BEN CLARK (Music & Lyrics)

Ben Clark is a singer, songwriter, composer and an Indiana native. Ben has been writing music since age 14, and The Circus In Winter was his first full-length musical work. For the piece he received praise from both educational and professional worlds including the Kennedy Center Award for Outstanding Musical Composition, and a full production at Goodspeed's Norma Terrace Theatre in East Haddam, CT. Ben has a band in NYC called Ben Clark and the Long Shadows, as well as two other musicals in development: Skin And Bones, a collaboration with University of Nebraska playwright Andrew Kramer, and Bruno and the Gospel of Infinity. @bensingsthings

JOE CALARCO (Book)

Joe Calarco is a director and playwright who has worked at some of the best theaters in the country including Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Primary Stages, Lincoln Center, The Transport Group, Goodspeed, Signature Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The Old Globe, The Shakespeare Theater Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Folger, Barrington Stage Company, Theater J, Philadelphia Theater Company, Dallas Theater Center, Weston Playhouse, The Hangar Theater, The O’Neill Musical Theater Conference, and The Yale Institute For Music Theater. Joe is a Resident Director and Director of New Works at Signature Theatre, a New York Theater Workshop “usual suspect,” and a Drama League directing fellow. He has been nominated for the Drama Desk Award, the Jeff Award, the Evening Standard Award, and has won a Lucille Lortel Award, two Barrymore Awards, and five Helen Hayes Awards. His published works as a playwright include Walter Cronkite is Dead, In The Absence of Spring, and Shakespeare’s R&J. He sits on the Executive Board of SDC. JoeCalarco.blogspot.com @joecalarcoNYC

SYBIL ROBERTS WILLIAMS (Dramaturg)

Sybil R. Williams has spent the past twelve years cultivating her craft as a playwright and dramaturg. Her work has been professionally produced by Chicago’s ETA Creative Arts Theatre; New York’s National Black Theater; Pittsburgh’s Kuntu Theatre; University of Pennsylvania; CALARTS; and Harlem’s Rebel Theatre. Her play DREAM OF OPHELIA was nominated for a prestigious JEFF Award in 2000; and LIBERATING PRAYER: A LOVESONG FOR MUMIA has been published in AUGUST WILSON AND THE BLACK AESTHETIC edited by Dr. Sandra G. Shannon. Her musical FROM U. STREET TO THE COTTON CLUB was produced in Washington, DC. SEARCHING FOR GABRIELA, a play with music featuring the poetry of Gabriela Mistral was produced in Washington, D.C. by the IN-SERIES. Most recently, she was commissioned once again by the IN-SERIES to create a musical celebrating the influence of African-American, operetta, and other forms of American popular music on the Broadway stage titled SHUFFLE TO SHOWBOAT for the 2011 Washington DC Intersections Festival. As a dramaturg, she completed a three-year project creating a docudrama to celebrate the lives of the Little Rock Nine on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Central High School Desegregation Crisis titled OUR LEGACY: IT HAPPENED IN LITTLE ROCK written and directed by Mr. Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. She also continues to serve as dramaturg for the Latino/African-American Theatre festival VOICES AT THE RIVER. Sybil is currently Program Director for Theatre and Musical Theatre in the Department of Performing Arts at American University.

CLAIRE BUFFIE ADKISSON (Producer)

Claire Buffie Adkisson is a producer and creative strategist, with a focus in the performing arts and advocacy. She is currently the Creative Director for Dance Lab New York, founded by Broadway Choreographers Josh Prince. In addition to developing The Circus in Winter, her marketing clients include hundreds of actors, singers and Miss America contestants across the country. Prior to DLNY, she was the Director of Video Services at Reproductions. Claire received her Master’s in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University. In recognition of her continued leadership in her undergraduate alma mater, she recently received the Graduate of the Last Decade Award from Ball State University, where she received her BFA in Visual Communications. A former Miss New York in the Miss America Organization, she is a public advocate of LGBT equality. @clairebuff

BLAIR RUSSELL (Producer)

Blair Russell is a producer, developer, supporter, and lover of theatre and live performance whose experience ranges from fringe festivals to Broadway shows. His most recent projects include the Tony-nominated Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris, Lizard Boy by Justin Huertas, For Tonight by Spencer Williams and Shenelle Salcido, and the TikTok sensation EPIC the Musical which has over 40 million streams on Spotify. As Co-founder and Director of Operations for Resounding, he produces immersive and technology-based entertainment events across the country.  Blair is currently Co-President of the Board of New York Theatre Barn,  Vice Chair of the Board of The New Harmony Project, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Goodspeed Musicals. He is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Technical Theatre/Stage Management. 

The Circus in Winter was originally developed at Ball State University. The following students participated in the Virginia C. Ball seminar led by BETH TURCOTTE that developed the musical play adaptation: Ben Clark, Justin Swader, Christopher Swader, Jonathan Jensen, Erin Spahr, Ryan Prendergast, Ranger Putterbaugh, Marren Ritter, Emily Behny, Max Gossman, Eric Bryer, JD Mitchell, Nick Rapley, and Brianna Clark.