NYMF Production Team

A selection of the 2017 New York Musical Festival!
Meet our Production Team
Larry Little (Producer and Story) wrote the original story for NUMBERS NERDS, a tale that combines a set of characters modeled on real-life people with the passion for numbers that shaped his second career as a Certified Public Accountant. Numbers Nerds is Larry’s 100th production, joining his thirty-five year career as an actor, director, and producer. Larry is thrilled to be a part of NYMF 2017. Larry is the lead producer of CPA Theatricals, which also publishes the widely read blog: Everything Musical Theatre.
Amber Mak (Director) is a Chicago based director/choreographer and the New Works Development Director for the Paramount Theatre. Her most recent project was directing and choreographing the critically acclaimed Disney’s The Little Mermaid at the Paramount Theatre. Other select credits include: Director/choreographer of Hairspray (Paramount Theatre); SDC observership/assistant to Susan Stroman, Big Fish (Broadway); choreographer for Singin’ in the Rain (Drury Lane Oakbrook – Jeff Nominated); director/choreographer for Mary Poppins, Swing, Legally Blonde, and Sound of Music (LTOTS); choreographer for The Music Man (The Clarence Brown Theatre); associate director/choreographer for Rachel Rockwell on numerous shows including Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Emperor’s New Clothes (world premier), The Sound of Music (Lincoln Center Library Archive), Xanadu, Shout and Mary Poppins. Amber was the founding artistic director for FWD Theatre Project in Chicago where she worked creating one night only concerts of new musicals in development in site specific locations. She had the honor of working with Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil on producing a concert version of La Revolution Francaise at the historic Thalia Hall. She is a proud graduate of Northwestern University.
Tom Vendafreddo (Musical Director) NYMF debut! Chicago based, five-time Jeff Award-nominated music director/actor, with Chicago credits at Paramount Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Writers Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Porchlight Music Theatre, Harper Theatre Ensemble and Metropolis PAC. Regional credits include: Old Globe Theatre (San Diego), Musical Theatre Heritage (KCMO), Mason Street Warehouse (Saugatuck, MI), Red Mountain Theatre Company (Birmingham, AL). BM: Eastman School of Music. MFA: San Diego State University. www.tomvendafreddo.com.
Jessica Forella (Stage Manager) St. Jude, A Little Bit Not Normal (Victory Gardens Theater); The Scottsboro Boys, In The Heights, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Side Show, Sondheim on Sondheim (Porchlight Music Theatre); A Small Oak Tree Runs Red (Congo Square Theatre); New Country (Fair Trade Productions); Melancholy Play: a chamber musical, The Language Archive, Tusk Tusk (Piven Theatre Workshop); Under a Rainbow Flag, At the Flash (Pride Films and Plays); Our City, Ourselves (A Red Orchid Theatre)
Jen Price Fick (Scenic Designer): selected credits – Maya and Marty (Associate Art Director, NBC); Marty’s Shadow/Journey in Light and Shadow (Strindberg Rep, NYC); Baskerville; I Love a Piano (Meadow Brook Theatre, MI); You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Mile Square Theater, NJ); Mourning Sun; Your are Now the Owner of this Suitcase (Theatre 167, NYC); Foolerie (NYMF 2015). Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
Theresa Ham (Costume Designer) is a Chicago-based Costume Designer. Credits include Paramount Theatre: Sweeney Todd and Disney’s The Little Mermaid . Ride the Cyclone (MCC Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) October Sky and Mama Mia! (Marriot Theatre), Jason and the Argonanuts (Lyric Unlimited-LOC), Carmen (Finger Lakes Opera), Hello Dolly (Drury Lane Theatre), The Assembled Parties (Raven Theatre) and Dogfight (BOHO Theatre). Her work has been seen at Stage Left Theatre, DePaul Opera Theatre, Ryan Opera Center- LOC, Northlight Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Theo Ubique, Theater on the Lake, and First Folio Shakespeare Theatre. She is also an Artistic Associate with Bohemian Theatre Ensemble and Stage Left Theatre. Ms. Ham is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago and Wilbur Wright College. She has received eight Joseph Jefferson nominations and is the 2010 Jeff Recipient for Outstanding Costume Design (non-equity) and two Broadway World Awards. Ms. Ham holds an MFA in Costume Design from Illinois State University. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Patrick and their son, Cole.
Michael Cole (Lighting Designer) Michael is a New York City based lighting designer. Over the past 10 years, Michael has designed all over the U.S. in various venues ranging from Off-Off Broadway to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He has designed primarily for dance, musicals, and plays. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with two degrees: Musical Theatre Performance and Lighting Design. Recent credits include: Sweeney Todd (Tri-Cities Opera), STEPS Repertory Ensemble (Alvin Ailey), Associate Lighting Designer for Black Girl: A Linguistic Play (CAB&D) Jingle Bell Jive (LTOTS), Blithe Spirit (OSU Guest Designer), A Christmas Carol: The Musical (Chestnut Street Playhouse). www.michaelcole.lighting
Kevan Loney (Projections Designer) is a Projection Designer with a background in interactive computing, 3D animation, and live performance. Recently, he has worked as a Video/Projection Designer for: Tosca (Fort Wayne Philharmonic), The Trial of an American President (The Lion | Off-Broadway), Icon (NYMF, The Duke on 42nd street), Show Boat (CITI Shubert Theatre), The Wiz, Antony and Cleopatra (CMU), Gertrude Stein SAINTS! (Abrons Arts Center), Emily Dickinson OUTER SPACE! (The Bushwick Starr), The Irresistible (Immersive Gallery), the Regional Premier of Pete ’N’ Keely, and Mack and Mabel (Stages Repertory Theatre), Altar Boyz (Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret), Chang(e), This Tree (HERE Arts Center), and he was the Augmented Reality Design Associate for The Builders Association’s Elements of Oz (3LD Art & Technology Center). He is a graduate from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama with a M.F.A. in Video and Media Design. www.KevanLoney.com