Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner

We met as actors at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1978 and were married three years later on the stage of the Empty Space Theatre in Seattle. We've been writing together almost from the moment we met, starting with radio and television commercials and later plays, musicals and interactive games. We've also written books for kids and young adults. Our first series, Bad News Ballet, was published by Scholastic in 1989. Since then we've published more than 130 books. In 2016 our musical adaptation of the beloved story The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Broadway Licensing) premiered at Childrens Theatre of Charlotte and remains the best-selling show of all time at that 75-year-old institution. Since then BCPE has enjoyed hundreds of productions across the US. In May 2022 our musical Parcel from America opened at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin, Ireland to standing ovations and SRO audiences. In February 2023 Allie Kazan and the Magic Mansion had a wonderful premiere run at CTC, with another production already scheduled for the Orlando Family Stage in March 2024. When we're not writing, Jahnna directs plays and Malcolm narrates audiobooks.

We live and work in southern Oregon with our golden retriever Archie but enjoy going on adventures with our grown children Dash and Skye.