ROBERT LOPEZ - Music & Lyrics
Robert Lopez won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Score for Avenue Q, which has been produced in New York, Vegas, London, Stockholm, Helsinki, and now on tour! Bobby's musical version of Finding Nemo, co-written with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez, is currently playing in Walt Disney World. In 2007, he co-wrote songs for a musical episode of NBC's "Scrubs." He and his brother Billy Lopez have written music for Nick Jr's "The Wonder Pets!" and Disney's "Johnny and the Sprites." Bobby is busy at work on lots of new projects. He grew up in Greenwich Village, graduated Yale 1997 (with a BA in English!) and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

JEFF MARX - Music & Lyrics
Jeff would like to take this opportunity to plug his book, How To Win A High School Election. A serious guide for student council candidates, it has sold over 15,000 copies and can be found in bookstores and on the internet. This is Jeff's first musical. He is now living in Los Angeles, writing various projects with different collaborators. He went to L.A. to work on the musical episode of "Scrubs," loved it there, and stayed. He has a law degree, a Tony Award, a Mustang convertible, and a wonderfully sweet rescue dog named Princeton. Many thanks to the hundreds of people whose contributions helped make Avenue Q a reality.

JEFF WHITTY - Book
Jeff Whitty won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Avenue Q. Plays include The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Hiding Place, The Plank Project, Balls, and Suicide Weather. Companies presenting his work include South Coast Repertory, the Atlantic Theater Company, the Vineyard Theatre, The New Group, and New York Stage and Film/Vassar. Screenplays include Zora, a feature for Warner Brothers, and an untitled musical project for Paramount with music by Andre 3000 of Outkast. As an actor, he's worked Off-Broadway, regionally and in film and television.

RICK LYON - Puppet Designer & Maker
Originally from Rochester, NY, and now based in the New York City area, Rick studied theatre at Penn State University, and puppetry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut Internationale de la Marionnette in France. It is while he was studying in Connecticut in 1986 that he first met the late Jim Henson, which later led to his working for him as a puppeteer with the Muppets, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Rick has also worked independently and with other companies on television and film projects for Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema, ABC, CBS, PBS, The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, and Fox. In addition to performing, Rick also designs and builds custom puppets, including the puppets for the Tony Award-winning musical AVENUE Q on Broadway, in London, and on tour nationally. Other projects have included puppets for Comedy Central's CRANK YANKERS, puppets and props for Nickelodeon's STICK STICKLY, television pilots for VH1, Nickelodeon, PBS, numerous industrials and home videos, and the live national tour of PBS's THE MAGIC SCHOOLBUS. When time permits, Rick performs live shows with his own troupe, The Lyon Puppets. Performances by The Lyon Puppets feature a colorful cast of bright, eye-catching puppets, which he designs and builds himself. He also writes his own scripts, and composes the music for his shows. He arranges, performs, and records the music with collaborators John Lynch and Jim Ream in the guise of the band "The Ripmeisters."

JONATHAN BIGGINS - Director
Jonathan Biggins is a writer, corporate MC and speaker, performer and broadcaster. As a corporate MC and speaker, Jonathan has hosted two televised AFI Awards, seven APRA Awards (the awards night for the nation's songwriters), The Helpmann Awards, Parramatta Riverside's 20th Anniversary Gala, product launches, charity events, several national and three international conferences for AMP as well as many appearances for KPMG, ICI, Commonwealth Bank, ABN-AMRO and the Art Gallery of NSW.
He has worked for all the state theatre companies in productions ranging from David Williamson's Soulmates to West Side Story. 2003 saw his debut with Opera Australia in Orpheus in the Underworld - he also co-wrote a new adaptation of the libretto. He is Director of Revue for the Sydney Theatre Company, featuring in (among others) the sell-out Sunday in Iraq With George, Stuff All Happens and Revue sans Frontieres (which has recently enjoyed another run at the 2008 Adelaide Cabaret Festival). In 2007 Jonathan touring nationally as Peter Sellers in Ying Tong, and has recently completed another tour for the STC's Wharf Revue.
Jonathan has hosted the afternoon radio shift for Sydney's 702, co-wrote and performed in Three Men and a Baby Grand for ABC TV and hosted Critical Mass, the ABC's weekly arts programme. He has also hosted An Audience with Stephen Sondheim (nominated for a 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Special event). Jonathan has been seen on TV in recent years as a recurring guest panellist on Spicks and Specks and has guest starred in the City Homicide. As a writer, Jonathan writes for Fairfax's Good Weekend magazine, Australian Wine Selector and is the author of two books: As it Were and The 700 Habits of Highly Ineffective People .

NATHAN M. WRIGHT - Choreographer
Nathan Wright has worked extensively in musical theatre and is respected as both a performer and Choreographer. He has most recently choreographed the new Australian work Breast Wishes in concert, which will then premiere in full production early next year at the Seymour Centre. Recently Nathan staged the finale in Boeing-Boeing and he kicks off 2009 with Gutenberg! The Musical. Nathan is currently the Associate Choreographer on Gale Edwards production of The Rocky Horror Show. Nathan was also the Assistant choreographer to John O'Connor on Gale Edwards production of Company and Assistant to the Director of Choreography (Jason Coleman) 15th Asian Games - Doha for David Atkins Enterprises, The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Draculas Theatre Restaurant. Nathan began his professional musical theatre career at the age of twelve in The King and I with Hayley Mills. Nathan then went on to perform in Shout! The Story Of The Wild One (Young Johnny), Oh! What A Night, Hot Shoe Shuffle (Tap Bros), Get Happy (Carmen Miranda), Leader Of The Pack (Sydney and Melbourne seasons), Pepper in Mamma Mia! (for which he was nominated for the prestigious Green Room Award as a Best Supporting Actor in a musical), Eurobeat (Russia), Pippin (Theo) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon Zealotte). Film Credits include Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge (The Wicked Faced Boy), and as a motion capture artist in George Millers Happy Feet. Nathan trained at the Conroy Dance Centre in Brisbane and is thrilled to be choreographing Avenue Q.

DAVE SKELTON - Music Director
Born and raised in Queensland, Dave studied at Q.U.T. under Steve Russell and Max Olding and then left Australia for several years as Band Master/Musical Director on various ships for N.C.L., P.C.C. and P.&.O. Cruise Lines. David then moved to Tokyo with a jazz trio before returning to Australia where he has been in demand not only as a pianist/conductor, but also for his work as a composer, arranger and programmer. David has worked with a wide variety of people from Glenn Shorrock to Caroline O'Connor and was a part of the ABC's triple platinum selling Long Way to the Top Tour. His first album of original work, Duty Free Happiness was recorded in 2005 and David is now finished writing his second album Thespianage due for release later this year. Theatre credits include Hair - The Musical, as Assistant M.D. and Musical Director on the Australia/N.Z./S.E.Asia tour of Saturday Night Fever. David has recently returned from conducting the U.K production of the same name and is currently the musical director Of Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical.

SUE GILES - Puppet Consultant
In 2000, Sue Giles became Artistic Director of Polyglot Puppet Theatre. Based in Melbourne the company has a long association with Australia's leading puppetry artists and creates work in a variety of puppetry forms. With the company she has written and directed 10 plays including the nationally touring Baggy Pants, community spectacular High Rise, theatre production of Check Out! and co-directing Headhunter with Wesley Enoch. Before that she was a freelance director, writer and performer, working with companies including Black Hole (Caravan and Fin), Back To Back Theatre (Push Push )Melbourne Theatre Company (Blabbermouth), Arena Theatre (Bad Hair Day and Chronic) and Terrapin Puppet Theatre where she wrote and directed Little Red, and The Hunt and wrote and performed in the mainstage productions of The Fork and Alice. Sue also wrote The Mighty How as the first co-production between Terrapin and Polyglot. She was writer and director of Coda, an Arts 21 commission from Arts Victoria with Geelong Chamber Orchestra, has written for ABC radio and episodes of Lift Off for the Children's Television Foundation. In 2003 Sue was the Australian representative at the International Directors Forum hosted by ASSITEJ Germany. In 2004 she was on the National Board of YPAA and is currently the Secretary of UNIMA Australia, the national arm of the international puppetry organisation. Sue recently worked with Indonesian puppet company Papermoon.

RICHARD ROBERTS - Set & Costume Design
Richard Roberts is a freelance theatre designer and teacher based in Melbourne. His design experience has included designs for drama, dance, film, television and opera. Following graduation from the Flinders University drama course he was appointed as a resident designer with the South Australian Theatre Company in 1977. He moved to Sydney in 1981 to practise as a freelance designer and in the following five years his work included designs for Nimrod, Sydney Theatre Co., Belvoir Street Theatre, and SBS Television. In 1986 Richard moved to Melbourne to take up a position as a resident designer with Melbourne Theatre Co. where his designs included Macbeth, Dreams in an Empty City, As You Like It, and Hedda Gabler. In this period he also worked as a freelance designer for Playbox, Sydney Theatre Co. and State Theatre Co. of South Australia. In 1992 Richard went to Perth to establish the Design stream at WAAPA. While there, he continued to freelance as a designer. Some of his design work durinh this time included, The Battlers for the Seven Network, The Magic Flute and Die Fledermaus for the West Australian Opera and the Australian Opera, Lochie Leonard and Dead Funny for the Perth Theatre Company and the set for Black Swan Theatre Company's production of Blackrock by Nick Enright. After five years in Perth at WAAPA he decided to return to Melbourne and resume his freelance career. In January 2000 he was appointed Head of the School of Production at the Victorian College of the Arts. The School provides the training (at both undergraduate and postgraduate level) for design, stage management, production management, lighting, sound, puppetry, scenery and costume students at the college. In 2008, he stepped down from this position, and now teaches postgraduate design part-time. He continues to practise as a designer. Most recently he has designed My Fair Lady for Opera Australia, Frost/Nixon for the Melbourne Theatre Company and The Coronation of Poppea for Victorian Opera.

RICHARD PACHOLSKI - Lighting Design
After starting his lighting career at the Adelaide Festival Centre in 1982, and then touring with The Australian Ballet, Richard joined Cameron Mackintosh Australia in the late eighties as Lighting Manager, and over the next decade toured extensively on their productions of Cats, Les Miserables, Five Guys Named Moe, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Rent. Now working as a freelancer, with his own company r2 design + production pty ltd, Richard has been the Associate Lighting Designer for Cats in Australia and South Korea, The Phantom of the Opera in South Korea and Australia, Les Miserables in Argentina, Brasil, Mexico, Germany and Holland, Mamma Mia in Australia and Asia, We Will Rock You in Australia, Japan, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Asia, Miss Saigon in South Korea, Australia, Brasil and Japan, Spamalot in Melbourne, and Boeing Boeing in Melbourne. Richard is currently lighting supervisor for Billy Elliot in Australia.