Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program alum Sebastian Fabal (Cycle 18)
Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program alum Sebastian Fabál (Cycle 18) was named the new Executive Director of the Underscore Theatre Company. Fabál, who most recently worked as the Sr. Director of Customer Experience at Reverb.com, succeeds Rachel Elise Johnson. Johnson will continue working with the company as Producer of the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival.
Sebastian Fabál (he/him/his) is an award-winning musical theatre writer, educator and dramaturg. A Cuban-American from Miami, Florida, he moved to Chicago after 7 years in New York City where he received his MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. While living in NYC, Sebastian's 9-5 career began with overseeing various music and grand publishing rights for some of the stage's most beloved artists through the Rodgers & Hammerstein and Boosey & Hawkes catalogs. As a composer, lyricist and bookwriter, Sebastian's work explores the complexities of the second-generation Latinx experience, specifically the weird identity spectrum of neither being American or Cuban enough to be immediately accepted in either community. Since moving to Chicago 6 years ago, he's worked as a musical dramaturg with The Second City, taught several musical writing classes through Chicago Dramatists, the Dramatists Guild Institute and Porchlight Music Theatre, and has co-founded the Chicago Musical Theatre Collective. Sebastian was most recently the Sr. Director of Customer Experience at Reverb.com, the marketplace for musicians, where he oversaw the global Sales and Customer Services teams through an acquisition by Etsy in the fall of 2019. Husband and father to two adorable spitfires bound to take over the world. www.jsebastianfabal.com