by Marsha Norman, Simon Gray, Howard Brenton, Melanie Marnich, Lee Blessing, Sybille Pearson, etc.           Lynne attended the Yale School of Drama and Bryn Mawr College. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Lee Reynolds Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women, the Manhattan Award from Manhattan magazine, the Person of the Year from the National Theatre Conference, the Margo Jones Award and the Mr. Abbott Award for lifetime achievement. She has taught at Circle in the Square Theatre School, Stony Brook University, Yale, Fordham and NYU.  www.mtc-nyc.org

JOSHUA REBELL     Joshua Rebell writes for stage and screen.  Plays include Embraceable You (The Tamarind Theatre), Paint (Synchronicity Space: NYC), The Movie Line (Raw Space NYC, The Samuel Beckett Theatre), Gatsby in Hollywood (The Met Theatre), Black Tie Affairs (The Met Theatre) and Preying On Puritans (Sacred Fools). For Sacred Fools, he has also written plays for Grimm!, Slow and Tight, Naked Holidays (a project he co-created), and Crime Scene, Sacred Fools’ long running late night serial, for which he wrote one of the three inaugural story lines.      Screenplays include “Confession,” “Misty in Maine,” and a screen adaptation of his play, “Preying On Puritans.”  Josh is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a member of both The Writers' Guild and The Dramatists Guild, Inc. PETER J. SOLOMON      Peter J. Solomon is Chairman of Peter J. Solomon Company, an independent investment banking firm, which he founded in 1989.  Previously he was Vice Chairman of Shearson Lehman Brothers, Co-Chairman of the Investment Banking Division and Chairman of the Merchant Banking Division. In 1978, he became Deputy Mayor of New York City for Economic Policy and Development under Mayor Koch and was also Chairman of New York City’s Health and Hospital Corporation.  In 1980, Peter joined the Carter Administration as Counselor to the United States Treasury.      For 10 years, Peter was the Chairman of The Manhattan Theatre Club, which was the recipient of the 2001 and 2004 Tony awards for Best Play.  He is also a Trustee of The Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York City, and a Director-at-Large of the Montana Land Reliance.  He is a Lifetime Honorary Trustee of the American Museum of Natural History and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.      Peter is currently Chairman of Monro Muffler/Brake Inc., and a director of BKF Capital Group, Inc., and Zagat Survey LLC.  He has served as a director of a number of public companies, including Esquire, Inc., LIN Broadcasting Corporation, Office Depot, Inc., and Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation.      In 1992, Peter was a recipient of the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor. As a Contributing Editor, he appeared frequently on CNN.      He is a member of the Dean’s Council of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University, where he has also served as an Overseer. Peter received a B.A. degree cum laude from Harvard College and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. www.pjsc.com   DAISY WALKER       Daisy Walker was an Artistic Associate at Classic Stage Company.   She is the 2005 Recipient of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers’ Sir John Gielgud Fellowship.        Directing credits include: Antonio’s Revenge, First Look Festival, CSC.  24 hour plays, Atlantic Theatre.  Consumption by Courtney Baron, The Guthrie Lab. Calling All by Melanie Marnich at The Guthrie Lab. Guitar by Julia Jordan, music by Duncan Sheik, La Jolla Playhouse.  US Premiere of Brian Friel’s After Play, Hubbard Hall, Cambridge, NY.  As Thousands Cheer, Adirondack Theatre Festival.  Little Dog Laughed, Private Eyes, Stonewall Jackson’s House, Day in the Life of Denise Ivanovich and Hazard County, Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theatre.  Ride by Eric Lane, Vital Theatre.        Assistant Directing credits include: Jersey Boys, Dracula, The Musical and Jackie, An American Life on Broadway; Sinatra, His Music, His World, His Way at Radio City Music Hall; and Twelfth Night in Central Park, The Public Theatre/NYSF.        Daisy received an MFA in directing from UCSD, is an Affiliated Artist at New Georges and a Usual Suspect in directing at New York Theatre Workshop.