Allen Cole, (Composer/Creator) 

Originally from Nova Scotia, Allen Cole has worked variously as composer, musical director, and writer for The Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, the National Arts Centre and many other theatres across the country. He’s won numerous awards, including four Dora Mavor Moore awards, six Robert Merritt awards, and a Best Film Score Award from The Atlantic Film Festival. His musical Rockbound won five Merritt Awards, including Best New Play, Best Music and Best Production, and was nominated for the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Award. 

His gamelan opera, How It Storms, was commissioned and performed by The Evergreen Club. His funk musical comedy The Bricklin premiered at the Fredericton Playhouse in 2010, and played in Katowice, Poland in 2013 and 2015. His musical based on Alice in Wonderland (created with Peter Hinton) premiered in May 2016 at the Shaw Festival.

Melody A. Johnson, (Actor/Creator)  

An accomplished creator, Melody has enjoyed a career of moving between the worlds of comedy and drama.  

Since 2010 Melody has toured and produced the self-penned Miss Caledonia throughout Canada, (premiering at the prestigious Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, and National Arts Centre in Ottawa), and internationally to the United Kingdom. The play garnered two Toronto Dora nominations (Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Performance 2013), and Calgary’s Betty Mitchell honour was awarded to actor Jamie Konchak for her portrayal of the titular character. Melody was recognized by Ontario Contact with the 2014 Touring Artist of the Year award, and has since ‘passed the baton’ to many performers and theatres. The play was recently produced in fall of 2021 at Gananoque’s Thousand Islands Playhouse, and in spring of 2022 at the Globe Theatre in Regina.