Our Artist partners

Bio

Jessica Lind Peterson is a playwright, essayist, and co-founder of Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo, Minnesota. She is the author of nine full-length plays and one musical, all of which have had professional productions in Minnesota and all over the country. Her plays been called “quirky,” “Neil Simon-esque,” “wildly funny,” and a lot of other flattering things. She is perhaps best known for her farcical holiday comedies and was named a “MinneSNOWta Christmas send-up master” by Minnesota Monthly. Her most recent project was the on-stage adaptation of the NY Times best selling novel, The Christmas Shoes, for A.D. Players at the George Theater. Jessica’s first book, Sound Like Trapped Thunder (Seneca Review Books) was awarded the 2020 Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota where she works in philanthropy to provide support to local arts organizations. When not driving her teenage boys to basketball, she enjoys galivanting in the woods or along the shores of Lake Superior. She is delighted to be collaborating with A.D. Players at the George once again! Jessicalindpeterson.com

Play

52 Blue

Synopsis:

After receiving mysterious voicemails from an elderly woman she has never met, a young writer embarks on a quest to discover the caller’s identity. Facing the final stages of a hereditary disease that will eventually claim her eyesight, Wilhelmina races against time to solve the mystery of the caller. Curiosity turns to obsession, and reality becomes blurred as the search for the mystery woman collides with dreams of a lonely whale and Wilhelmina’s own origin story. Fantastical and unexplainable, otherworldly and magical, 52 Blue breaches the wild territory of imagination, exploring themes of belonging, family and home.

BIO

Amisho “Sho” Baraka is an internationally recognized artist, author and playwright. Sho recently held the position as lead writer for a musical in Memphis, TN, “Union”, honoring the 1968 sanitation worker’s strike which led to Martin Luther King Jr’s death.

Sho is a three-time Billboard charting, award-nominated (Stellar & Dove) artist and founding member of internationally known hip-hop consortium 116 Clique.

Sho has acted in three feature films, Grace Card (2011), October Baby (2013) and Broken (2014). For the last two years Sho Baraka has taught in the university setting while continuing to be the cultural influencer he has been for the last 16 years. Sho lives in Atlanta with his wife Patreece and three children, Zoe, Zaccai and Zimri. Sho is excited to bring his talents to the renowned AD Players at the George. He hopes to bring a unique perspective to the stage that can resonate across the country.

Play

A Midnight Society

Synopsis

A historical church in the downtown district has a challenging decision before them. Do they accept a significant offer to relocate to make room for a new development or do they continue to struggle financially while living off their rich history. Opinions, criticisms and persuasions are traveling from every corner of the city. The community is on edge and its leaders are baptized in conflict and the Church’s pastor has to manage the chaos while navigating martial tension. The church’s legacy just might have the answers they need to make a decision. But they only have until midnight. 

John-Mark McGaha

BIO

Broadway World calls John-Mark McGaha’s voice "crystal-clear perfection." Singer, storyteller, actor, music director, and multi-instrumentalist John-Mark McGaha starred Off-Broadway in the musical Cafe A Gogo. Other credits include playing jazz great Lionel Hampton in the world premier of Tuxedo Junction; Smokey Joe's Cafe; Violet; The Ray Charles Legacy; The Sinatra Legacy; and The Cash Legacy at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium. His musical directing credits include Bat Boy; Cinderella; Red Mountain Christmas, and Gospel at the George: An Easter Celebration in Houston, TX. Television appearances include a musical guest spot in BET’s Centric Celebrates Selma: 50th Anniversary Music Special. Concerts include Signed, Sealed Delivered: John-Mark McGaha Sings Stevie Wonder and A Nat King Cole Christmas. The Birmingham, Alabama native began playing classical piano at the age of five. McGaha attended Birmingham Southern College as well as The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York. His central passion is worshipping God in spirit and truth, and he serves as Director of Contemporary Worship and Arts at Trinity United Methodist Church in Birmingham. John-Mark and his wife Grace have five beautiful children.

Play

A Midnight Society

Synopsis

A historical church in the downtown district has a challenging decision before them. Do they accept a significant offer to relocate to make room for a new development or do they continue to struggle financially while living off their rich history. Opinions, criticisms and persuasions are traveling from every corner of the city. The community is on edge and its leaders are baptized in conflict and the Church’s pastor has to manage the chaos while navigating martial tension. The church’s legacy just might have the answers they need to make a decision. But they only have until midnight. 

BIO

Andy Pederson is a playwright and professor.  His plays have been produced in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis, Indianapolis, and several other places.  He has written 12 plays, including In the Soundless Awe (with Jayme McGhan), which had its world premiere with the New Light Theatre Project in New York City. He has been the head writer for the LCMS Youth Gathering for the last 9 years, writing all the drama and video pieces for the multi-day events which draw 25,000 youth from all over the country (the 2022 gathering was here in Houston). He is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, and an alumnus of Goddard College’s MFA program, and The Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive.  Andy is the resident playwright of the Saltbox Theatre Collective and a frequent playwriting instructor at StoryStudio Chicago. He teaches at Concordia University Chicago where he is a Professor of English and chair of the department.  He lives outside the city with his wife and three very active children.

Play

How to Die: A Life of Dietrich of Bonhoeffer

Synopsis

The last ten years of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life were spent resisting the rise of fascism, building a rebel seminary, and plotting the death of Adolph Hitler. For the last two years of Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been a guest inside Nazi prison cells and concentration camps. Tonight, he sits alone in one final cell in Flossenbürg awaiting execution for his role as a conspirator in the failed plot to assassinate Hitler. The morning will soon come and his life will be over. In the dark, Dietrich traces back over the questions that have brought him to this point.  He watches those moments unravel, and wonders if it is enough, has he done all that he could, did he make the right choices? How to Die: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores the power of his faith and resistance in the face of unspeakable evil and how his trust in God brought him to take action against the forces of darkness.

Andy Pederson

NEAL MORSE

BIO

A prolific singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Neal Morse is best known as the founder of the neo-progressive rock band Spock's Beard, as well as for his own ambitious Christian rock productions. Morse first garnered attention with Spock's Beard in the mid-'90s, releasing a handful of highly regarded albums, including 1995's The Light, 1999's Day for Night, and 2002's Snow, all of which earned the group a loyal fan base and a reputation as one of the leading prog-rock outfits of their generation. A born-again Christian, Morse eventually left the group, releasing his own spiritually inspired and often conceptual albums like 2003's Testimony, 2007's Sola Scriptura, and 2018's Jesus Christ, The Exorcist. He also founded the prog supergroups Transatlantic, Flying Colors and the Neal Morse Band, the latter of which has issued albums like 2016's The Similitude of a Dream and 2019's The Great Adventure.

In addition to “God's Smuggler", a bold adaption of the classic biography of Brother Andrew, Neal's theater works include the musicals "Symphony of Life" and "Hit Man".  

Play

Brother Andrew

Synopsis

God's Smuggler is an inspiring true story filled with adventure, suspense and faith. It is the autobiography of Brother Andrew, who smuggled Bibles into countries behind the Iron Curtain during the cold war. 

BIO

Toyia Waller is an emerging screenwriter, playwright and lyricist. She’s a Louisiana girl with a Texas-sized heart. Toyia’s stories are deeply inspired by the Bayou City’s rain, sun, slow rivers, and unforgettable people. Her love of storytelling began at her grandmother’s table surrounded by family.  Oral stories were shared over meals with singing, laughter and sometimes tears. She is a writer filled with a wonder that reminds us of the admirable, the lovely, and all the little details which help make us who we are.  Her award-winning episodic series “Something Like Sunshine” was an official selection of Houston Black Film Festival and voted Best Web Series at the Christian Film Festival.  Toyia is honored to be part of A.D. Players at the George artistic community.  She’s a graduate of Houston Christian University with a MFA in Screenwriting, Toyia lives in Texas with the most memorable people in her life - her husband and two small children. 

PLAY

Fire In My Blood

SYNOPSIS

Early on, A.W. Linn felt a calling to help others.  As a teenager, he ran into a burning barn to save his grandfather’s Model-T truck, earning him the nickname “Smokey”.  He took that same fire to the ocean as a Coast Guard in World War II.  He miraculously survived a torpedo attack in the North Atlantic - but that wouldn’t be the last time he came face-to-face with danger. Coming home, Smokey decided to serve his community as a fireman - a vocation both felicitous and fraught with danger.  One night, he received the call that every firefighter fears. Smokey and the other firefighters arrived at the scene of a home engulfed in flames where children were trapped behind metal bars with no way out and no way in. The heartache from that night changed his life, eventually leading him to pen what is now known as the Fireman’s Prayer. A poem that captures one man’s earnest words to God after one unimaginable tragedy. Smokey’s words are forever memorialized for the brave firefighters that answer the call.

TOYIA WALLER