About this episode
Young Meleager enjoys the quiet of the forest, until his father, King Oeneus, shouts through the trees to wish him happy birthday. They return to the palace for the festival of the first fruits, and everyone celebrates! But they have made a terrible mistake – which places their kingdom in dire peril. Combining the artistry of foremost contemporary theater-makers with the timeless stories of Greek myth and the imaginative power of audio, Live from Mount Olympus is an adventure for tweens and their grownups. The podcast is a production of the Onassis Foundation, co-produced by the Brooklyn-based theater ensemble The TEAM, and directed by Tony Award-winner Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet), Zhailon Levingston (Chicken & Biscuits, Director of Initiatives at Broadway Avocacy Coalition), Ahmad Simmons (Performer in Hadestown, Carousel, Westside Story, Associate Choreograph, Hadestown), and Keenan Tyler Oliphant (Associate Director, Hadestown & Director, PlayCo’s Will You Come with Me?). Karen Brooks Hopkins is our executive producer. Our series creator and showrunner is Peabody Award-winning producer Julie Burstein. Our actors include: Carlo Alban, Ben Beckley, Kayla Bennett, Sumaya Bouhbal, Vinie Burrows, Sean Carvajal, Jill Frutkin, Abel Garcia, Divine Garland, Halima Henderson, Joanne Hernandez, Monée Cheri Hunter, Modesto “Flako” Jimenez, Libby King, Ian Lassiter, Zhailon Levingston, Christian Liberus, Nehemiah Luckett, Kimberly Marable, Jake Margolin, Justin Medina, James Harrison Monaco, Gregg Mozgala, Xavier Pacheco, Elena Reyes, Mickey Robinson, Cat Rodríguez, Max Samuels, Kristen Sieh, John Turturro, Jillian Walker. And André De Shields is Hermes Special thanks to Adrienne Hopkins, Caroline Hopkins, and Natalie Hopkins. This season, The TEAM’s Interim Producing Director Nidia Medina and Producing Associate Chandler Smith led production, with support from the new Producing Director Emma Orme. We had casting support from Melissa Friedman of Epic Theater Ensemble. Our writer is Nathan Yungerberg. Yonatan Rekem is assistant editor and Claire Striet is our production assistant. Audio production and mix by John Melillo. Music composed by Magdalini Giannikou, and performed by Banda Magda. Jason Adam Katzenstein created our illustrations and is series humor consultant. A big thank you to our creative advisors: Dr. Michael Cohen, Effie Tsiotsiou, Dr. Janet Handler Burstein and Richard Nodell. Michael Kendrick is Program Director for Onassis USA and Olivia Buntaine is antiquities consultant for our show. Marketing by Causelab. Social Media management by Milagros Verendia. Press by Blake Zidell. Graphic design by Onassis Creative Studio. Live from Mount Olympus was recorded with tracking engineers Marc Frongillo and Violette Furton at Dubway Studios and Roy Hendrickson at The Power Station at Berklee NYC. This season is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Janet Handler Burstein, who believed that these myths continue to express our human struggle to understand ourselves and the world we live in. Since 1975, the Onassis Foundation has been dedicated to culture, community, and education, with projects that can effectively inspire social change and justice across borders. Learn more at www.onassis.org . Live from Mount Olympus is distributed by PRX.