Who are Samsel / Anderson?
Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson are a Los Angeles-based writing team who met in 2010 in 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 both classically trained musicians who share a passion for female-forward stories, comedy, and storytelling through song. They have composed four full-length musicals which have had productions in New York, the UK, and throughout the US.
Elyssa Samsel is a classically trained violinist and pianist. In addition to composing for musical theater, she is a pop singer/songwriter and has performed her original material in New York and LA. She trained at AMDA as an actress in musical theater. She has composed score elements for both Central Park and the 2019 film JoJo Rabbit. She recently composed the score for the 2024 Lionsgate feature film Miller’s Girl, starring Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega. The film premiered at the Palm Springs Film Festival.
Kate Anderson is a songwriter, improv comedian, sketch comedy writer, singer, and voice over actress. She has studied at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in New York and recently completed a semester in the Harvardwood Writers Group in Los Angeles. Originally from Charlotte, NC, Kate graduated cum laude with a degree in Music and Creative Writing from Gettysburg College, where she studied classical voice on scholarship at the Sunderman Conservatory. She recently won the Young Alumni Achievement Award.
