Murray Horwitz is a playwright, lyricist and broadcaster, who has been called “my first mentor” by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. His accomplishments include originating the NPR comedy quiz Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, writing song lyrics for John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby at The Metropolitan Opera, touring in his one-man show An Evening of Sholom Aleichem (directed by Richard Maltby, Jr.) and co-creating the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center. He is co-author of Freedom Rider, which premiered this year at Crossroads Theater. He appears occasionally as a commentator on NPR, and annually on its special Hanukkah Lights. His awards include a Tony for Ain’t Misbehavin’, three Peabody Awards, two National Medals of Arts (at NPR and Washington Performing Arts) and the Order of Arts and Letters from the government of France. A graduate of Kenyon College, he began his career as a Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus clown.