Marilyn Exposed

Cornell Christianson (Writer)  

His “Notes to the Play” give the evidence that proves the claims he makes in this musical and are available to anyone by email. He was a producer-writer at Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, winning Emmy Awards and First Prize at Comic-Con. He was producer-writer of two long-running award-winning Off-Broadway musicals, “It Came From Beyond” and “Wicked City Blues”, both shut down by the pandemic and will reopen soon. He has been an investigative reporter for several newspapers and is an award-winning photojournalist. He has published five books including “Christianson Theory of Life” with scientific evidence of an afterlife. He has eleven years of college, four degrees, runs a ministry of his church, an Eagle Scout and smoked pot with The Grateful Dead.

Monique DeLee (Marketing Director / Social Media Manager)  Marketing professional, Production Assistant, and aspiring Director/Performer, working on Marilyn Exposed as the Marketing Director and running the Social Media accounts!

Matthew Foster (Marketing/PA)  Matthew D. Foster | Playwright | Producer:

He is an award-winning Playwright and Actor! A playwright who, as a student in his final year of CUNY’s BBA Program, is studying business and consulting for the entertainment industry at the School of Professional Studies, CUNY, Matthew is honored to present his full-length play, EARTH, featuring a talented and hardworking Cast & Crew. His recently selected credits (along with plenty more) for previous theatrical experience include Those Who Remained at La MaMa E.T.C. (Producer, Props), BMCC CUNY (Stage management and Performance Degree {Honors}), The Lake (Playwright, TTU), and United Solo Festival (PA, Theatrical Critic), Last Gas (Troy). Additionally, he’s a lead news correspondent for AllAboutSolo.com. He is extremely grateful to all the mentors and individuals & organizations that have supported him in keeping theatre alive! His next steps will continue his education by earning his master’s degree in theatrical applied arts, and taking his 5 other crafted plays into the spotlight, for additional information- @matthewdennisfoster

Jonniece Howard (Production Associate)  Jonniece Howard is a Brooklyn born and raised Audio Engineer and Assistant for theatre, film and tv.

Ruihan Huang

Vivian (Set/Projection Designer)  Ruihan Huang is a set designer based in New York City whose work draws from sculptural practice and material experimentation. She designed the set for Sailboat Lullaby, a Brown University senior slot production, and served as technical director and set designer for Mr. Donkey and Like Shadow with the Brown RISD Chinese Drama Society. Huang received her BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and will begin her MFA studies in Set Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work focuses on the spark created through interaction between bodies, objects, and space, many incorporating 3D printing and mechanical elements. She is particularly interested in using design as a means of supporting and expanding visibility for East Asian women artists and perspectives within collaborative performance-making.

Esther Merczynski

Esther (Assistant Stage Manager)  Esther Merczynski, originally from NYC, is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied Film and Media. Her entertainment background includes writing and directing her own short films, interning with a film director for film development, and serving as a Production Assistant on an independent film set. Aside from film, Esther really loves musical theater. Marilyn Exposed is Esther’s second Write Act Repertory Production she’s worked on. She is thrilled to be the Assistant Stage Manager for this incredible musical after working as a Production Assistant on her first Write Act Repertory Production, Breaking the Trust. Esther would like to thank the cast and crew of Marilyn Exposed for creating such a fun environment to bring Marilyn Monroe’s story to life. When she’s not working behind the scenes, Esther enjoys crocheting, traveling, attending Broadway shows, discovering new films and TV series, and spending time with her cat!

Erich Rausch

Erich Rausch (Music Director)  Erich Rausch has music directed several hundred productions in youth programs, universities, civic and regional theaters, clubs and cabarets and joints of every type…and Off Broadway. He is a recipient of the Rising Star Award from Paper Mill Playhouse for music direction of Once on This Island, and has received excellent notices in Newsday, The Village Voice, and The New York Times for productions including A Chorus Line, Godspell, and his own original music for Beaumarchais’s play The Barber of Seville.

Erich has worked on a number of premieres, including a musical take on Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the first English version (with an Asian cast) of Chinese classic Romance of the Western Chamber, the NY premiere of Brecht’s The Roundheads and the Pointheads, and his own sci-fi musical with 80s inspired songs, Mad Mel Saves the World. He is a company member of KrymovLabNYC, and works with WriteActRepertory in the development of new musicals.

Amanda Scanze

Amanda Scanze (Costume Designer)  Amanda is a multi disciplined designer with a background in costume, footwear & handbag design. She’s designed kid’s footwear for multiple fashion brands including Kenneth Cole, Isaac Mizrahi, Frye & Sam Edelman. After years of cubicle life in the fashion industry she went back to the Fashion Institute of Technology and received certifications in costume design and wardrobe technology and never looked back! Regional costume design credits: Prince of Egypt, Disney’s Newsies, Annie, Sister Act, The Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, Jersey Boys, A Christmas Carol & Bye Bye Birdie. (The Argyle Theatre), Off-Broadway costume design credits: The Importance of Being Earnestly (Write Act Repertory) & Muse (Greenhouse Ensemble). Love always to Mom, Dad & Phil. Portfolio: mandyscanze.carbonmade.com

Samantha Stone

Samantha Stone (Production Stage Manager)  Samantha Stone (PSM) has been a freelance theatre, event, and virtual Stage Manager in NYC for 10 years. Previous credits include Fanatics Fest, Breaking the Trust (Write Act), Broadway Stage Management Symposium, Off Broadway Alliance Awards, Disney Upfront Experience, Chita: A Legendary Celebration!, Life (Silver Glass Productions), Twelfth Night (Four Words Theatre Co.). Film credits include Orange is the New Black, For Life, The Many Saints of Newark, Silent Retreat, Grand Army, God Friended Me, New Amsterdam, Law & Order. She would like to dedicate this show in memory of her dad.

Stephanie Harenbrock

Stephanie holds a Master’s Degree in Cinema Studies from NYU Tisch. Her research focused on issues of representation in cinema and she is now using her knowledge to create more inclusive spaces in the arts. This is Stephanie’s first Off-Broadway Show and she thanks the cast and crew of Marilyn Exposed.

Emily Strader

Emily Strader (Assistant Director)  Emily Strader (she/her/hers) is thrilled to be the assistant director of Marilyn Exposed! Originally from Colorado, Emily moved to New York last August to pursue her education as a multi-hyphenate theater student. As a 19 year old triple major, she is in the midst of earning an Acting BFA, Directing BA, and Playwriting BA at Marymount Manhattan College. Some of her favorite credits include The Prom (Angie), Guys and Dolls (Director), and The Odd Couple (Olive). When she is not in classes or at rehearsals, Emily loves to practice her fluency in ASL and offer accessible acting lessons to youth actors. She would like to thank the entire team for their hard work on this incredible project!

John Lant (Producer) 

John Lant is a 46+ year veteran involved in over 10,000 productions since 1979. A multiple award-winning producer, director, designer, he has lead produced 18 Off-Broadway productions, specializing in new productions, including at Carnegie Hall, Cal Arts, Odyssey, LATC, St. Luke’s, Actor’s Temple, St. Clements, and New World Stages. His work garnered multiple DramaLogue, NAACP, Diamond, and ADA Awards. Directed / developed TV Pilots Children’s TV Symphology with LA Phil, Carrot Talk, Anonymous Confession and videos for MTV, IRS and Propaganda Films. Resident Light Designer credits include several years at Interlochen, Connecticut Ballet, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center and for TV’s BET JAZZ AWARDS and received the California Service Award for the Arts in 2000, 01, 08 and 09. Credits over 50 movies/tv projects including The Hard Way, Hudson Hawk, Jason X, The Freshman, Ghostbusters 2, Army of Darkness, Power Rangers, Land of the Lost, Fallen Angels & BBC presents, and Renegade, he’s partnered in two Tv Studios in NY and NJ. Since 2003, his latest theater company, Write Act Repertory, an artist-based organization with over 100 volunteers whose members include Producers, Writers, Actors, Directors, Designers, Technical Crew and Personnel, specialize and is dedicated to the development of original plays, lesser-known works by established writers, adaptations of classical-themed materials and new musicals. Write Act Rep also produces with other theater companies and fiscally sponsors like-minded mission productions. 

For more info please connect – https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnlantprod / Interlochen Alum.

Caroline Nachman 

(Assistant Stage Manager / Wardrobe)

This is Caroline’s first Off-Broadway show on a run crew. Past experiences with the team include the live–streaming presentation of Final Resting Place, the TV Puppet Pilot Grunt at Tin Mirror Studios, in addition to working as a casting production assistant for Write Act Repertory and Marilyn Exposed Productions LLC. Recent work also includes Arlekin’s Our Class and Merchant of Venice here in NYC and in Boston. In June, she starts an internship in Central Park for a production of Shakespeare in the Park.

Charles Bernard Murray (Director / Choreographer)CB is a multi-hyphenated artist. He directed and choreographed the off-Broadway musical Wicked City Blues for the Lant/Christianson/Thalheimer team in 2019. CB was mentored under Rosette LeNoire at the A.M.A.S. Repertory Company and joined the Actor’s Equity Association  in 1979 performing in Storyville, directed by Arthur Faria. In 1980, Michael Bennett hired CB for the Workshop of Dreamgirls, which became his Broadway Debut. He was also featured on Broadway in Honky Tonk Nights.  He’s performed in numerous Off-Broadway productions with the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, The Essence of Acting, Eight is Not Enough and countless others. CB has performed on TV, in films, and on stages around the world. CB won the Fresh Fruit Festival MonologueContest in 2025. As a writer his CB won Best New Screen Play at the 2020 Harlem Film Festival and will be featured as an Artist in Residence at HB Studios in October 2026 debuting his original play A Mother’s Heart. His musical Children of God received six nominations from the Midtown International Theatre Festival, his musical PEARL received five ADULCO nominations, and his play JACK & JILL won the 2020 Village Players Short Play Competition. He has received awards from the SMPS (Society of Marketing Professionals Services) and the US Army Corps of Engineers as a teaching artist. He was awarded The Union City Artist of the Year Award in 2015, while living in Union City, New Jersey. @cbm4th 

Beth Lawrence (Music & Lyrics)

Beth decided to be a singer when she heard Dionne Warwick sing ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’, thinking, “If someone can make me feel so much with their voice, then I want to be able to do that, too!”. Beth’s love of singing and songwriting has led her around the world, sharing the transformative power of music. As a composer, Beth has co-written music and lyrics for Broadway’s Marilyn, An American Fable. Her music and voice are featured in the film The Return of Captain Invincible, and she co-wrote the musical The Journey Home…a story of Hope and Heritage for the 2002 Olympics in Utah. Beth has co-written and starred in an L.A. run of her one-woman show Musical Schizophrenia. Additionally, Beth is the author of the book From Shower To Stage….7 Easy Steps for Singing Like A Pro!. Beth has written, recorded and produced numerous CD’s, among them, When The Sky Is Red, which was awarded “Best Vocal Album of the Year!” by L.A. Jazz Scene Magazine. She has won the American Song Festival’s International Vocal Competition, and the Billboard Magazine Latin Song Award. Her lullaby CD, Land of Sleepytime..lullabies for the Heart and Soul was awarded the National Association of Parenting Publications Gold Award. As Founder of All About Voice – a voice and music mentoring company – Beth loves developing the brilliance in others!

Norman Thalheimer (Music & Lyrics)

Norman is a Broadway composer-lyricist who co-wrote Marilyn: An American Fable at the Nederlander’s Minskoff Theater starring Alyson Reed and Scott Bakula. He co-wrote the music and lyrics for the 1950s Sci-Fi musical, It Came From Beyond, which ran for 15 months Off-Broadway at St. Luke’s Theatre. Theater Pizzazz praised its “fantastic musical numbers. Lyrically sharp and authentically ’50’s, the songs will remain in your head for quite some time – especially the title theme.” The musical was nominated for 6 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, including Best Musical and Best Writing of a Musical. His 1940’s musical Wicked City Blues played in Salt Lake City and was named one of the Ten Best Plays of the Year in Utah. He has composed music for movies including The Prophesy, Jericho Mile and The Return of Captain Invincible.  As a jazz pianist, he has performed in London, New York and Los Angeles. Norman studied under Lehman Engel at the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. He is a graduate of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Norman also did the Musical Arrangements, Orchestrations, Underscore and Recording for Wicked City Blues.