janet yates vogt  & mark friedman

Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman have been long-standing musical partners. Theirs is a true collaboration, with each of them composing both music and lyrics, as well as crafting the book.

Janet Yates Vogt
 

Janet Yates Vogt has been a writer, composer and lyricist all of her life. She credits her career today to her family’s support, the guidance of many wonderful directors and producers, and to her many outstanding teachers – from her first grade teacher who notated Janet's first songs and taught them to the class to sing – to her inspiring piano teachers to her professors at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where her studies were centered upon piano performance and music theory.

Janet is known nationally and internationally not only for her musical theatre works, but also for her numerous publications in many different musical genres, including vocal music for children and choral works for adults. Janet's educational keyboard books and methods have been translated into French, Japanese and German.

She has been a pit orchestra member for theatre productions, a vocal coach for the CCM Musical Theatre Institute, and has sung under the direction of Leonard Bernstein and James Levine. She has served as a faculty member of the CCM Preparatory Piano Department and the CCM Alumni Board.

A teacher at heart, Janet still coaches piano and voice students, and is a featured speaker and presenter at many national music conventions and events.

In 2005, Janet was honored as National Music Educator of the Year, and is represented by Bill Craver, Paradigm Agency, New York.

Mark Friedman

Composer, lyricist, and playwright Mark Friedman fell in love with musicals at an early age when he and his brothers built their own theatre in the basement of their home - complete with lighting grid and sound system – performing for family and friends in the neighborhood.

With a Bachelors degree in Education and a Master of the Arts, Mark has been a both a successful teacher and educator as well as a musician, vocalist, actor and director.

He was the co-founder of Cincinnati’s first free Shakespeare Festival in the Park and helped create Peanut Butter Theatre for Children which featured original musicals and a brown bag lunch, and the Artreach Touring Theatre.

Markproduced a touring theatre group for inner-city schools called The Good News Company and toured the country as an actor and musician with the Fountain Square Fools.

A composer and studio producer, professional vocalist, actor, and musician, Mark has many songs and recordings published worldwide in books and catalogs. He has written music, scripted and hosted events for national conventions - and is a sought after speaker at music and education seminars around the country.

In 2005, Mark was distinguished as National Music Educator of the Year. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and is represented by Bill Craver, Paradigm Agency, New York.

Together, Janet and Mark are the creative team behind these exciting musicals which are playing across the country.

Their extremely popular musical adaptation of Melinda Long's best-selling children's book HOW I BECAME A PIRATE has been rollicking its way across the country on over 80 stages - including Cape Rep, the Des Moines Playhouse, Seaside Repertory Theatre in Florida, the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati, the Omaha Rose Theatre, Salt Lake Acting Company - and many more.  [Licensed by THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORLDWIDE (TRW)]

Their TYA musical ANNE OF GREEN GABLES has played to delighted audiences around the country - First Stage Milwaukee, Playmakers of Baton Rouge, and Savannah Children's Theatre - to mention just a few. [Licensed by THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORLDWIDE (TRW)]

SLEEPY HOLLOW: A MUSICAL TALE - this modern take on a classic tale where three kids from today find themselves in 1790 Sleepy Hollow on Halloween night - has been making its way on the road, playing at the Kalamazoo Civic and the Columbus Children's Theatre among others. [Licensed by THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORLDWIDE (TRW)]

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, SLEEPY HOLLOW, and HOW I BECAME A PIRATE are licensed for production by THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORDWIDE. Contact TRW online at http://www.theatricalrights.com/  for more information and booking.

Their newest TYA musical RAPUNZEL! RAPUNZEL! A VERY HAIRY FAIRY TALE premiered in March of 2012 at the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati where it broke all box office records - selling over 20,000 seats in it's two week run!  it has already booked at several theatres across the country - The Rainbow Theatre in Las Vegas, Casa Manana in Ft. Worth, Magical Starlight Theatre in Illinois, and at the South Carolina Children's Theatre.

Their full length version of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES has played to outstanding reviews and box office success around the country and was the featured holiday musical in 2010-11 at the Villiage Theatre in Issaquah / Seattle, WA, prduced by Robb Hunt - where it broke all box office records.

Their powerful an moving musical HARRIET AND SAM captures the times and events of pre and post Civil War America as seen through the eyes of real-life neighbors Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain, and has met with critical acclaim for its timely themes of freedom and human rights.

TENDERLY - THE ROSEMARY CLOONEY MUSICAL is based upon the life and career of Rosemary Clooney. It premiered in the summer of 2010 at the Human Race Theatre (Equity) in Dayton, Ohio as part of their three show summer musical theatre workshop which also featured a new work by prize winning playwright Brian Yorkey. Met with critical acclaim and great enthusiasm the musical shows Rosemary's amazing triumph over the many challenges she faced during her life, and highlights her star studded career featuring her most loved songs. TENDERLY will play in spring 2012 at the historic Victoria Theatre in Dayton, OH - where it is a featured show in the Broadway Series.

They have also penned a humorous, irreverent, and satirical look at married relationships with their musical cabaret, WAR GAMES: MARRIAGE ON THE FRONT LINES - Premiered at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, it was lovingly dubbed by critics as the "musical in need of an intervention!"  Great fun and provocative theatre, WAR GAMES was recently featured in an off-Broadway workshop reading.

Their holiday shows EBENEZER! (a musical version of A Christmas Carol) and TWAS THE NIGHT! have been delighting audiences for the past five years, most notably at the Columbus Children's Theatre, South Carolina Children's Theatre, Northern Michigan University Theatre, among others.

Mark and Janet were honored in 2005 as National Music Educators of the Year. Together they have won three distinguished Owen Awards for outstanding music sales achievement, and have produced CDs and recordings, music for videos, and choral music that appear in many music catalogs.  Their music is marketed and sung throughout the world. They are members of ASCAP and The Dramatist Guild. 

Janet and Mark's musicals ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and TENDERLY - THE ROSEMARY CLOONEY MUSICAL are represented by Bill Craver, Paradigm Agency, New York