Mac-Haydn Theatre Debut

An actor, singer, pianist and music director, Michael David Axtell is a multi-faceted performing artist. A former member of the Grammy award winning ensemble, Chanticleer, Michael appears on four of their live concert recordings and two of their studio albums. He is an accomplished voice actor with well over 100 audiobooks, several podcasts and at least 100 articles for Apple News+ to his name. In live performance, Michael narrated Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with the Enigma Ensemble in San Francisco, Aaron Jay Kernis’ Seasons of Italian Futurist Cuisine at the Mannes Sounds Festival and Michael Grossman’s Work in Progress at the James Joyce Society. Favorite stage roles include Henry VI in Henry VI Part 3, Brutus in Julius Caesar, Herr Schultz in Cabaret, Sammy “Mammy” Wurlitzer in Happy End, Mr. Ford in Nicolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor and Martin in Candide. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice and Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Lawrence University and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the New School College of Performing Arts in New York City.

Jonah is an NYC-based performer and is thrilled to be returning to Chatham and the Mac-Haydn stage this summer. Originally from Minnesota, Jonah moved to New York City in the fall of 2015 to attend Wagner College where he later graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Performance and a Minor in Dance. Jonah was last seen on the Mac-Haydn stage in 2022 as a gangster brushing up his Shakespeare in Kiss Me Kate. Other favorite Mac-Haydn credits include Kenickie in Grease, Sammy in The Wedding Singer, Smokey in Damn Yankees, and Santa Clause in Annie. Jonah would like to thank his friends and his family for all of their love and support. Special shout out to fellow Mac-Haydn alumni Jayke Workman.