Biography:

    An alumna of the University of Kentucky, Department of Theatre, Mary Christopher Grogan is currently an active theatre director and educator in central Kentucky.  She holds an MA in English Education (2006) and an MA in Theatre (2014), both from the University of Kentucky.  Her research interests lie in musical theatre villainy, the cognitive sciences, and Audience Response Theory.

   Beginning her undergraduate career with a focus in stage management, she eventually found her passion in educating and directing.  Some of her directing credits include:  Our Town, Disney’s Beauty & the Beast,  You Can’t Take it with You, Silhouettes of Broadway: A Musical Revue,  Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story,  Beyond Therapy, Once Upon a Mattress, and Elf, Jr: The Musical. Other recent notable credits include serving as the Assistant Director for Lexington’s premiere production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, writing and directing “Outings: A Ten Minute Play” which was selected and produced by the Kentucky State Fair as part of their 2012 New Kentucky Works series, and making her film acting debut as “Piper” in the independent film Jane’s Everlasting Heart Condition.

     Additionally, she is extremely passionate about education, particularly arts education and literacy.  She taught introductory and history courses in theatre at the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, and Bluegrass Community & Technical College, as well as reading, writing, and study skills courses at the local community college from 2010-2018.  A huge supporter of youth arts programs, she has also taught high school drama and art history courses, as well as Theatre in Diversion classes through the Fayette County Juvenile Court system.  In the summers she spends her time teaching drama and English at the BCTC Upward Bound Program, as well as directing the end-of-summer Talent Show at the Singletary Center for the Arts.  In 2013, she received the “Most Influential Teacher” Award from the students and staff at the Upward Bound Program. In 2014 she won the prestigious \\"Humanitarian\\" Award, also from Upward Bound. Most recently she became a guest artist and director for U.K. Opera Theatre\\'s Academy of Creative Excellence, which strives to teach acting, dance, and vocal performance to students 1st through 12th grade in Lexington, Kentucky.
Since 2018, she has been a full time Enlgish and Drama teacher at West Jessamine High School, as well as serving as their theatre artistic director.