Creative and Production Team

Meredith WILLSON was born in 1902 in Mason City, Iowa. He learned to play the flute as a child and began playing semi-professionally while still in high school. After high school he left Iowa to study at the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (later the Julliard School), receiving flute instruction from Georges Barrere, the world-renown flutist. While still attending the Institute, he was hired as principle flutist and piccolo player for the John Philip Sousa Band. He later joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra where he was 1st flutist. He became musical director for various radio programs throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, including Tallulah BANKHEAD's program, The Big Show," for which he wrote the hit song "May The Lord Bless and Keep You." He composed the scores for the movies The Great Dictator and The Little Foxes, as well as symphonic, band, and choral works, including The Jervis Bay: Symphonic Variations on an American Theme and Anthem of the Atomic Age. Willson wrote three Broadway musicals: The Music Man, his first and most successful; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (music and lyrics), and Here's Love (book, music and lyrics). As an author he has published two autobiographical works (And There I Stood with My Piccolo and Eggs I Have Laid), one novel (Who Did What to Fedalia) and a memoir about the making of The Music Man (But He Doesn't Know the Territory). "

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior® shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

Mandy has spent over 40 years in Hong Kong, teaching Jazz & Tap Dance and sharing her love of Musical Theatre. For 20 years, she was a full-time Lecturer of Musical Theatre Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where she choreographed for numerous musicals and dance productions.  Over the years, she has also worked with various local and international companies (both amateur and professional), choreographing and directing musicals.  The Music Man is her 5^th musical for HKUST – previous productions being 9 to 5; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Singin’ in the Rain and Wonderful Town.

Isaac DROSCHA, vocalist and conductor, holds a Doctorate in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan and is currently a faculty member in the Division of Humanities at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

He has performed a number of roles with various companies in the United States, including the Des Moines Metro Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera New Jersey, and Arbor Opera Theater. His performances have received numerous positive reviews, and some of his notable roles performed include roles in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Rake’s Progress, Madama Butterfly, L’Elisir d’Amore, Die Zauberflöte, Die Fledermaus, Falstaff, and Airadne auf Naxos. He was also recently featured in two films produced by RTHK based on the operas La Serva Padrona and Rita. He is a close partner of Musica Viva HK.

He is a prolific concert performer of oratorio and art song and frequently lends his vocal talents to radio and television at RTHK.

As a conductor, he has conducted choirs, opera, and musical theatrer performance in Hong Kong and the US.

Isaac WONG graduated with First Class Honors in stage design from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and is currently working as a freelance stage designer in Hong Kong. Issac has an impressive portfolio of recent set design credits, encompassing a diverse range of productions. Some notable works include set designs for plays such as Appointment with Death, Go Back For Murder, Nunsensations!, and 8 Femmes for Theatre Space. He has also contributed to productions by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, including The Finale of Mr. AD, In Times of Turmoil, Wolf in the House, and Last Supper. Issac's versatility extends to collaborations with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, BHT Theatre, Yat Po Singers, Musica Viva, Boom Theatre, The Theatre Wonderland, and many more.

HA Yan-pui graduated from the Theatre, Sound and Music Recording Department at The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. She works as sound designer and engineer for many local and overseas productions and as sound consultant for some musical festivals. Her recent design works include West Kowloon x Hong Kong Repertory Theatre The Impossible Trial (Best Sound Design, 31st Hong Kong Drama Awards); Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s The Palace of Eternal Life on a Moonlit Night; Musical Yat-sen for the Hong Kong Arts Festival; The Woman in Kenzo for Chung Ying Theatre Company (Best Sound Design, 30th Hong Kong Drama Award; The Originals (Reimagined); Sing Out (Best Sound Design, 27th Hong Kong Drama Awards); Our Immortal Cantata (re-run) for Yat Po Singers (Best Sound Design, 26th Hong Kong Drama Awards), and many more.

Adonic LO graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Lighting Design. After graduation, he works as a freelancer in various kind of productions, including local and overseas performing group.

Jamie is a versatile performer, choreographer and dance teacher with over 20 years of experience. She graduated from the School of Dance, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (“HKAPA”), in 1996, majoring in Musical Theatre. She teaches Jazz, Tap and Musical Theatre at HKAPA as a part-time instructor on various programmes, including GYDP, APL and EXCEL BTEC one year Musical Theatre programme. With an extraordinary rhythmic sense, she has performed in various theatrical and commercial shows, including the 15th Asian Games (opening ceremony) in Doha in 2006, and Brenda Bufalino’s works during the New York Tap Festival at the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street in 2003 and 2004. She is also an active drummer, performing with Island Sun Drum, led by Dr. LUNG Heung Wing.

Evelyn started her journey into the world of live shows and events by train as a Stage Manager at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She completed her BA (Hon) in Event Management at the University of Central Lancashire and worked as an Event Stage Manager after her study. Throughout her career, she contributed her expertise to numerous theatre productions and orchestrated a series of collaborative events spanning Hong Kong, China, South East Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

With a background in exhibitions, conferences, special events and live shows, Evelyn has an in-depth working knowledge of stage and event productions and is well equipped to dealing with the dynamics of live event industry.

She is truly a professional multi-tasker with superb attention to detail, extremely client focused and also a hard worker who has successfully delivering lots of high-quality indoor and outdoor events, and is more than able to perform under pressure in deadline driven situations. Large corporations that she had work for, include the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Cathay Pacific, AIA, Alibaba and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Vanessa’s journey in theatre began in 2001 when she worked on a production of Hello, Dolly! as a Production Assistant. Since then, she has worked in many different capacities in production and marketing for various theatre groups in Hong Kong. Credits include La Cage aux Folles, Glengarry Glen Ross, Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific, The Dresser, Peter Pan, My Fair Lady, The Full Monty and The Wizard of Oz. Vanessa was the Associate Producer for ABA Productions, overseeing and executing a wide range of roles and responsibilities for their international touring shows. She is now working independently as a Production Stage Manager.

Chuck-jee CHAU is an active collaborative pianist and mallet percussionist. He is keen in theatrical music, being the band leader in multiple shows. For HKUST Summer Musical, he has been a coach, rehearsal pianist or stage percussionist, in productions from Guys and Dolls (2012) to The Music Man (2024). He also played in live bands in local musicals, including The Woman in Kenzo (2021) of Chung Ying Theatre.

After his studies in CUHK majoring in Computer Engineering and minoring in Music and German, he taught and conducted research on computer music at HKUST. He was engaged in student art activities, and took up the role of the Learning Community Fellow for UG Hall VII Arts a-LIVE. He is now a lecturer at CUHK, working on computer music, music information retrieval, etc. His research works have been published in the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) and the Journal of Audio Engineering Society (JAES).

Roderick YU is a pianist who takes up different roles in orchestral, opera, chamber music and vocal piano accompanying. He was invited to perform with Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, Collegium Musicum Hong Kong, Guildhall New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble and HKBDA Wind Orchestra.

Ian started his music education in classical singing as a tenor since secondary school, and remained passionate since. He is a current staff member in the Center for Engineering Education Innovation (E²I) in HKUST. Prior to this production, he has participated in HKUST Musical productions 9 to 5 (ensemble), Singin’ in the Rain (as vocal teacher), and Wonderful Town (as Bob Baker). Ian obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2020 and Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 2024. He has worked as a freelance translator since university and translated the surtitles of Wonderful Town. He also served as the Production Manager in Vocatelier Soirée in 2022.