hen this show was commissioned, two key people spearheaded the project. Without them and their incredible faith in Trudee as a writer and musician, the show would never have come to be. It was Julie Underhill, a board member at KCP who conceived of combining character education with fairy tales to create a show. It was a brilliant idea, and the Character Education consultants in the area think so too.

Another board member, Lorie Hanley, agreed to direct the show, but she did so much more than that. Getting the cast from school to school, solving set dilemmas — when anything didn’t work, it was usually Lorie who found the solution.

Lorie and her production team cast, coached and directed two full sets of characters so that these young players could alternate performance days, thereby missing only five school days of the ten-day performance schedule. As a result, the two casts worked incredibly closely. Though each performer had a slightly different take on his or her role, the entire team should be credited with building this show into the successful production that it was.

The show can be performed with a cast of 17 or with some parts doubled, as KCP chose to do, with a cast of 13.

Original Cast(s)
Character Ed/Mean Duck – Marissa Bale and Amber Murphy
Guard – Chris Woolsey and Alex Swift
King – Josef Hanik and Austin Vair
Brigit’s Mother/Mother Duck – Jessica Little and Kaitlin Scott
Hansel & Gretel’s Mother/Swan – Kaitlyn Veitch and Mercedes Scaife
Gretel – Alex Fisher and Taylor Giovenazzo
Brigit – Madeline Ritchie and Erin Coon
Father – Ben Patterson and Ryan LaPlante
Hansel – Ryan Hanley and Chris Gattrell
Second Duck/Witch – Renée Nat and Lauren Walters
Third Duck – Mallory Watson and Kathryn Counter
Rumpelstiltskin – Ryan Roach and Luke LaPlante
Ugly Duckling – Katie Whelan

See photos and clips from the original show.

Production Team
Director – Lorie Hanley
Assistant Director – Linda Watson
Music Director – Victoria McDonald
Assistant Music Director – Heather Hauck
Choreographer – Carla Tucker
Stage Manager – Haley Watson
Costume Designer – Jill LaPlante
Set Designer – Janet Ness
Set Builders – Chris Ness, Chris Taylor, the Integrated ARTS students at Innisdale Secondary School, Mr. Riopelle’s Grade 10 Woodworking class, John Hanley, Bill Anderson
Producer – Bob Buckley
Understudies – Haley Watson, Mike Sturgess, Ryan LaPlante
Backstage Crew – Mike Sturgess, Yerina Kim, Arianna Vegter, Mike Smusiak
Musical Arrangements and Production – Trudee Romanek
Musical Consultants – Mark Hathaway and Rob Romanek


KCP Board of Directors 2005-2006
Chair – Glenn Krelove
Vice Chair – Lorie Hanley
Secretary – Linda Watson
Treasurer – Janis Dalton
Members-at-Large – Jim Bewick, Nick Brooks, Julie Underhill, Brenda Thompson
Past Chair – Deane Hay
Producer – Bob Buckley

See photos and clips from the original show.