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 Chris
Afendoulis
(Mr. Salt) returns to the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Stage after a 32
year sabbatical to be a part of this production of Willy
Wonka. His first show with the Civic was Rip
Van Winkle in 1970, and went on to appear in Wizard of Oz as a Munchkin and The
King and I as Prince Chululonghorn in 1977. While in high school,
Chris also appeared in Mame
and You Can’t Take It With You as Grandpa.
Chris sends special thanks to his mother, Tina and late father, Sam, for
instilling an appreciation of the arts and a love of the theatre. Lots
of love to Phyllis, Mari, Elena and Sophia.
 Elena
Afendoulis (Oompa Loompa) makes her Civic debut with this showing
of Willy Wonka. Elena is completing
3rd grade at Collins Elementary and excels in the Fine Arts.
She recently had a solo in the Collins Annual School Spring Sing and
won the 2nd place Kent Country Farm Bureau Award for her
original drawing. She takes gymnastics, is learning Greek and is a Suzuki
Piano Student. Elena thanks her Thea CK for her auditioning guidance
and her Mom, Dad and sisters: Mari & Sophia for all their love and
support.
 Nate
Altena (Oompa Loompa) makes his GRCT debut with Willy
Wonka, though he is no stranger to the theatre, as he was a part
of the School of Theatre
Arts here at the Civic, and has appeared in The
Frog Prince and Jack and the Beanstalk with Missoula Children’s
Theatre and Cinderella with
Jenison
High School. Nate is also a member of the
Jenison Elementary Schools honors choir and plays piano and violin.
 Carlee
Bleeker (Oompa Loompa) is welcomed back to the Grand Rapids Civic
Theatre after appearing as Bethany in The Miracle Worker. A member of the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre School
of Theatre Arts, Carlee takes Song and Dance Classes. She has also recently
appeared in Little Women as
Annie Moffat with Rouge River Theatre. Carlee is a solo performer for
Lakes Musical Production and is a part of gymnastics and diving teams.
“Carlee would like to dedicate her performance to the memory of her Grandma
Pam Buckner “
 Sophie
Bolen (Oompa Loompa) is coming back to the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre stage
after appearing in Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing and
The Sound of Music in which she played Gretl. Sophie is a member
of the School of Theatre Arts, having attended Kidsplay
Kamp for three years. She has also performed with Master Arts Theatre,
Thebes Players and Forest
Hills Central
High School. Sophie
is a 3rd grader at Ada Elementary and shows dogs and horses.
Thank you to Robbin DeMeester for launching my love of theatre
and to Kathy Wagner "you rock!"
 Ben
Donaghy (Alfie/Cook) returns
to the Civic stage after appearing in Jungle
Book in ’06 as well as Rumplestiltskin
and Story Problem with the
Civic Theatre School of Theatre Arts, which Ben had been a part of for
four years. He is a member of the National Junior Honors Society, a
talented artist and carver, and also plays soccer.
 Jaiman
D. Fisher (Mr. Bucket) returns to the Grand Rapids Civic stage after
first appearing in Born Yesterday, as well as Arsenic and Old Lace and Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse. With Stage
Door Players, Jaiman played Eeyore in Eeyore’s
Christmas Present; Third Coast Theatre (Saugatuck): Raucous Romance; Grand
Valley State
University: Dracula the Musical; Walt Disney World:
Legend of the Lion King (Puppeteer). This
one is for Addie and Everett: Magic is real!
 Troy
Gotch (Danny/Cook) is making his Civic Theatre debut with Willy
Wonka. His other theatre credits include Mulan
as Shan Yu with Youth Theatre Grand Rapids; Schoolhouse
Rock, Jungle Book (Baloo
the Bear), and Aladdin (Sultan)
with Lakeside Elementary as well as Cabaret
with EGR
Middle School. Troy plays football, has won first place in
RoboCross for Science Olympiad, and likes to juggle and do handstands
and has the best evil laugh ever.
 Patrick
Jackson (Oompa Loompa) is appearing for the very first time on the
main stage at the Civic Theatre with this production of Willy
Wonka. He is also currently enrolled in GRCT’s School
of Theatre Arts.
Besides this show, Patrick also played Jackie in Cheaper
by the Dozen at Kent
Theater. He enjoyed
performing in Odyssey of the Mind this year, and is very excited to
be performing at the Civic, especially as an Oompa Loompa!
 Christine
James (Grandma Josephine) returns to the GRCT stage after a short
sabbatical starting after her last show with us, The
Velveteen Rabbit, as well as her first show: Free
to Be, You and Me. Christine is a graduate of the University
of Kentucky and Eastern
Kentucky University,
and currently is working as a zoning administrator for Cannon Township.
Thanks to her family for all their support!
 Donovan Jewell (Oompa Loompa) makes his debut on the Civic stage with this production,
though he has enrolled in summer camps with the School of Theatre Arts.
With Rogue River Theatre he has been a part of Scrooge’s Awakening, he played Ignorance, and Peter Barret. Donovan
plays club soccer on a U9 team for SCOR, and is in Kids Christmas Choir
at OLC. “Thanks to Coach Dulak for letting me get out of practice so
I can be in the show. Thanks to Mom and Dad for driving to rehearsal
and Cullan and Connor for being so excited for me.”
 Sophia
Luettke (Oompa Loompa) is welcomed to the cast of Willy
Wonka, marking her first show with Civic.
Her other performance credits include: Youth Theatre Grand Rapids: Mulan (Ancestor/Dressmaker); Lakeside Elementary:
Willy Wonka Jr., Jungle Book, Aladdin, and Schoolhouse Rock;
GR Ballet: The Nutcracker
(’06-’08). Sophia has studied at the Grand Rapids Ballet Company for
six years. She enjoys ballet, acting, singing, horseback riding,
tennis, and swimming.
 Cash
Maciel (Augustus Gloop)-- joins
the Civic Theatre family for his debut production of Willy
Wonka. His other show credits include Oliver
Twist , and Vaudville in My
Heart with Rouge River Theatre, as well as A
Mixed-up Fairy Tale at East
Rockford Middle
School. Cash has been taking performance
classes at the Grand Rapids Civic School of Theatre Arts and loves singing
and acting.
 Scott Mellema (Willy Wonka) has appeared in 1776
(John Dickinson), Music Man
(Harold Hill) and Crossing Delancy
(Tyler Moss) with GRCT. Other performance credits: Actors’ Theatre:
Tick, Tick… BOOM! (Michael); Circle Theatre:
Baby (Nick), Evita (Che), Lucky Stiff (Harry Witherspoon), Forever Plaid (Sparky); Film: Offspring.
Scott’s directing credits: Director-Circle Theatre: Smokey Joe’s Café (Grand Award- Best Musical), The Nerd, and Camping with Henry
and Tom; Asst. Director – GRCT: Grease. Scott
teaches Theatre and English at East
Kentwood High
School where he is a founding member of
the school's Theatre department. "I would like to thank my
wife Cinnamon for all her love and support. I am dedicating my work
in this production to my children Reilly and Johnnie, who make every
day of my life a work of pure imagination.”
 Christiana Moody (Oompa Loompa) makes a debut performance with this production for the
Civic, although she has performed in various other shows. With the Homeschool
Performing Arts she appeared in Christmas
Carol as Grace Smythe, Jungle
Book as Shanti, and Suessical
as a Who Child. With FBC Middleville she played an Orphan Girl/Penny
in Annie. She was also a school girl in Jane Eyre at Cornerstone University.
Christiana plays cello and loves soccer, swimming, summer camp, horses,
and rabbits.
 Jessi Nahikian (Veruca Salt) returns to the Civic stage after appearing in Miss Nelson Is Missing and studying with
GRCT’s School
of Theatre Arts. She has also performed in
Honk! and Jane Eyre at Cornerstone
University. Jessi
has attended Interlochen Fine Arts Camp for four years and worked with
Forest Hills Northern choirs for the past 3 years.
She has danced for four years with the Grand Rapids Ballet Company
and studies voice under Charles Hutchins. “Thank you to everyone for
always being there, and Josh for always believing in me and being my
best friend. Mom and Dad, you guys amaze me, I love you! I am so blessed.”
 Edward
Jay Nelson (Grandpa George) has been involved with many plays at
Civic, twenty-one of them to be exact! His first show with GRCT was
A Flea in Her Ear in 1992.
He is very involved with GRCT’s Summer Repertory Theatre, Traveling
Troupe, and is an instructor for Civic’s School of Theatre Arts.
Ed has appeared at Jewish Theatre, Circle Theatre, Madame Babe’s, Ladies
Literary Club, and Actor’s Theatre. Ed was last seen on stage here at
the Civic as Mr. Marks/Scott of Roger’s Team/Ensemble in The Producers. Check out Edward this Christmas in the Charles Lloyd
Production of “Little Red Riding Hood” at the Wealthy Theatre.
 Patrick
Nowak (Mike Teavee) is a student of the GRCT School of Theatre Arts
and a familiar volunteer at the theatre. Past credits include Miss
Nelson is Missing, Nate the
Great, Junie B. Jones and The Wizard of Oz. Other area credits include Pippin, Snow White and Tommy at Circle Theatre. Patrick has worked
with Opera Grand Rapids in Carmen,
Cornerstone
University in Honk!, and dances with Creative Arts Repertoire Ensemble.
Maggie Nye (Violet Beauregarde)
returns to the Civic Theatre after appearing in various shows including
The Adventures of Madeline, Harriet the Spy, Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan,
Miss Nelson is Missing and High School Musical with the School of Theatre Arts’ Summer Repertory Theatre.
She has also been seen out in the community in: Nine (Little Guido) and Oliver!
with Circle Theatre; Beauty and
the Beast, Metamorphoses,
and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie) with
BCHS Fine Arts. “Thanks for everything Penny, my friends, my family,
God, and especially J for your undying support!”
 Deborah Perkins (Mrs. Gloop) is performing for the first time with the Civic Theatre in
this production of Willy Wonka.
With Master Arts Theatre, Deborah is a member of the Street Theatre
Troupe and has performed in The
Homecoming and Sense and Sensibility. In high school she
appeared in You Can’t Take It
With You and played orchestra for both Fiddler
on the Roof and Scrooge
in college. Deborah taught woodwinds and flutes with several West Michigan
bands, and directs several music and theatre productions through various
homeschool groups.
 Karan Blakeley Petkus (Grandma Georgina) is welcomed back onstage after having
appeared with us in Tales of a
4th Grade Nothing as Mrs. Yarby and in The
Sound of Music as Frau Schmidt. During college, she helped with
University of Oklahoma’s radio station KGOU. As her day job, Karan is
a client service rep for Spectrum Health Lab.
 Leanne
Challa Rumery (Ms. Beauregarde) is welcomed back to the Civic stage
after appearing in Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret. With Riverbend Players, Leanne
was seen in Oliver!, and with
LLC she appeared in Quilters.
While at the University of Michigan, she played in Chicago,
Guys and Dolls, Grease and West Side Story;
and while in high school, Leanne found a place in The Boyfriend and Oklahoma.
Thanks to her family for all their support!
 Madeline
Ryan (Oompa Loompa)
is returning to the GRCT stage after appearing in The
Sound of Music as Marta and Bunnicula
as the title role. She also is a student of the GRCT School of Theater
Arts. Madeline has appeared in The Sound of Music at Forest Hills Central, in Tosca with Opera Grand Rapids, and Seussical at Cornerstone University. A 6th grader at Goodwillie
Environmental School, Madeline loves to Irish Dance, and play
soccer.
 Mackenzie
Segard (Sophie/Cook) is welcomed back to the stage with her second
show here at GRCT, her first being The Sound of Music in which she played
Brigitta. Other credits include Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the children’s chorus with
Hudsonville High School and Hark
Up at Fair Haven Ministries. Mackenzie currently plays the role
of Hope Morrison on “Down Gilead Lane,” a radio show through CBH Ministries.
She is a student at GRCT School of Theatre Arts. Mackenzie would like
to thank her friends and family for their encouragement and support
and to Marissa for being the best friend ever.
 Kaitlyn Victoria Squires (Oompa Loompa) is thrilled to be returning to the Civic
after appearing in The Miracle
Worker as Helen Keller. Kaitlyn has performed at her school and
church in productions of Discover,
Miracle on Main Street, and Little House on the Prairie, in which
she played Laura Ingalls. She also performed in Dr. DoLittle at Master Arts Theatre as Dab Dab the Duck, and has been
spotted in the movie “Hopeful Notes” that was recently shot in Grand
Rapids as Sandra, a young leukemia patient.
 Eva Switek
(Mrs. Teavee) For over 25 years Eva has been involved in just about
every theatre in the area, and she has proudly earned the title of Veteran
Theatre Performer. Some of her favorites include A
Chorus Line (Diana), Cinderella
(Stepmother), Annie (Miss
Hannigan), Fiddler on the Roof (Tzeitle), Wizard of Oz (The Wicked Witch of the West),
all at Civic. Other favorites are Tony
and Tina’s Wedding, Beauty
and the Beast, Beehive, The
Taffetas, and Six Woman with
Brain Death. Eva would like to thank her husband, Daniel for his
constant love and support in all her endeavors.
Rob Thomasma
(Grandpa Joe) has been a part of local theatre for many years, with
his first show at Civic being The
Wizard of Oz (’64). Other credits with the Civic include: Arsenic and Old Lace, Hello
Dolly, Dearly Departed,
Oliver! and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Rob’s other past shows
are: Sweeney Todd, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sunday in the Park with George, Jeffery, Whose Life is it Anyway, Assassins
and many, many more! Backstage Rob is often a consultant for wigs and
make-up. This past fall he designed
all the make-up for the actors of 1776, as well as maintaining the 27
wigs for the production. This
year marks Rob’s 21st year as Wig and Makeup coordinator
for Opera Grand Rapids. Rob has also won various awards, such as the
Norma Brink Service Award, the Actors’ Theatre Backstage Award, and
the Grand Award Special Service Award.
 Joseph
Valente (Phineous Trout) returns to the Civic stage after appearing
in High School Musical last summer with the School of Theatre Art’s Summer
Repertory Theatre. A freshman at Aquinas, Joe has appeared in Esperanza Rising, The Misanthrope, and The Arabian
Nights. While at Catholic Central High School, his theatre credits
included: You Can’t Take It With
You (Martin Vanderhot), Into
the Woods, Merry Wives of Windsor, The Diary of Anne Frank, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Romeo and Juliet. Also when at Catholic
Central, he was the recipient of the Theatre Award.
 Mia
M. Van Erp (Oompa Loompa)
appears for the first time at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre in Willy Wonka, though she has participated
in the summer camp with Civic. She has performed in a number of productions
with Children’s Creations and in several ballets with Judy Jensen (love
ya!!) at C.A.R.E. She is also
studying voice with Kathy Wagner (you rock!!). Currently, she is in
the 5th grade at Northern Trails. GHV
 Abby
Van Slooten (Billie/Cook) is welcomed back to the Civic after appearing
in her first show, Miss Nelson is Missing as well as the Grand
Rapids Civic Theatre’s School of Theatre Art’s Phase II show Pandora’s Box. She has taken classes at Dance Dimensions, and
other classes with the GRCT School of Theatre Arts. She performed as Brigitta in The Sound of Music at Forest Hills Central,
and was the Top Novice Compitition Dance Solo in 2008 and 2009.
 L.
William Vicari (James/Cook) is a familiar face at the Civic, as
he has appeared in numerous shows, attended the School of Theatre Arts
as well as T.A’ed summer camps, and crewed backstage. His onstage credits
with the Civic include: Really
Rosie (Chicken Soup), Sound
of Music (’07 as Kurt), Nate
The Great (Nate), and Miss
Nelson is Missing (Robbie.) Other stage credits: La
Boheme (Opera G.R.), Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (National Tour), and Snow
White (Circle Theatre).“Special Thanks to my parents for their love
and support, Kathy for being an awesome vocal coach, Amie Baj for being
an awesome SM, and Penny for this amazing opportunity!”
 Jenna Walker Weisman (Mrs. Bucket)
has recently moved back to Michigan with her family, and is making her
first ever appearance on the Civic stage! An avid actress, some of her
favorite roles have included the First Wife in The King and I,
The Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, (Orem,
UT,) Anne in A Little Night Music, (Kalamazoo Civic Theatre;)
Favorite High School Credits: Sharon in Finian’s Rainbow,
Charity Barnum in Barnum. Jenna has also done vocal session recording
work, was the lead actor in a film project for a leading manufacturer,
and is an accomplished pianist and harpist.
 Kohl A. Weisman (Charlie Bucket) is welcomed to the Civic Theatre and to Grand Rapids
with this production of Willy
Wonka. At Cherry Hill Theatre in Orem, Utah, Kohl played Rooster
in Annie Jr., Curly in Oklahoma Jr., and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls Jr. Then, with SCERA, also in Utah, he played the First
Son in The King and I. Kohl
is a 4.0 student who plays guitar, drums and clarinet, and enjoys composing
music, creative writing and playing computer games.
 Amanda Wright (Matilda/Cook) is a veteran of the Civic stage, first appearing in Cinderella (’03) and continuing on with
The Music Man, Oklahoma!, Junie B. Jones: The
Musical as the title role, and Bunnicula
as Toby. She is a student of the School of Theatre Arts. Other stage
credits: Circle Theatre: Snow
White and Oliver; Heritage Theatre Group: Metamorphoses; Cornerstone University:
Meet Me in St. Louis, Wait Until Dark, Jane Eyre: The Musical, The
Traveling Lady, and Suessical;
Opera GR: Tosca. She has been
a part of the winning Grand Award ensembles for: Wait
Until Dark and Metamorphoses.
Amanda is a freelance voice talent and recorded songs for School Zone
Publishing. “Love to my parents & God who makes it all
possible."
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