Ms. Barnes is a multi-dimensional artist who works professionally as an actor, singer-songwriter, and composer/lyricist. She is a Finalist for The American Theatre Wing’s 2021 Jonathan Larson Grant and Recipient of the 2022 NYC Women’s Fund Grant through the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and NY Foundation For The Arts. A graduate of the esteemed Musical Theater Program at The University of Cincinnati (CCM), she has performed professionally around the country (Theatre Aspen, John W. Engeman Theater, Wick Theatre) as well as starred in the National Tour of A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS. Brianna directed and produced her first original musical, LET THERE BE LIGHT (Book, Music, & Lyrics), which won Best Musical and Best Score at The New York Theatre Festival in 2018. In 2021 she was commissioned as Composer/Lyricist for the new rock musical, RATHSKELLER, which won Best Musical in Broadway World’s Off-Off-Broadway Awards. Her musical, THE PRESENCE (Book, Music, and Lyrics) is currently in development. Her debut album, HIEROPHANIES: MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SACRED, made the first round on the GRAMMY Awards® ballot for consideration under Best Contemporary Christian Album. Brianna is a member of The Dramatist Guild, BMI, and Maestra. Her literary work is represented by Amy Wagner of A3 Artists Agency and her performing work is represented by Michael Rodriguez of The Roster Agency.

Richard Hess made his New York directing debut at the Laurie Beechman Theatre directing AN EVENING OF (Mostly) TRUE SONGS (with Andrea Burns), a new incarnation of Don't Look Down, the music and lyrics of Adam Wagner, first seen in the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Favorite directing credits at the Human Race Theatre Co., where he is a resident artist, include On Golden Pond, Race, Red, Doubt, Proof, I Am My Own Wife and A Delicate Balance. Other credits include the Los Angeles staging of the one-woman show Besame Mucho, O.K. That's Enough (with Diana Maria Riva), and the smash hits The Pages of My Diary I'd Rather Not Read and The Catholic Girl's Guide to Losing Your Virginity, both of which enjoyed sold out runs at the Hudson Theatre in LA. For five years Hess was the artistic director of Hot Summer Nights in Cincinnati, where he directed Violet (with Ashley Brown), Hello, Dolly! (with Pamela Myers), Godspell (with Shoshana Bean and Leslie Kritzer) and the premiere of We Tell The Story: The Songs of Ahrens and Flaherty, in collaboration with Stephen Flaherty. He was Chair of the CCM Acting Department for 25 years at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Favorite directing credits at CCM include ONCE, Middletown, Her Naked Skin, Pentecost, The Heidi Chronicles, Speech and Debate, The Crucible, The Laramie Project, Coram Boy, RENT, Bat Boy, You Can’t Take It With You, Anon(ymous), Brigadoon and Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches. He studied with the internationally acclaimed director Anne Bogart and members of the Saratoga International Theatre Institute in New York and Los Angeles, and has taught Viewpoints Training in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Nairobi, Kenya, Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia, Beijing, China, and across the US. He is a Fulbright Scholar and taught acting and directing at Kenyatta University in Kenya.