Michael-Ellen Walden

​Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden is an actor, writer, musician, and teaching artist based in Chicago who hails from Kentucky. They began teaching music classes before they had even graduated middle school and thus discovered their love for teaching artistry early in life. He has always been drawn to the sense of play children have and the way that play frees artistic impulses for people of all ages. They studied theater and gender studies at Northwestern University, serving as Artistic Director and Music Director of Seesaw Theatre Company and Writing Coordinator for the Waa-Mu Show, before graduating in 2021. They have worked as a teaching artist for ImagineU, Stomp & Shout, Jamberry, and Chicago Children’s Theatre. When he is not teaching, Mikey may be found onstage, often acting in experimental and musical theatre, or working on one of his many writing projects. Recent artistic projects have been Tambo & Bones (actor, Refracted Theatre Company), A Drama In Rogers Park (actor, Young Krones), and Queering the Canon: Jerry Herman (songwriter, Ring of Keys).