Understanding the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Through the Theatrical Musical To Paint the Earth Speaker Bios Lauren Lebowitz, the grandchild of Holocaust Survivors, is an actress and has performed in New York, London, on several Broadway National Tours and in regional productions. Lau- ren attended the University of Michigan and then the Royal Academy of Music in London. Studying under acclaimed professionals including Mary Hammond and Matt Ryan, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music's Post Graduate Musical Theatre program with the highest distinction. Soon after, she landed the role of Rusty in the National Tour of FOOTLOOSE and then joined the National Tour of GODSPELL. Lauren toured with the USO, entertaining our troops with performances at Bob Hope's 100th birthday aboard the USS Intrepid, NBC's The Today Show, MSNBC, CBS, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and at numerous military bases. Lauren’s favorite roles to date include Susan in the regional premiere of TITLE OF SHOW at the Arizona Theatre Company and Rosa in the pre-Broadway world premiere of WALLENBERG at the White Plains Performing Arts Center, a role she created. Lauren also had the honor of being in the New York City premiere of YEAST NATION. She is currently working on her own show, MR. WEINERT'S ASSIGNMENT. Daniel F. Levin is a playwright, composer and lyricist living in Brooklyn. His musical, TO PAINT THE EARTH, written with composer Jonathan Portera, won the Richard Rodgers Development Award, was selected for the New York Musical Theatre Festival and recent- ly was part of From Page to Stage at the Southwark Playhouse in London. Daniel’s play, HEE-HAW: IT’S A WONDERFUL LI_E, a counter-telling of the holiday classic from the per- spective of Sam Wainwright, was called a “delightful surprise” by the New York Times (Nuyorican Poets Café). He is currently finishing work on adapting his musical Spandex (book, music, lyrics), about competitive aerobics in the 1980’s, into an audio musical pod- cast, with Tony-award-winning sound designer, Kai Harada. Daniel's other works have been presented at La Mama, Long Wharf Theater, the 92nd Street Y’s Steinhardt Center, and 13th Street Rep, and have been published in three editions of Applause Books' BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS: 2008, 2010, and 2014. Daniel served as a Jonathan Larson Memorial Fellow at the Dramatists Guild and is a MacDowell fellow. He holds an MFA from NYU Tisch and a BA from Yale. Jonathan Portera is a critically acclaimed composer and singer-songwriter based in New York City. His Richard Rodgers Award winning musical TO PAINT THE EARTH (book-writer/ lyricist Daniel F. Levin) recently made its London debut at the Southwark Playhouse as part of the From Page to Stage Festival. Projects with book-writer/lyricist Tara Bahna-James include the musicals THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT (dir. Cara Reichal/Prospect Theatre Company) and ELEANORA (based on the short story by Edgar Allen Poe). Works in devel- opment include GERUND: STATES OF BEING, which explores awareness, theories of con- sciousness, and how language affects the structure of identity; and HOSPITAL SUITE, a fic- tional retelling of his personal journey into differently-abledness. An advocate for handi- capped and neuro-diversity awareness, he has represented the LGBTQ+ community in discrimination seminars across the country. Jonathan received his MFA from NYU/Tisch's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program and a BFA in Vo- cal Performance and Music Studies from Carnegie Mellon.

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