About MTH On Stage

MARY POPE OSBORNE is an ardent advocate and supporter of children's literacy and the award-winning author of more than 100 books for children and young adults including novels, retellings of mythology and folklore, picture books, biographies, mysteries, and the bestselling children’s book series, Magic Tree House. An international phenomenon, the series has sold over 143 million books and been translated into 35 languages.

From 1993-1997, Mary served as President of the Authors Guild, the country’s leading organization for published authors. She has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad, visiting schools and speaking on issues related to children’s literacy. Mary spoke at the UN regarding the importance of worldwide literacy and was profiled on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams for her continued efforts.

Mary’s personal contributions through her Classroom Adventures/Gift of Books literacy program have put over 1.1 million books in the hands of children in need. She resides in Massachusetts with her husband Will and their two rescue dogs.

Follow Mary on Twitter, @MaryPopeOsborne and on Instagram, Mary_Pope_Osborne.

An internationally published and produced playwright and book author and a respected director, teacher and actor, Will Osborne has enjoyed a career in professional theatre that spans five decades. His play Smoke & Mirrors, a comic murder mystery (co-authored with Anthony Herrera) has been produced in theaters throughout the United States, as well as in South Africa and Korea. In 2007, collaborating with Randy Courts, he provided book and lyrics for Magic Tree House: The Musical, a full-scale, Broadway-style family musical which traveled to 54 cities around the country.

Will's writing for musical theatre also includes The Wonderful O, an adaptation of the James Thurber novella (also with Randy Courts), produced Off-Broadway at the West Bank Café in New York and the Leonard Bernstein Institute in Nashville, plus 8 more adaptations of Magic Tree House adventures that have been performed nationwide.

Will has authored more than a dozen books for children and young adults, many co-written with his wife, Mary Pope Osborne, including the Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series, two retellings of Greek mythology, A Time to Dance for the My America series, and a picture book, Sleeping Bobby, with award-winning illustrator Giselle Potter. He has also created several highly acclaimed multi-media shows for the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, N.C., two of which featured William Shatner and the late Walter Cronkite. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Will is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild, SAG, AFTRA, Actors Equity – and currently vocalist and lead guitarist for the popular New England rock band Lucky Bucket.

JENNY LAIRD was a long-time Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists where her play Ballad Hunter was first produced and received a Joseph Jefferson Nomination for Outstanding New Work as well as the Cunningham Prize for Playwriting. Her play Sky Girls premiered at Northlight Theatre and subsequently had its West Coast premiere at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Sky Girls was the recipient of the Selma Melvoin New Play Award, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her play Only The Sound also premiered at Chicago Dramatists and won the 2003 Joseph Jefferson Award for Outstanding New Work and garnered an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, as well as Mill Mountain Theatre’s New Play Award.

Jenny is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many other wonderful theatres dedicated to developing and producing new plays; some of her favorites include: WP Theatre, The Road Theatre, The Asylum, API, Stage 3, Rivendell Theatre, Horizon Theatre Company, The New Harmony Project and The Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Since 2006, Jenny has had the privilege and joy of collaborating with Will Osborne and Randy Courts on a collection of theatre adaptations of Mary Pope Osborne’s bestselling book series: The Magic Tree House. Most recently, she has been busy adapting a selection of Magic Tree House books into graphic novels, all published by Random House Children’s Books.

RANDY COURTS is a composer, lyricist, pianist and music producer. He began writing musicals at the age of 23, received his first commission from the legendary producer Joseph Papp to write the musical Cowboy for the Public Theater and, to date, has written music and lyrics for over thirty pieces of theater which have been produced all over the world. These include, in collaboration with playwright/lyricist Mark St. Germain, The Gifts Of The Magi, Johnny Pye And The Foolkiller, and Joseph And Mary, all for the Lambs Theater Company; and Jack’s Holiday, for Playwrights Horizons.

Since 2006 Randy has been collaborating with writers Mary Pope Osborne, Will Osborne and Jenny Laird in adapting selections from Ms. Osborne’s bestselling Magic Tree House series for the musical stage. The team has created nearly a dozen musical shows, which have been performed and toured throughout the US and internationally. 

Randy is a recipient of the AT&T New Plays award, the ASCAP Popular Panel award and an Outer Critics Circle award nomination for best musical. His work has been published by Music Theatre International, Samuel French/Concord, Dramatists Play Service, Fireside Theater, Dramatic Publishing Company, and Augsburg/Fortress Press.