Director | Musical Director | Designers

Bill Grimmette(Adaptor/Director) is an actor, a master storyteller and a motivational speaker who has performed at the Kennedy Center for ten years. In the Theater Lab, he has performed, on several occasions for the Kennedy Center's Youth and Family Programs, his one-man storytelling show called Trickster Tales and Other Stories, and in the role of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland directed by Pat Carroll. He has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra as a storyteller/narrator, on the Millennium Stage, and throughout schools in Washington, DC as a Kennedy Center resident artist. As an actor, Mr. Grimmette has performed at regional theaters around the nation including The Shakespeare Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Arena Stage, and the National Theater of Washington, DC. He has national credits on radio, television, and in major motion pictures. He was featured in a John Waters mtion picture starring Melanie Griffith entitled Cecil B. Demented where he plays the Mayor of Baltimore. He was the narrator voice for the recent PBS documentary on the life of Maggie Walker. Mr. Grimmette is the past President of the National Association of Black Storytellers and, in addition to writing and telling his own original stories of personal empowerment; he actively collects empowering stories from around the world. He performs and conducts storytelling workshops for students and teachers in schools throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and around the nation. He also conducts workshops and seminars for leaders in education an dcorporations on the power of leadership through storytelling. He has a B.A. in Psychology from Marian College in Indianapolis, Indiana, an M.A. in Psychology from Catholic University in Washington, DC, and has done postgraduate work in Education at George Mason University.

Kathryn Bostic (Composer/Musical Director) has composed and arranged music for numerous plays, films, and concerts. She is a recipient of the sundance Institute's Composers Lab for film scoring. Other credits include the PBS American Experience series on Marcus Garvy; The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe; Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka, directed by Marion McClinton; I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change by Dianne McIntyre; and Screened In Porch by Marian X. Production credits include, The Public Theatre, The London Royal Court, Crossroads Theatre, The Cleveland Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage Theatre, and Syracuse Stage.

As a pianist and vocalist, Ms. Bostic has performed in numerous festivals and clubs including the Copenhagen Jazz Festival; the Pori Jazz Festival - Finland; Ronnie Scott's - London; JVC Jazz Festival at Birdland - New York, NY; The Blue Note Jazz Club - Tokyo and Osaka, Japan; and the Cape May Jazz Festival - Cape May, NJ. She has also toured and/or recorded with many artists, including Patti Austin, Julio Igleseas, Ryvichi Sakamoto, The Manhattans, John Hiatt, Rod Stewart and David Bryne.

Design Team

Dreama Greaves (Properties Artisan) has served as properties artisan for many Kennedy Center Youth and Family Programs shows. Her credits include uch diverse productions as The Snow Queen, Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, The Nightingale, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Great Quillow, and others; many of which have toured nationally. She has a Master of FIne Arts from Northwestern University and freelances throughout the metro area.

Elaine M. Randolph's (Set and Lighting Designer) credits include both stage management and lighting design at venues such as The Kennedy Center, Walnut Street Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Washington Stage Guild, Theater J, and 12 seasons at Totem Pole Playhouse. Recent projects include The Sondheim Festival and The British Festival at the Kennedy Center, Quake at the Humana Festival, and the east coast tour of Suzanne Farrell Stages the Master of 20th Century Ballet.

Chris Schardin (Tour Lighting Consultant) has worked as a puppeteer, technical director, lighting director, sound engineer, and scenic carpenter for companies such as New York's Das Puppenspiel Puppet Theater, Club Med Resorts in both Florida and the Bahamas, the tour of Sleeping Beauty from Philadelphia's American Family Theater, and the J. Everett Collins Center For The Performing Arts. Although he may not say he is the "light in his family", Chris can definitely say he is the Lighting Director in his family, which in some cases is just as good, and he's thrilled to be back with the Kennedy Center again after a successful fall tour as the Lighting Director for A Light in the Storm.

Marie Schneggenburger's (Costume Designer) designs have been seen in several Kennedy Center Youth and Family Programs productions, including Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Dreams, The Magic Rainforest and The Nightingale. She also works for the Washington Opera, The Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, and other organizations around town.