Theatre Palisades YouthPresents

Book by Douglas Carter BeaneMusic and Lyrics by

Jeff Lynne and John FarrarBased on the Universal Pictures Film

Screenplay by Richard Danus & Marc RubelDirected and Choreographed by

Lara GanzMusical DirectorDana GreeneAssistant DirectorJenny JeromeProduced by

Jody CrabtreePresented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.Originally produced on Broadway by Robert Ahrens, Dan Vickery, Tara Smith/B. Swibel,

Sara Murchison/Dale Smith & Carl Smulyan

CAST OF CHARACTERS(in alphabetical order)

Medusa / Greek Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexandra AbrahamZeus / Greek Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabriella AbrahamMelpomone / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren BernsteinCalliope / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eliza ByrnesSonny Malone / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kerry CooperDanny / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rex CrabtreeKira-Clio / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isabella DixonMelpomone / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barrett EastmanHermes / Greek Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Callum GanzClotho (Fate) / Siren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mirielle GanzDanny / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rachel GrossmanErato / Patty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Safiye GurdilUrania / Centaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sophie HerronLachesis (Fate) / Siren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie Jeffers Sonny Malone / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nick JeffersThalia / Cyclops / Maxene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evangeline LindesCalliope / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emma LindgrenTerpsichore / Hera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Madeline MilamPolyhymnia / Laverne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lexie PalmerThetis / Greek Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cleo SchwartzEuterpe / Aphrodite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gwyneth SeelingerKira-Clio / Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riley Stoler

MUSICAL NUMBERSACT ONE“I’m Alive”“Magic”

“Evil Woman”“Suddenly”

“Whenever You’re Away From Me”“Dancin’ ”

“Strange Magic”“All Over the World”

ACT TWO“Don’t Walk Away”“Suspended in Time”

“Have You Never Been Mellow”“Xanadu”

What is THEATRE PALISADES YOUTH?TPY is the youth theater production group at the Pierson Playhouse in

Pacific Palisades for kids in grades 3-9. There are two productions a year:Winter and Summer. Winter productions have auditions in November, re-hearsals in January and February and then shows are usually late Februaryand early March.

Summer shows hold auditions in April, rehearsals in July and the showsare in late July and early August.These are professional quality shows per-formed in our 125-seat community theater, before paying audiences.

How can I get involved?The best way to find out about TPY

and how you can be a part of it is tofollow us @TPYouth on Twitter or onthe Theatre Palisades Facebook page.We will post there when auditions arefor Winter and Summer shows. Orcheck in on the Theatre Palisades web-site for all information about the Youthprogram www.theatrepalisades.org.

PRODUCTION STAFFCo-Stage Managers . . . . . . . . . . . Maria O’Connor, Josh HarperScenic Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sherman WayneSet Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Cooper, Jeff DixonSet Painting. . . . . Tania Collas, Sasha Galbraith, Tricia Taper,

Kendall Crabtree, Jocey CrabtreeLight & Sound Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy FrewLighting & Technical Support . . Clayton Collins, Dylan Port,

Jack JeffersProduction Assts / Running Crew . . . . . . . . . . Katie Reinhold,

Sandy Esperanza, Mia Ruhman, Maya Millner,Lily Koenig, Ethan Egilsson, Zoe Egilsson

Costume . . . . Adriana Ruhman, Erin Herron, Sarah Seelinger Hair & Make-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tricia Grossman, Erin Herron,

Ricarda Ankenbrand-Lindes, Cathy StallingsProps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erin Herron, Tania CollasConcessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vivica Schwartz, Alison Lindgren,

Emily Sikking, Christine AbrahamPublicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lara SchraderFinance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cindy BernsteinPhotography/Lobby Board . . . Regan Eastman, Alison LindgrenProgram Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Manfred HoferProgram Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cathy StallingsPoster Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne ReichBox Office Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diane Grant Feltham

PRODUCTION STAFF BIOSLara Ganz (Director and Choreographer) received her BA in Psychologyfrom UCLA, graduated from AMDA, school for performing arts in NYCand is currently studying to be a drama therapist. However, learning toparent her two enchanting children, Callum and Mireille, has been, by far,her greatest education. She feels extremely grateful for the uplifting ex-perience of working with the TPY members over the past 3 years. Shewould like to thank Jon, for well . . . EVERYthing. She thanks Cici andPapa for their inspiration, support and for always seeing the best in her.

Dana Greene (Musical Director) brings a lifetime of expertise to TheatrePalisades Youth. Veteran singer, musician, performer and a leading vocalteacher for children and emerging voices, she has brought her talents tothe Walt Disney Studios, serving as vocal coach for the movie Newsies,and conducts The New Moon Women’s Choir, a local choir in the Pali -sades. Her students have won high honors, including multiple Grand Prizewinners of the Music Center Spotlight Awards for non-classical voice,and are gracing Broadway stages and concert halls around the country.She runs To Dream Music Studios in Pacific Palisades with her husband,Jim Avakian.

Jenny Jerome (Assistant Director) is delighted to be working with sucha talented cast and TPY team. A native New Yorker who grew up in Brook-lyn Heights, she attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts in the Stella AdlerConservatory and worked at the Actors Studio in New York. She’s workedwith renowned directors Rob Reiner, Arthur Penn, Arthur Storch, AnneBogart, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson, James Nicola, ElizabethLeCompte, Marcia Haufrecht, Ellen Stewart and Judith Malina of theLiving Theatre, among others. Since moving to California she has beenworking with child and adult actors coaching privately and on-set for filmand TV in such wide ranging productions as Girl Meets World and JamesFranco’s Bukowski. She’s received several arts grants for writing and di-recting her plays and is now developing film and TV projects. She is theproud mother of three Palisadians, two of whom are in the Xanadu cast!

Jody Crabtree (Producer). This is Jody’s 5th time as producer for TheatrePalisades Youth. She last co-produced James the Giant Peach with AprilO’Sullivan. She was introduced to the program when her daughter Kendallwas cast in Willy Wonka, Jr. She earned her B.A. at Bucknell University.Her most recent theatre appearance was as Alice in Seven Brides forSeven Brothers in high school. She is a docent at the Getty Villa. Jodyis grateful for the opportunity to work with TPY, and thankful to everyonewho makes this show possible!

Maria O’Connor (Co-Stage Manager) is pleased to be returning to TPYas co-stage manager for Xanadu. Last season she assisted in James andThe Giant Peach and had a wonderful time with the talented cast andcrew! Maria is also an actress and has performed here at Theatre Pali -sades. Some of her favorite roles here have been Sister Woman in CatOn a Hot Tin Roof, Julie in Perfect Wedding and Suzanne in Don’t DressFor Dinner. She has also appeared in episodic television and independ-ent films. Cheers and enjoy the show!

Josh Harper (Co-Stage Manager) is thrilled to return for his 22nd pro-duction at the Pierson Playhouse. He started in 2010 as a member of thestage crew for TPY’s production of The Wind in the Willows and grew tobe a stage manager with both TPY and mainstage productions, while play-ing music and working full-time. In addition, Josh was associate producerfor five TPY shows and has made cameo appearances in Has AnybodyHere Seen Roy? and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. He wasmost recently stage manager and filled in on sound for The Spitfire Grill.“Break a leg!”

DIRECTOR’S NOTESA children’s musical based on a critically-annihilated 1980 movie about

a muse inspiring a frustrated Venice Beach-based artist to build a rollerdisco . . . Uh, like, totally, for sure!! Sign me up! As a child of the ‘80s, mygrandest wish was to be Olivia Newton-John. I spent my summers creat-ing and directing shows with my friends and, somehow, I managed toalways cast myself as a wholesome, soft-spoken, angelic Sandy fromGrease or Kira from Xanadu-type lead character. I even went so far as tospend a year in Australia as an exchange student, in hopes of becomingmore like my first muse, Olivia! And strangely, I, like Clio in Xanadu themusical version, developed a pretend Australian accent for a while(yikes!). When it came time to choose a summer show, Xanadu wasn’teven on my radar, but the muses stepped in and “destiny arrived.”Although the movie version of Xanadu was an easy target for film critics

and, apparently, the reason why the “Razzie awards” were invented, themusical version spells out its profound message. That is, in Zeus’s ownwords, “the greatest achievement any of you might hope for . . . To lovesomeone else and create art. That is . . . Xanadu!”There are many muses behind this production that I wish to thank.

When I think of our new musical director, Dana Greene, the first word thatpops into my mind is, appropriately, “MAGIC!” Thank you for sharing yourmagic with us, Dana! To Jenny Jerome, who is truly a muse’s muse, yourpresence, wisdom and expertise on all things theatrical is a gift from “theGods.” To Jody Crabtree, you are the backbone of TPY. There aren’tenough words to properly thank you for your tireless efforts as our fearlessproducer. And finally, to the muse children of TPY, “a million lights aredancing and there you are, the shooting STARS!” Thank you for “bringingall my dreams alive!”, as this production is truly a dream come true!Enjoy!

— Lara Ganz, TPY Program Director

Alexandra Abraham (Medusa/Greek Chorus) makes her debut appear-ance with TPY this season! After watching big sister Gabriella performingin TPY, she has been waiting for her chance to be a part of the show! Thisfall, Alex will be entering third grade at Notre Dame Academy ElementarySchool, where she hopes to find a fun and challenging theatre programto join. Since kindergarten, Alex has enjoyed performing in plays at Mar-quez Elementary School’s STAR program, under the direction of DorothyBlue. In addition to musical theatre, Alex also enjoys creating art, cook-ing, tap dancing, playing board games, traveling, being a Girl Scout andriding her bike. Alex thanks everyone for their love and support.

Gabriella Abraham (Zeus/Greek Chorus) rejoins the cast and crew ofTPY for her third performance! She played Pop Becker and the Ventrilo-quist/Dummy team in Bugsy Malone, Jr. and the Jester and Oswald (ofthe dragon bottom) in Doo-Wop Wed Widing Hood. This fall, she will beentering sixth grade at Notre Dame Academy Elementary School, whereshe looks forward to continuing with musical theatre. Gaby has enjoyedperforming in plays since the first grade at Marquez Elementary Schooland has played the role of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, Jr.and Homer in Charlotte’s Web. In addition to musical theatre, Gaby en-joys biking, skateboarding, playing guitar, reading, traveling, doing magictricks, being a Girl Scout and making people laugh. Gaby thanks herfamily and fellow cast members for their support and dedication.

Lauren Bernstein (Melpomone/Ensemble) is very excited to be perform-ing in this year’s TPY production of Xanadu Jr. She is thirteen years oldand will be starting ninth grade at Pali High this fall. Outside of theatre,Lauren enjoys dancing at the D.C. Dance Center. She spends manyhours in the studio where she takes jazz, ballet, pointe, tap, lyrical andcontemporary dance. Her other hobbies include sewing and sketching.

Eliza Byrnes (Calliope/Ensemble) is twelve years old and going into sev-enth grade at Our Lady of Malibu. She has been singing since she wastwo years old and performed in her first play when she was just five atYoung Actors Project in Malibu. This is her second production with TPYand she is thrilled to be playing Euterpe (muse) and an Andrew’s sister.Previously she played Ladybug in James and the Giant Peach at TPY,Elsa in Frozen at the Malibu Playhouse and was one of The Stepsistersin Cinderella. She is so excited to be doing her second show at TPY!

CAST BIOS

Kerry Cooper (Sonny Malone/Ensemble) is excited to be returning toher seventh show here at Theatre Palisades. Previously, she has playedSponge in James and the Giant Peach, Blousey in Bugsy Malone Jr., theQueen in Doo-Wop Wed Widing Hood, Pinocchio in Shrek the Musical,Old Weeping Lady #2 in The Ever After—A Musical and Phelicia Troutin Willy Wonka Jr., along with making appearances in school plays. Shehas written and starred in two short films for Paul Revere Middle School’sannual film festival, such as her first place live-action short ParanormalActivity and second place for her live action short Sockspeare in 2015.Kerry plays the tuba in her school’s concert and jazz band and spendsher free time sending audition tapes to Hamilton (all of which have sofar been unsuccessful).

Rex Crabtree (Danny/Ensemble) is thrilled to return for his fifth show atTheatre Palisades. He is ten years old and entering fourth grade at Cal-vary in the fall. Rex’s previous theater roles at Theatre Palisades includeCentipede in James and the Giant Peach, Dandy Dan in Bugsy Malone,Jr., a knight in Shrek, The Musical and Sam in The Ever After—A Musical.His interests outside the theater include basketball, Minecraft, playingwith his dog and golf.

Isabella Dixon (Kira-Clio/Ensemble) is once again over the moon to bea member of the amazing family here at TPY. As soon as she found outshe was playing Kira, she has spent every single night since on her rollerskates, honing her skills. This is her fourth production with TPY, previ-ously playing Emma in Doo-Wop Wed Widing Hood, Fat Sam in BugsyMalone, Jr. and James in James and the Giant Peach, Jr. Bella is head-ing into the eighth grade at Paul Revere Middle School and her parentsstill can’t fully comprehend it. She plays the guitar, keyboard and drums,and enjoys everything musical. She’s obsessed with Hamilton and willrap any song from it on cue. She thanks Lara and every single memberof the TPY family for making this amazing experience special. She alsothanks her family for their endless support and for tirelessly dealing withher Hamilton infatuation.

Barrett Eastman (Melpomone/Ensemble) is eleven years old and superexcited to be appearing in her second show at Theater Palisades. Shewill be entering fifth grade at Corpus Christi School this fall. Barrett’s pre-vious theater roles include The Music Man, You’re a Good Man CharlieBrown, Fiddler on the Roof, Bugsy Malone, Ruthless, Into the Woods,Matilda and Frozen. Singing and acting are Barrett’s greatest passions!Barrett also enjoys reading, skiing, ice skating, being a Junior Girl Scout,making music videos and having fun with family and friends.

Callum Ganz (Hermes) is making his debut performance at Theatre Pal-isades! When not performing musicals about Greek gods in Venice (CA)in the ‘80’s (1980s), Callum enjoys soccer, swimming, playing drums andpiano and memorizing the names and abilities of all 700+ Pokemon.

Mireille Ganz (Clotho [Fate]/Siren) is making her debut performance atTheatre Palisades! When not gliding about on stage, Mireille enjoys glid-ing about in general; ballet, tap and hip hop dancing; singing; swimming,monkey bars; designing clothing for puppies; and everything to do withBeanie Boos (and puppies).

Rachel Grossman (Danny/Ensemble) is going to be an eighth graderat New West Charter and is so excited to be performing in her seventhTPY show. She starred as James in James and the Giant Peach, BlouseyBrown in Bugsy Malone Jr., Fiona the Ogre in Shrek the Musical and wasCinderella in The Ever After—A Musical. Singing, acting and exploringare her greatest passions. She also absolutely loves Dr. Who and basi-cally anything and everything related to cats. Rachel would like to thankher wonderful family for supporting her in whatever she does (sometimesit’s outrageous) and letting her be a part of TPY.

Safiye Gurdil (Erato/Patty) will be entering fifth grade at Palisades El-ementary in the fall. Safiye loves music and plays violin in the Children’sMusic Workshop All Schools Honor Chamber Orchestra, which performedat UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall in May. Safiye also loves art and cats, butmost of all, she loves Theatre Palisades Youth! She performed with TPYfor the first time in their recent production of James and the Giant Peach,playing the roles of Chris Cryermouth and Bitsy Botana. Safiye is thrilledto be part of another amazing TPY production and would like to thankLara, Jenny and all the TPY staff for making TPY such a wonderful the-atrical experience!

Sophie Herron (Urania/Centaur) is thrilled to participate in her first showwith Theatre Palisades Youth. Soon to be a fifth grader at Palisades El-ementary, Sophie appeared in two Star theater productions last year:Two Sides to Every Story (Eve) and Screen Time (Zombie Kid 6). In ad-dition to acting, Sophie enjoys reading, writing, swimming and playingwith her dog Boomer. She would like to thank her parents for encouragingher to try new things and she thanks TPY for this fun opportunity!

Katie Jeffers (Lachesis [Fate]/Siren) is very excited to be making her TPYdebut. She has previously performed in many ballet recitals, and at schoolhas played Mary in Mary and Joseph, the Princess in Princess and thePea, Cordelia in King Lear and one of the three witches in Macbeth.She also had fun doing a Broadway review at Adderley where she sang“Loathing” from Wicked as Glinda. At home, she has written and per-formed many plays, skits and songs, her favorite things in the world todo. She loves nature, art and skiing. She would like to thank her mother,father, two brothers and extended family.Nick Jeffers (Sonny Malone/Ensemble) is ten years old and going intothe sixth grade. He is so happy to be back at TPY after performing in lastsummer’s smash hit Bugsy Malone as Ritzy and Paperboy, and wherehe was bitten by the theatre bug. Since then, Nick has sung on the DolbyTheatre stage with Andrea Bocelli in Great Performances’ “Cinema” whichaired on PBS, played Schroeder in Charlie Brown, Perchik in Fiddler onthe Roof and Daddy Warbucks in Annie. He’s loved writing and performingstand-up comedy and enjoys writing songs, stories and plays. His favoritesports are skiing and swimming. He wants to thank his mom and dadand brother and sister and pets and friends and extended family and TPYand pretty much everybody he knows.Evangeline Lindes (Thalia/Cyclops/Maxene) is excited to make her TPYdebut this summer in Xanadu, Jr. She just finished fourth grade at Pali El-ementary. She has been performing since she was three years old andhas performed and studied acting at the Santa Monica Playhouse andGary Spatz’s The Playground Young Actor’s Conservatory and MargieHaber Studio. She is currently studying acting with John Kirby, VO withLynnanne Zager and singing with Mika Newton. She has been in severalcommercials and global print campaigns like Disney and Tommy Hilfiger,a TV pilot and did VO for a TV show. In 2016 she shot a fantasy movieand has an editorial in the 2016 March issue of Ellemagazine. She wouldlike to thank her parents and grandma for all of their love, inspirationand support to pursue her acting and singing career dreams.Emma Lindgren (Calliope/Ensemble) is excited to rejoin the cast andcrew of Theatre Palisades Youth for her second performance! Sheplayed Shake Down Louis in last summer’s TPY production of BugsyMalone Jr. and most recently played James Madison in her school’sproduction of Miracle in Philadelphia. Emma is eleven years old andgoing into sixth grade at Berkeley Hall School. She enjoys musical the-ater, singing, dancing, acting, bike riding, swimming and spending timewith friends. She would like to thank her family, friends and teachersfor all of their love, support and encouragement.

Madeline Milam (Terpsichore/Hera) is eleven years old currently goinginto sixth grade at The Mirman School. She has most recently performedin the Adderley School performances of Into the Woods as the Witch andthen as Yente in the Arte performance of Fiddler on the Roof. She playsbasketball, volleyball and softball and is in a theater on ice production.Lexie Palmer (Polyhymnia/Laverne) is excited to be in her first TPYshow! She loves musical theatre and has been in nine Adderley/AdderleyARTE shows, with favorites being Wicked (Elphaba) and You’re a GoodMan, Charlie Brown (Sally). It was also a thrill to be in Brentwood School’sAll-School Musical Les Misérables (Young Cosette). Favorite hobbies in-clude tap dancing, piano, voice, soccer, writing and drawing. Huge hugsto her family, friends and dogs. Heartfelt thanks to her music, musicaltheatre and tap teachers.Cleo Schwartz (Thetis/Greek Chorus) will be making her TPY debutthis year. She is a fifth grader at Manzanita School in Topanga Canyonwho loves to sing and act. She has appeared in Aladdin and Peter Panat Topanga Elementary School and has years of experience singingsolos at camp cabaret. Cleo is a competitive gymnast and spends alotof her free time learning new gymnastics skills. She is also passionateabout reading and dancing.

Gwyneth Seelinger (Euterpe/Aphrodite) is in the fifth grade and this isher second TPY Production. Gwyneth has performed in James and theGiant Peach (TPY), Hairspray—A Dee-Lightful Production and A Midsum-mer Night’s Dream at the Theatricum Botanicum Shakespeare Camp.She would like to thank her mom and dad, her voice coach Beth An-dersen, Lara and the staff at TPY.

Riley Stoler (Kira-Clio/Ensemble) is heading into sixth grade at New WestCharter. This is her seventh show with TPY. Some of her favorite TPYroles are Spiker in James and the Giant Peach, Lord Faarquad in Shrek,The Musical and The Mirror in The Ever After—A Musical. When not per-forming, Riley practices flying trapeze and aerial arts, makes short films,draws, plays flute and piano, loves zip lining and any activity where herparents are required to sign a liability waiver. What she really wants to dois direct. She hopes to learn to skydive and to not fall onstage in her rollerskates. She would like to thank her parents, her sister, Morgan and theentire TPY Team!