DANIEL DURANT wrapped two features last year: Being Heumann, directed by the acclaimed Academy Award winner Sian Heder and Flash Before the Bang, inspired by the true story of an all-deaf high school track and field team. In 2024, he starred in “GREEN DAY’S AMERICAN IDIOT,” a rock musical in collaboration with the Center Theatre Group and Deaf West in Los Angeles.  He’s also   starred in the indie feature SILENT NOTES, which premiered at last year’s Austin Film Festival.   In addition, he was Fidelio in LA Philharmonic and LA Opera’s eponymously named production led by Gustavo Dudamel, and he appeared at the Super Bowl LVIII performing the National Anthem in ASL alongside the “Queen of Country”, Reba McEntire. Daniel is best known for his starring role   as Leo Rossi in Coda, a film that garnered three Oscar Awards, including the top prize of Best Picture. Durant received numerous accolades for his role, including a Screen Actor’s Guild Award, Sundance Award, AFI Award and HCA Spotlight Award. That Fall, Durant was also a semifinalist on the Disney+ series “Dancing with the Stars” where he competed alongside professional dancer, and now wife, Britt Stewart. Past work includes the co-lead role of Moritz in the critically acclaimed Deaf West production of Spring Awakening, which first opened in LA at the Rosenthal Theater. It then moved to the Wallis Annenberg in 2015 before moving to NYC where Daniel made his Broadway debut as Mortiz at the Brooks Atkinson Theater. The show opened to rave reviews and ran until January 2016. Durant has starred in ABC’s “Switched at Birth” and   continued in the role of Matthew through the finale of the series in 2017.   Additionally, he’s been seen in the recurring role of James in the Netflix series, “You” as well as roles on “Chicago Med,” and “Florida Man.” Durant has received numerous awards and recognition, including the   Theatre Award (Outstanding 2016 Broadway Debut Performance), Broadway.com’ Top 10 Show-Stopping Performances of the 2015-2016 Broadway Season, Huffington Post’s Top 10 Best Theatrical Performances of 2015, Theatremania.com’ 12 Best Broadway Debuts of 2015 and a 2014 Robby Award nomination for Excellence in Theatre. In 2022, the city of Duluth, Minnesota proclaimed April 4, 2022, as “Daniel Durant Day”.  That same year, the Center for Hearing and Communication honored Durant with the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for his leadership in fostering change in the entertainment business. In 2014 he was also a Deaf Awareness Month. Honoree for the City of Los Angeles, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the arts and Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities of Los Angeles. Ongoing work also includes co-leading acting workshops for Deaf students and interpreting in schools, serving as an acting teacher and coach for Deaf film camps as well as national speaking engagements for colleges and universities.   

JAMES OLIVAS is a proud Mexican-American actor honored to be making his Two River Theater debut. Select theatre credits: Evita (West End debut), American Idiot (Deaf West, Mark Taper Forum), Destiny of Desire (The Old Globe), Kinky Boots (Hollywood Bowl), Secret Garden (Ahmanson), Boop! (NYC WKSP). TV/Film: American Horror Stories, Encore!, Bad Kids of Crestview Academy (VO). Para mi familia. THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: American Idiot (Deaf West, Los Angeles); Destiny of Desire (The Old Globe, San Diego); Kinky Boots (Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles); Secret Garden (Ahmanson, Los Angeles).  TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: American Horror Stories (FX); Encore! (Disney+). VOICE OVER CREDITS INCLUDE: Bad Kids of Crestview Academy (Momentum Pictures).  WORKSHOP CREDITS INCLUDE: Boop! (Broadhurst, Broadway). 

Broadway/West End credits include Death Note: The musical (book), Bonnie & Clyde (book), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (additional material), and his comedy, The Cemetery Club, which has been produced worldwide, in over two dozen languages. Regional and international productions include The Surprise Party (UK tours) and the librettos for Smiling Through, The Prince & The Pauper, and Frank Wildhorn’s Xcalibur and Mata Hari.

For the screen, Mr. Menchell co-wrote the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy, Blended, and an adaptation of his play, The Cemetery Club, starring Ellen Burstyn, Diane Ladd, and Olympia Dukakis. He also served as a writer on Universal’s animated feature, Curious George. His musicals, Bonnie & Clyde (starring Jeremy Jordan) and Death Note, have both been filmed live on stage.

An Emmy nominated television writer & producer, he created the critically acclaimed Showtime series, Bedtime, starring Felicity Huffman, and served as Writer/Producer on the long-running CBS hit comedy, The Nanny, starring Fran Drescher; Time of Your Life, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt & Jennifer Garner; Disney’s Phil of The Future; and JONAS, starring the Jonas Brothers. 

Ivan is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship for his playwriting.

Caroline Kay is a Dublin-born, London-based writer, composer, and performer. 

Caroline has released three EPs of her original music: Notes, tricks, and Overnight – all three of which went to #1 on the iTunes Album Charts in Ireland, with Overnight also being long-listed for a Grammy Award. In 2020, she and West End’s David Hunter wrote, produced, and starred in their lockdown-inspired online musical short, The Space Between, released by WhatsOnStage.com. She has written the book, music, and lyrics for her original musical, Daisy, which is currently in the late stages of development. 

As a performer, some of Caroline’s credits include performing in Drew Gaspirini’s I Could Use A Drink (The Garrick Theatre, West End), The Clockmaker’s Daughter (studio album and concert production at Cadogan Hall), and she was Ramin Karimloo’s special guest for Ramin Karimloo and the Broadgrass Band (The Other Palace). She has also performed her own solo concerts in London, New York City, Dublin, and Cork. She holds a bachelor’s in English and music, and a master’s in performance from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. 

Jeff Calhoun broke new ground on Broadway as director of the critically acclaimed revival of Big River. The show launched an enduring collaboration with Deaf West Theatre that seamlessly highlighted deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing actors working together and, for the first time on Broadway, eliminated interpreters standing on the side of the stage. His 2003 revival won the Tony Award for Special Achievement in the Theater and toured the United States for a year following its Broadway run. Jeff went on to direct the world premiere of the first original American Sign Language Musical, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2007 and in 2009, he directed and choreographed the Deaf West & Center Theatre Group production of Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum. Elephant Shoes reflects both the continuation of Jeff’s vital partnership with Deaf West, and a vibrant leap forward for the art form.

In addition to his collaborations with Deaf West, Jeff’s career as director/choreographer stretches across 17 Broadway productions and 4 decades, earning him two Tony Award nominations, first for Grease, which ran for 4 years on Broadway, and then for Newsies, which received 8 overall Tony Award nominations.

Thirty years after dancing with Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas motion picture, he directed Dolly’s smash hit stage production of 9 to 5 in London’s West End at The Savoy Theater, which went on to tour across the United Kingdom and internationally.

His choreography for The Will Rogers Follies launched a long relationship and career with Broadway legend, Tommy Tune. Other selected Broadway musicals include Bonnie and Clyde, Jekyll and Hyde, Grey Gardens, Brooklyn, Annie Get Your Gun and Tommy Tune Tonite.

Last year he was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for his direction of the Off-Broadway musical Between the Lines, produced by Daryl Roth, based on the best-selling novel by Jodi Picoult.

His work has also been seen internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea. Jeff is an Associate Artist at The Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. He also served for over a decade on the Board of Directors for Covenant House International before moving to their Latin American Board of Directors to support housing and essential services for children in Central America.