BIO
Jill Senter has performed in the musicals Jesus Christ Super Star, Godspell, and Hair 
(and was in the national tour of the above mentioned musicals)

Jill Senter’s international theater career runs as deep as her family history. The niece of the VP of Columbia Records, David Kapralik, her uncle is responsible for discovering the talents of Barbara Streisand, Johnny Mathis, and Tony Bennet. When her Uncle David left Columbia, he discovered Sylvester Stewart, who became Sly and the Family Stone. Their collaboration created some of the greatest hits of all time.  

 

Her son, David, is a gifted composer/producer/DJ in New York City. Senter’s sister is an opera singer having starred with Bette Midler in Miss Nefertiti Regrets. Her mother was a psychologist after a successful singing career performing in nightclubs during the 50’s, and she had a vaudeville act along with her siblings. 

 

Jill Senter has studied at both the International School of Rome and Le Rosey in Gstaad,  Switzerland. She has lived in Elizabeth Taylor’s house and rubbed elbows with Hollywood’s elite her enter life. Growing up, she toured playing competitive tennis with Chris Evert who was the World No. 1 singles player from the mid 70’s to the early 80’s. Senter’s passion for horses has also been a constant throughout her life, riding internationally and showing horses in Madison Square Garden. 

 

A captivating performer on and off stage, Jill Senter attended Emerson College and was in the plays West Side Story (Velma), Cabaret (Kit Kat Girl), among many others. After graduation, she moved to New York and was cast in the national tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, and Hair, in addition to several off-Broadway shows. 

 

Senter has an accomplished TV and film career as well, starting off in commercials for JC Penney, Target, and Macy’s. She studied with Stella Adler and Bill Hickey during her early days in New York. Her TV appearances include Law & Order and Two on the Town. She also appeared in the movies Serpico co-starring Al Pacino, Death Wish with Charles Bronson, and starred in the cult classic Pick Up (aka Pazuzu). 

 

Songwriting has always been a strong part of Senter’s career. After the loss of her father, she 

wrote “Celebrate the Moment,” which was a top 10 hit in Australia. Shortly after came, “Stronger Than Yesterday,” a song motivated by overcoming obstacles, which rose to #33 on the Billboard Dance Club song chart. Senter has long drawn inspiration from the personal struggles and challenges she has faced. As a result, she has been called the Marianne Williamson of cabaret. 

 

Still, it was “Celebrate the Moment,” which was dearest to Senter. In early 2019 she turned it 

into a nightclub revue. Written and arranged by Elliot Finkel, choreographed by Joanna Rush, 

and directed by Tony Nominee Walter Willison, the show debuted at the Laurie Beechman  Theatre to rave reviews. She also starred in “Out of this World in 2018.​

 

Jill Senter has built a prestigious Manhattan-based real estate firm, Senter Sublets, that serves New York's elite and celebrities. She continues to flourish in her career as a singer/songwriter and will carry on her family legacy of bringing celebrated music toaudiences for years to come.  

 

WALTER WILLISON is a Tony Award nominee and winner of a Theatre World Award and a Special William Inge Award. A true Renaissance man, he is an actor, singer, writer, director and producer. He starred on Broadway in GRAND HOTEL, TWO BY TWO, PIPPIN, NORMAN, IS THAT YOU?, WILD ANDWONDERFUL, A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Madison Square Garden, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE: Live atCarnegie Hall, Leonard Bernstein's MASS, the Inaugural presentation of The Kennedy Center.  Off-Broadway he starred the title role in the first ever revival of Wright and Forrest's KEAN at The York Theater, and he directed and starred as Noah opposite Pat Suzuki in The Jewish Repertory Theatre's TWO BY TWO: The Richard Rodgers Centennial Concert. Other notable stage appearances includestarring as El Gallo in the historic First International Tour of THE FANTASTICKS in Japan, directed by and costarring bookwriter/lyricist Tom Jones with composer Harvey Schmidt at the piano; with Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse, Tony Bennett, Florence Henderson, Gene Kelly and others in IT’S A MUSICAL WORLD: A Tribute to Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley at The Hollywood Palladium; at the St. Louis Municipal Opera as Prince Charming in Walt Disney's SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS opposite Leslie Easterbrook, and Lancelot in CAMELOT with Tricia O'Neil and David Birney, and toured toured as Perchik in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF with both Herschel Bernardi and Jan Peerce. He has starred in numerous regional productions as Billy Bigelow in CAROUSEL and Paul Bertholet in CARNIVAL, and the national tours of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER and YOUR OWN THING.


Mr. Willison made his professional debut in the West Coast Premiere of Meredith Willson's HERE’S LOVE [aka "Miracle On 34th Street"] for The San Bernardino Civic Light Opera in 1964, followed by juvenile roles in The West Coast Premiere of HIGH SPIRITS with Carolyn Jones, Edward Woodward,Mary Wickes and Adrienne Angel, BYE BYE BIRDIE with Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie, THE BOYFRIEND with Juliet Prowse and Lee Roy Reams, HIGH BUTTON SHOES with Kenneth Nelson,SHOW BOAT with Mickey Rooney, and the West Coast Premiere of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER starring Tammy Grimes and John Cullum in LA and San Francisco. 


Films include Mike Frankovich's Emmy Award-winning "Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women", for which he was personally selected by Irving Berlin to play Ziegfeld star Frank Carter and croon Berlin's classic "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody"; "Harry and Walter Go To New York", "The Initiation", "Somebody Help Me","Edward II", and he wrote the lyrics [with music by Jeffrey Silverman] for the songs he sings in the cult classic "Fantasies" [released as Once Upon a Love in Europe, “Femme” in France] starring Bo Derek, directed by John Derek. Mr. Willison appears with a cast of Broadway Legends in the late Rick McKay's documentary "Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age".


On Television, he starred as Dr. Calvin Campbell in NBC's hit 1976-1977 series "McDuff, The TalkingDog", as Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" on "The Great Novelists" series on PBS, and as Dr. George "Buck" Wheaton on "Days of Our Lives". He has guest starred on shows including "The Today Show", "The David Frost Show", "Celebrity Revue", "The Great NBC Smilin' Saturday Morning Parade” TV special, hosted by Freddy Prinz; "The Dating Game Parade", and numerous other variety and talk shows.


Mr. Willison made his professional directing debute in 1974 with YOUR OWN THING, based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, at San Diego's legendary Old Globe Theatre, and directed the West Coast Premiere of Kenward Elmslie & Claibe Richardson & Truman Capote's THE GRASS HARP starring Susan Watson [introducing a then-six-year-old Christina Applegate]. He has since written and directed plays, musicals and nightclub acts across the US.


He collaborated with Douglas Holmes on the book for the critically acclaimed revisal of Frank Loesser's GREENWILLOW: The Musical Folktale [which Variety heralded was "redeemed by its new book"], also directing the World Premiere in Sarasota, Florida, subsequently produced at theaters including the Utah State Opera and in Branson, Mo. He wrote lyrics, with music by John Kroner, and collaborated with Mr. Holmes on the book for WONDERFUL LIFE: The Musical [based on Frank Capra's film], which has been performed at regional theaters around the US; adapted and directed Hal Hackady & Larry Grossman's MINNIE’S BOYS: The Marx Brothers Musical In Concert for The Jewish Repertory Theatre, Off-Broadway, wrote book & lyrics, directed and costarred in the hit musicals FRONT STREET GAIETIES: Dodge City's Hottest Revue starring Susan Watson and Charles Ward at the historic Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica [where he also costarred with Marcia Lewis in a series of music hall revues directed by Milt Larson], and BROADWAY SCANDALS OF 1928: The New Speakeasy Musical Off-Broadway, starring Diane J. Findlay and Shelley Bruce, both with music by Jeffrey Silverman.


Mr. Willison was honored to collaborate with John Willis as Associate Editor for "Theatre World" volumes #42, 43 and 44 and "Screen World" volumes #27, 38, 39 and 40. He served as Vice-President of Theater World Awards Board of Directors from 2004 to 2006 and directed The 61st Annual Theatre World Awards at Studio 54, starring such luminaries as Lucie Arnaz, John Cullum, Judy Kaye, Pat Suzuki, and The 62nd Annual Theatre World Awards at Studio 54, starring Lucie Arnaz, Harry Connick, Jr., Tammy Grimes, Andrea MacArdle, Ken Page, John Rubinstein, also contributing special material for Liza Minnelli. 


He has 29 recordings released on CD, as performer, producer, or both, including his Broadway and Off-Broadway cast recordings, studio recordings of “Collette Collage", "Unsung Sondheim", "Lost in Boston I", "Lost in Boston II", "Unsung Irving Berlin"; he produced and performed on Robert Wright & George Forrest's "Anastasia: The Musical and Premiere Recordings of Songs from 'Grand Hotel', 'At TheGrand', 'Betting on Bertie' &' Kean' ", "A Bag of Popcorn and a Dream: an intimate big screen revue", "Beauty and the Beast: A Gothic Musical"; produced: "Marcia Lewis: Nowadays", Maltby & Shire's restored "Cyrano" & "The Grand Tour", and "Neva Small: My Place in the World". He contributed booklet notes for Martin Charnin's "Mata Hari", Bob Merrill's "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and Wright & Forrest's "ANYA". 


One of Mr. Willison proudest accomplishments is joining forces with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Jerome Lawrence and Margaret Goheen to create The William Inge Festival which annually honors our greatest living American playwrights, composers & lyricists in Inge's hometown of Independence, Kansas, now in its 39th year. There he wrote, directed and appeared in tributes to Jerome Lawrence, Robert Anderson, William Gibson and Garson Kanin, appeared in Mike Wood’s PENN AVENUE TO BROADWAY: A 25 Year Retrospective, with Hal Linden in "TO LIFE! A Tribute to Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. At Inge Fest 28, he starred with Barbara Dana in his play WILLIAM INGE—THE INTERVIEW: A Play on Reality [based on interviews with William Inge], and with Ms. Dana, Susan Watson, Rita Gardner, Martin Vidnovic, Elizabeth Wilson in REMEMBER & CELEBRATE: Honoring Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, recipients of the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in The American Theatre Award. In 2016 he starred with Marcy DeGonge Manfredi, John Schuck and Daisy Eagan in THE WILLIAM INGE FESTIVAL 35th ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE and wrote and directed SPLENDOR: A Tribute to the Oscars.


From 2016-2017 Mr. Willison served as Artistic Director of The Ziegfeld Society of New York City. In 2017 Mr. Willison conceived, wrote and directed ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF THE AIR: The New 1934 Live from Broadway Broadcast Revue at Birdland, starring with Liliane Montevecchi, Loni Ackerman, Shelly Burch, Carole Demas and others; SOME ENCHANTED EVENINGS: The Glittering Life & Times of Mary Martin,based on David Kaufman’s best selling biography, starring Karen Akers and Karen Ziemba; THE UNSINKABLE TAMMY GRIMES: A Musical Life in Revue starring with Patricia Bosworth, Chris Orbach, Lee Roy Reams, Steve Ross, Jane Summerhays and others; WE’LL TAKE A GLASS TOGETHER!: The Songs of Robert Wright & George Forrest celebrating his 70th Birthday, starring with Karen Akers, Heather Mac Rae, Lynnette Perry and Liliane Montevecchi, and he conceived, wrote, directed and costarred with Robert Cuccioli and Jim Dale in HERE’S LOVE TO THE MUSIC MAN: A Celebration of Songwriter Meredith Willson. 


He wrote and directed the acclaimed GRAND HOTEL: The 25th Anniversary Reunion Concert, costarring with Liliane Montevecchi, Karen Akers, Brent Barrett and other fellow original cast members at 54 Below, and directed Steve Ross & Karen Oberlin in CHEEK TO CHEEK: The Songs of Astaire & Rogers, also at 54 Below. In September, 2017, he appeared in WALTER WILLISON: MUSIC IN MY HEART at The Metropolitan Room, his first solo nightclub act since 1978, for which noted cabaret critic Sandi Durell praised "the expressive, sophisticated and natural Walter Willison, so capable when it comes to channeling emotions in every lyric. An extraordinary Broadway performer - an entertainer's entertainer."


In 2018, he wrote and directed BLUES, BALLADS & SIN SONGS: The Legend of Libby Holman starring Lee Horwin with Joel A. Martin at the piano, which received a 2019 Bistro Award, and directed the first workshop of Elliot Finkel and Philip Namanworth’s Broadway bound musical IMPOSSIBLY GEORGE:  A Soiree with Madame George Sand starring Loni Ackerman. Currently he is directing Jill Senter’s acclaimed nightclub act CELEBRATE THE MOMENT, written and arranged by Mr. Finkel. Mr. Willison is writing, directing and will costar with Tony nominees Karen Akers, Timothy Jerome and fellow Broadway cast members in GRAND HOTEL: A 30th Anniversary Celebration In Concert, benefiting the Actors Fund, which will be presented by The Green Room 42 on November 11, 2019.  He costars with Kristin Alderson, Maya Days and Joanna Rush in Joseph Craig’s “The Glorious Ressurection of Claire Owens” to be released in 2020.


REV. 10.30.19

JOANNA RUSH (Actor/Playwright): Writing credits include Asking For It (solo play) at Lincoln Center, Rubenstein Atrium; developed at the NY Society for Ethical Culture, The Kirk Theater on Theater Row, Stocker Arts Center in Ohio, Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwright's Horizons, Becket Arts Center, and in the New York International Theater Festival, The Yard Arts Center, Martha’s Vineyard., Gloucester Stage, Newburyport Actors Studio She was chosen to perform sections of the play for “International Women’s Day” sponsored by the United Nations Counsel on the Empowerment of Women” and the Hunger Project. Recently - colleges in Ohio and Massachusetts including Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State and UMass, Lowell. Renamed KICK – It’s not how high. It’s how strong! , the play was nominated for an Off-Broadway Alliance – OBA 

Award for “Best Performance in a Solo Play” in 2016. Home Sweet Homeland, Lynne 

Taylor- Corbett (director) was work-shopped at Stocker Arts Center, Ohio, Best New Play Series readings at Gloucester Stage. Northampton audiences can see a reading at Laurel Park Arts in September. Her newest play, “Accidental Mummies” debuted at Stocker Arts Center this past fall. Screenplays: Irish Whiskey (co-author, "Best Screenplay" winner at the Temecula Valley Film Festival,) Mothers Day, a historical 

drama. She is author of the book “KICK – It’s not how high. It’s how strong!” 

 

Acting credits include Broadway: Pousse Café, Shirley MacLaine at the Palace. A Chorus Line (Shubert Theater, Los Angeles.) Off-Broadway: Daughters, Inside Out, Grandma Sylvia's Funeral, Broadway Scandals of 1928, Options Regional: Beyond Therapy, Fifth of July, Freedomland, Little Mahagony, Great White Hope, Women Who Steal (WHAT), concert versions of Two by Two, and Minnie's Boys at Jewish Rep. Film: The Luckiest Man in the World, Sunburn, On the Cliffs (winner Best Short Comedy 2004, Ohio Ind. Film Festival) Saying Goodbye, Upcoming: The Glorious Resurrection of Claire Owens, My Night with Howard, Godless, TV: Shannon, Archie Bunker's Place, A Killing Affair, Cagney & Lacey, and the pilot Straight no Chaser as the inappropriate 

mother of Bronson Pinchot.  

 

Choreography: Gangster Chronicles, NBC/Universal mini series, Splendor in the Grass, TV Movie. 

 

Joanna is also a chore an ordained Interfaith Minister and InterSpiritual Counselor. A proud member of Actors Equity Association, The Dramatists Guild, Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Actors Fund, Board member of the Rockette Alumnae Association, Merrimack, League of Professional Theatre Women. 

 

Her newest work, “Sex and Power” was inspired by the stories she heard from courageous members of the “Kick” audience. 

 

ELLIOT FINKEL has performed worldwide at some of the most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, London Palladium, and the White House. He has appeared with symphony orchestras such as National, Los Angeles, Dallas, Baltimore, Utah, and the Queens Symphony in New York City in which he was its pop music director. He has toured with diverse artists such as Ginger Rogers, Roberta Peters, Milton Berle, Danny Thomas, and Regis Philbin. He is proud of his eight-year association with opera legend, Jan Peerce, He has co-starred on Broadway on three occasions with Michael Feinstein, Sid Caesar, and his family: Ian Finkel (xylophone virtuoso), and their father, Emmy-award winner, Fyvush Finkel.  His musical “Finkel’s Follies” won many awards and his newest creation “Impossibly George” is 

about the life of George Sand. He appears on major cruise ships where half of his show features the latest in popular music.  

ROB LANGEDER can be seen as Al in the film The Wilde Wedding alongside an all-star cast including Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Patrick Stewart, and Minnie Driver among others. He 

also starred as chef David Viens in Season 4, Episode 7 and as motivational speaker Jeffrey Locker in Season 5, Episode 4 of The Perfect Murder for Investigation Discovery. On the New York stage, Rob played Rip Van Winkle in Rip! as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, garnering a Best Actor in a Musical nomination. He is a popular cabaret artist, having received a MAC Award and multiple nominations. He has created three one-man shows in Manhattan, Broadway Revival, Any Place I Hang My Hat and, most recently, a sold-out run of Undead In Hell's Kitchen. Rob has toured both the U.S. as Ritchie Valens in Buddy and Japan as The Prince in Cinderella. Favorite New York roles include the title role in Energy Man for the New York International Fringe Festival, William Clark in Meriwether, an opera based on the story of Lewis and Clark, the Prince of Aragon in Merchant of Venice and 

Petruchio/Guildenstern in Words Words Words & Music – the latter two for Revolving Shakespeare. Regionally, Rob has played Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Richard Henry Lee in 1776 and Roderigo in Othello among others. Recordings include Sweeney in Sweeney Todd, Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me, Kate, Edna in Hairspray, Gaston in Beauty And The Beast and Galahad in Spamalot for Stage Stars Records and the original cast recordings of I Like Who I Am, Monky Business II and The Rabbi's Wife. Other films include People I Know, Light It Up and The Watcher. Rob enjoys volunteering for Vocal Ease, a not-for-profit group that provides entertainment for seniors in New York City, and a couple of years back he donated his long hair to Locks of Love. 

SOPHIA TZOUGROS Originally from southeastern Wisconsin, Sophia represented her home state during the National High School Musical Theatre Awards in 2014. She was a finalist and had the honor of performing a solo on a Broadway stage. She is a recent graduate of Wagner College in NYC. While getting her degree, she played Reno Sweeney in ANYTHING GOES, Luisa in NINE, Sheila in HAIR, and, along with her cast and helmed by director Jack Cummings III, helped develop a play about Helen Keller for the Transport Theatre Group. She spent a summer in the Resident Company at the Mac-Haydn Theatre where she played many roles in 7 productions including Annette in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. This year she also performed as Emma in a reading of the new musical IMPOSSIBLY GEORGE. She feels so lucky to be a part of this team and is thankful for Jill and all she has done to put this joyous celebration together. Enjoy! 

LYLE SMITH MITCHELL Lyle Mitchell is a native of Los Angeles, California, that has been praised for always pushing the boundaries in live theatre. Theater Pizzazz it stated Lyle “takes stunning risks and turns them into brilliant performances.” That is the goal for Lyle every time he steps out onto the stage, to engage the audience so that they won’t be tempted in the slightest to pull out their phone or check their watch for the time. In the last ten years, Lyle has had the marvelous opportunity in performing various lead roles in the LA area, and most recently, Vienna. Those roles include; Eisenstein, Papageno, Don Giovanni, Fiagro in Mozart’s le nozze di figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Plagio in I due figaro, Ignacio  in William Bolcom’s Lucrezia, and Luciano in John Musto’s Bastianello. Lyle also longs for the intimate setting of recitals, and the beauty of melodie, lied, and English art song. Most recently, Lyle performed a recital that slated Poulenc’s cycle Calligrammes, and Vaughan-Williams’ cycles House of Life, and Five Mystical Songs. To put it plainly, Lyle is an actor and a singer, he strives to pull every juicy detail from the poet and composer to inform his characterization of every role, melody, and nuance.
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