Artist Bios

The Best School Year Ever

Carly Arguelles (Beth Bradley) is so excited to be back for another production here at the Main Street Theater. You may have seen her recently as a Squirrel or as Piggie in The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza! or in Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”. Carly wants to thank everyone in her life that supports her. She can’t do anything without her family’s support. Above all she wants to thank our Heavenly Father for all the work He has done in her life and all the blessings He has poured out on her.

Efren Calderon (Charlie Bradley) Efren is very excited to be returning to Main Street Theatre. He recently made his MST debut in The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza! as Flappy Squirrel, with his most recent production credit being Nerd Face in Tapestry Players’ production of Emojiland! He would like to thank his wonderful partner, Margaret, and his supportive friends and loving family for always supporting his passions and pushing him to create all kinds of art. Keep up with Efren’s next productions on Instagram: @Efrenthecalderon

Michael Chiavone (Swing 1 / 1st Assistant Director) Main Street Theater: The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza!, Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Musical, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, 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, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, Charlotte’s Web, Shrek The Musical, How I Became a Pirate, Goodnight Moon, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and more.

Miles Estes (Leroy Herdman/Eugene Preston) Main Street Theater: The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza!, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”, Sleeping Beauty The Musical; A.D. Players Theater: (Metzler New Works Festival) How To Die: The Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Sam Houston State University Theater: The Prom, Uncle Vanya, 365 Days/365 Plays, Airness, Almost Maine, What the Constitution Means to Me. Education: Sam Houston State University. 

VonFrederick Gipson (Boomer Malone) is a Houston based actor and filmmaker and is thrilled to be a part of this show. He has performed in multiple Main Street Theater productions such as The Wind in the Willows, Speak of Me as I Am, Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook, as well as many other projects around Houston, including Johnnie B. Goode, Seven Guitars and more.

Mac Hardy (Glady Herdman/Miss Newman/Mrs. McClusky) Main Street Theater: The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza!, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”, Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type; Unity Theatre: Jack and the Bean Stalk, The Mousetrap; Sam Houston State University Theatre: Hands on a Hard Body, Richard III, Creature, Memphis; Ohio Outdoor Theatre: Grease, Winnie the Pooh. Education: B.F.A., Sam Houston State University, Musical Theatre.

Sethe Nguyen (Swing 3) is a Texas Tech University graduate with a BFA in Acting. They were previously seen at Main Street Theater in Elephant and Piggie’s We Are in A Play (Squirelle), Kim’s Convenience (Janet), and The Coast Starlight (Jane). Sethe also worked with Brave Little Company on various projects, most recently being their collaboration with Stages in Winter of the Snow Queen (Bao/Gerda), as well as Art Factory in The Rocky Horror Show (Columbia) and Lippa’s The Wild Party (Ensemble).

Madison Alicia Prentiss (Alice Wendleken/Mrs. Wendleken) is a recent graduate of the School of Theatre & Dance at the University of Houston and is thrilled to be making her debut with Main Street Theater! Other credits include: Houston Shakespeare Festival: As You Like It (Celia), Henry V (Katherine); Classical Theatre Company: Electra (Crysothemis); University of Houston: All My Sons (Ann), The Wolves (#2).

Fernanda Schoening (Louella McClusky) is a Houston-based musical theatre performer who loves bringing stories to life on stage. She previously played Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Main Street Theater and is so excited to be part of this production. She sends lots of love and thanks to her family, friends, and everyone supporting live theatre.

Laura Smolik (Mrs. Bradley/Miss Kemp/Nurse Greenblatt) Main Street Theater: The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Fancy Nancy The Musical, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Tour); Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston: Iolanthe, 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 (Swing 2) is excited and grateful to be a part of her fourth Main Street Theater Theater for Youth production. She has previously appeared in The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza! (Zappy Squirrel), The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Clarice/Var.), and Fancy Nancy: The Musical (Rhonda). Other credits include Stages: Panto Pinocchio (Miss Treats), The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latine/Latinx Vote Play (Rebecca); Garden Theater: Reefer Madness: The Musical (Sally). Jordan resides in Houston with her husband and their cat.

Johanna Grace Wylie (Imogene Herdman) is an actress and teaching artist with a BFA from Sam Houston State University. Most recently you may have seen her in The Wind in the Willows as Mole at Main Street, The Winter of the Snow Queen as Henriett” at Stages, or at The Ensemble as the Stage Manager for Akeelah and The Bee. Johanna is ecstatic to be back, making magic at Main Street!

Paul Gilvary (Composer) has composed original music for numerous shows at Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, including Crossing California, Cat’s Cradle, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Puss in Boots, Bongo Larry and Two Bad Bears, and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!. By day, Paul is an elementary school music teacher. By night, he plays fiddle and keyboards for the country band Buck Cheaper and the Bargain Hunters.

Robert Kauzlaric (Book and Lyrics) is a Chicago-based playwright, actor, and director. He has written more than a dozen theatrical adaptations, which have been performed in nearly forty U.S. states, as well as in England, Ireland, and Canada. His adaptations include The Island of Dr. Moreau (Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards: Best Production-Play and New Adaptation), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination: New Adaptation), Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (Non-Equity Jeff Award: New Adaptation), The Three Musketeers (commissioned for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival), Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone and The Woman in White, and a musical version of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. For children, Mr. Kauzlaric has written musical adaptations of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (called “one of the best children’s shows of the year” by The New York Times), Peter Brown’s Flight of the Dodo, Mo Willems’ Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, and Richard and Florence Atwater’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins, as well as a fanciful twist on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, called Lions in Illyria.

William Rush (Composer) A bandmate to co-composer Paul Gilvary and a student of the mystic arts, William Rush channels musical guides through the ether. A self-described “rhythmic sculptor,” his musical training started with the gift of an AM clock radio and ended with violin lessons at age 8.

Robin Robinson (Director) Main Street Theater: The Coast Starlight, The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza (World Premiere), The Wind in the Willows, Sherlock Holmes Mystery of the Crown Jewel, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Georgiana and Kitty, The Wickhams, and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Charlotte’s Web, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Last Wife. Stages: Merrily We Roll Along; The World Of Beauty (World Premiere); Theatre Lab Houston: Avenue X; Search And Destroy.

Sarah St. John (2nd Assistant Director) Main Street Theater: (Assistant Director) The Pigeon Gets a Bigtime Holiday Extravaganza!, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, (Directing Intern) Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder, (Dramaturg) The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, (Run Crew) : The Pigeon Gets a Bigtime Holiday Extravaganza! (World Premiere), Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cinderella, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.

Lauren Davis (Properties Design/Scenic Charge) Main Street Theater: (Props Design) The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!, The Pigeon Gets a Bigtime Holiday Extravaganza!, Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Musical, The Wind in the Willows, Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School, The Diary of Anne Frank, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Jackie & Me, and many more; Catastrophic Theater: (Properties Design and Charge Scenic Artist) Spirits to Enforce, Tamarie’s TX Toast, Rhinoceros, Cleansed, Curse of the Starving Class, Snow White, and more; Stages: (Charge Scenic Artist) Alma en Venta, Panto Wonderful Wizard, Panto Unfrozen, Mack and Mabel, Xanadu, Panto Goldilocks, Road Show, Panto Mother Goose, Panto Red Riding Hood. Ms. Davis also works locally as a decorative painter and mural artist.

Macy Lyne (Costume Design) Main Street Theater: Purlie Victorious, Seven Assassins Walk into a Bar, Taking Steps, Stuart Little, Permanent Collection, The Real Inspector Hound, Mother of the Maid, The Secretary, Daddy Long Legs, Men On Boats, The Revolutionists, Into the Woods; Stages: The Lehman Trilogy, Honky Tonk Laundry, Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson- Apt. 2B; Other Houston credits include Beautiful Princess Disorder, End Game, Waiting for Godot, Happy Days, Rhinoceros, Spirits to Enforce, It Is Magic, Ubu Roi, Dr. Faustus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Ryan McGettigan (Set Design) is a scenic designer for theatre, opera, and dance. He is a Core Artist with Catastrophic Theatre, the resident designer at Cape Rep Theatre, and has been a company artist with Prague Shakespeare Company and Classical Theatre Company. Houston: TUTS, Stages, Catastrophic, Main Street Theater, A.D. Players, 4th Wall. Awards for Best Scenic Design from Houston Press in 2015, 2019, 2020, 2025. Regional: Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Cape Rep, Abilene Shakespeare Festival. Opera/Dance: Glimmerglass Festival, Florentine Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera San Antonio, Opera San Jose, Asia Society with Houston Ballet, Open Dance Project.  www.RyanMcGettigan.com

Shawn W. St. John (Sound Design) An award-winning sound designer, composer, producer, audio engineer and voice artist, Shawn has worked with Tony Award winning sound designer Tony Meola, as well as notable actors, playwrights and directors, including Eli Wallach, Sandy Duncan, Joanne Woodward, Calista Flockhart, Joe DiPietro, Beth Henley, John Rando, Jason Nodler and Mickle Maher. Sound designs include Main Street Theater, A.D. Players, The Catastrophic Theatre, Unity Theatre, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Education: B.A., Rollins College, Theatre. www.fiver.com/stjohnstudios

Matt Webb (Lighting Design) Main Street Theater: Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Musical; Houston Symphony: Duke Bluebeard’s Castle; Arden Theatre: How I Learned What I Learned; Syracuse Stage: Once, The Play That Goes Wrong; Seattle Children’s Theatre: The Journal of Ben Uchida, And In This Corner: Cassius Clay; Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey: The Rose Tattoo; Zach Theater: Murder on the Orient Express and more; and many others. Asst Professor of Lighting Design, Texas State University. Education: M.F.A, University of Washington. www.mwebbdesign.com

Danielle Docwra (Production Stage Manager) Main Street Theater: The Pigeon Gets a Bigtime Holiday Extravaganza!, The Diary of Anne Frank, A Year with Frog & Toad, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2019), Jackie & Me, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Curious George: The Golden Meatball, Pinkalicious the Musical, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Holes, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (2017), Bunnicula, Ramona Quimby, Mockingbird, Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas, Duck for President (2016 & 2012), Shrek, the Musical, Harriet the Spy, Junie B. Jones: The Musical, Bridge to Terabithia, Lyle the Crocodile, Goodnight Moon (2015), Fancy Nancy: The Musical, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, Stargirl, Madeline’s Christmas (2014), Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Pippi Longstocking, James and the Giant Peach, A Year with Frog and Toad, The Giver, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2013), Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, (Assistant Stage Manager) Jackie and Me, Duck for President; Texas Repertory Theatre: (Stage Manager & Properties Designer) Nunsense, Tribute, Company, Lion in Winter, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play (2011 & 2012), When You Coming Back Red Ryder?, Leading Ladies, Beehive, ART, Crimes of the Heart, Shadowlands, Wait Until Dark, Sylvia; Nova Arts Project: (Stage Manager) Gate of Heaven, (Production Manager) The Bacchae; Town Centre Theatre: (Assistant Stage Manager) Julius Caesar. Education: San Jacinto College. MST Theater for Youth Production Manager.

Vivienne M. St. John (Theater for Youth Artistic Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, 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 Artistic Director since 2000.

Rebecca Greene Udden (Executive Artistic Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) Leopoldstadt, 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.

Front of House Staff

Kacie Adams, Emily Buesing, Jake Cummings, Lindsay Ehrhardt, Faheemah Karim, Domenico Leone, Sethe Nguyen, Mark B. Robbins, Laura St. John, Sarah St John, Lindsay Steel