Artist Bios

The Wind in the Willows

Cardero Berryman (Toad) Main Street Theater: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Ensemble Theatre: Beatbox: A Raparetta, Three Pigs Remix, Lil Man Saves Christmas; The Pearl Theater: Skeleton Crew; Theatre Southwest: FOO: Two Couples; Theatre Suburbia: 10×10 Play Festival; Baytown Little Theatre: District Merchants. Education: Wiley University.

Emily Buesing (Swing) Main Street Theater: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Stages: Panto Pinocchio; Stoic Theatre: A Doll’s House; Virtual Theatre Lab: No Exit; Pronoia Theater: Start Your Endings; Garden Theatre: Steel Magnolias, While Childhood Slept, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Creative Movement Practices: The Secret in the Wings; Curiosity Lab and Theatre: Now That You’ve Seen Me Naked; Lamar University Theatre: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Importance of Being Earnest, Bakkhai, The Birds, Luna Gale. Film/TV: Until Next Time, Mary’s Got a Problem. Education: B.S., Lamar University, Theater and Dance (Acting Emphasis).

Tristan Flores (Swing) Main Street Theater: Debut; A.D. Players Theater: Gift of the Magi, A Midnight Society; Sam Houston State University Theater: Marisol, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Sweeney Todd, Airness, Uncle Vanya, Silent Sky. Education: Sam Houston State University, Musical Theater.

VonFrederick Gipson (Mr. Rat/Bill) Main Street Theater: Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook (Education Production) Speak of Me as I Am: a Celebration of African American Contributions to Shakespeare; A.D. Players: Little Women; Esurient Arts & Mildred’s Umbrella: 6888; Fade to Black: Sellout, Darth & Luke; The Pearl Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Seven Guitars, Failure: A Love Story; Company OnStage: Henry V, The Magic Ring Dang Do; AWJ Productions: God’s Man and the First Lady, Trick of the Enemy, Christmas with the In-laws, Christmas with the In-laws Part 2; The Murder Mystery Co. Film: VonTheThespian Productions.

Jonah Mendoza (Portly/Tom Weasel/Chauffer) Main Street Theater: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast; Theaterworks USA: The Magic School Bus (National Tour); Prather Productions: The Addams Family; Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre: Fiddler on the Roof, The Secret Garden; Broadway Palm: Tilly the Trickster; Priscilla Beach Theater: Grease. Film/TV: Amazon Freevee/Prime: “Primo.”

Helen Rios (Mrs. Otter/Jen Weasel/Chauffer) Main Street Theater: Stuart Little; Alley Theatre: Wolfie; Stages: POTUS, Body of Christie; The Ensemble Theatre: Pick Me Last, L’il Man Saves Christmas; Octarine Accord: The Honeycomb Trilogy – Sovereign; Shakespeare in the Shade: Twelfth Night, All’s Well that Ends Well, Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It; Cone Man Running: Clue; Dirt Dogs Theatre Company: Corner Store; Houston Grand Opera: A Christmas Carol; Mildred’s Umbrella: Nuncupo; Warner Brothers Entertainment: Harry Potter: A Yule Ball Celebration; Bluff City Theatre (MO): Lower Case. Film/TV: Jem and the Holograms. Education: University of St. Thomas, Drama.

Chris Szeto-Joe (Jack Weasel/Policeman) Main Street Theater: (Actor) Taking Steps, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Muscial!, Last Stop on Market Street, The Real Inspector Hound, (Production Crew) Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Mother of the Maid, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley; Stages: Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson: Apt. 2B; Crystal Rae Productions: Lions; Shakespeare in the Shade: Twelfth Night: Tapestry Players: The Summer’s Tale (U.S. Premiere), Leading Ladies, Honk!, A Christmas Memory; Express Children’s Theatre: Chinese Folktales: Wit and Wisdom of the Ancients; Legends of Chinese New Year; The Octarine Accord: Blast Radius; Cone Man Running: The Melancholy Play, The 5 Minute Mile: Southwestern University: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Silent Sky, Noises Off, Heathers: The Musical. Film/TV: Saving Savant. Education: B.A., Southwestern University, Theatre, cum laude.

David Wheelis (Badger/Jailer/Alf) Main Street Theater: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel; Wilson Theatre: Life Sucks, A Monster Calls, Romeo and Juliet; Warren Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Mainland Theatre: Glass Menagerie, Voice of the Prairie, Peter and the Starcatcher, Noises Off. Education: B.A., Acting & Directing.

Johanna Grace Wylie (Mole) Main Street Theater: Debut; Art Factory: Cinderella; Fade to Black Festival 24’: You Put Me in the Mind of; Sam Houston State University Theater: Detroit 67’, American Son, She Kills Monsters. Education: B.F.A., Sam Houston State University, Acting & Directing; Directing.

Robin Robinson (Director) Main Street Theater: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, Miss Nelson Is Missing; Charlotte’s Web, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Curious George: The Golden Meatball, Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Stages: Merrily We Roll Along; The World Of Beauty (World Premiere); Theatre Lab Houston: Avenue X; Search And Destroy; Hyde Park Theatre In Austin: Colonel Mustard (World Premiere); Capitol City Playhouse: Stud Silo (World Premiere); South Pacific; Grayson College: Over 80 Productions including Working, Treasure Island, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Othello, Godspell, Pippin, Grapes Of Wrath, Charlotte’s Web. Film: The Prodigy (Actor); Who’s Who for Outstanding Educators; 2014 Texas Educational Theatre Association Educator of the Year for Community Colleges. Education: M.A., Texas Woman’s University, Directing; B.S., University of Texas, Austin, Education. Member, TTAO (Texas Theatre Adjudicators & Officials).

Afsaneh Aayani (Set 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 plus numerous puppetry credits; 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

Hayley Christensen (Sound Design) Main Street Theater: (Sound Design) Stuart Little, Miss Nelson Is Missing! The Musical!, The Last Stop on Market Street, (Assistant Stage Manager / Sound Engineer) Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, (Sound Engineer) The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Charlotte’s Web; Lionwoman Productions TX: Playhouse Creatures; Weathervane Theater: Addams Family, Kinky Boots, Amadeus, Disaster!, Green Day’s American Idiot, Buyer and Cellar, Pippin, The Mountaintop, Always…Patsy Cline; Utah Valley University: Silent Sky, Constellations, King Stag, Love and Information, Gruesome Playground Injuries.

Lauren Davis (Properties Design/Scenic Artist) Main Street Theater: (Props Design) Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School, The Diary of Anne Frank, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Jackie & Me, (Charge Scenic) The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Sherlock Holmes, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Don’t let the Pigeon drive the bus, Dog Act, A Year with Frog & Toad; Catastrophic Theater: (Properties Design and Charge Scenic Artist) Miss Laraj, Love Bomb, Spirits to Enforce, Tamarie’s TX Toast, Rhinoceros, (Properties Design) Cleansed, Curse of the Starving Class, Snow White, Trevor, Buried Child; Open Dance Project: (Properties Design) OZ, Red Landscape, 1968, Bonnie & Clyde, Galapagos; 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.

David Gipson (Lighting Design) Main Street Theater: Present Laughter, The Oldest Boy, The Real Inspector Hound, Pete the Cat, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, Jackie and Me,The Giver, A Wrinkle in Time, 1946 (World Premiere), The Women, The Trust, Watch on the Rhine, Deep Down; Stages: Elizabeth Rex; Unity Theatre: Billy Bishop Goes to War and many more; Infernal Bridegroom Productions: Speeding Motorcycle and many more; MCC Theater (NYC): Runt of the Litter; Regional credits include Victory Gardens Theatre (Chicago): Murder in Green Meadows and more; Village Theatre (WA): Guys and Dolls; Skylight Musical Theatre (WI): Snow Dragon; Cape Fear Regional Theatre (NC): Murder for Two. Education: B.F.A., University of Texas at Austin, Theatre Production.

Donna Southern Schmidt (Costume Design) Main Street Theater: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, Junie B. Jones Toothless Wonder, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Charlotte’s Web, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley , A Little House Christmas, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium, Jackie & Me, The Book of Will, The Wizard of Oz; Actors’ Equity Members’ Project Code: The Outsider, Almost Maine; Mildred’s Umbrella: Cry It Out; A.D. Players, resident costume designer for 25 years; Express Children’s Theatre: The Yellow Boat, Arabian Nights, To Africa With Love, African Delight, Pablo’s Wonderous Wishes; InterActive Theater Company: Around the World in 80 Days; The Days and Nights of King Arthur; Actor’s Workshop: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Louisiana Tech University: The Music Man. Education: Louisiana Tech University; Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. dlsoutherndesigns.com

Matthew Basen (Stage Manager) Main Street Theater: (Actor) Sleeping Beauty The Musical, Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast; The Garden Theatre: Bonnie & Clyde; Pearl Theater: Almost, Maine; On the Verge Theatre: Catholic School Girls; Company OnStage: Cinderella Goes Disco; The Actor’s Playground: The Chosen; EgoPo Classic Theater: Company. Education: B.A., Rowan University, Theatre Arts with a Minor in Dance.

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) 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.