HILARY BELL
BOOK & LYRICS
GRETA GERTLER GOLD
COMPOSER
HILARY BELL is a multi-award-winning playwright and lyricist. Hilary’s plays and musicals have been produced nationally around Australia by the Sydney Theatre Company, Ensemble, Belvoir, Griffin, Black Swan, Deckchair, La Boite, NORPA, National Theatre of Parramatta, Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne, Vitalstatistix and Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Internationally she’s been produced by theatres including Atlantic and Steppenwolf (USA) and The National (UK), and at 2024’s Edinburgh Fringe. Her plays include Summer of Harold, Splinter, Fortune, The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Ruysch, The Falls, Memmie Le Blanc, The Red Balloon, The White Divers of Broome, Victim Sidekick Boyfriend Me, The Mysteries: Genesis (with Lally Katz) and adaptations of Chekhov’sThe Seagull, Moliere’s The Hypochondriac, Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. She was associate writer on Paul Capsis’ Helpmann-winning play Angela’s Kitchen. Wolf Lullaby won the inaugural Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award in 1995 and remains on the school syllabus. She also writes libretti for opera, musicals and song cycles. Collaborating with composers including Phillip Johnston, Greta Gertler Gold, Andree Greenwell, Douglas Stephen Rae, Elena Katz-Chernin, Luke Styles, Maria Alfonsine and Ensemble Offspring, among her music theatre works are The Red Tree, Mrs President, Starstruck The Stage Musical (with Mitchell Butel), Seven Stories and Alphabetical Sydney: All Aboard! Other awards include the Jill Blewitt, Bug’n’Bub (USA), Aurealis Fiction, the Eric Kocher (USA), Inscription, two Australian Writers Guild Awards, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize shortlist. She was the 2003-04 Tennessee Williams Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of the South, Tennessee, and in 2013 the Patrick White Playwriting Fellow at the STC. Hilary is a graduate of the Juilliard Playwrights’ Studio, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (Sydney) and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. She has served on boards including Griffin, Australian National Playwrights’ Centre and Australian Plays, and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the State Library of NSW. She is a member of 7-ON Playwrights. Hilary is the creator, with illustrator Antonia Pesenti, of several picture books, including the best- selling Alphabetical Sydney.
GRETA GERTLER GOLD is a composer, lyricist, performer and producer. A Yaddo Fellow, Jonathan Larson Grant and NY Women's Fund Finalist, she was awarded a Create NSW Grant with playwright Hilary Bell to write a musical adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s "Picnic at Hanging Rock". She produced two 29-hour readings of “Picnic” in NYC, including a concert of songs at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater in July 2024, following a music workshop at Ars Nova and a developmental workshop at the Hayes Theatre, Sydney. She composed music for psychedelic rock musical "The Red Tree" (based on Shaun Tan's book) in collaboration with Hilary Bell for seasons at Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne and National Theatre of Parramatta. Gertler Gold and Bell also received a Cultural Grant from the City of Sydney and Create NSW Grant to develop a musical adaptation of Bell & Antonia Pesenti’s "Alphabetical Sydney", which toured Riverside Theatre, Sydney Opera House, The Joan and The Concourse. Greta and playwright Alexandra Collier were awarded residencies and workshops to develop rock musical “Triplight” at Ucross Foundation (Wyoming), Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Space at Ryder Farm, New Musicals Australia and The Tank (NYC) culminating in a concert season starring Kristen Sieh and Tony Torn at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, NYC, directed by Mia Rovegno. Greta was a composer in Ars Nova's "Uncharted" Program and Polyphone Festival (Philadelphia), where she developed the musical "The Real Whisper" with playwright Akin Salawu. She and Stew (Tony Award winning creator of "Passing Strange") were granted a residence at The Orchard to begin development of their musical "Anna Hit". Greta was also a composer in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Greta has performed and released several albums as a solo artist and with her bands The Universal Thump and Peccadillo, and has toured the USA, Australia and Europe and made her Lincoln Center debut in early 2023 with her show ‘Characters’ merging an orchestral pop ensemble with guests from the musical theater world. Greta's songs have been featured multiple times on NPR, she was awarded an Australia Council for the Arts Grant to tour in support of her theatrical concept album "Edible Restaurant". She co-penned multi-platinum-selling pop songs, "Blow Up the Pokies" and "Charlie #3", performed by The Whitlams (Warner Music Australia), featured in the musical "Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You" (Hayes Theatre). Greta also composed music for Dr. Seuss characters Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, The Grinch and others for Tonies toy company, in collaboration with LA-based actor-producer, Bill Kates. She is a member of ASCAP, AMCOS, The Dramatists Guild and Maestra. Please visit: https://maestramusic.org/profile/greta-gertler-gold/ for more information. Website: https://gretagertlergold.com/