creatives
Tom and Tom met years ago while playing Linus and Snoopy in the basement of a community center on 46th Street and have collaborated in friendship and theatre ever since. They have written several short musicals as part of the York Theatre’s “4@15” festival, as well as the National Asian Artists Project’s “Discover: New Musicals” series. Their musical “RAILS” has been performed at the York Theatre’s Developmental Reading series, and as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival’s Developmental Reading Series. Most recently, the show was selected to be part of a New Works Reading Festival at Musical Theatre West in Long Beach, CA. The show is a three-time semifinalist for the O’Neill NMTC, and is a 2026 winner of the Pipeline Arts Foundation Awards.
Tom Paitson Kelly
(Book and Lyrics)
Tom is an actor and writer with an extensive career Off-Broadway and regionally. Favorite roles include Ratty in Douglas Post’s musical adaptation of “The Wind in the Willows,” performed both in Chicago and New York; Speed in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and Casca in “Julius Ceasar”, both at Orlando Shakespeare Festival; and Ned Weeks in “The Normal Heart,” which the New York Times praised for its “stark, emotional honesty that lingers in the mind well after the shouting ends.”
Tom has been writing and developing new works for more than 20 years. With the Lexington Group, he collaborated on “Step In and Stand Clear” and “Ballad of Larry the Flyer,” both workshopped at Ensemble Studio Theatre. “… Larry the Flyer” was selected for the New York International Fringe Festival and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC.
Tom is a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Book Writing Workshop, Actor’s Equity Association and The Dramatists Guild. He lives with his husband Gregory, as well as their three cats and a dog named Pepper.
Tom Kenaston
(Music and Lyrics)
Tom Kenaston is an actor, composer, lyricist, and musical director. A graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and an alumnus of the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Tom’s short musical “Goodbye, Lily Daw” (book, music, and lyrics) was featured in the NY Century Center’s Musical Mondays series and the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), alongside works by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Jeff Marx. His songwriting has been spotlighted in the York Theatre Company’s “NEO” benefit concerts.
Tom is a three-time winner of the South Florida Theatre Critics’ Carbonell Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. Other credits include Off-Broadway, national tours, and numerous regional theatres including Theatre Virginia, Kansas City Rep, Florida Stage, Capital Rep, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and Riverside Theatre. Music directing credits include productions at The Juilliard School, Off-Broadway, national tours and corporate industrials.
Tom is member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Dramatists Guild, and the American Federation of Musicians. He lives in New York with his husband, James.
music & video credits
Demo produced by Tom Kenaston and James Frazee; engineered, mixed and mastered by James Frazee; recorded at Hobo Sound.
Video shot and produced by Jena Dengrove.
Performers
Jeremy Morse
Elizabeth Ward Land
Benjamin Pajak
Darlesia Cearcy
Prentiss Mouton
Bailee Endebrock
Eli Owens
Leah Horowitz
James Adolf
Musicians
Piano: Tom Kenaston
Percussion: Benjamin Cliness
Bass: Aidan O’Donnell
Strings: Deni Bonet
Woodwinds: Peter Hess
AI-generated images throughout the website are conceptual, not actual designs. They illustrate the show’s potential aesthetic as imagined by the authors. We look forward to working with directing and design professionals to bring our dream to life.