Helen R. Murray is an award-winning director, playwright, the Producing Artistic Director of American Stage, former Executive Producer of the Aurora Fox Arts Center in Colorado and Artistic Director of the Hub Theatre in Virginia. Her original plays have been produced by the Hub Theatre, Theatre Alliance, ArtsWest, Malibu Playhouse, the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia and have been seen at the Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival. She has directed across the country and mentored writers through the Writer’s Guild Initiative NYC. In addition to her roles offstage, Helen has worked as an actor in many Washington, D.C. area theaters, including Folger Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Theatre J, Forum Theatre, Theatre Alliance, Rorschach Theatre, and Keegan Theatre. Helen has also appeared in numerous independent films and commercials. Her co-adaptation of Wonderful Life earned her a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding New Play, and her original play, Abominable, was nominated for the national Steinberg New Play Award. She is also the recipient of the Puffin Foundation Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist, the Washington Canadian Partnership Award for Leadership in the Arts, and her play Redder Blood won the 2016 Jewish Playwriting Contest.

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Eli Pafumi is an LA based multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and teacher. Last year, Pafumi led and performed in Hedwig and the Angry Inch as well as composed music for the world premier of The Figs for American Stage’s 2024 season. His theatrical compositions can be heard in The Magi and Merry Happy...What? by Helen Murray and Familia de Flamingos by Miguel Muñoz as well as Hurricane Diane (Aurora Fox) and Act A Lady (Hub Theatre). Eli has also performed with Cirque Berzerk on installations with Dedo Vabo (Coachella) and The Dream Emporium (Electric Forest). As a musician, Eli has performed with the likes of The Polyphonic Spree, Rozzi, Zach Day and his own sibling-band RitaRita among many others. Eli is a host and artist-in-residence of The Hotel Cafe’s iconic Monday Monday showcase as well as a veteran performer in the worldwide network of Sofar Sounds, the music director of the fusion music school SaReGaMe based in Ashburn VA, a TEDx speaker, x3 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards Finalist and Kennedy Center Award for Excellence recipient. IG: @elipafumi, www.elipafumi.com

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Anthony Gervais is an actor, director, writer, and St. Petersburg native. Most recently, he served as Assistant Director on The Good Peaches, performed at The Mahaffey Theatre. Other directing credits include Weird in St. Pete at FloridaRAMA, 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse as a part of the Tales by Twilight series at Boyd Hill, and Every Brilliant Thing (Studio@620/Off-Central Players.) As an actor, favorite credits include Rosencrantz in HAMLET620, Harry Houdini in Ragtime in the Park (American Stage), Jamie in The Last Five Years,
and Caryl Churchill’s A Number, for which he received a Creative Loafing “Best of the Bay” award (Off-Central Players). Anthony currently serves as Associate Artistic Director at American Stage, and is passionate about creating opportunities for local artists. He is also an Artist in Residence at The Studio@620, where he is developing new work as a playwright. He proudly holds a BFA from The Boston Conservatory.

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Kevin Commander is thrilled to serve as the SM Fellow for the 25/26 season. He is grateful for the opportunity to step into this role as Stage Manager and showcase his growing skills and to learn from this incredible community. Kevin extends his deepest thanks to his Mentor for the season Chloe, and to American Stage for setting him up for success. Endless love and appreciation to his friends and family for their constant support. IG: @kev.comm

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Mario is thrilled to be back at American Stage, this time designing! He graduated in 2025 from the University of Florida with his MFA in Lighting Design, where he designed multiple shows including Macbeth, Blood at the Root, and Pipeline. He also has a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Tampa. Last he was at American Stage, he was helping program for their production of The Figs. He can now be found up in the Villages working as the Lighting Supervisor at Significant Productions in the SigPro Studio. mariogonzalezlightingdesign.com

Meyah is thrilled to be joining American Stage again for another show. You may have seen some of her work this past season on Ring of Fire and This Girl... as Prop Master. Some of her favorite credits include being ASM at the Mahaffey for A Very Broadway Christmas, being ASM for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Ragtime in the Park as well as Stage Managing Three Sisters, Miss Julie, Clyde’s and John Proctor is the Villain with the Asolo Conservatory.

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Christopher Kinney is looking forward to this production with American Stage. His last theatre credit was Musical Director and Piano player for The Last Five Years with Off-Central Players. You may have seen him at local gigs around St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area. He has dedicated most of his career to music education, songwriting, and playing live music in local rock band ADB. You can find his solo music as Topher Kinney wherever you stream music. He’s also a dedicated martial artist and a part of Kinney Karate with a goal of making athletics and martial arts fun and accessible.

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