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THE CREATORS Tuvia Tenenbom [Librettist and Author of the underlying play] was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He studied for his Doctorate in English Literature at St. John's University, earned his MFA in Playwriting at CUNY-Brooklyn, BS in Mathematics and Computer Science at Touro, and finished his Rabbinical Studies in Jerusalem. He also studied Christianity and Islam in Israel and NY, as well as Journalism, Acting, Theater and Finance (at NYU).
Tuvia was named "Founder of a new form of theater" by the French Le Monde, "Founder of The Theater of Catastrophe" by the German Die Zeit, and "The New Jew" by the Israeli Maariv. Tuvia was named "Free artist who fights for truth & tolerance" by the Belgian Le Vif L’Express and "One of the most iconoclastic and innovative of contemporary dramatists" by the Italian Corriere Della Sera. Critic D.J.R. Bruckner, reviewing for The New York Times, described Tuvia’s theatrical work as "irresistibly fascinating, seductive and engaging," and Alisa Solomon, writing for the Village Voice, called it "theater of integrity, inquiry and chutzpah.” Tuvia is also a journalist, writing essays and op-ed articles for various publications. Tuvia started writing for the media in 1981, when his articles first appeared in Israel Shelanu and Olam Hadash. His most recent articles can be found in leading international media such as: Die Zeit, Corriere della Sera and Yedioth Ahronoth. Tenenbom is the founder of The Jewish Theater of New York. John Clifton [Composer/Lyricist] wrote the score and co-authored the lyrics for Man With A Load Of Mischief, the highly praised, perennially revived off-Broadway musical. The New York Times called his music “fresh and quirky”” and remarked of his songs “you can hum almost all of them.” The New York Post declared that “the evening's most appealing feature is Mr. Clifton's appropriate score…remarkably appealing.” Steven Suskin, writing for Playbill.com in 2009 cited Clifton’s “infinitely worthy score” which “quickly made it onto my most favored list.”
John’s score for We The People was performed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol for the bicentennial of the Constitution. His songs and orchestrations were heard on Broadway in The Madwoman Of Central Park West starring Phyllis Newman and directed by Arthur Laurents. Till (book, music and lyrics) was selected for development and presentation by the O’Neill Center’s Music Theater Conference. Mama (music and lyrics; starring Celeste Holm) was presented by the Studio Arena (Buffalo) and Starshine, a Civil War romance (music and lyrics) was seen at Theatre by The Sea (Portsmouth, New Hampshire). John composed the score for The Maiden Of Ludmir, a Yiddish musical, for New York’s Folksbeine Playhouse. He is currently working on a new musical entitled Hadleyburg, adapted from a Mark Twain story. This last was presented at the 2010 New York Midtown Theatre Festival, where it was nominated for best reading of the event. Clifton is married to author Josée Clerens, with whom he recently wrote Sparky Fights Back, a best-selling book about their miraculous dog |
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Read how the show was born
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His plays include One Hundred Gates, Like Two Eagles, The
Beggar of Borough Park, Father of the Angels, The American Jew,
The Diary of Adolph Eichmann (A co-production with Earle I. Mack), The
Suicide Bomber, Love Letters to Adolph Hitler, and co-wrote the
musical Love in Great Neck. 
John wrote the music and lyrics for the New York musical El Bravo!,
which Clive Barnes called “a charming winner,” declaring he was “positively
captivated.” Recently, Clifton has collaborated on an animated version
of this musical. 