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Recently, on February 5, 2024, Nora sadly passed away at age 19. However, her spirit lives on through a new collaboration between Nora’s mom Betsy Alexander and All That’s Good Productions to create Nora the Piano Cat.
Kathleen Kim is an actress, TV producer, and puppeteer who is best known for her roles on Sesame Street as the first Asian-American Muppet character Ji Young, as well as Elena, and Julia’s mother. Additional credits include Helpsters on Apple TV+ (2019), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), the role of Toe-Knee in Awkwafina is Nora from Queens (2020), SNL, and The TODAY Show. Kim attended Brooklyn College, where she studied TV/Radio and Children’s Studies. She grew up between NYC and Long Island and currently resides with her family in Queens.
If the “real life” Nora hadn’t been adopted when she was a stray, the world never would have known about this extraordinary, talented cat that has brought so much joy to people all around the globe. Nora The Piano Cat emphasizes the importance of inclusion, community, and that one kind gesture can change lives forever.
Additionally, Nora the Piano Cat encourages self-expression through art and music, which can not only be a tool to communicate and connect with others, but can also improve your life and the lives of everyone around you. Despite mountains of research extolling the virtues of a musical education, schools across the nation continue to cut artistic enrichment curriculum in the wake of budget cuts, leaving many (if not most) children in the United States without access to art, dance or music classes. Those involved in the project hope to entertain and enrich audiences by introducing them to diverse music genres they might not normally hear in their day-to-day lives, fostering cognitive development and cultural understanding.
E.A. (Betsy) Alexander has created numerous works for musical theatre including Another Kind of Hero, about Raoul Wallenberg, which played at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre and the Leah Posluns Theatre in Toronto, and Anne Frank: A Voice Heard, which was commissioned by American Theatre Arts for Youth and toured nationally. Her musical I Never Saw Another Butterfly is available for performance from Dramatic Publishing. Alexander’s musicals for young audiences include Mumbo Jumbo, which premiered at Pulse Ensemble Theatre in New York; Whalesong, for the New Jersey State Aquarium; Stakin’ My Claim, presented by Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park; and many other productions including The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Valentine, The Snow Queen, Alef Bet Bop, and The Scarlet Pimpernel (created when she was composer-in-residence at the Hedgerow Theatre). In addition to awards for her songwriting, Alexander has received fellowships from the PA Council on the Arts and a “Best of Philadelphia” from Philadelphia Magazine. She has been a participant in the BMI and ASCAP musical theatre workshops and resides in Philadelphia with her husband, artist Burnell Yow!
Michael Biello is an award-winning musical theatre lyricist as well as a multi-disciplinary theatre and performance artist. Biello’s musicals (in collaboration with composer Dan Martin) include Marry Harry, produced Off-Broadway at The York Theatre in 2017 and released as a soundstage musical film on Amazon Prime in 2020; The Cousins Grimm, showcased in London in 2015, presented in Chicago in 2009, and workshopped in 2008 at The O’Neill Theatre Center; and Breathe, winner of Chicago’s 1999 After Dark Award for Outstanding New Work. Biello’s lyrics for musical films include Cockroaches & Cologne, released in 2021 and streaming on the Emmy’s OTT Platform in collaboration with Broadway on Demand; Clones in Love, voted Best Short at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival; The Dance, which has been screened worldwide and is in the permanent collection of MoMA; and A Circle of Diamonds, featuring marriage activist Edie Windsor. Biello is a member of The Dramatists Guild and the BMI/Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theater Workshop. In 2004 he and his life partner, composer Dan Martin, were inducted into the GLBT Hall of Fame.
Dan Martin has composed award winning scores for musical theatre, dance, and film, many in collaboration with his life partner, lyricist Michael Biello. He wrote and orchestrated the music for Marry Harry – produced Off-Broadway in 2017 and released as a soundstage musical film on Amazon Prime in 2020. Biello & Martin’s musical Breathe was the winner of Chicago’s 1999 After Dark Award for Outstanding New Work. Martin’s scores for musical films include Cockroaches & Cologne, released in 2021 and now streaming on the Emmy’s OTT Platform; A Circle of Diamonds, featuring marriage activist Edie Windsor; the award-winning Clones in Love; The Dance (in the permanent collection of MoMA); and the PBS documentary The Last Run. As a record producer, Martin created several club-charting dance recordings in the 1980’s including X-posed and Eye on You (with disco diva “Hot Shot” Karen Young), as well as several landmark LGBTQ recordings including Grant King’s Bodies of Water and Amy Fix’s Spoon. As a cultural activist and event producer, Martin founded Outmusic, celebrating excellence in LGBTQ+ music, where he produced numerous concerts, festivals, seminars, and special events, including the Outmusic Awards at the Knitting Factory in New York.
Hannah works for a startup company as a designer and scriptwriter, creating media for brands like Champion, Mozilla, and Interstate Batteries. She got involved with Nora’s show as an individual contractor, designing the core cast of characters. Her short comics, “Woof and Win” and “35 Years” won first place in the Platform Comics 10K Challenge in both 2021 and 2022, respectively. She received her graphic design degree at James Madison University and currently resides in her home state of Virginia.
