Ryan Kelly
Director

Ryan is so happy to be back at Mainstage Theatre after last year’s The Secret Garden. Following a trend of directing musicals about precocious girls, he is excited to tell the story of Matilda. Ryan has been in the entertainment industry for nearly 25 years. As a stage performer some of his favourite shows have been:Mamma Mia (Mirvish) The House of Martin Guerre (Canstage) Rocky Horror Show (Sudbury Theatre Centre) Avenue Q (Citadel Theatre/Sterling Award) Living With Henry (Off Bway) JT Leroy (Buddies/Dora Award) The Normal Heart (Studio 180/Dora Nom) TV/Film: Murdoch Mysteries (CBC) Serialized (Incendo) Saving Hope (CTV) Queer as Folk (Showtime) Bitten (SyFy) Cosmopolis (Cronenberg). Ryan has directed The Secret Garden (Mainstage Theatre) Downtown Jay (Toronto Fringe) Two Kittens and a Kid (Edinburgh Fringe) Once on this Island (Stagedoor/Acting Upstage) and was assistant & associate director for Company, Merrily We Roll Along, & Parade (Toronto Musical Concerts). Ryan teaches acting for the George Brown Dance Program and teaches masterclass workshops throughout Toronto and the GTA.

Chris Tsujiuchi's performance credits include Recurring John, Paradises Lost (Summerworks Festival), Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors (Lower Ossington Theatre) and most recently Frank N. Furter in Rocky Horror (Hart House Theatre). Musical Direction credits include The Last Five Years (YRG Productions), Onegin (Musical Stage Company/National Arts Centre/Arts Club Western Canada Tour), 35MM (Toronto Premiere), Any Dream Will Do (Angelwalk Theatre & Theatre Collingwood), A Misfortune (Next Stage Festival), HAIR (FirstAct Productions), Mickey & Judy (Toronto Fringe/Best of Fringe), and bare (Canadian Premiere/WatersEdge Productions).  Chris has worked as an accompanist and teacher at Sheridan College, Randolph Academy, and George Brown College. He has toured extensively with Sharron Matthews, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and can also be seen performing in Asian Riffing Trio (aka ART).

Chris Tsujiuchi
​Musical Director

Lyndsey Britten
Choreographer

Lyndsey Britten is a choreographer, performer, and instructor, originally from Vancouver, BC. Beginning her training at Caulfield School of Dance, she now teaches and choreographs all over Greater Vancouver - most notably as the resident choreographer for Gleneagle Secondary School since 2010. Lyndsey is looking forward to beginning her journey in Toronto, with her first stop being Mainstage Theatre! 
Recent choreography credits include: Urinetown (Carousel Theatre/Touchstone Theatre), West Side Story (Gleneagle Secondary), Don Giovanni (UBC Opera), King Arthur’s Court (Metro Theatre’s Panto), Ring of Fire (First Impression’s Theatre), and Cabaret (Tomo Suru Players) where she won a CTC Award for her choreography. ​
This past summer, Lyndsey was the Assistant Choreographer/Director for Newsies (TUTS) and is back Assisting Julie Tomaino this fall for The Adventures of Pinocchio (YPT).

Murphy Diggon is a freelance Stage Manager, Production Manager and film producer. She currently works for the Canadian Opera Company as the Assistant Production Manager and the venue manager for Brick and Mortar while freelancing in her spare time. She also founded her own children's puppetry theatre company with Graeme Black Robinson and Scott Garland titled Silent Protagonist. 
Murphy is overly joyed to be working as a Rehearsal Manager for Mainstage Theatre. She loves working with talent of all ages and really enjoys seeing the growth from beginning to end. 
Select Credits: Producer / Stage Manager - Marina & The Crypto's (Silent Protagonist), ASM / APM - Shopkins Live! (Koba Entertainment), Producer - Hornets (Hornets Productions), Producer - Dysthymia (Two Cats Productions), Stage Manager - Salt Water Moon (Strive Theatre), Stage Manager - All Of Me (Theatre Insomnia), Production Stage Manager - Panamania (Pan Am Games)

Murphy Diggon
Rehearsal Manager

     Hannah MacMillan
     Production Stage Manager

Hannah MacMillan is very excited to be joining the Mainstage team this year. She is primarily a freelance stage manager for musicals, dance and theatre who loves working with kids and youth but also does production management and front of house. Hannah has had the pleasure of working as the Front of House Coordinator for the Toronto Fringe Festival for the past 4 summers.  She graduated from the Ryerson School of Performance Production program.
Recent credits include: Stage Manager/Apprentice Stage Manager – Reprint (Musical Stage Company) Stage Manager – A Merry Munsch PJ Party (Solar Stage) Assistant Stage Manager – The Philosophers Wife (Paradigm Productions), Apprentice Stage Manager – The Wolves (Howland Company/Crows Theatre) Stage Manager – Dry Land (Cue 6) Stage Manager- PunkRock (Howland Company), Stage Manager - Hello Again (Artillery Collective). 

Alain is a graduate of both the Queen’s University Drama Department and English Department. He is a television production designer for Télévision Francophone en Ontario (TFO). Before arriving in Toronto, Alain spent six years studying and practicing theatre in Kingston where he co-founded and produced Collective Productions, for which he was most active in the roles of Director and Designer. For Mainstage Theatre Company, he has directed Sweet Charity, The Addams Family, Anything Goes, Pippin, 
Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Sweeney Todd, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and designed 
Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof and Singin' in the Rain. Other Toronto Credits include: Lighting Design: Le malade imaginaire (TFT), Espoir Espwa (TFT), One Good Marriage (FLINT theatre); Set Design: The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (ATIC), Delicacy 
​(Theatre Brouhaha), Le Placard (TFT). He has also worked as Production Manager and Scenic Artist.

     Alain Richer
     Set Designer

Alia Stephen
Lighting Designer

Hailing from Vancouver, Alia is excited to be making her Toronto debut on Matilda only a month after moving here, a beloved favourite story from her childhood. Alia has designed for a wide range of companies in the west coast and the UK, including Firehall Arts Centre, National Dance Company Wales, Pipedream Theatre Project, and Fugue Theatre, and recently completed the western Canada tour of Missing with Pacific Opera Victoria. She has done two seasons as an Assistant Lighting Designer at the Stratford Festival, and looking forward to a third. Alia has a BFA in Theatre Production and Design from UBC, a diploma in Technical Theatre from Capilano University, and is currently completing thesis work for her MA in Lighting Design from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Anthony Palermo
​Assistant Director

Anthony is a recent graduate of the Drama program at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts, and proud Mainstage alumni, now in his first year at University of Toronto/ Sheridan’s joint Theatre and Drama Studies program. He works as both the Director and Music Director at the Richmond Hill Center for Performing Arts for their Youth Musical Theatre Intensive programs. He has also composed, co-written and directed several award-winning musicals, including This House: An Original Musical (Outstanding Direction), and In My Head: A New Musical (Outstanding Book & Score) which have been produced for the National Theatre School Festival at Hart House. Selected directorial credits include: Newsies, Into the Woods, Seussical (Richmond Hill Center for the Performing Arts Youth Intensive), Music director credits include: Godspell, The Addams Family, Spamalot (Richmond Hill Center for the Performing Arts), A Chorus Line Revue (Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts). 

Estella Haensel
Assistant Choreographer

Estella Haensel is a Grade 10 Dance Major at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. When she is not at school, she spends countless hours dancing at her studio. Estella has extensive ballet training, as well as advanced level training in modern, contemporary, jazz and tap. In addition to her studio and school shows, Estella’s performance credits include: local participation in Ballet Jorgen’s Sleeping Beauty, Anastasia, Coppelia and most recently, in their World Premiere of Anne of Green Gables The Ballet.  She also had the privilege of performing as a dancer in Alumnae Theatre’s Production of Top Girls earlier this year. Estella is thrilled to have this opportunity to experience the choreographic side of her passion and would like to thank the entire Artistic Team at Mainstage, especially Lyndsey , for welcoming her to the team and nurturing her growing understanding of choreography. 

Brynn Bonne
Assistant Rehearsal Manager

Brynn Bonne is in her first year of the Theatre & Drama Studies program at UTM/Sheridan, and a proud Mainstage alumni having appeared in Sweet Charity in 2018! She is also a recent graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts musical theatre program. Favourite performing credits include Puffs (The LOT), Mamma Mia (SMT), Into The Woods, Little Women, Gypsy (CTP), Nine (Podium Concert Productions). She also works part time at the Living Arts Centre, Jiggles & Lélé, and The Dr Seuss Experience.