Bravo for Backstage!

Mary Rand Hess is the coauthor of the Mini-Musical Tales from Bird Mountain School picture book series. She is a poet, playwright, screenwriter, composer, mixed-media artist, and a New York Times bestselling author of a dozen books, including Quiet Is Strength and Belong. Mary loves collaborative arts and working with other creators. She executive-produced the children’s digital series Songbook for the Kennedy Center, and she is co-playwright for the smash-hit musical Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie: Starring Indigo Blume, which had its world premiere at the Kennedy Center and toured the United States. Whether she’s creating for the page, stage, or screen, Mary has many stories to dream up and share. She lives in Southern California with her husband and sons. Visit Mary at maryrandhess.com to find out more about her books and the projects she’s creating. 

Randy Preston is the coauthor of the Mini-Musical Tales from Bird Mountain School picture book series. He is an African Piscataway composer, writer, photographer, educator, and performer. He was raised and educated in the United Kingdom and Kenya and taught English literature. Randy composed and performed for ABC Mouse, the Kennedy Center’s digital series Songbook, and Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie: Starring Indigo Blume which had a national tour in 2023. He is excited about his debut picture book, First Drum, arriving in 2025. Randy’s current projects include a musical adaptation of the documentary Love Them First and writing a giant YA novel. He co-authored the picture book How to Sing a Song with Kwame Alexander. For more information about Randy and his many projects, visit randypreston.com. 

Marilena Perilli grew up in New York City. Her first art influences were the colorfully painted subway cars clattering above her on elevated tracks. Her work brings the charm of 1960s and 70s process printing into the digital world, giving it a fresh, energetic spin. Marilena prefers to work digitally, leaning into the textured and painterly qualities of gouache while using limited color palettes. She has worked extensively in children's publishing, as well as in editorial, educational, licensing, advertising, and television. Marilena's love language is cooking, and she enjoys recreating dishes from her first-generation Italian-American upbringing. She lives in Westchester, New York, with her firefighter husband and two teenage boys.