Melissa Crabtree - Director/Choreographer: Fresh off of the National Tour of Astronaut Group I she brings to the SST table a wealth of experience in the Chicagoland Professional Theatre Market. As an Actor, Director, and Theatrical Illustrator, Melissa lives for making all those around her laugh. As an Actor you may have seen her in: Avenue Q (MTW & Williams Street Rep), 9 to 5, Cabaret, & A Funny Thing…Forum (Metropolis), Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (Northbrook Theatre), to name a few. Melissa is proudly represented by Big Mouth Talent. As a Director/Choreographer, Melissa has worked for over 16 years professionally in Chicago notably The Drowsy Chaperone, All Shook Up & The Spongebob Musical (SST), and 1776 & Peter and the Starcatcher (Edge of Orion). She also holds a BFA in Music Theatre Performance & a BA in Applied Theatre.

Ashley Keys - Associate Director: Ashley Keys is a Black Theatre Director and Administrator based in the Chicago area. Some of her previous works include Directing Blood at the Root by Dominique Morisseau (ETA Creative Arts), Assistant Directing The Luckiest* by Melissa Ross (Raven Theatre), Assistant Directing Avenue Q by Jeff Whitty (Music Theatre Works), Associate Director for The Prodigal Daughter by Joshua Allen (Raven Theatre), Assistant directing Splash Hatch on the E Going Down by Kia Corthron (Definition Theatre) and Associate Director for The Drowsy Chaperone (Schaumburg Summer Theatre). Keys earned her B.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Directing. She is currently the Audience Services Coordinator at Definition Theatre

Jenny Carter (Gafron) - Music Director: is so excited to be back for her third season at SST as Music Director. Jenny started her tenure with SST in 2023, but has been Music Directing since 2016 when she began her teaching career as a choral and musical theatre educator in Indianapolis. While in Indiana, Jenny founded two award-winning show choirs and led two high school show choir programs to many top five and grand champion placements. In 2023, she moved back to the Chicago suburbs and currently teaches General Music and directs the choirs and musical at Jackson Middle School in Villa Park. Jenny is excited to “start something new” with this summer’s SST production and can’t wait to continue her almost 20 year involvement in musical theatre.

Emma Johnson - Stage Manager: is delighted to be returning to Schaumburg Summer Theatre this summer as the stage manager! In the past two summers, she had a blast working with SST on All Shook Up! and The Drowsy Chaperone. Emma is a rising senior at Ball State University as a Stage Management major (chirp chirp!). At Ball State, her most recent credits include Romeo and Juliet (Lead SM) and Veal (1st ASM). She is so excited to work with this amazing production team again and have a fun-filled summer with High School Musical!