Artist Bios The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

Artist Bios

The Lightning Thief

Nicole Campos (Swing) Main Street Theater: Debut; Sam Houston State University: She Loves Me, Carrie: The Musical, Austen’s Pride. Education: B.F.A. candidate, Sam Houston State University, Musical Theatre (Dance Emphasis).

Michael Chiavone (Percy Jackson) Main Street Theater: Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,  The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, Charlotte’s Web, Shrek The Musical, Goodnight Moon, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, James and the Giant Peach, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat; A.D. Players: Forever Plaid; Houston Grand Opera: Tristan and Isolde, The Italian Girl in Algiers; Standing Room Only Productions: The Who’s Tommy, Next to Normal; Night Cap Theater: The Cabin; Island ETC: Hair.

Chad Fontenot (Mr. Brunner/Chiron/Poseidon/Hades/Aunty Em/Kronos/Kurt Cobain/Greyhound Passenger 2/Train Conductor/Farmer/Choreographer/Fight Captain/Dance Captain) Main Street Theater: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, Stuart Little (Swing), The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Houston Grand Opera: Salome, Parsifal; Creative Movement Practices: Macbeth; The Octarine Accord: Blast Radius; The Garden Theatre: Reefer Madness, Into the Woods, While Childhood Slept; Art Park Players: Mamma Mia, Little Shop of Horrors, The Producers; Texas A&M Corpus Christi: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Tempest, Peter + Wendy. Education: A.A., San Jacinto College, Music; B.A., Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Major in Theatre (Acting/Directing emphasis), Minor in Dance.

Matt Hurt (Swing) Main Street Theater: Sleeping Beauty The Musical, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder, Miss Nelson Is Missing! The Musical, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Cinderella, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Pete the Cat; Lamar University: So You Can Look Ahead, Twelfth Night, Luna Gale, The Comedy of Errors, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Education: B.S., Lamar University, Theatre and Dance.

Jordan Okeke (Luke/Gabe Ugliano/Area/Minotaur/James Brown): Main Street Theater: Debut; The Lexington Theatre Company: Memphis; Stages: You Are Cordially Invited to Sit-In; The Alley Theatre: The Alley; Forestburgh Playhouse: Escape to Margaritaville, Willy Wonka TYA; Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Co.: Hunger in Paradise. Education: B.F.A., Sam Houston State University, Musical Theatre.

Mykal Sanders (Grover/Mr. D) Main Street Theater: Debut; Stages: Black Super Hero Magic Mama; Queensbury Theatre: Spring Awakening, A Charlie Brown Christmas; Forestburgh Playhouse: Jimmy Buffet’s Escape To Margaritaville, Willy Wonka TYA; Sam Houston State University: Carrie: The Musical, The Prom, She Loves Me, Sweeny Todd. Education: current Junior, Sam Houston State University.

Laura Smolik (Sally Jackson/Silena Beauregard/The Oracle/Echidna/Charon/Greyhound Passenger 1) Main Street Theater: Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Fancy Nancy The Musical, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Tour); Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston: Pirates of Penzance; Stageworks Theatre: Urinetown; Lyric Stage: Guys & Dolls; Dallas Opera Outreach: Doctor Miracle; Artisan Center Theatre: The Little Mermaid; Land of Enchantment Opera: Cosi fan tutte; Houston Grand Opera: The Magic Flute. Education: M.M. University of Southern California; B.M., Southern Methodist University.

Jordan Umphries (Clarisse/Mrs. Dodds/Katie Gardner/Bianca/Thalia/Newscaster/Janis Joplin) Main Street Theater: Fancy Nancy The Musical; Stages: Panto: Pinnochio, The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/ Latinx/Latine Vote; The Garden Theatre: Reefer Madness, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Books Alive!: Chicken Big; Octarine Accord: The Honeycomb Trilogy: Advance Man; Texas Renaissance Festival: Performance Company; Whirligig Stage (NC): Boeing Boeing; ULL Performing Arts: Les Misérables. Education: B.A., University of Louisiana – Lafayette, English/Folklore Studies.

Jacqueline Vasquez (Annabeth) Main Street Theater: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Swing), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Carmela Full of Wishes, James and the Giant Peach (swing), Miss Nelson Is Missing! The Musical; Haven Arts: She Kills Monsters. Education: Texas Christian University.

Vivienne M. St. John (Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (2023), A Little House Christmas, The Diary of Anne Frank, Jackie & Me, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Goodnight Moon, (Costume Design) Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business, Superfudge, Henry and Ramona, The Great Gilly Hopkins, If You Take a Mouse to School, Sideways Stories from Wayside School; Berkshire Theatre Festival: Assistant Production Manager, Visiting Mr. Green with Eli Wallach, Hay Fever with Joanne Woodward and Calista Flockhart, Jitta’s Atonement with Dianne Wiest, Free Fall with Sandy Duncan, Bill Graham Presents with Ron Silver; Company Manager: Four of a Kind, Good Company, Woman in Mind with Marlo Thomas and Elizabeth Franz, Over the River and Through the Woods; Production Manager: The Ray Davies Show. Worked at several Houston theaters including TheatreLab, Express Children’s Theater, and The Houston Grand Opera. Main Street Theater’s Theater for Youth Producing and Artistic Director since 2000.

Kerri Elrod (Music Director/Mozart) Main Street Theater: Debut; Generations: A Theatre Company: Ruthless; Island ETC: The Full Monty; College of the Mainland Theatre: Thoroughly Modern Millie, Peter and the Starcatcher; Memorial High School Theater: The Addams Family, Mamma Mia, Once upon a Mattress, Into the Woods; Seven Lakes High School Studio 7 Theater: Peter and the Starcatcher; St. Pius X High School Theater: Legally Blonde. Education: M.M. and B.M., Kent State University.

Sarah St. John (Assistant Director) Main Street Theater: (Assistant Director) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (2023), (Directing Intern) Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder, (Dramaturg) The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, (Run Crew) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cinderella, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown. Education: B.A. Candidate, St. Louis University.

Richard Bourk (DJ Cerebus/Drummer) Main Street Theater: Debut; Stages: Little Shop of Horrors, Always Patsy Cline; Unity Theatre: Godspell; Queensbury Theatre: Violet; College of the Mainland Theatre: Fiddler on the Roof; Town and Country Theater: Little Women, Seussical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Island ETC: The Full Monty, La Cage aux Folles, The Prom, Head over Heels; The Jet PAC: Tick, Tick… Boom! Film: Rocky IV. Education: McNeese State University.

Afsaneh Aayani (Scenic Designer) Main Street Theater: Charlotte’s Web, Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus, Dog Act, The Oldest Boy, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Regional Credits: Cincinnati  Playhouse: English; The Old Globe: English; Alliance Theatre: English; Alley Theatre: Alley All New Festival, A Christmas Carol; Chautauqua Theater: Birthday Candles; American Stage: Disgraced; Two River Theater: Romeo and Juliet; Theatre Under the Stars: The Ugly Christmas Sweater, Frozen; Trinity Rep: Alabaster; Other Credits: Meow Wolf Houston; Heartbeat Opera: Extinctionist; Catastrophic Theatre: Turn of the Screw, Innominate, Cleansed, Waiting for Godot, A Maroon’s Guide to Time and Space; Stages: Roe, Black Superhero Magic Mama, Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B; El Paso Opera: Frida, Sunday in the Park With George; Houston Grand Opera: Big Swim; Houston Shakespeare Festival: King Lear; Theatre of the Republic: Finding Nemo the Musical; PBS Arkansas: Blueberry’s Clubhouse; Moores School of Music: Little Shop of Horrors. Education:  B.F.A., Puppetry, Tehran University of Art; M.F.A., Scenic Design, University of Houston. www.afsanehaayani.com

L.A. Clevenson (Costume Design) Select Local Credits: Main Street Theater: WorkingPutting It Together; Stages: Sunrise Coven, Sensitive Guys, Girl’s Night: The MusicalGideon’s Knot; 4th Wall Theatre Company: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG (Upcoming), Stage Kiss, The God Game; Catastrophic Theatre: clean/through; Classical Theatre Company: A Doll’s House; Mildred’s Umbrella: Pollywog, Foxfinder; SRO Productions: American Idiot; Opera in the Heights: Tosca, I Pagliacci, Carmen; HITS Theatre: Shrek: The Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, Anything Goes, Changing Minds, among others; Select Regional Credits: KC Rep: Unreliable, Welcome to Fear City; The Unicorn Theatre: The Wolves; Parsons The New School: Zero Hour; Hit the Lights!: Taste the Clouds. L.A. has also worked on design teams at The Public Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Company, and technically with Nike, Disney, Manhattan School of Music, Houston Grand Opera Co. Education: M.F.A.,  University of Missouri – Kansas City, Costume Design and Technology. www.laclevensondesign.com

Bryan Ealey (Lighting Design) Main Street Theater: (Sound Design) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Holes, Ramona Quimby, A Little House Christmas, (Lighting Design) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Stages: (Sound Design) Auntie Mame, Wittenberg, Marie Antoinette, Panto Rapunzel (and Zombies), (Lighting Design) Sexy Laundry, Xanadu, The Spiritualist, (Asst. Audio Engineer) Life Can Be a Dream, Next To Normal, The Winter Wonderettes, Hank Williams: Lost Highway; Classical Theatre Company: Hamlet; Unity Theatre: You Never Can Tell, Boeing Boeing; 4th Wall Theatre Company: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; National Tour as Audio Assistant with International R&B Artist Teena Marie; House of Blues Houston: Audio Engineer and Lighting Designer; River Pointe Church: Lighting Director. Education: M.F.A., University of California San Diego, Lighting Design; B.A., Prairie View A&M University, Drama.

Torsten Louis (Set Design) Main Street Theater: The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (2023), Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, A Little House Christmas, Darwin in Malibu, The Diary of Anne Frank, Jackie & Me, The Book of Will, Pinkalicious the Musical, Sideways Stories from Wayside School and more. Education: M.F.A., University of Texas at Austin. Upcoming design at Main Street Theater: Seven Assassins Walk into a Bar (world premiere).

Shawn W. St. John (Sound Design) Shawn is an award-winning sound designer, composer, producer, audio engineer and voice artist. He has worked with Tony Award winning sound designer Tony Meola, as well as notable actors, playwrights and directors, including Eli Wallach, Sandy Duncan, Christopher Fitzgerald, Joanne Woodward, Calista Flockhart, Arthur Storch, Joe DiPietro, Beth Henley, John Rando, Jason Nodler and Mickle Maher. Sound designs include Main Street Theater: Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Men on Boats, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Wolf Hall; A.D. Players: Miss Maude, Dear Jack, Dear Louise; The Catastrophic Theatre: Baby Screams Miracle, Speeding Motorcycle, Booty Candy; Unity Theatre: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Becky’s New Car; Berkshire Theatre Festival: Quills, Wilder Wilder; Additionally, Mr. St. John designs/mixes musicals for several educational theaters, and is a voice over artist and voice actor. Education: B.A., Rollins College, Theatre. www.fiver.com/stjohnstudios

Rodney Walsworth (Props Design) Over 115 productions at Main Street Theater as actor, director, set designer, properties designer, sound designer including Enemies and Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies (First American Productions); Stages: Resident Properties Master, 2 ½ seasons; other Houston acting work includes The Ensemble Theatre, Theater LaB Houston, Talento Bilingüe de Houston, Stages; B&B Productions at Jump Start Theatre (San Antonio): The Laramie Project (Globe Award, Lead Actor – Drama). Resident Properties Master and Set Dresser, Main Street Theater.

Amanda Adwers (Production Stage Manager) Main Street Theater: (Stage Manager) Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Fancy Nancy: The Musical, Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Carmela Full of Wishes, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, The Hard Problem, Enemies, (Assistant Stage Manager) The Book of Will, Peace in Our Time, Girls Only, Civil War Christmas, Goosebumps, Jackie and Me, Pinkalicious, Sideways Stories, (Production Assistant) The Year of Magical Thinking; Jewish Community Center: (Stage Manager) Metamorphosis, Clue, Pride and Prejudice; Theater Under the Stars: (Assistant Stage Manager) Dreamgirls, Into the Woods, How To Succeed, In The Heights, Million Dollar Quartet, Oliver, Mary Poppins, A Christmas Story; Additional credits include Catastrophic Theatre, Unity Theatre, Horse Head Theatre, and Houston Shakespeare Festival. Education: B.F.A., University of Houston, Technical Theatre.

Rebecca Greene Udden (Executive Artistic Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) The Year of Magical Thinking, Mother of the Maid, Darwin in Malibu, Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue, The Hard Problem, The Book of Will, Hecuba and The Trojan Women, Troilus and Cressida, An Iliad and Twelfth Night with Prague Shakespeare Company (MST collaborations), Holes, Enemies, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (First American Productions), Silent Sky, Peace in Our Time, Heartbreak House, The Real Thing (1986 & 2013), The Coast of Utopia, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Heidi Chronicles (2010 & 1992), Arcadia (2010 & 1996), The House of the Spirits (English-language premiere), Caroline, or Change, An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf, The Rice (World Premiere), and many more; (Actor) Private Lives (2019), Memory House, Richard III (with Prague Shakespeare Company), The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Third, The Busy World Is Hushed, Somebody’s Sons, The Sisters Rosensweig, Hapgood, Hamlet, and more; (Costume Design) numerous productions; Prague Shakespeare Company: (Director) Twelfth Night. Catastrophic Theatre: Advisory Board. Wordsmyth Theater Company: Advisory Board. Member, American Leadership Forum Class XVI.