The Odd Potato:
The Broadway Album on CD

Eileen and Gail are the sister team behind the creation of The Odd Potato story. They began their collaboration for Hallmark's Coterie Theatre in Kansas City. Based on Eileen's picture book, The Odd Potato is their most popular show, which has enjoyed more than thirty separate productions, including the All-Star 2003 production in NYC starring some of Broadway's most talented performers. Their television adaptation of The Odd Potato, produced by Super Station WGN, received the 1990 "Best Children's Special" Emmy Award for Chicago Programming. In 1998, Hallmark Cards created a special holiday card featuring The Odd Potato.

Separately, Eileen has written three novels for young adults. Monday in Odessa received the National Jewish Book Award, Independence Avenue received the International Reading Association's Teacher's Choice Award, and The Violin Players was a Thorpe Menn finalist. She co-wrote Nothing is Simple (a TV drama about race relations), which earned an Emmy Award for Chicago Programming and also served as a scriptwriter for Chicago television's The Magic Door.

In high school, Gail was the keyboard player for the Harvey Mason Trio. Little did she know that Harvey Mason (of "Fourplay") would become one of the most respected drummers in jazz circles. Dedicated to both music and education, Gail has changed the lives of thousands of inner-city students by using musical theater to build self-esteem. For over thirty years, she has inspired her students, serving as musical director, choral teacher, activities coordinator, Impact counselor, D.A.R.E. coordinator and Performing Arts instructor. As an educator and performer, Gail has had the opportunity to work with such celebrities as Jon Voight, David Crosby of (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), Shadoe Stevens, and Esai Morales (of NYPD Blue). In 1998, The Fulfillment Fund of Los Angeles honored Gail as one of L.A.'s most respected educators. In March 2001, Gail was also honored by the Los Angeles City Council for her contributions to the students of Los Angeles.

In Spring 2002, New York's Blue Heron Theatre produced the sisters' musical Rockwell about the legendary artist Norman Rockwell. The show was directed by Conrad John Schuck and choreographed by New York City Ballet's Robert La Fosse. It starred Tony Award nominees Mark Jacoby (Showboat), Joel Blum (Steel Pier, Showboat), and Jane Summerhays (Me and My Girl), as well as Stephanie Pope (Fosse, Chicago), Jim Corti (Ragtime), and Robert Fitch (Annie). The Village Voice named Rockwell one of its "Voice's Choices."

From 1994-1996, Producer Joshua Sherman worked side-by-side with legendary theatrical caricaturist, Al Hirschfeld. As assistant archivist to David Leopold, Joshua compiled a history of the American theater in the 20th century through the works of Al Hirschfeld.

Joshua continued to study design by working with “The Masters” and organizing their archives. He catalogued the archives of Peter Harvey (ballet designer for choreographer George Balanchine) and served as archivist and design apprentice to both Santo Loquasto (Production Designer for most of Woody Allen’s films), and Tony and Emmy Award winner, Willa Kim.

From 1998-2001, Joshua worked regularly with his childhood hero, Tony, Oscar, and Emmy Award-winning designer Tony Walton (Mary Poppins, All That Jazz, Guys and Dolls, Pippin, and Chicago). As part of Tony Walton’s design team, Joshua worked on the Tony Award winning, Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun (starring Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat); Elaine May’s Taller than a Dwarf (starring Matthew Broderick and Parker Posey); Harold Pinter’s Ashes to Ashes (starring David Straithairn); Tommy Tune’s Easter Parade (starring Sandy Duncan); Finian’s Rainbow; and Terrence Mcnally’s and Jon Robin Baitz’s House (starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Rue McClanahan, and Daniel Stern).

Other Design Credits include: Assistant Costume Designer on the Lincoln Center Concert Productions of Annie Get Your Gun (starring Patti Lupone and Peter Gallagher) and Sweeney Todd (starring Patti Lupone, George Hearn, and Audra Mcdonald); Scenic Designer for the New York premiere of Admissions (directed by Austin Pendleton) and Set and Costume Designer for the New York premiere of Ray Bradbury’s Flight!

Since 2000, he has focused his artistic talents on collaborations with his mom, playwright/producer Eileen Bluestone Sherman. Together, they’ve championed two major projects. Joshua produced an all-star reading of the new musical, Rockwell (a biography of the artist Norman Rockwell) at Manhattan Theater Club, starring Tony Award winners Lillias White and Ron Holgate, Tony nominees Joel Blum, Daniel Jenkins, and Barbara Walsh, and M*A*S*H’s Conrad John Schuck. That reading was quickly followed by a renowned Off-Broadway production starring Tony Award nominees Mark Jacoby, Joel Blum, & Jane Summerhays, and featuring Stephanie Pope as “Amy the Wild Woman.” Joshua served as artistic producer, graphic designer, casting director, and set & costume designer for that production. Rockwell continues on the road to its Broadway destiny. A demo CD is available to all interested investors and producers.

In 2000, Joshua illustrated a new edition of the picture book, The Odd Potato, as a coloring book. Since then, he and his mom have collaborated on the all-star reading of The Odd Potato starring Tony Award winners Lillias White and Debbie Gravitte; the all-star concert starring TV’s Charlotte Rae ("The Facts of Life") and the late Frank Gorshin ("Batman"), and now, the Broadway album of The Odd Potato.

Joshua is proud that he can help raise money for Variety – The Children’s Charity by sharing his grandfather’s true-life story.

Fundraising is no new feat to Joshua. As Campaign Chief of his Senior Class Gift at Marymount Manhattan College, Joshua helped raise $25,000 in donations from graduating seniors with the largest class participation in the history of Marymount Manhattan College. Joshua was named St. Vincent’s Hospital’s Volunteer of the Year, 2001, and was interviewed as part of an article on St. Vincent’s Volunteer program for Inspire Your World magazine, 2004.

Joshua is currently a fourth year medical student at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine. At Stony Brook, Joshua has produced several events for charity, raising funds for such organizations as Variety – The Children’s Charity; The Ronald McDonald House; Camp Quality; The Madagascar Ankizy Fund; and Puentes: Closing The Gap (which provides a safe haven for the street children of Lima, Peru).

David Gersten has worked on and Off-Broadway for almost 20 years, currently representing Tony N' Tina's Wedding (now in its 16th year!), Late Nite Catechism (sixth year Off-Broadway), Mint Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Jean Cocteau Repertory, Storm Theatre, The Lucille Lortel Foundation, The Drama League and The League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers' annual Lortel Awards (seventh year!), which he also writes and co-produces, as well as Tony Award winners Ann Hould-Ward and Christine Ebersole, Mary Cleere Haran, Maureen McGovern, Don Stephenson (The Producers), and Adam Rapp, among others.

David serves on the board of governors of ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers, and on the Advisory Board of the Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project.

He previously produced Tea at Five at the Promenade Theater and Eleanor & Hick at the John Houseman Theater as well as numerous galas and fund-raisers for such organizations as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, God's Love We Deliver, Bailey House, The Actors' Fund, and the Alzheimer's Foundation, among others, and is developing the play Almost A Man by Jerry Douglas. David thanks his mentors who helped him get here, especially Alex Cohen, Henry Luhrman and Carol Levine.