Live from Mount Olympus

Season 2: Persephone longs for the chance to do more than paint the flowers that suddenly bloom wherever she steps as she trails behind her mother Demeter. When Persephone breaks free to join her friends Artemis and Athena for a picnic, she is suddenly stolen away to the underworld, full of intimidating gods and misunderstood monsters. On her own for the first time, Persephone struggles to find her way in the dark world below. Demeter tears apart the world above to bring her daughter back to the sunlight, and nothing can grow.  When nothing grows, humans starve. Can the gods stop fighting  so humanity can survive?

Season 1: When young Perseus makes a rash promise to save his mother from the clutches of an evil king, he has to strike out on a dangerous quest.  Hermes, god of luck and thieves (Hadestown's André De Shields), is our host for this tale of terrifying monsters, powerful gods, and a brave girl who will change our hero’s life forever.

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 families of all ages. This podcast is a production of the Onassis Foundation. 

This bold and original audio drama is created and produced by Peabody Award-winning showrunner Julie Burstein, 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), Keenan Tyler Oliphant (Associate Director of Hadestown and director of PlayCo’s upcoming U.S. premiere of Ebru Nihan Celkan’s Will You Come with Me?), and Zhailon Levingston (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical). Karen Brooks Hopkins is the executive producer.

Live from Mount Olympus is presented by TRAX from PRX. 

Find out more at Onassis.link/Olympus

Our actors include Kayla Bennett, Eric Berryman, Vinie Burrows, Jaaliyah Casey, Jill Frutkin, Divine Garland, Amber Gray,  Mari Harris, Joanne Hernandez, Modesto "Flako" Jimenez, Anna Kendrick, Libby King, Ian Lassiter, Zhailon Levingston, Christina Liberus, Kimberly Marable, Nehemiah Luckett, Jake Margolin, James Harrison Monaco, Isabella Rossellini, Kristen Sieh, Nidra Sous la Terre, Eierene Tuakora, Ching Valdes-Aran, and Jillian Walker. 

And André De Shields is Hermes.

Special thanks to Calvin Samuel Blanch, Elliot Byler, Sam Chavrichs, Adrienne Hopkins, Caroline Hopkins, Natalie Hopkins, and Whit Vega Margolin-Vaughan.

The TEAM’s Producing Director is Alexandra Lalonde, and Producing Manager is Laura Elliot.  We had casting support from Melissa Friedman of Epic Theater Ensemble.

Our writer is Nathan Yungerberg. Tessa Zitter is assistant producer and Yonatan Rekem is assistant editor.  Audio production and mix by John Melillo.

Season 1 sound design and audio production by David Schulman; episodes 1-6 written by Alexie Basil with story editor Nalini Jones; episodes 7-9 written by Nathan Yungerberg

Live from Mount Olympus music was composed by Magdalini Giannikou, edited, mixed, and mastered by Luca Bordonaro, and performed by Banda Magda. Jason Adam Katzenstein created our illustrations and is our series humor consultant.

Music composed by Magdalini Giannikou

Music edited, mixed and mastered by Luca Bordonaro

Music performed by Banda Magda

Michael Kendrick is Program Director for Onassis USA.  Marketing and social media management by Karina Grudnikov and Caroline English.  Press by Blake Zidell.  Graphic design by Onassis Creative Studio. 

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.