Scott Elmegreen is a playwright, composer, and author based in NYC and Chicago, where he teaches musical theatre writing at the University of Chicago. His musical Ghost of John McCain will premiere at the SoHo Playhouse Off-Broadway from Labor Day through Election Night 2024. His play Straight (New York Times Critics’ Pick Off-Broadway; pub. Dramatic Publishing) has been produced in five languages in theaters across the country and around the world, and was adapted into a major motion picture that premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival in 2023. His musical Tiananmen premiered at the Phoenix Theatre company, where it was awarded the Biller Foundation Social Impact Grant. He wrote the music for Colin Quinn Long Story Short on Broadway (Helen Hayes Theater; HBO Special; national tour); Piled Higher and Deeper, The Movie; and many Off-Broadway shows; and he orchestrated the national tour of S’Wonderful: The New Gershwin Musical. His other plays and musicals include Hip Hop Cinderella (New Victory Theater Off-Broadway; Amas Musical Theatre; The Universal Hip Hop Museum); Thucydides (pub. Concord Theatricals); COLLEGE The Musical (pub. Dramatic Publishing); Vote For Me: A Musical Debate (Off-Broadway; London); The Magic School Bus, Live! The Climate Challenge (Bay Area Children’s Theatre; national tour); Ivy + Bean, The Musical (Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway; national tour; pub. Theatrical Rights Worldwide); Ladybug Girl And Bumblebee Boy, The Musical (Bay Area Children’s Theater; national tour); and Awesome Allie, First Kid Astronaut (Vital Theatre Company Off-Broadway; planetariums tour, pub. Theatrical Rights Worldwide). Under a pseudonym, he writes science fiction novels published by HarperCollins Publishers. He is a graduate of Princeton University.