Leonydus Johnson

Matthew Leonydus Johnson was born and raised in Ironton, Ohio, the son of Aaron and Bridget Johnson. Growing up, he was more into sports than he was the arts, playing baseball from little league through high school and even up to the college level at the University of Rio Grande. He later pursued a career in music as a hip-hop artist under the moniker of "Gyfted", releasing an album in 2005 entitled "Best Kept Secret" to generally positive reviews. Although he loved writing and telling stories and even at the age of 13, he wrote and directed a few silly films with a toy video camera, he did not pursue any kind of theatre or film until much later. His love for acting was late blooming, occurring in 2008 at the age of 24, when he was invited to write a hip-hop musical version of 'Cinderella' for the Columbus Children's Theatre in Columbus, OH in 2009, which sold out its entire 13 show run.