Producers
Dr. Thea Iberall is an award-winning writer, storyteller, and scientist. She is the playwright and co-lyricist of We Did It For You! and has been producing it in California and Massachusetts since 2011. Thea was inducted into the International Educators Hall of Fame in 2015. She's had over 50 poems published in journals and anthologies including The Southern California Anthology, Spillway, poeticdiversity, and numerous other journals. Thea was a semi-finalist in the 2014 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize and also in the Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition. She is the author of The Swallow and the Nightingale, an ecofeminist novel about a 4,000-year old secret brought through time by the birds. www.theaiberall.com
Shirley Riga has been producing We Did It For You! since 2015. She is a certified spiritual director and Reiki master. Her specialty is in helping people manage their fear and in supporting caregivers, people experiencing bereavement, and the LGBTQIA community. Riga co-facilitates our WDIFY Empowerment Workshops. The author of Tools for the Exceptional Parent of a Chronically-Ill Child, Riga talks to groups of parents and caregivers about the process of finding empowerment through adversity. www.shirleyriga.com
Creative Team
Carolyn Waters (Music Director) is a singing/songwriter who fuses blues/roots/folk and other musical genres into a unique unforgettable blend of songs and sounds. She can belt out barrelhouse and juke joint blues, or fuse them with a pinch of Gospel and roots. Carolyn has been featured in the Boston Blues Society’s Ladies of the Blues Events, sharing the stage with the late great Shirley “Regal Queen of the Blues” Lewis, Lydia Warren, Lisa Marie and Diane Blue to name a few. She has performed at the Homegrown Coffeehouse, the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, Serendipity, Beatniks, Expresso Yourself and many other venues in New England, New York, Maryland and Virginia. www,carolynwatersmusic.com
Kerri Cooper (Director and Choreographer) studied directing and acting the University of New Orleans and also at Bridgewater State College. She has been a drama and theatre teacher at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School, and a professor at Massasoit Community College. After years of working with high school students, she understands the challenges of working with a volunteer, non-professional cast.
Composers
Michelle Mangione (Composer of "We Are One") is an acclaimed songwriter and musician. She’s toured nationally and has won two Orange County Music Awards. Music from her four CDs has appeared in TV and films such as BBC's Skins, Army Wives, Witchblade and True Rights. Grace Slick (of the Jefferson Airplane) calls Mangione “a gifted artist and poetic songwriter.” Michelle has co-written songs with Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) and Exene Cervenka (X). When she released "The Edge of Madness", which was her second collaboration with rock icon Grace Slick, the song was chosen as one of Rolling Stone Magazine's "Top Singles". The single featured many artists who donated their performances for the cause. All of the proceeds were been donated to victims of the Gulf Coast disasters. www.michellemangione.com
Betsy Rose (Composer of "Unreasonable Women") is a songwriter and singer and community activist whose insight, warmth, humor, wit and wisdom have added a wealth of songs to the world of folk and progressive music for over thirty years. Betsy was a pioneering voice in the Women’s Cultural Movement of the 70’s and 80’s, singing at national and international festivals, touring the United States and Canada. Artists such as Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Bobbi McFerron have sung and/or recorded her songs, as have numerous Women’s and Peace Choruses throughout the country. Contemporary cultural visionaries such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Matthew Fox, and Joanna Macy have included her music in their work. Betsy has performed and taught widely throughout the United States and Canada, India, Australia and the Czech Republic. She has sung at festivals, and at conferences for spiritual organizations, activists, educators, and parents, including the California Early Childhood Educators, La Leche League, Association of Humanistic Psychology, MindfulSchools, Omega Institute, and AIDS and Hospice services. www.betsyrosemusic.org
Jamie C. Sterrett (composer and co-lyricist of "We Need To Rise") is a published composer having scored and had performed a Ballet, six Musicals, a Claymation science fiction short, three Indie film scores and numerous choral works, instrumental music and songs. His music is extremely eclectic drawing from disparate musical elements such as Native American, African, traditional European Classical, and popular music from Annie Get Your Gun to the Zombies. How to describe Jamie’s music: melodic, rhythmic and unremovable from your cerebral hard drive. Jamie has spent a life of giving music back to people: playing in ‘bands’ since 1968, leading a music program in two different churches for 21 years, teaching at Orlando’s Engel School of Music and being the Arts Director for Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. Was selected as a composer for the “Native American Experience” at the Atlantic Center for the Arts with Native American composer Dr. Louis Ballard.
Andy Celley (co-composer and keyboardist "We Need To Rise") has been writing, recording, and performing for over 50 years. Originally from Philadelphia PA, Andy studied Jazz Harmony, Jazz improvisation and Classical piano. Andy was with the “Philadelphia Magic” trio and then toured with “707”, a national rock act recorded on Casablanca Records. He founded a recording studio in Worcester MA, while playing keyboards with PF & The Flyers. In the late 90’s, Andy started Production Studio, now located at Dedham TV Studios. Andy has released 4 solo albums and is currently working on his 5th, as well as many singles and projects for other artists. He is one of Boston’s best smooth jazz artists. https://www.andycelleymusic.com/