Sam Harris’ diversified career has run the gamut from singer and songwriter to actor on Broadway, film and television to writer, director and producer. Sam’s big break was when he won the premier season of Star Search, with his show stopping rendition of “Over The Rainbow.” Since then, he has become a multi-platinum recording artist with 9 studio CDs to his credit including Sam Harris, Sam-I-AM, Standard Time, Different Stages, The Best of the Motown Sessions, Revival, On This Night, Sam Harris Live! – The Best of Christmas and Free. He performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheater, London’s West End. He has also performed at the White House several times and on numerous talk shows. On Broadway, he starred in Tommy Tune’s Grease, Cy Coleman’s The Life, Mel Brook’s The Producers. He has also performed in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, as well as productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret, Hair, Pippin, The Jazz Singer, The First Wives Club and self penned shows Hard Copy, Different Hats, Revival, and Sam. He has also starred on television in The Class, Rules of Engagement and Extra, and on film in In The Weeds and Elena Undone. Behind the scenes he co-wrote Down to Earth, Hurry! Hurry! Hollywood!, Love Letter to New York, and supervised/directed several segments of Michael Jackson’s 30th Year Anniversary and wrote Liza’s at The Palace.

Over the past three decades, the voice of Janis Siegel a nine-time Grammy winner and a seventeen-time Grammy nominee has been an undeniable force in The Manhattan Transfer’s diverse musical catalog. Alongside her career as a member of this 32-year musical institution, Siegel has also sustained a solo career that has spawned more than a half dozen finely-crafted solo albums and numerous collaborative projects.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1952, Siegel learned about the music business at an early age. By the time she was 12, she was singing with an all-girl pop trio called The Young Generation. By a chance encounter after high school she was steered into The Manhattan Transfer. The group’s self-titled debut album in 1975 marked the opening chapter of the foursome’s quarter-century-plus success story. Over the years, Janis’ unmistakable voice has become one of the group’s most recognizable trademarks. She sang lead on some of the Transfer’s biggest hits, such as “Operator,” “Chanson D’Amour” and “Birdland.” In 1993, she and her Manhattan Transfer colleagues received their honorary doctorates from the Berklee School of Music, and in 1999 they were among the first class of inductees into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

In addition to her stage and studio work with The Manhattan Transfer, Janis launched her solo career in 1982 with the release of Experiment in White. Other solo albums include At Home, I Wish You Love, Friday Night Special and her eighth and latest solo recording, Sketches of Broadway.

Siegel’s most recent collaborations and projects outside The Manhattan Transfer include touring as a member of the acclaimed improvisational vocal group, Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra and being a participant in a tribute to jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center.

Click on the link below to reserve your spot to sing at the class. If you are interested in just attending the master class, please call Mackenzie Travers at 317.275.1169.

Tom Wopat first came to public attention in the late-1970s as the freewheeling Luke Duke on the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. In 1977, he made his Broadway debut in Cy Coleman’s I Love My Wife. Wopat went on to perform in the Tony Award–winning City of Angels and Guys and Dolls. He received a Tony nomination for creating the role of Frank Butler in the Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun, opposite Bernadette Peters. In 2008, Wopat returned to Broadway as Tom Hurley in A Catered Affair with Faith Prince and Harvey Fierstein. Wopat spent much of 2011 on Broadway again starring as Frank Abagnale Sr. in the new adaptation of Catch Me If You Can.

Though Wopat had never done a sitcom before, he seized the opportunity when Chuck Lorre offered him a leading role in Cybill. Other credits include a recurring role on Home Improvement, the critically acclaimed NBC movie Just My Imagination, HBO's Taking Chance alongside Kevin Bacon, and most recently a spot on CBS' A Gifted Man. 2012 will see Tom starring in ABC's first ever movie musical Elixir alongside Jane Seymour, Chelsea Kane, Sara Paxton and more.

Wopat has also become a successful recording artist with many albums to his credit, including A Little Bit Closer, Don’t Look Back, Learning to Love, and The Still of the Night. In 2005, he released Dissertation on the State of Bliss, featuring the music of Harold Arlen, and his most recent offering, Consider it Swung, featuring standards and covers, including Frank Sinatra, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Joni Mitchell.

Melinda Doolittle, who became a household name on season six of American Idol, has continued to thrill. Her debut album, Coming Back to You, garnered rave reviews from critics, including The New York Times which hailed Melinda as one of the most “phenomenally gifted” in years. Tone deaf as a child, Melinda’s choir teacher would plead with her not to sing, but after much practice and prayer she developed the spot-on vocals we know today. Melinda went on to graduate with a music degree from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.  She eventually carved out a niche in the Nashville music scene, singing background for musical legends such as Michael McDonald, Aretha Franklin, and Aaron Neville.

Since her time on Idol, Melinda has wowed audiences everywhere with her “big voice,” from the White House to the Kennedy Center to Carnegie Hall.  She has gone on to share the stage with some of the very artists for whom she sang background as well as music luminaries such as Peter Cetera, Cyndi Lauper, and the renowned Boston Pops Orchestra. Melinda dedicates much of her time to working with numerous charities, especially those that center on improving the lives of children; including the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House and The League.  Currently, Melinda is writing and recording songs for the release of her next album and recently released a 2011 Christmas single, “God Bless Us Everyone”.

Carol Woods is a multi-talented performer gracing not only the stage but the screen as well. Carol’s Broadway credits include Chicago, One Mo' Time, the 2001 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, Smokey Joe’s Café, the Tommy Tune directed Stepping Out and Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl. Off Broadway, she starred in One Mo’ Time, Taking My Turn and First Lady Suite at the Public Theatre. Carol was also a 2008 Grammy Award Performer for the nominated soundtrack Across The Universe. Internationally known, Carol has had command performances for England’s Princess Margaret and Prince Andrew, starred in the London production of One Mo’ Time and performed the title role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Royal National Theatre. She was nominated for an Olivier Award for her outstanding performance in the London production of Blues In The Night.

Carol’s movie and television career includes Across The Universe directed by Julie Taymor, Paramount Pictures The Honeymooners, Steam opposite Ruby Dee, Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown, and Stepping Out (opposite Liza Minnelli). Television credits include guest appearances on The Practice, Third Watch, Law & Order and as a series regular on The Parent Hood. Carol’s nightclub and cabaret performances span the globe from London to Tokyo and Las Vegas to Honolulu. In New York, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, The Village Gate, B. Smith’s, Rainbow and Stars, Michael’s Pub and Town Hall.

Karen Mason “has few peers when it comes to ripping the roof off with her amazing voice that knows no bounds!” (TheaterScene.net). Karen is a ten-time MAC Award winner receiving their award for Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years.  Most recently Karen starred as The Queen of Hearts in Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland: Alice’s New Adventure at the Marriott Marquis Theatre and Velma Von Tussle in the Tony Award-winning Broadway smash hit Hairspray. Mason originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia!, for which she was awarded a 2002 Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress. Mason’s other New York theatre credits include Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, And The World Goes Round, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Play Me A Country Song and Torch Song Trilogy.

The internationally acclaimed vocalist has performed concerts throughout the world in such countries as Great Britain, Scotland, Sweden, Japan, Spain and Brazil. In New York, she has headlined Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Feinstein’s at The Regency, The Algonquin and The Metropolitan Room. Karen has shared concert stages with such musical luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Herman, and John Kander & Fred Ebb. Her highly acclaimed recordings include her 2009 MAC AWARD-winning Right Here/ Right Now, When The Sun Comes Out and The Sweetest of Nights. Karen has appeared on the hit television dramas ED and Law & Order: SVU and her film credits include Sleeping Dogs Lie and A Chorus Line.

Gavin Creel is a two time Tony nominee for Hair and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Creel also appeared in The 2004 Broadway Revival of La Cage Aux Folles, The Goodman Theatre/Kennedy Center production of Bounce, as well as Hair and Mary Poppins on the West End. Most recently he was seen in the title role of the American Repertory Theater production of Prometheus, and has also starred alongside Julie Andrews in the television movies, Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime.

Creel has built up a loyal fan base playing his original music across the country and at such New York hot spots as Irving Plaza, Joe’s Pub, Symphony Space and Arlene’s Grocery. His debut pop album Goodtimenation, and intimate follow-up EP, Quiet, were both written and recorded with long time collaborator, Robbie Roth. Gavin is currently collaborating with Roth and playwright Jonathan Bernstein on his first original musical, and in the spring of 2012, he will release his third studio album, which he wrote and recorded with UK songwriter and producer, Ben Cullum. 

In addition to his writing and performing, Creel is also a respected advocate for the LGBT community. He has been honored as one of OUT Magazine’s OUT 100 for his work as co-founder of Broadway Impact, an organization mobilizing the theatre community in the fight for marriage equality. Through his advocacy, Creel has gained national attention performing and speaking at events and rallies including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) national dinner alongside Lady Gaga and keynote speaker President Obama; The Cyndi Lauper True Colors Cabaret series featuring Jason Mraz, Rufus Wainwright and Sara Bareilles; and on the Capitol lawn at the 2009 National Equality March with such speakers as MILK screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, actress Cynthia Nixon, and organizer of the National Equality March and AIDS Memorial Quilt conceiver, Cleve Jones.