Jim Steinman at the
Mohegan Sun casino after an
Over the Top show.
Jim Steinman was one of the two creators of The Dream Engine. His past work includes composing for the musical
Tanz der Vampire, writing lyrics for the musical
Whistle Down the Wind, writing all of the music and lyrics on the
Meat Loaf albums
Bat Out of Hell and
Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and writing and/or producing material sung by such performers as
Celine Dion,
Bonnie Tyler,
Air Supply,
Tina Arena,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Billy Squier and others. TDE was expected to record only songs that Steinman wrote, or in a small number of cases co-wrote. Steinman was also involved as co-producer of their unreleased recordings.
Steven Rinkoff Steven Rinkoff was co-creator of TDE and co-producer of their unreleased recordings. He has worked with Jim Steinman since 1986, on many projects, as an engineer, co-producer and mixer, as well as on many recordings that did not involve Jim Steinman (for artists including
Eric Clapton,
Paul McCartney,
The Bangles and
Billy Idol). Rinkoff is Steinman's partner in
Ravenous Records, their record label. In his December 28, 2006, blog entry,
Jim Steinman mentioned Rinkoff's primary leadership role with the group. Steinman wrote, "THE DREAM ENGINE, guided by Rinkoff, continues. I know it's better if he communiates
(sic) directly with you on that. But Im
(sic) sure it will be stunning."
Rob Evan Rob Evan is a vocalist and actor.
Rob Evan and/or
Adrienne Warren sang lead vocals on almost every song that TDE performs. Evan has been in many
musical theater productions, including
Les Misérables,
Little Shop of Horrors,
Dance of the Vampires (as a backup for
Michael Crawford),
Hello, Dolly!,
Jesus Christ Superstar,
Chess and many others. Most notably, he played the title roles in the original Broadway production of
Jekyll & Hyde, continuing for over 600 performances. Evan has also been a featured vocalist for the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Adrienne Warren Adrienne Warren was a vocalist for TDE. She and/or Rob Evan sang lead vocals on almost every song that TDE performed. Adrienne has also performed for
Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Elaine Caswell Elaine Caswell was a vocalist for TDE, doing primarily
backup vocals. She has a long history working with Jim Steinman. She was a vocalist on the 1989 album called
Original Sin by
Pandora's Box. This album was produced by Steinman, with Steven Rinkoff, and contained mostly songs that Steinman wrote. On this album, Caswell performed the very first recording of the song "
It's All Coming Back to Me Now", which would later become a hit in 1996 with
Celine Dion as the vocalist. Caswell has performed this song with TDE at their live shows. She has sung on television and
radio advertisements, as a backup vocalist for television performances, and as a backup vocalist on many music albums.
Neal Coomer Neal Coomer was a vocalist for TDE, doing primarily backup vocals. He was a member of the
Christian music duo
East to West. He also appeared in two musicals called
David and
The Rock and the Rabbi, both based on the
Bible.
Steve Margoshes Steve Margoshes played piano at TDE's live performances. He has been verbally credited with the vocal arrangements for these performances. He was credited with piano and vocal arrangements on a demo recording of the song "We're Still the Children We Once Were". This is the recording that appeared on TDE's myspace page beginning in August 2006. Margoshes has collaborated with Jim Steinman since the 1970s, providing orchestrations for many of Steinman's albums and projects, including "Pray Lewd" on the
Pandora's Box album
Original Sin. He has orchestrated many
Broadway musicals, and written original music, including the score for the musical
Fame!.
Alex Skolnick Alex Skolnick was a guitar player for TDE. He performs with the
Alex Skolnick Trio. He has performed with the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra,
Savatage and
Testament, and in touring productions of
Jekyll & Hyde.
Matt Zebroski Matt Zebroski played drums for TDE. He also performs with the
Alex Skolnick Trio.
Mat Fieldes Mat Fieldes played bass for TDE. He has a master's degree in music performance from
The Juilliard School. He has performed on a wide variety of live performances and recordings, including the
Joe Jackson album
Symphony, which won the
Grammy Award for "Best Pop Instrumental".
Adam Ben-David Adam Ben-David played keyboards for TDE, in addition to the performance by Steven Margoshes. He is a keyboardist, conductor and music director who works in the
New York City area. He has been active on Broadway since the mid-1990s, and was music director for the rock musical
High Fidelity. He was the conductor for the rock musical
Spring Awakening in the summer of 2007, and prior to that guest conducted the Four Seasons musical
Jersey Boys.
Bonnie Tyler Though not featured at every TDE performance,
Bonnie Tyler was a special guest at some of the TDE shows at
Joe's Pub in
New York City in 2006. She performed "
Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "
Loving You's a Dirty Job but Somebody's Gotta Do It", which was a duet with Rob Evan. Both of those are songs she recorded in the 1980s with Jim Steinman as writer and producer (the second of those songs was recorded with Steven Rinkoff as engineer).
Nicki Richards Nicki Richards was a featured singer with this group for some shows, but had left before the March 2006 shows. She has released solo albums, and has been a backup vocalist for many well-known performers. ==Performances==