Our Team

 

Lyndy Franklin Smith

CO-FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Lyndy Franklin Smith co-founded The Lexington Theatre Company (“The Lex”) alongside her husband Jeromy, as a way to give back to her hometown and to the theatre industry.  She enjoyed a successful performance career in New York City, including the Broadway companies of A Chorus Line and The Little Mermaid; the Radio City Christmas Spectacular; National Tours of Fosse and White Christmas; and numerous regional productions.  Her directing credits for The Lex include Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Newsies, A Chorus Line, Songs For A New World, Mary Poppins, 42nd Street, Legally Blonde (alongside longtime friend Laura Bell Bundy), the Script to Table Series, and all editions of “Concert With The Stars. She also hosts the podcast “Beyond the Fourth Wall” for The Lex, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Simplecast.  The book she co-authored, Broadway Swings: Covering the Ensemble in Musical Theatre, is available on Amazon.com. She is a graduate of Sayre School and Oklahoma City University and "Mom” to Ben (11) and Andrew (8).

 
 

Jeromy Smith

CO-FOUNDER & PRODUCING DIRECTOR

Jeromy Smith hails from Oklahoma and co-founded The Lexington Theatre Company alongside his wife (Lyndy) as a means of paying it forward.  He combines both his extensive performance and arts management experience to produce first-rate professional theatre at The Lex, while training the future of the industry.  He earned a Bachelor of Science in Dance and Arts Management from Oklahoma City University. Performing credits include the National Tours of 42nd Street and Swing!; Numerous regional productions at theatres including Houston Theater Under the Stars, Paper Mill Playhouse, Music Theatre Wichita, and Oklahoma's Lyric Theatre; Television appearances on "A Capitol Fourth" and "Star Search." As an arts manager, Jeromy worked with Broadway theatre-owner, Jujamcyn Theaters, and the Broadway management company, Richards/Climan, Inc., as Associate General Manager, where projects included August: Osage County (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Winner), Blithe Spirit (starring Angela Lansbury), and November (starring Nathan Lane), to name a few.

 
 

Gretchen Shoot

ASSOCIATE GENERAL MANAGER

Gretchen Shoot joined The Lexington Theatre Company as Associate General Manager in November of 2019 but has been involved with The Lex since the very first “Concert With The Stars” in 2015. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Kentucky with her B.A. in Theatre and has stage managed over 50 theatrical productions. Favorite credits include Ragtime, Sweeney Todd and Phantom of the Opera (UK Opera Theatre), 42nd Street and Legally Blonde (The Lexington Theatre Company) and Lost in Lvov (Hollywood Fringe Festival). Aside from theatre, she has worked as a casting associate for the major motion pictures Seabiscuit and Dreamer. A published playwright, Gretchen’s ten-minute play “The Dimension of Collation” can be found in Evil Genius: Monsters on Stage. She is also the creator and author of Yuzuru Hanyu is My Emergency Contact, a blog and podcast with a following in 6 continents, 121 countries and over 2100 cities worldwide.

 
 

Brock Terry

RESIDENT MUSIC DIRECTOR

Brock Terry holds music degrees from Georgetown College and Emory University. He also serves as Director of Music at the historic First United Methodist Church in downtown Lexington and is currently working towards completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the University of Kentucky. He served as Music Director for all editions of “Concert With The Stars” for The Lexington Theatre Company as well as West Side Story, Newsies, The Music Man, A Chorus Line, Legally Blonde, Disney's The Little Mermaid and Chicago; as well as the Script to Table Series.

 
 

Brance Cornelius

EDUCATION & OUTREACH COORDINATOR

Brance Cornelius joins the full-time team at The Lex after performing in last summer's productions of Disney's The Little Mermaid (Scuttle) and Chicago (Amos). His NY/Touring credits include Cinderella (w/Tony-winner Lea Salonga); How the Grinch Stole Christmas -The Musical (Papa Who) and Dicapo Opera's The Most Happy Fella (Herman). Regional credits include: Into the Woods (Baker), The Addams Family (Uncle Fester), Drowsy Chaperone (George), Dames at Sea (Lucky) and Disney's Hoop Dee-Doo Revue (Six Bits). A proud member of Actor's Equity, Brance is a graduate of Lafayette High School & Murray State University (Bachelor of Arts, Theatre).

 
 

Joseph Wrightson

STORY CYCLE COORDINATOR

Joseph Wrightson is the coordinator and lead Teaching Artist for Story Cycle - our free musical theatre songwriting program.  For The Lex, he has also co-created “Adventures en Casa” a free, bilingual arts education web-series and school workshop, alongside Nico Acosta Casas. His media design work illustrates the mission of company, and he also produced the first four seasons of our podcast, “Beyond The Fourth Wall.” Joseph has performed on stage with The Lexington Theatre Company in Concert With The Stars, Legally Blonde, The Music Man, Songs for a New World, West Side Story, Newsies, and Sondheim on Sondheim. He holds a Bachelors of Music in Music Education from The University of Kentucky, and has taught Choir, Theatre, Visual Art, and General Music to K-12 students across Lexington.  In 2019, he illustrated the children’s book, “Come on, Calm!”, written by Kelsey Brown and he recently composed the music for the radio special, “The Night Before Christmas,” airing on WUKY and other regional radio stations during the 2021 Holiday Season.