the directors

Kelly Groves 

Mr. Groves has been the director of Theatre Arts at Martin for the past eight years, where he has directed over 30 plays and musicals. A graduate of Emerson College in Boston, he earned a Master’s in Theatre Education and was awarded the prestigious Dean’s Fellowship in Theatre. He also holds a BFA in Acting from Boston University School of Theatre.
As a teacher, Mr. Groves has previously taught at South Garland High School, Richland High School and musical theatre at Emerson College. He has served as the Manager of Education and School Programs for the Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center and as the Publicity and Communications Manager for The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. He has coached countless students from ages 8 to 18 in acting, audition preparation, musical theatre, and Shakespeare. Many of his students have gone on to admission at some of the top theatre programs in the country. As an actor, Mr. Groves has appeared at regional theatres across the country, including the Huntington Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Hackmatack Playhouse, InterLakes Theatre, EgoPo Classic Theatre, and the Philadelphia Opera Company. Recently he has been seen starring as Tick in Uptown Players’ Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre, as Robin/Lady Capulet in Shakespeare in Love at Shakespeare Dallas and in the world premiere of Del Shores’ A Very Sordid Wedding at Uptown Players.
Mr. Groves is also the award-winning author and director of Beat (Playscripts Inc.) about the life of Allen Ginsberg.
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jgroves1@aisd.net

Jordan Chambers

Jordan Chambers is in his seventh year as Theatre Director at Martin High School and seventh year with AISD. He is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatics Academy in Los Angeles and University of Texas at Arlington where he earned his BFA in Theatre Performance. While in Los Angeles, Mr. Chambers acted for Disney, ABC, Universal Studios, among others. 


Mr. Groves and Mr. Chambers’ have collaborated on over 30 shows at Martin and were 2019 6A UIL State Finalists in One Act Play with their production of Dancing at Lughnasa and 2023's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was a 6A Regional finalist. Groves and Chambers' productions have been awarded numerous honors, including 28 nominations for Casa Manana's Betty Buckley Awards for Excellence in High School Theatre, winning the Best Play Award three years in a row for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018), Lord of the Flies (2019) and Hamlet (2021). Their students have excelled at the Texas State Thespian Festival, earning dozens of qualifications for the National Thespian Festival.
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