kate & elyssa

Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson are a Los Angeles based writing team, who met in 2010 at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater writing workshop in NY. Since then, they’ve gone on to work with Disney Animation, Tony Award winning producer Daryl Roth, and many major studios in Hollywood. They are part of the songwriting team behind all three seasons of Apple TV’s animated series Central Park. Their shared passion for female-forward storytelling has spurred four full length musicals for the stage, which have had productions in New York, the UK, and garnered them Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations for Best Score and Best Musical (Between the Lines). Their musical adaptation of The Book Thief (based on the novel of the same name) will have its West End debut in 2025. Kate and Elyssa’s work has been performed by Cynthia Erivo, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Andrew Rannells, Alan Tudyk, Stanley Tucci, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Titus Burgess, and Kathryn Hahn. They are currently developing a stage adaptation of Shannon Hale’s novel Austenland, and a Christmas arena show based on an internationally known children’s book in the UK.