On the day of his high school graduation party, Billy, a young man feeling at odds with what his future holds before it has even begun, finds a trunk of letters written to him by his late mother, whom he'd been told had abandoned him as a child. The discovery sets Billy, and his best girlfriend, Scoot, off on a journey to uncover the truth about his lineage, his past, and his connection to a woman he never knew, but who might just be the key to understanding the ceaseless and indefinable longing that exists within his heart.
*Formerly With(out) Her & Call It Love.
OUR TEAM
CHILINA KENNEDY (Music & Lyrics)
Chilina recently played “Myrtle” in The Great Gatsby on Broadway and was Broadway’s longest running “Carole King" in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical with over 1200 performances. Other roles include: “Cindy” in A Sign of the Times (York Theatre Co and DTC), “Billie Jean King” in the play Billie Jean (Chicago Shakespeare), “Annie O’Brien” in Paradise Square (Broadway), “Elle” in the one woman play The Human Voice (filmed for Toronto OIC), “Dina” in the International Tour of The Band’s Visit opposite Sasson Gabay (Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award), “Mary Magdalene” in Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway), “Binky” in This Ain’t No Disco (Atlantic Theater Company), “Sophie” in Mamma Mia! (1 st National US Tour), “Phoebe” in A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder (CT and San Diego Critics; Circle Nominations), “Evangeline” in Evangeline (Charlottetown Festival), “Philia” in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Toronto/Mirvish), Ross Petty’s Pantomime The Little Mermaid (Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award), The Lord of the Rings (World Premiere Mirvish), three seasons at the Stratford Festival and three seasons at the Shaw Festival. Film/TV: The 2015 Kennedy Center Honors (as Carole King), With Me (BravoFact, NY Shorts, and Whistler Film Festivals). Chilina is the composer/lyricist of a new musica,l Wild About You (concept album is available on iTunes). She is also the Creative Director of New York Theatre Company.
DANI STOLLER (Book )
Dani Stoller is an award-winning playwright and actor currently based in Washington, DC. Playwriting credits: Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes (Signature Theater); Just Great: an adaptation of some book by F Scott Fitzgerald (recently published by Broadway Licensing); The Voices of Blackwell Island, The Possumneck Playhouse Presents...,Failureland (Signature Theater SIS Program), Girlhood (Round House Theatre TPC commission); The Prime (National Capitol New Play Festival);The Joy That Carries You, co-written with Awa Sal Secka (Olney Theatre Center, Winner of the Helen Hayes Charles MacArthur Award for Best New Play).
OUR TEAM
KRISTIN HANGGI (Director)
Kristin Hanggi is a theater, television, and film director as well as a passionate multi-hyphenate - writer, producer, creative guide, artist, and poet. She is best known for directing and developing the international smash-hit Rock of Ages, which received five Tony Award nominations, including a nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. She has directed productions of Rock of Ages all over the world, including Broadway and the West End. Ms. Hanggi developed and directed the acclaimed pop opera bare, which ran to sold-out audiences in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway, won numerous awards and has had over 500 productions internationally. As a film director, Kristin directed Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List and made her feature directorial debut in 2013 with the indie Grantham & Rose. For television, Ms. Hanggi adapted and directed the hit book series, Dear Dumb Diary into a musical movie and directed an episode on the Netflix musical series Julie and the Phantoms. A partial list of past stage productions includes: Clueless; Accidentally Brave; Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion; Atlantis; Pirate La Dee Da; the initial production that launched the Pussycat Dolls, Pussycat Dolls Live at the Roxy.
DANIEL EDMONDS (Music Supervisor/Director, Arranger, Orchestrator & Music Producer)
Daniel is a music director, supervisor, arranger, orchestrator, conductor and pianist. Broadway: The Great Gatsby, Shucked, Paradise Square. West End: The Showgirl Within. Film: scores for The Suitor, Monolith, Butcherbird, and the song “Man To Man” from SuperAwesome. Other selected theater: composer of a new version of The Wind In The Willows, and the originating Music Director of world premiere productions of King Kong, Strictly Ballroom (with Baz Luhrmann) and Dream Lover. Also: MD of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Chicago and Pippin in Australia. Numerous concerts, tours and albums with pop, jazz and theater artists as conductor/arranger. Highlights include piano for Lea Salonga’s “Great Performances” PBS Special, Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid, Caroline O’Connor, David Campbell, Courtney Act and Johnny Manuel. Daniel produced and arranged the Wild About You world premiere album, featuring an array of Tony, Grammy and Emmy-winning talent and an all-star band.
OUR TEAM
BRIAN SPECTOR, KEAKA PRODUCTIONS (Producer)
Brian is a two-time Tony Award® winning Broadway producer (Leopoldstadt and The Inheritance), and was a co-producer of the Broadway musical Suffs (Tony Awards for Best Book and Score). He is one of the lead producers of last fall’s multi-Tony Award®
nominated Broadway play The Hills of California. Brian is also an investor (Prima Facie - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play; Six - Tony Award for Best Score; Come From Away - Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical; and The Woodsman - Obie Award). He has also been involved in the development of a number of plays, and executive produced Marisha Wallace's "Live in London" album and Randy Rainbow’s Grammy Award® nominated album “A Little Brains, A Little Talent”. Brian has practiced business law for over 40 years. He executive
produced the March 2023 reading and industry presentation of Wild About You, then known as With(out) Her, produced the World Premiere Recording, and produced the March 2024 World Premiere in Concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.
CAITLIN MCNEILAGE (Associate Producer)
Caitlin McNeilage is a multi-hyphenate artist, producer, founder of the production company Leading Lady Creative and a founding member of New York Theatre Company. Her producing resume includes Barbie the Movie: in Concert at The Hollywood Bowl (Assoc. Prod.), Wild About You at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in The West End (Assoc. Prod.), three hit shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and her popular 54 Below concert series, "The Leading Lady Club." Other credits: Machinal (NY City Center), The Leading Lady Club: A Feminist (But Still Likable) Sketch Show at NYC Fringe (Awards for Best Comedy and Fan Favorite), The Things I Did While Waiting For You To Fall Back In Love With Me (59E59), Lighthouse: An Immersive Drinking Musical (SoHo Playhouse), and Facings (UrbanStages). She was an Associate Producer on the World Premiere Recording of the new musical, Wild About You. She also serves as the Associate Producer for the Tony®Award-Winning production company, Keaka Productions, assisting on Broadway shows such as The Hills of California, SUFFS, Leopoldstadt and more.
