DIRECTOR
Current News
SMJ is the Executive Director of Andy’s Summer Playhouse in Wilton, NH.
SMJ will be directing CCT’s production of Cabaret in Columbus, OH. The production is scheduled to run from February 20 to March 1, 2026.
SMJ comes at directing with the spirit of a devisor - listening and encouraging all ideas as long as they are supported in the text. SMJ likes to blend their 18 years of mime practice into staging, creating ensemble-heavy productions when possible. Highlights as a theatermaker include directing the first high school productions of John Proctor is the Villain and Fun Home (Ohio EdTA), Once on This Island JR, the first joint production between all six high schools at the MLK Educational Complex (Lincoln Center Theater Education), War and Play: A Clown Odyssey of Survival (Lincoln Center / National Queer Theater as well as a production at the inaugural NYC PhysFest), Transhumance (The Kennedy Center), No Mercy (workshop production at the DR2 Theater), and Pastel Color Ripples (an audio drama for New Light Theater Project), as well as choreographing Carrie the Musical (Ohio EdTA), Invention of Theater (World Premiere at Otterbein Summer Theater), and The Yellow Boat (Otterbein University).
HIGHLIGHTS
John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower
DIRECTOR
FIRST U.S. HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCTION
2025 All-Ohio Show for the Ohio Educational Theatre Association
FEATURING Alise Orodi, Payton Theile, Gini Meekin, Gio Gooden, Noelle Hampton, Simon Newkirk, Jonathan West, Jackson Vargo, Anna Foltz, Hope Rooney, Daria Lesmerises, Comfort Hanson, Lauren Ngo, Clementine Metz, Bauer Embrey, Frank Carrell, Miles Gilchrist, & Lucy Robinson
with Seth Sprang (Technical Director), Kristy Rodriguez (Producer), Jennifer Ludwig (Producer), Rachel Kuta (Stage Manager), Amabelle Chan (Assistant Stage Manager), Preston Bronder (Assistant Stage Manager), Clementine Metz (Choreographer), Lola Brown (Assistant Director), Wittman Sullivan (Assistant Technical Designer), Griffin Braniger (Lighting Designer), Carter Rohr (Assistant Lighting Designer), Cedar Yau (Set Designer), Liam Davidson (Assistant Set Designer), Asher Light (Sound Lead), Eddie Kasl (Sound Lead), Audrey Millhoan (Props Designer), Aubrielle Behary (Costume Designer), Xae Grace (Assistant Costume Designer), Juju Ludwig (Hair & Makeup Designer), Desmond Ducy (Run Crew), Garret Knapke (Run Crew)
Photos by David Myers & Asher Light
Watagatapitusberry by Karen Marulanda
DIRECTOR
Serials at The Tank (January 2025)
Performed by Natalia Mar Urzua, Stephanie Orta-Vázquez, Michael Ortiz, Andie Fuentes, & Hunter Levi Rothstein
Lighting Design by Cody Hom.
Photos by Madison Scheps
Transhumance: A clown’s journey through gender by Ania Upstill
DIRECTOR
Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center (June 2024)
Performed by Ania Upstill (they/them), Produced by Butch Mermaid Productions and Thinkery & Verse, Costume, Scenic and Prop Design by Milo Robinson (they/them), Music Design by Kendall Perry (they/he), and Original Direction and Dramaturgy by Molly Houlahan (she/her)
War and Play: A Clown Odyssey of Survival by Danielle Levsky
DIRECTOR
2024 PhysFest at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, NYC (January 2024)
FEATURING Danielle Levsky, Ania Upstill, & Mariko Iwasa
with voiceover by Henri Sudy & stage management by Emily Bubeck
National Queer Theater’s 2023 Criminal Queerness Festival at Lincoln Center (June 2023)
FEATURING Danielle Levsky, Ania Upstill, & Lex Alston
with voiceover by Henri Sudy, intimacy direction by Ema Zivkovic, stage mangement by Katherine Bahena-Benitez, produced by Adam Odsess-Rubin, dramaturgy by Begum “Begsy” Inal, production management by Brittany Coyne, scenic & props design by Dan Daly, sound design by Tani Kahn, costume design by Jules Peiperi, lighting Design by Moneé Stamp, video design by Hannah Tran, & casting by Joseph Hayes
Photos by Lawrence Sumulong
Fun Home by Lisa Kron & Jeanine Tesori
DIRECTOR
FIRST U.S. HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCTION
2022 All-Ohio Show for the Ohio Educational Theatre Association
FEATURING Abbey Brinkhoff, Maren Rhoads, Lucy Robinson, Ren Gleason, Tenley Stitzer, Sammi Robinson, Cole Stellato, Mahad Yusuf, Payton Theile, Madison Yanichko, Bella Price, & Tyler Zwick
with choreography by Riley Bannister, musical direction by Nina Fisher, stage management by Grace Pruchnicki, Tara Gontkovic, & Rosemary Burmester, lighting design by Elise Selevaag, scenic design by William Blank, and props design by Grace French.
Pastel Color Ripples by Gama Valle
DIRECTOR
Audio Drama with New Light Theater Project (2022)
FEATURING Jae W. B., Willie Denton, Bethany Geraghty, Fernando Gonzalez, Bertha Leal, Ricki Lynée, Evan Moore-Coll, Angie Tennant, and Henri Sudy
with sound design by M. Florian Staab, line producer - Kaitlin Paige Longoria, and production manager Celina Revollar (she/her/hers)
No Mercy
Co-Directed with Alex Might & Miranda Cornell with Fight & Intimacy Direction by Alex Might
Workshop Production at DR2 Theatre with Moxie Arts
FEATURING Kayla Zanakis, Chloé Lexia Worthington, Maya Musial, & Charlotte Vaughn Raines
with voiceover by Ollie Corchado, stage mangement by Aryn Geier & Ashley Milling, line producing by Natalie Rine & Angelica McEwan, dramaturgy by Juju Nieto, lighting design by Elizabeth M. Stewart, set design by Kailey Hays-Lenihan, sound design by Sasha Hawkins, costume design by Aryn Geier, and executive producing by K. Hernandez Friend and Madelyn Paquette.
Raccoon Play
Director with Intimacy Direction by Zoe Nebraska Feldman & Fight Direction by Daniel Kunkel
Workshop Production at The Tank
FEATURING Anne-Marie Pietersma, Daniel Kunkel, Zoe Nebraska Feldman, Henri Sudy, Madeleine Norton, & Abby Messina
with voiceover by Kayla Zanakis and stage mangement by Gracie Greggains
Otterbein Summer Theater
The Invention of Theater by Sean Murphy
Directed by Melissa Lusher
Choreography for the World Premiere at Otterbein Summer Theater
FEATURING Evan Moore-Coll & Ben Folts
The Fantasticks
Directed by David H. Caldwell
Mime Choreography
The 39 Steps
Directed by Christina Kirk
Movement Choreography
