Carter Norton - Mrs. Norton is the Founder and President of the Magical Music for Life Foundation. A graduate of Trinity College who spent an exchange semester at Dartmouth and received a Post-Graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Physical Therapy, she brings to Magical Music a background in medicine, business, child development and music. She worked as an Account Executive for Merrill Lynch in Philadelphia and London and spent several years working with handicapped and critically ill children as a physical therapist in Philadelphia. While living in London, Mrs. Norton founded and musically directed a women's a cappella group that performed in many pediatric hospitals. In Tokyo, she composed numerous songs for the children of the American School and organized the instrumental and recording teams to produce numerous recordings.
In 1999, Mrs. Norton founded the Magical Music for Life Foundation, headquartered in New Canaan, CT, to use music to better the lives of children. The Foundation's first production was The Adventures of Zak. In collaboration with a music therapist, Mrs. Norton wrote the music and lyrics for the Zak concept CD of songs for children. She then formed the creative and business teams that adapted the CD to a fully produced stage show that has entertained tens of thousands of parents and children across the United States. Her lifelong love and study of music and composition, coupled with the day to day interaction with her own five children has produced many songs, poems and ideas to help children learn, find reassurance and confidence through music.
Don Rickenback - Mr. Rickenback, Artistic Director of the Magical Music for Life Foundation, is a key member of the creative team that created the stage production of The Adventures of Zak. Besides directing and musical directing the show, he also contributed arrangements and wrote some new musical material. Mr. Rickenback has enjoyed over thirty years experience as director, musical director and performer in Fairfield County, CT schools, churches and community theatres. He has worked professionally directing and musical directing for CT's Renaissance Players and the Actor's Theatre and Island Stage theatre companies of Nantucket, MA.
With a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice/Music Education from Ithaca College and an MA in Educational Musical Theatre from NYU, Mr. Rickenback was a public school vocal music teacher for 20 years. In that capacity, he also directed, musical directed, and often wrote original songs for the annual spring musical, a tradition he started, which featured over 100 middle school students on stage.
As an actor, Mr. Rickenback's roles include two USO tours of Germany and Iceland (Don & Cynthia, a Ragtime Duo and as Paul Berthalet in Carnival), Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate (Off-Off Broadway), Harold Hill in The Music Man, and Cole Porter in A Swell Party, a Musical Celebration of Cole Porter, (Long Wharf Theatre) for which he was nominated for the 1995 Outstanding Actor in a Musical Award by the CT Critics Circle.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mrs. E. Carter Norton
Founder and President, Magical Music for Life
Former Account Executive, Merrill Lynch, Philadelphia and London
Mrs. Judy Biggs
Philanthropist
Mrs. Meg Meurer Brossy
President, Performance Strategies, Inc.
Mrs. Usha Nayudu Burns
Special Events Production
Mrs. Samantha Haidt Davenport
Former Associate Counsel, NBA Properties
Mr. Scott Fuller
Vice President, Rainbow Media Holdings
Mrs. Candice Gammill
Former Executive Assistant, Horizons Student Enrichment Program
Mr. Joseph Michaels
Director, “The Today Show,” NBC Entertainment
Mrs. May Rawls
Educator and High School Theatre Producer
Mr. Robert Q. Wyckoff, Jr.
Managing Director, Tweedy Browne Company, LLC
Mr. Bruce J. Zanca
Chief Marketing Officer, Bank Rate, Inc.
Mrs. Michele Zanca
Former Sales and Marketing Director, Legi-slate, a Washington Post Co.
Don Maitz, designer of the "Zak" artwork, has produced imaginative paintings that have been widely published and enthusiastically received for over 25 years. His career began and continues with extensive book publishing and has expanded into other areas including exposure as the original and continuing artist of the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum character. He has twice won science fiction's Hugo award with nominations for that award for twenty years, has received a Silver Medal and Certificates of Merit from New York's Society of Illustrators, and ten Chesley awards from his peers in the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. His numerous projects also include his work as a conceptual artist on the Academy Award nominated feature film, Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and collaborating on a new Tom Hanks animated movie.
Angelo Natalie, orchestral arranger, owns his own business, Buon Natalie Music, where he writes and arranges music for such companies as Pepsi, Dodge, Pizza Hut, Radio Shack, A & E Networks and American Movie Classics. His credits also include Rugrats, Cabbage Patch Kids, McGruff the Crime Dog and 34 songs for PBS' Barney and Friends.
Karen Nisenson worked with Carter Norton writing most of the music for ZAK. She has been using music and song in her work as a music therapist with special needs children for over 25 years, having earned her Masters Degree in Music Therapy from NYU in 1976. A year later she earned her Masters in Piano Performance from the Julliard School, a school she attended since early childhood.
Johnny Montagnese contributed to the script and musical arrangements and served as the sound designer/operator for The Adventures of Zak. As the owner of Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT since 1980, he recorded the original concept CD of Zak, having worked with artists ranging from Diana Ross to Pantera and Destiny's Child. Having produced the Stamford Festival of Arts as well as numerous cabaret shows in New York City, Mr. Montagnese spent three years producing All the Mondays in May and Noel Coward?s Oh Coward Off-Broadway.
Andrea Metchick brought an extensive and varied performance and instructional background in dance to her choreography for ZAK, having taught and coached children and adults for over 20 years. She has been a soloist for Paul Hall's Contemporary Dance Theatre, Berkshire Ballet, Off Center Dance Theater and was a child dancer at New York City Ballet. For numerous years she has served as Producer for ongoing AIDS benefits Dance Cares and Children's Dance Cares.
A. Christina Giannini designed and constructed the costumes for "Zak". A resident of New York City, Ms. Giannini is an internationally recognized costume and set designer, having created for ballets, theatrical productions, both on and off Broadway, and operas around the world. Her excellence in design has been accorded critical acclaim and recognized with numerous awards.
Randy Thomas, Lighting Design and Technical Advisor for ZAK, has been the Head Carpenter for the Stamford Center for the Arts in CT since 1992, though he has worked professionally in the technical theatre since 1980, as both a lighting and set designer. He is also currently the Business Representative for I.A.T.S.E., Local 133, the professional stage employees' union.