Writers

RUSSELL CHUDNOFSKY — Composer and Lyricist

At age 14, Russell Chudnofsky wrote his first musical story, a rap opera entitled "Gordy" about his high school bus driver. In between stints at college he ran away to join the circus as a clown/musician/MC, riding a tricycle and playing guitar simultaneously. He soon honed his chops and joined several bands, establishing a reputation as a top-notch guitarist.

These days, Chudnofsky is a first-call guitarist on the Boston music scene. He has recorded and toured the world playing guitar for a number of talented artists including multiple Grammy Award winning songwriter Lori McKenna, Grammy nominated singer Tanya Donelly, Sarah Borges, Kris Delmhorst, and Catie Curtis.

He has toured as an opening act for Frank Black of the Pixies, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood, Throwing Muses, Laura Veirs, and has opened for Gillian Welch, Hot Tuna, Steve Earle, Ellis Paul, Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band, and John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revivial.

He has played Fenway Park, The Boston Garden, and arenas all over the over the world. He has also played small cafes as large as a closet from Italy to Ireland, and from Oregon to Maine.

www.russellchud.com


ELIZABETH SEARLE — Librettist

Elizabeth Searle is the librettist and original creator of TONYA & NANCY: THE ROCK OPERA Music by Michael Teoli ,which has drawn national media coverage.

The rock opera was produced in Chicago in 2016, where New City named it one of the Top Five Musicals of the Year, and it had a sold-out extended run at New York Musical Theater Festival in NYC. It has been reviewed as ‘brilliant and touching’ and has also had runs in Boston at the ART’s Oberon Theater and in Portland, OR as well as club dates in LA at the King King Club.

Her earlier show, TONYA & NANCY: THE OPERA Music by Abigail Al-Doory ran in Boston and has had two productions in St Paul/Minneapolis. It was selected by Opera Vista as one of the Top Three new operas of the year in 2006.

Her one-act play STOLEN GIRL SONG, has been performed in MA at Poet’s Theater and in Maine at the Northern Writes New Play Festival.

Elizabeth co-wrote the film script forCELEBRITIES IN DISGRACE , a short film that has been screened at festivals around the country. She is the author of five books of fiction, including her new novel WE GOT HIM . Her previous books are: GIRL HELD IN HOME; CELEBRITIES IN DISGRACE; A FOUR-SIDED BED, a novel nominated for an American Library Association Book Award and released in 2011 in a new paperback edition, and MY BODY TO YOU , a story collection that won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize. A FOUR-SIDED BED is now in development as a feature film. A Staged Reading of Elizabeth’s script was performed at Zephyr Theater in LA in 2016, starring Evan Ross (THE HUNGER GAMES) and Gia Mantegna (UNDER THE DOME).

Elizabeth's theater works have been featured in stories on GOOD MORNING AMERICA, CBS, CNN, NPR, the AP and more. Elizabeth lives in Arlington, MA with her husband and son.

www.elizabethsearle.net
www.tonyaandnancytherockopera.com