Rocket Boys the musical

biographies

Homer Hickam, Jr. (Book)

Homer Hickam is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Rocket Boys, which was made into the acclaimed Universal feature movie October Sky. Rocket Boys is studied in many schools and is one of the most selected Community/Library reads in the USA. It is published in numerous languages and generates hundreds of letters weekly from students, teachers, would-be engineers and space lovers of all ages and cultures.

Mr. Hickam's first fiction novel was Back to the Moon (1999). The Coalwood Way, a memoir of Homer's hometown he calls “not a sequel but an equal,” was published the next year. His third Coalwood memoir Sky of Stone followed in October 2001, and his final book about Coalwood is a self help/inspirational tome titled We Are Not Afraid (2002). Homer also has a series of popular novels about Josh Thurlow, a Coast Guard officer during World War II. The series began with The Keeper's Son (2003), followed by The Ambassador's Son and The Far Reaches.

With the launching of his 2008 novel The Red Helmet, Homer started a scholarship with The Marshall University Foundation in West Virginia to benefit dependents of coal miners and coal mine rescue workers.

My Dream of Stars, the memoir of Anousheh Ansari written with Homer, was published earlier this year. Anousheh’s remarkable journey from Iranian refugee to astronaut is yet another source of inspiration for all those who wish to soar among the stars – like the “Rocket Boys” - and make their wildest dreams come true.

For recreation, Mr. Hickam loves to scuba dive. In 1984, Mr. Hickam was presented with Alabama's Distinguished Service Award for heroism shown during a rescue effort of the crew and passengers of a sunken paddleboat in the Tennessee River. Also an avid paleontologist, he works with Dr. Jack Horner in Montana every summer. Most of all, however, Homer loves to write: accordingly, his latest novel is The Dinosaur Hunter, due for release later this year.

Homer is married to Linda Terry Hickam, an artist and his first editor and assistant. They love their cats and share their time between homes in Alabama and the Virgin Islands.

Diana Belkowski & Dan Tramon (Composer - Lyricists)

With their musicals Flyer and Rocket Boys, Diana and Dan became two-time (consecutive-year, unprecedented) winners of the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Award in New York, participating in a workshop process under the direction of honored composer/lyricists Stephen Schwartz and Craig Carnelia. Diana and Dan are also alumni of the BMI Lehman–Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in New York, and are recipients of two Billboard Music Awards for work in musical theatre and Contemporary Christian music.

Flyer, based on the lives of the Wright Brothers, most recently enjoyed its premiere Equity Regional Production on the Freeman Stage in Delaware, followed by a return presentation for invited industry at the esteemed Florence Gould Hall in NYC. Flyer was first presented in full at the Lamb’s Theatre (Mainstage) in NYC, and subsequently presented (in abridged concert form) at Oklahoma City University, selected for the Bass School of Music’s inaugural year promoting new works in musical theatre. In addition to its ASCAP workshop, Flyer was also a Finalist in Chicago STAGES, and was previously presented in part at the North Carolina Festival of Flight, sponsored by NASA and the US Air Force in conjunction with Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville.

Rocket Boys (based on the New York Times #1 Bestseller book by NASA engineer Homer Hickam Jr.) had its full staged reading premiere in 2008 in Huntsville, AL (“Rocket City”), home to the Marshall Space & Flight Center and Mr. Hickam himself. That year Rocket Boys also won ANMT’s Search for New Musical Voices and was awarded a full reading and panel critique in Los Angeles. It had previously been presented in part at ASCAP with an esteemed cast of Broadway veterans (headed by Mark McVey & Terri Klausner), as well as Broadway Musical Director Joe Baker (Blood Brothers, The Life, Bells Are Ringing, Footloose). Last October, an excerpt from the show was presented by the Sommerville H.S. Choir in New Jersey as part of their “One Book, One Community” series.

Diana has traveled nationwide as a member of the Presidential Arts Committee, and has written material for both presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. A long-time Director of Sacred Music, she has extensively written for both children and adult choirs, and won numerous awards as a classical pianist during childhood. Other solo compositions include Clarissa (Circle Rep Theatre) and Tom Sawyer (Hudson Guild Theatre); a 50-song educational Book-Cassette series for Random House; jingles, and theme and credit music for two weekly TV newsmagazines. Her song, “Celebrate Life”, was commissioned by Equity Fights AIDS as an opening theme song for their annual NYC Benefit. Currently, Diana is working on a sung-through version of the classic “Vanity Fair”; and a new collaborative effort with author Harold Schmidt, “Coconut Road”, about the life of hobos in the 1930’s.

Dan has served as Broadway Production Sound Engineer for Billy Joel on his Tony-winning Movin’ Out, Dolly Parton’s 9 To 5, Phil Collins with Disney’s Tarzan, as well as Broadway’s Swing, The Life, and Annie, and is currently running Backstage Sound at In The Heights. He was Associate Sound Designer for numerous other Tony- winning Broadway shows, including City of Angels, The Will Rogers Follies, and Victor/Victoria. He served as Music Programmer for Paul Simon’s Capeman, as well as the Broadway productions of Cats, Beauty and the Beast, and The King & I. Dan orchestrated and performed digital music for Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Westbeth Theatre in New York and composed the pre-show music for The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway. He also composed the score for an adaptation of Moliere’s The Miser. As a youth, Dan performed regularly as a boy soprano with the Metropolitan Opera, in both chorus and featured roles.

Both Dan and Diana are alumni of The Juilliard School.

Carl Anthony Tramon (Co-Book; Sonny)

By the age of three Carl had the stage under his feet, and a relentless smile on his face ever since. Broadway, National Tours, and Equity Regional productions include: Fame, the Musical; Amadeus (as Mozart); What Makes Sammy Run (title role); Peter Pan; Gypsy (w/Angela Lansbury); Rags (directed by Stephen Schwartz); etc. He’s also had principal roles on various television programs, including: Saturday Night Live, One Life to Live (recurring), Saved by the Bell (series regular, full season); Growing Pains, and over 50 national commercials. Feature films include: Pizza Palace, The Lackluster Syndrome, Aladdin (w/Barry Bostwick, Disney Channel), and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. Carl recently received the coveted Best Actor award nomination by the Broadway League.

Carl’s major directorial credits include: Flyer (2009, The Freeman Stage and The Lamb’s Theatre, NY); Einstein’s Breakfast (2008, Delaware PAC); Coconut Road (World Premiere, Delaware PAC); Fame, the Musical (Bardavon Opera House, Poughkeepsie, NY); Rocket Boys (Disney Theatricals, Workshop, NY); The Jeweler’s Shop (Carnegie Hall & The United Nations, NY); Szymborska (Consulate General, NY); Grease (Somerville, NJ), etc.

Original Cast albums currently available include: Fame, the Musical; What Makes Sammy Run; Coconut Road; Rocket Boys; and the albums of Bill Solly: Let Me Give You a Lift and I Could Fall in Love, the latter of which earned Carl unanimous critical acclaim.

Carl, or “CAT”, as his colorful potpourri of friends calls him, was fortunate to also be the lead member of the pop group UNETI, which recently returned from an international tour. Their music video, which airs on MTV around the globe, was chosen to be the soundtrack for The New York Yankees and Hideki Matsui in their TV & Radio promotions for NYC. UNETI can be heard on Chaka Khan’s Christmas album, and was propelled by Nelson O’Reilly Productions, who also produce Willa Ford, Donna Summer, Lucy Woodward, The Baha Men, and other chart-topping performers.

Carl is an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. He is “thrilled, ecstatic, and supremely overjoyed” to be a part of this amazing voyage called Rocket Boys. It has been an absolute BLAST!!!

Christopher Budinich (Original Stage Adaptation)

Chris is Founder and President of the Spotlight Theatre Company, an official chapter of the WPUNJ Alumni Association, and whose mission it is to nurture original stage plays. STC resides on the campus of William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey.

As a playwright, works by Chris include Whenever A Feather Falls, A Song For Mama, Prodigia, A Father To My Father, and Pitch; also Poems From Under The Pool Table, a collection of original poems adapted for stage and Soap Scum, a theatrical spoof on soap operas. His latest play, American Gator was one of the top three finalists in the New Jersey Playwrights Competition.

He has made recordings with Dark Cloud Productions and Tradani Productions/in Association with Atlantic Records. Chris has performed in many theatrical productions as well as toured nationally and regionally. Show Boat, Brigadoon, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Gypsy, Frankenstein, First Night, name a few. He has been a featured tenor soloist in concerts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Most recently, he debuted with Broadway favorites Brent Barrett in “Brush Up Your Shakespeare: The British Invasion Of Broadway”, and singing great Julie Budd in “There’s Nothin’ Like A Dame: A Richard Rodger’s Birthday Bash!”, musically directed by Larry Hochman (Fiddler On The Roof and Spamalot). Locally, Chris has been on “New Jersey’s Talking” with Lee Leonard, and radio station 95.7 FM. In March 2009, Chris was a featured tenor in a benefit concert for Paul Gemignani, also starring Robert Cucciolli.