Showtime
| Searchlight Pictures presents... | ||
THEATER CAMP |
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| Directed by: Molly Gordon Nick Lieberman |
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Patti Harrison |
Noah Galvin |
Owen Thiele |
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As summer rolls around again, kids are gathering from all over to attend AdirondACTS, a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York that’s a haven for budding performers. After its indomitable founder Joan (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma, her clueless “crypto bro” son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is tasked with keeping the thespian paradise running. With financial ruin looming, Troy must join forces with Amos (Ben Platt), Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), and their band of eccentric teachers to come up with a solution before the curtain rises on opening night.
First-time feature directorial duo Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman authentically celebrate the brilliant and slightly unhinged educators and magical spaces that allow kids to be themselves and find their confidence, nailing the details after experiencing decades of camp life. With a winning ensemble cast and boundless creativity, THEATER CAMP wears its cult-following potential squarely on its sequined shoulders, gifting us with instantly quotable lines and zany, lovable characters in the kind of hilarious comedy that deserves rapturous applause.
Meet the Company
Molly Gordon
Director/Writer/Producer/Rebecca-Diane
Molly Gordon recently wrapped on her feature directorial debut Theater Camp. She's currently filming the second season of Adam McKay’s HBO series Winning Time. Other credits include: Shiva Baby (John Cassavetes Award), Booksmart, Good Boys, Life Of The Party, and Ramy. Upcoming: Netflix’s You People, starring opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonah Hill, and Eddie Murphy.
Ben Platt
Writer/Producer/Amos Klobuchar
Platt’s evolving body of work also includes memorable roles in the Tony® Award-winning original Broadway production of The Book of Mormon, Universal's film adaption, Dear Evan Hansen, the blockbuster films Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, and the acclaimed Netflix series The Politician, which he starred in and served as executive producer. Platt was last seen in BJ Novak's Anthology series The Premise on FX, and will soon be seen in the Amazon film The People We Hate At The Wedding alongside Kristen Bell and Allison Janney. The winner of the 2017 Tony® Award for “Best Leading Actor in a Musical” for his performance as Evan Hansen in the smash hit Dear Evan Hansen, Platt also received a GRAMMY® Award for his role on Atlantic’s Dear Evan Hansen (Original Broadway Cast Recording) and a 2018 Daytime Emmy Award for his part in the cast’s powerful performance of “You Will Be Found” on NBC’s TODAY. The actor, singer/songwriter will hit the road this fall on The Reverie Tour, his biggest North American headline tour to date. Released last year, his second solo album, “Reverie”, includes extraordinary singles such as “Happy To Be Sad” and “Imagine.” Now boasting over 86M worldwide streams and counting, the album has been hailed by the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard and many others. “Sing to Me Instead” proved a full-fledged sensation upon its March 2019 release, amassing over 337M global streams and earning applause from fans and critics alike. A truly multi-faceted actor, singer, and all-around performer, the album saw Platt making a remarkable arrival as a solo recording artist and a songwriter, co-writing all of the album’s 12 songs. Highlights include “Bad Habit,” “Ease My Mind,” “Grow As We Go,” and “Temporary Love.” He is represented by CAA, Immersive Management, One Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.
Noah Galvin
Writer/Producer/Glenn Winthrop
Galvin currently stars in The Good Doctor and his past credits include Booksmart, The Real O’Neals, and Assasination Nation. He is represented by Stewart Talent, Station 3, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.
Jimmy Tatro
Troy Rubinsky
Jimmy Tatro can currently be seen in the ABC series Home Economics, in which he stars opposite Topher Grace. Upcoming, Jimmy stars in the Legendary feature The Machine opposite Bert Kreischer as well as in California King opposite Travis Bennett for writer / director Eli Stern. Jimmy can also be seen in Universal's The King of Staten Island, directed by Judd Apatow. He can be seen in his Facebook Watch series Real Bros of Simi Valley, which he created and in which he stars. Jimmy stars in Peter Farrelly’s Quibi series The Now, opposite Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr.
He gained notoriety as the lead in Season 1 of Netflix’s American Vandal, for which he was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award for Best Actor.
He began his career as the creator and star of his YouTube channel Life According to Jimmy, from which he was plucked by Phil Lord and Chris Miller to play a supporting part in Sony’s 22 Jump Street opposite Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.
Patti Harrison
Caroline Krauss
Patti Harrison was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead in Nikole Beckwith’s Together Together, co-starring Ed Helms, which premiered at Sundance. She can also be seen opposite Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in Paramount’s blockbuster The Lost City, which premiered this year.
In addition to writing and starring on three seasons of Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Patti is known by fans for her roles on Shrill, High Maintenance, Search Party, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. She’s written on multiple series including two seasons of Big Mouth on Netflix.
She can currently be seen on the current and upcoming seasons of HBO Max’s hit series Made For Love and She Hulk, on Disney+. Next, she will soon be seen in Theater Camp opposite Molly Gordon and Ben Platt, which will premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, she is filming Netflix's Electric State, by the Russo Brothers, opposite Millie Bobby-Brown and Stanley Tucci, as well as the independent feature Turn Me On, directed by Michael Tyburski.
Nathan Lee Graham
Clive DeWitt
Nathan Lee Grahamis the originator of over 17 diverse and hilarious roles on stage and screen. Most notable films: Zoolander, Zoolander 2, Sweet Home Alabama, and Hitch. Television: The Comeback, Scrubs, Absolutely Fabulous, Law & Order SVU, Broad City, “Bernard” in the Fox comedy LA to Vegas, “Francois” on the CW show Katy Keene and currently “Draque Noir” on the Hulu series Woke. On stage: the original Broadway casts of The Wild Party and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. A 2017 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for The View Upstairs. In 2016, the IRNE award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play for The Colored Museum. Also a Drama League nomination for the off- Broadway production of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Wig Out! The 2005 Best Classical Album Grammy Award for Songs of Innocence and of Experience as a soloist. Nathan is a recipient of the HRC Visibility Award. He is currently touring the country playing the role of Hermes in the National tour of the Tony Award winning musical, Hadestown.
Ayo Edebiri
Janet Walch
Ayo Edebiri is an actor, writer and standup who stars in the FX series The Bear. She's made a name for herself in the animation space, voicing roles on Big Mouth and Clone High among others. She also stars in the upcoming MGM/Orion feature Bottoms from director Emma Seligman, and has written on shows like What We Do In the Shadows, Big Mouth, Dickinson. Named one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch in 2021, Ayo is currently developing an original half hour together with Goddard Textiles and FX.
Owen Thiele
Gigi Charbonier
Multitalented actor Owen Thiele is quickly establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s most exciting rising stars in the industry. He can next be seen in Theater Camp, alongside a standout cast including Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Amy Sedaris, and Patti Harrison, which will premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. He will also soon be seen in feature film September 17th, directed by Brittany Snow and produced by Yale Productions & Lizzie Shapiro.
Currently, he stars in Season 2 of Dollface on Hulu opposite Kat Dennings. He also recently wrapped a Spotify audio original series, I’m in Hell with Owen Thiele.
Owen’s short film Moving On, which he wrote, directed, and stars in, premiered at The Frameline Film Festival in 2021.
Owen has trained and performed at Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, and the Meisner Institute.
Alan Kim
Alan Park
Alan Kim is currently shooting Paramount’s Imaginary Friends opposite Ryan Reynold for director John Krasinski, but it was his standout portrayal of ‘David Yi’ at 7-years old in the Academy Award-nominated Minari in which he stole our hearts and earned rave reviews. Alan won the 2021 Critics’ Choice Award for ‘Best Young Actor/Actress,’ and earned his place in history as the youngest BAFTA nominee in history, when he was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor in a Film.’ Minari premiered to widespread critical acclaim at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Two years later, Minari was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including ‘Best Picture.’ Now 10, Alan is gearing up to shoot the lead opposite Elsie Fisher in the independent film ‘Latchkey Kids,’ was last seen opposite Awkwafina in Nora From Queens, and can currently be seen in Apple’s Little America. He will next be seen in the independent film Theater Camp alongside an all-star comedic cast including Ben Platt, Amy Sedaris, and Patti Harrison. Alan is the current face of Thom Browne’s childrenswear fashion line and he also wrote, directed, produced, and starred in The Search, his collaboration with Instagram, which over 3.5 million people have viewed to date. Alan is looking forward to starting the 4th grade in the fall, and his favorite subjects are math and science. He loves riding his bike, reading books in his free time, and he especially loves being a silly brother to his older sister, Alyssa, and his one-year-old rescue dog, Cream.
Caroline Aaron
Rita Cohen
Aaron has appeared in multiple Mike Nichols, Nora Ephron, and Woody Allen films and is also known for her role in the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. For her performance, she won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series alongside the rest of the series' cast.
Amy Sedaris
Joan Rubinsky
Most recently, Amy appeared in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series Strangers with Candy and the prequel film Strangers with Candy, which she also wrote.
Sedaris appeared as Hurshe Heartshe in the Adult Swim comedy series The Heart, She Holler, as Princess Carolyn in the Netflix animated comedy series BoJack Horseman, and as Mimi Kanasis in the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. She received further critical acclaim as the creator and star of the TruTV surreal comedy series At Home with Amy Sedaris which earned her two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
Sedaris has appeared in various films, including Maid in Manhattan, School of Rock , Elf, Bewitched, Chicken Little, Shrek the Third, Jennifer's Body, Puss in Boots, Chef, Ghost Team, Handsome, and The Lion King.
Nick Lieberman
Director/Writer/Producer
Nick Lieberman is a Los Angeles–based writer-director. He has made music videos with a variety of artists, including Ben Platt and Remi Wolf, and his commercial work includes projects with Samsung, Billboard, and Fendi. Theater Camp is his feature directorial debut.
Erik Feig, p.g.a.
Producer
Erik Feig is the founder and CEO of PICTURESTART, a media company specializing in premium Discovery of Voice content for worldwide engagement across all platforms. Since PICTURESTART launched in 2019, Erik has financed and produced a diverse slate of projects, including Luckiest Girl Alive with Mila Kunis and directed by Mike Barker, released on Netflix in Oct 2022 and was the #1 global movie that month; Sharper directed by Ben Caron and starring Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and Justice Smith; raunchy comedy Strays voiced by Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, and directed by Josh Greenbaum; Borderlands, the ambitious video game adaptation starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jack Black and directed by Eli Roth; and produced and financed both AM I OK? directed by Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro and Cha Cha Real Smooth directed by Cooper Raiff, both starring Dakota Johnson and premiered at Sundance
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2022, with the latter film winning the Audience Award at the Festival and selling to Apple for the Festival’s highest sale of the year.
Prior to founding PICTURESTART, Erik was one of the founding partners of Summit Entertainment which became the most successful independent film studio of all time, and then served as co-president of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group when Summit was acquired by them. He has produced, supervised or originated the production of over 100 films ranging from the Step Up, Twilight, and Hunger Games series to Academy Award-winning films including La La Land and The Hurt Locker, and his films have collectively grossed over $13BN at the box office.
According to The New York Times, "Feig has built a reputation among book authors for cinematic adaptations." He is a board member of the Columbia University School of the Arts, City Year Los Angeles, the MOCA Acquisition and Collection committee, and an ambassador for the ReFrame Project.
Samie Kim Falvey
Producer
Samie Kim Falvey is the President of PICTURESTART, the discovery-of-voice focused media company, where she oversees all efforts in scripted and unscripted content across film, television, audio and print media. With an extraordinary track record in developing, producing and programming zeitgeist-shaping hits across multiple platforms, Samie excels at finding unique voices and helping them tell the most powerful, memorable stories.
She joined PICTURESTART from Imagine Entertainment, where she was Chairman of Imagine Television. In that role, she led the transition of Imagine Television from producing pod to boutique studio, with an eye to ownership and IP creation. Some of the projects she shepherded in her time there: Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Swagger with Kevin Durant, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Why Women Kill, Ms. Pat, and Willow.
Samie's previous posts include leadership roles at M4 and ABC. At M4, the premium short-form mobile content service where she oversaw the development and production of all comedy pilots and international scripted formats for ABC. At ABC, Falvey and her team developed and launched the breakout Tuesday and Wednesday Night Comedy blocks, renowned for their quality and inclusivity including five- time Emmy-winning Best Comedy Series Modern Family, Peabody-winning and Emmy-winning Black-ish, and critically acclaimed series: Fresh Off The Boat, The Goldbergs, The Middle, and The Real O'Neals.
Julia Hammer, p.g.a.
Producer
Julia Hammer is a Vice President of Production at PICTURESTART. Julia most recently executive produced Netflix's Luckiest Girl Alive starring Mlia Kunis and Apple's Cha Cha Real Smooth starring Dakota Johnson, which also won the 2022 Sundance Audience Award. Her upcoming credits include Sharper for Apple and A24, starring Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan, and Strays for Universal, starring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx.
Ryan Heller
Producer
Ryan Heller is Executive Vice President of Film and Documentary, Topic Studios, the entertainment unit of First Look Media. He is responsible for building and shepherding the company’s film slate through development, financing, production and distribution as well as seeking out key acquisitions to complement original studio productions. Recent projects Ryan has overseen and executive produced for the studio include Pablo Larraín’s Academy Award®-nominated Spencer (NEON/Topic Studios) starring Kristen Stewart; Nikyatu Jusu’s psychological horror film Nanny which won the 2022 Sundance Grand Jury Prize; Debra Granik’s acclaimed Leave No Trace (Bleecker Street); Michael Angelo Covino’s buddy comedy and winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Heart Prize The Climb (Sony Classics); Julius Onah’s three-time Independent Spirit Award-nominated dramatic thriller Luce (NEON/Topic Studios) starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer; Steven Soderbergh’s Panama Papers satire The Laundromat (Netflix) starring Meryl Streep; and Kevin Macdonald’s Golden Globe®-winning legal thriller The Mauritanian (STXfilms) starring Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim and Benedict Cumberbatch. Ryan’s documentary projects include PGA Award and Emmy-winning HBO series 100 Foot Wave; Ry Russo Young’s acclaimed series Nuclear Family (HBO); Lucy Walker’s California wildfire exposé Bring Your Own Brigade (Paramount+); and Lizzie Gottlieb’s documentary on literary giants Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb Turn Every Page (Sony Classics).
Upcoming projects include Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool (NEON) starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, Ben Platt and Molly Gordon-starring musical comedy Theater Camp; and Toni Collette’s directorial debut Writers & Lovers based on Lily King’s bestselling novel.
Ryan was previously at Starz Entertainment where he led the buying and releasing of feature films for the Starz Digital banner including: Amy Berg's Every Secret Thing starring Diane Lane, Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Banks; Jason Bateman's The Family Fang starring Bateman, Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken; Sophie Goodhart's My Blind Brother starring Adam Scott, Nick Kroll and Jenny Slate; and two- time Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple's Miss Sharon Jones!
Ryan is a member of the Producers Guild of America. He holds a BA from Boston College and is a graduate of New York University’s M.B.A./M.F.A. dual degree program. He is based out of First Look Media’s headquarters in New York City.
Maria Zuckerman
Producer
Maria Zuckerman is an award-winning producer and entertainment executive. She most recently served until June 2022 as President of Topic Studios, leading content and strategy for development, financing, production, go-to-market and distribution across theatrical and streaming films, documentaries, television and podcasts. In Maria’s three-year tenure leading the Studio (and encompassing the pandemic), projects which she greenlit garnered multiple Academy Award, Emmy, Golden Globe, Independent Spirit, BAFTA, Critics Choice and Peabody wins and nominations, the 2022 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and a Pulitzer Finalist honor, and sold to outlets such as HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Paramount/Viacom, Blumhouse, and Sony Pictures Classics. Projects include the Emmy-winning HBO surfing documentary series 100 Foot Wave; Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart; and Nanny, Nikyatu Jusu’s directorial debut, acquired by Amazon and Blumhouse.
Maria previously worked for nearly 20 years at HBO, where she served as Senior Vice President, HBO Films, overseeing the development and production of original movies for the network. Her more than 30 titles include movies from filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears, Dee Rees, Peter Morgan and David Yates. These films earned HBO 95 Emmy® nominations, winning 17 Emmy® Awards, including three Best Movie/Miniseries; 22 Golden Globe® nominations with five wins, including two for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television; 23 BAFTA® nominations and numerous NAACP®, GLAAD® and SAG® Awards.
Maria is a member of the PGA, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and BAFTA, and was named in 2015 to Variety’s Hollywood’s New Leaders in Television list.
Jessica Elbaum, p.g.a.
Producer
Jessica Elbaum originally launched Gloria Sanchez Productions in 2014 with a focus on female voices in comedy, and from that point the company has expanded into multiple genres and platforms in both film and television. Elbaum was named one of Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch” shortly after the launch and appeared in the Hollywood Reporter's "The 40 Most Powerful People in Comedy" in 2019 and 2021.
Will Ferrell
Producer
Actor/Writer/Producer Will Ferrell has created some of film’s most iconic characters with his roles in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Elf, Step Brothers, and Stranger Than Fiction, among many others. Along with partner Jessica Elbaum, Ferrell is a co-founder of Gloria Sanchez Productions. The company has a three-year first-look deal with Netflix and a multi-year existing first-look film deal at Paramount Pictures. The Netflix deal came on the heels of the incredible overnight success of Dead to Me, which aired its second season on the streaming service in May 2020. That same year, Dead to Me was nominated for four Emmy Awards, including “Outstanding Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” for Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini respectively. The show has since been renewed for a third season, which is slated to premiere in the fall of this year. Gloria Sanchez’s recent film and TV credits include Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Hustlers, Booksmart, and Live From a Studio Audience, all of which garnered both critical acclaim and awards nominations.
This holiday season, Ferrell will be seen starring alongside Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer in Spirited. The holiday musical, written and directed by Sean Anders and John Morris, is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. The project is set to be released on Apple TV+. In 2023, Ferrell will be seen in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated live action feature Barbie, starring alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Ferrell can also be seen starring opposite of Reese Witherspoon in Nick Stoller’s Untitled Wedding Comedy. Ferrell is also set to star in and co-produce Untitled Sister Comedy starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh.
Ferrell recently starred in and executive produced the Apple TV+ and Gloria Sanchez TV series The Shrink Next Door, directed by Michael Showalter and written by Georgia Pritchett. The show premiered in Fall 2021 and was an eight-episode limited series starring Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Kathryn Hahn. The series, which is based on the No. 1 new podcast of 2019 by Wondery and Bloomberg Media, follows the bizarre relationship between a psychiatrist and his longtime patient.
Other recent projects include Netflix’s Eurovision in which Ferrell starred alongside Rachel McAdams. Ferrell served as a producer on the project through his Gloria Sanchez banner and the movie premiered in Summer 2020. It then went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for “Best Original Song” for “Husavik,” which was performed by Ferrell in the movie. Ferrell also starred opposite of Julia Louis Dreyfus in Searchlight Pictures Downhill, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2020.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings where fellow cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and former Saturday Night Live repertory players Laraine Newman, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman began their careers. Prior to his time on Saturday Night Live, he appeared on several television programs, including Strangers with Candy, Grace Under Fire, and Living Single while still a member of The Groundlings. It was there he met Chris Kattan and the two became good friends before joining Saturday Night Live in 1995.
During his first season, Ferrell was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever. However, his talented impersonations and wide range of characters soon made him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live cast member ever. Over his seven-year run, Ferrell played George W. Bush and became one of the few cast members to be nominated for an Emmy for a Saturday Night Live performance. In 2002 he left Saturday Night Live and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of a season finale show.
Ferrell is widely considered a comedic genius with enormous box office power, starring in hits Old School, Wedding Crashers, Zoolander, Talladega Nights, and Daddy’s Home among many others.
Nate Hurtsellers
Director of Photography
Nate Hurtsellers is an award-winning cinematographer whose work has been screened at festivals around the world. He received his bachelor's from New York University and master’s in cinematography from the American Film Institute. Working early on in documentaries, Nate developed an affection for intimate naturalism and an interest in storytelling through images of emotional depth. Nate brought that sensibility into the narrative space, notably lensing SXSW 2019 Special Jury and Audience Award Winner, Saint Frances. Other feature credits include Snatchers (SXSW 2019), I Used to Go Here (SXSW 2020), and Down Low (2023), starring Zachary Quinto. Nate is currently wrapping up an HBO documentary series alongside frequent collaborator, Lance Oppenheim.
Jon Philpot
Editor
Jon Philpot is an Emmy award winning editor known for his work on a wide range of projects. Most notably the HBO Max dark comedy Search Party, Comedy Central’s Broad City and the A24 psychological horror, False Positive. Theater Camp is his second feature film and first feature to make it into the Sundance Film Festival.
Charlotte Royer, Jordan Janota
Production Designers
Michelle Li
Costume Designer
James McAlister & Mark Sonnenblick
Score
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt, Mark Sonnenblick
Original Songs
Bill Sherman, Will Van Dyke
Music Producers
Lindsay Wolfington
Music Supervisor
Maud Arnold
Choreographer
Photos
Guestbook
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