Michael Axtell

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.

Roles this Season

Fred Graham (Petruchio) in Kiss Me, Kate (Debut)
Jonah Hale

Jonah is an NYC-based performer and photographer who has a passion for both the performing and the visual arts. Jonah, originally from Minnesota, moved to New York City to attend Wagner College in the fall of 2015. He later graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Performace and a Minor in Dance. Jonah is a two-time Mac-Haydn alumnus and is so thrilled to be returning to Chatham this summer. He was last seen on the Mac-Haydn stage in 2018 and 2019 in roles such as Kenickie in Grease, Sammy in The Wedding Singer, Sir Dinadan in Camalot, and Santa Clause in Annie. Thank you to friends and family for all of their love and support.

Roles this Season

Gangster in Kiss Me, Kate
Dan/Dr. Madden U/S in Next to Normal