About Us
Beat by Beat Press is the world’s fastest growing publisher of original, high-quality children’s musicals.
But it started as something much smaller.
In 2005, Denver Casado & Betina Hershey met in the Tony award-winning BMI Musical Theatre Workshop (where shows such as A Chorus Line, Avenue Q and Next to Normal were developed.)
As they developed professional projects off-broadway and regionally, they also co-directed a musical theatre program for kids.
They soon began to realize there was a serious lack of original, high-quality musicals for elementary-age kids to perform. It seemed that every school and community group was performing the same dozen or so titles over, and over, and over again.
So they decided to do something about it. Using their training from the workshop, they began to write original musicals each year, specifically tailored to the kids in their program.
Since they were working with kids while writing the shows, they knew what was important to include in a children’s musical: lots of parts, easy staging, broadway-quality music, and tons of humor for kids and adults.
Over the years, these original shows became hits in the NYC community. Schools and theaters began approaching Denver and Betina asking how they could perform the shows themselves.
In partnership with some of Manhattan’s best theatre companies, Denver & Betina began to workshop, edit, and fine-tune each musical so they could be easily produced by schools and theaters around the world.
Today Beat by Beat consists of a family of award-winning writers and arts educators in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles, all passionate about creating a refreshing new catalogue of high quality musicals, plays, and songs for young actors.
We hope you’ll take a moment to look around, listen to some music, and feel inspired to share our musicals with your community.
The Beat by Beat team consists of former members of Disney Theatricals and the Tony-award winning BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, the training ground for Broadway’s most famous songwriters including Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid), Robert Lopez (Frozen, The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Stephen Flaherty (Anastasia, Ragtime).
DENVER CASADO
CEO of Beat by Beat, Arts Educator,
Composer & Lyricist, Author
DENVER CASADO is an award-winning musical theatre arts educator and composer/lyricist. His 19 musicals have been featured off-Broadway and in over 75 countries around the globe. The New York Times called his writing “…tender and moving”. His music has also been featured in film and national TV commercials.
For nearly a decade Denver worked as a teacher with New York City’s leading theatre organizations including Disney Theatricals. As an author, Denver’s books on teaching theatre to young people have become an industry standard and have sold over 100,000 copies. Denver is a regularly invited speaker at the national conferences of the American Association of Community Theatre and the American Alliance for Theatre Education.
In 2011 he was honored with the All Stars Award, in recognition of his important contribution to the growth and development of young people in the NYC community. Denver is an alumni of the Tony award-winning BMI Musical Theatre Workshop and holds a degree in Music Technology and Composition from New York University.
BETINA HERSHEY
Lyricist, Arts Educator
Betina Hershey is a New York educator, lyricist, actor, singer and songwriter. She has written over 16 musicals that have been featured off-Broadway and in venues around the world. As a performer, she has been featured in the national tours of Phantom of the Opera, the world tour of West Side Story, and the The Pirates of Penzance. She has also been a featured dancer in the films Disney’s Enchanted and Mona Lisa Smile.
Betina has a Dance Degree from LaGuardia H.S. of Performing Arts and a BFA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College. She is an alumni of the Tony awardwinning BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.
JESSICA PENZIAS
Playwright and Arts Educator
Jessica Penzias is an award-winning New York-based playwright. Jessica aided in the development and production of Broadway’s Hamilton and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Her musicals for all audiences have been performed off-Broadway and in venues through the US. Jessica is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the Tony Award-honored BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Librettists’ Workshop, and the 92Y Musical Theater Development Lab. She was awarded the Jerry Harrington Award For Outstanding Creative Achievement in 2016. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
CHRISTYN BUDYZNA
Lyricist and Arts Educator
Christyn Budzyna is a musical theatre lyricist based in New York City. Her works include: THE PRINCE’S NEW PET, BAKED GOODS, THE FOX SISTERS and more. Christyn was awarded the 2017 City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting for her work on BAKED GOODS. The piece will be published and licensed by Samuel French Inc. in the coming year. Christyn is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Tony Awardhonored BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.
JESSICA McCUISTON
Arts Educator & Choreographer
Jessica McCuiston has worked as a teacher and choreographer in the New York City area since 2007. She has taught in over twenty schools, ranging from prekindergarteners in the NYC public school system to college students at Pace University. She currently teaches musical theatre for Bronx Arts Ensemble and Mile Square Theatre, and is resident choreographer for Broadway Bound Kids.
GWYNNE WATKINS
Playwright and Lyricist
Gwynne Watkins is an award-winning New York playwright and a lyricist whose work has been produced offBroadway and around the world. She is an alumni of the Tony award-winning BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.
KERRY KAZ
Playwright and Lyricist
Kerry Kazmierowicztrimm is a Los Angeles-based playwright, lyricist, screenwriter, and actor. He’s had over 170 productions of his plays and musicals staged in four countries. His play WOUNDED just premiered OffBroadway at the Soho Playhouse. He’s won and placed for over two dozen playwriting awards, including being a Finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference and the David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artists Grant.
As a screenwriter, he won and placed for a dozen more awards, including winning “Best Short Screenplay” at the Nevada Film Festival, making it to the Finals for the Hollywood Screenplay Contest, and being a Semi-Finalist in three different categories (Drama Pilot, Sitcom Pilot, and Sitcom Spec) in the same year at the Austin Film Festival.
ANDREW FOX
Music Orchestrator and Arranger
Andrew Fox is an award-winning NYC Broadway orchestrator and arranger. His theatrical orchestrations include grammy-nominee Justin Roberts’ Hansel and Gretel, Starkid’s Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier, Foreverman (Winner 2012 NYMF Awards for Excellence, Outstanding Orchestration), Roads Courageous, Edges, various pieces for the annual Broadway In Chicago concert in Millenium Park, and the “Still” orchestration for From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert for Sandy Hook. He was the musical coordinator for the North American premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s My Fairytale and has contributed orchestrations for countless cabaret and concert acts in the NYC area. Andrew is active in the studio recording scene, serving as House Arranger and Artistic Director for Stacks of Wax Production and producing & arranging for artists across the globe in many genres.
ANDY RONINSON
Music Orchestrator and Arranger
Andy Roninson is a New York City Broadway pianist, composer and arranger. He is a recipient of the 2019 Jonathan Larson Award. He has music directed and conducted Off-Broadway as well as numerous workshops and readings in New York City. He orchestrated, conducted, and played keyboards, guitar, and melodica for the NYC premiere of Wonderland: Alice’s Rock and Roll Adventure. He was the Associate Music Director for A Second Chance by Ted Shen OffBroadway at The Public Theater and was a copyist for St. Joan by David Byrne and directed by Alex Timbers. He was a rehearsal pianist for String by Adam Gwon and Sarah Hammond and Bella by Kirsten Childs, both at Playwrights Horizons. He studied classical piano for years before studying jazz performance at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College. Andy is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop where he was awarded the Robert B. Sherman Scholarship in 2010 and the Jerry Harrington Award for Creative Excellence in 2011.