The Writers

Click on a headshot for the writer’s bio.

AARON ALON
(Music, Lyrics, Book, Story, Orchestrations)

RUSSELL SARRE
(Music, Story)

The CONCEPT CAST

Click on a headshot for the cast member’s bio.

PRESTON ANDREWS
(Dr. Mountebank)

BRIAN CHAMBERS
(Johnny Cragsman)

ASHLEY DUPLECHIEN
(Mrs. Cragsman)

EMMA HAYDEN
(Mabel)

MARK JAMMAL
(Henry)

LIZ MARTELLI
(Henriette)

SAMI RUDNICK
(Cassandra)

NICK SZOEKE
(Dr. Smith)

We are still casting for four additional roles:

Auditions

Ensemble of the
Concept Cast Recording

Coming soon! Several members of the cast and production team (listed above) are also singing in the ensemble.

Contact Us

AARON ALON (Music, Lyrics, Book, Arrangements, & Story) is an award-winning writer, composer, and director-producer. BULLY, the 2017 feature film musical he wrote and directed, was screened in film festivals around the world, winning over 20 festival awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. His classical music has also been performed around the world, released on five CDs, and awarded numerous national and international composition honors. He is a member of ASCAP and is a founding member and president of the Board of Directors of Thunderclap Productions, a nonprofit production company based in Houston. He holds a doctorate in music composition from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and is a Professor of Music and Chair of Music and Drama at Lone Star College-University Park in Houston, TX. Learn more at aaronalon.com.

RUSSELL SARRE (Music & Story) is an Australian-born composer whose music has been performed around the globe from The White House to London’s West End; Edinburgh Fringe Festival to the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center. He has composed music for Film, Theatre, Music Theatre, Dance, Opera and the Concert Stage. Sarre has taught at the Shepherd School of Music, Texas A&M, the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Eastern Mediterranean University, and Lone Star College. He also co-produced and presented award-winning radio shows in Austin for KMFA. He spends his time teaching, composing, travelling, and cooking for his family.

PRESTON ANDREWS (Dr. Mountebank) is thrilled to be a part of this beautiful new musical. Recent credits for the Houston, Texas native include the world premiere of LADY OF AGREDA (Lady in Blue Productions), AIDA (Houston Grand Opera), FOR TONIGHT, ELF! (Queensbury Theatre), OKLAHOMA! (TUTS), CAMELOT (Natchez Opera Festival), and SHOW BOAT (Utah Festival). Proud member of Actor’s Equity. Education: Vocal Performance, MA (The University of Alabama), and BA in Music (SHSU). My endless gratitude, and admiration to the entire creative team.

BRIAN CHAMBERS (Johnny Cragsman) is thrilled to be joining the cast of MAD! From Valencia California, Brian has a BA from Texas Tech University. Select credits: PARADE, ADRIFT IN MACAO, MAMMA MIA, BOEING BOEING, THE CHOSEN, TITANIC THE MUSICAL, DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER, LITTLE WOMEN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, MAN OF LA MANCHA, THE CHRISTIANS, FAUST, and Carmina Burana. COMPANIES: Island ETC, Dirt Dog Theatre Company, Cone Man Running, Main Street Theatre, Kirkwood Music Services, Unity Theatre, Lone Star Lyric, Lubbock Moonlight Musicals, Queensbury Theatre, Alley Theatre and Houston Symphony. Thank you to my wife Misty for all her love and support. www.brianchambersactor.com

ASHELY DUPLECHIEN (Mrs. Cragsman), mezzo-soprano, is a Louisiana native currently residing in Houston. She was trained first at Louisiana State University by Dr. Loraine Sims then at the Royal Academy of Music in London by world-renowned mezzo-soprano Anne Howells and prominent conductor and coach Iain Ledingham. Ashley’s agile voice has allowed her the privilege to explore and perform a wide variety of orchestral repertoire as a soloist across western Europe as well as here in the United States, including Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Bach’s St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Purcell’s Welcome to all the Pleasures. Operatic repertoire includes title role in Rossini’s LA CENERENTOLA, Le Feu in Ravel’s L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES, Diane in Offenbach’s ORPHÉE AUX ENFERS, and both Fiordiligi and Dorabella in Mozart’s COSÍ FAN TUTTE. Ashley has also been a member of the Houston Grand Opera chorus since 2014. In addition to her career in music, Ashley has worked in the energy and fuels industry since 2015, currently as the Manager of Business Development for an alternative/renewable fuels provider. Her commercial projects span the continental US and provide pathways for emissions reductions in the transportation sector resulting in cleaner air.

EMMA THOENI (Mabel) is thrilled to be recording the role of Mabel in MAD! From June to December of 2019, Emma served as a resident artist for Mountain Rep Theatre in Cripple Creek, Colorado where she performed in several musicals and plays. Credits include: Sandy Dumbrowski (Grease), Donna Pickles (The Great American Trailer Park Musical), Alice Sycamore (You Can’t Take It With You), Penny Pingleton (Hairspray), and Ariel (The Little Mermaid). Emma would like to thank her family, friends and wonderful husband for their continuous support and encouragement.

MARK JAMMAL (Henry) is a professional singer, actor, and musician from Houston, TX and lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is excited to get back to theatrical work after this crazy year has taken away nearly every opportunity to do it. His credits include RAGTIME (TUTS), MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Frank, SRT), ASSASSINS (John Hinckley Jr, Lyric OKC), PRYOR RENDERING (Dewar, City Rep OKC), ROCK OF AGES (Stacee Jaxx, SRT), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (Duke, SRT) and others. He is no stranger to new works and has been involved in them since very early in his career. In his spare time you can find him working on his own music, whipping up something mean in the kitchen, or continuing his studies as a Wine Professional. He attended the University of Oklahoma BFA Musical Theatre and has spent many years as a Vocal Coach and Acting Coach with different studios and independently.

LIZ MARTELLI (Henriette) is honored to be a part of the concept cast recording of MAD! Her most recent credits include SPRING AWAKENING (Female Swing, on for Ilse) at Capitol City Theater Company in Lincoln, NE, MERRILEE MANNERLY: A MAGNIFICENT NEW MUSICAL (Merrilee Mannerly) at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford, CT, and The Actor’s Project NYC’s Off-Broadway showcase as a featured performer/singer. Liz gives all her thanks to her family, friends, and friends’ fur babies for their constant support and love. You can find more info on Liz Martelli at www.lizmartelli.com.

SAMI RUDNICK (Cassandra) is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. She has been a veteran of the stage since the age of two; crediting over 150 productions. After working in New York and relocating back to Florida, she took an 8-year hiatus while raising a family and completing her Master’s Degree in Social Work. Freshly immersed from intensive studies of the DSM, she joined the ShinDig band; swapping Broadway ballads for bangers like Bobby McGhee. When she was approached to audition for MAD!, it was apropos that she’d be considered for the role of the nightclub singer in a musical based around the DSM! She is thrilled to reunite with her childhood friend Aaron and help to animate his masterpiece production in the role of Cassandra!

NICK SZOEKE (Dr. Smith) is wildly excited to bring this exhilarating new musical to life! Nick has been seen around the US in regional houses such as Theatre Under The Stars (TX), The Public Theatre (TX), The Playhouse San Antonio (TX), Queensbury Theatre (TX), Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre (ID), and The Trinity Repertory Company (RI), and has also been a soloist with the Houston Symphony (TX). Favorite credits include Curly in OKLAHOMA!, Robert Kincaid in THE BRDIGES OF MADISON COUNTY, and Quasimodo in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. You can also hear Nick as Mark on the Original Cast Recording of SOLE MATES: THE MUSICAL. Nick is a die hard FRIENDS fan who never turns down an ICEE. INSTA: szoekefit

The Writers

Click on a headshot for the writer’s bio.

The CONCEPT CAST

Click on a headshot for the cast member’s bio.

Ensemble of the Concept Cast Recording

Contact Us

Ensemble of the
Concept Cast Recording