A Chorus Line (Nov 2024) — Happily Ever After Productions (2024)

About the Cast

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  Yorgos Gerakianakis

  AL

  Yorgos is a Leo, so please excuse the self indulgence that’s about to follow. He studied Architecture, yet he doesn’t consider himself technical enough to be an Architect. During those years, he also completed his studies in classical singing but soon realised he doesn’t take himself seriously enough to be an Opera singer. 
Originally from Greece, he moved to the Netherlands a few years ago after an early mid-life crisis, to bring some sass and drama to Amsterdam(a). Now that he has finally settled here, he is using his singing talents to work on an electronic music project, a big departure from his operatic background. Outside his artistic endeavors, he is a Creative Content Designer for a perfume company, so despite the sweat during the dance rehearsals, he will always smell nice. 
A Chorus Line will mark his debut in the Dutch musical scene, although he was a fierce Catherine of Aragon in the HEA musical bootcamp of SIX - or at least, that’s what he thinks.

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  Mahila Baut

  BEBE

  Mahila is a twenty-two year old actor, singer and performer. Originally from Luxembourg, she graduated from a Performing Arts Bachelors in England, before moving to Amsterdam and work as a freelance performer. You might have seen Mahila in past HEA's productions: Mona in "Chicago", or Chloe in "Be More Chill". Mahila has also been releasing her own music "Mæhila" and plays shows in Amsterdam. Interested in following her career? check out her instagram: @m88hila

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  Alissa Kos

  BEBE and VAL U/S | ENSEMBLE

  Alissa is 20 years old and was born and raised in the Netherlands. She started singing when she was six and joined a theatre school at seven years old. Here, she developed her love for musicals and played in musicals like Fame, Legally Blonde and Hairspray.

  Currently she’s studying pedagogical science, but she’s still busy with singing, dancing and music. She has every intention to follow an education in theatre after she's done. Last year she played Christine in HEA’s Be More Chill after participating in a musical karaoke night. She is thrilled to be part of a production again.

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  Antonio Vasco

  BOBBY

  Antonio is Portuguese born in Brazil and has been on stage since he was 4. In the past 8 years has grown in his Musical Theater career after studying Professional Musical theatre based on Trinity College. Being cast in A Chorus Line is amazing because this was how he got to know HEA, doing a workshop for the same show! He played in several musical productions including Hairspray, Chicago and Cinderella!

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  Justyna Borowiecka

  CASSIE

  Passionate performer since 5 years old when mom took her to the local music group for vocal and dance classes. She developed principally as an all-round dancer, eventually performing in artistic and commercial projects, and national and international championships in different dance styles from Lublin, Poland - where she was born through Warsaw, Milan, Paris and now Amsterdam. The Netherlands became a place to reconnect all of her artistic worlds. Through acting, singing and dancing workshops at Act Attack and Cauldron, she discovered HEA, participated in their Bootcamp and decided to audition for Chicago. She enjoyed immensely playing Hunyak and being dance captain for Chicago Revival. This spring she had the pleasure of joining a magical world in Cinderella musical by HEAas an ensemble, a featured dancer and co-dance captain.She is thrilled to embody Cassie Ferguson in an iconic Chorus Line Musical and can’t wait to attend a Musical Theater training at Mountivew Drama School in London this summer.

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  Eva Killen

  CASSIE

  Eva is a Dutch teacher at a (Hogwarts-like) school in Heemstede. Professionally, she also freelances as a chairperson/moderator and career coach. Eva has danced through life ever since she was a little girl. Over the past decade she added acting and singing to her competencies as a performing artist. To be cast in A Chorus Line is a dream come true for Eva, especially in the role of Cassie, her absolute bucket-list role (ever since she was a young girl). Eva has played in several musical productions, amongst which Legally Blonde, Follies, Chicago and Chess. Eva lives in Overveen with her husband and their three gorgeous boys.

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  Tsnatee Elisa

  CONNIE

  Tsnatee, born on Curaçao, is a speaker, trainer and presenter who energizes and empowers her audience with her workshops and presentations on personal branding, career happiness and cultural diversity. In 2022 she decided to delve back into her passions: musical! Since then she hasn’t left the stage performing in Chicago The Musical and Chicago Revival (as June) Be More Chill (as Jenna Rolan) Moby Dick the Musical (as Ensemble & Solist) Koffie Verkeerd (as Georgina) and Cinderella The Musical (as Charlotte, the sassy step-sister). Chorus line will be her 7th production since she’s back on stage! And she’s not stopping anytime soon!

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  Alex Mukmanova

  DIANA

  Alex Mukmanova is a seasoned musical theatre actor with over a decade of on-stage experience. She played lead roles in Moscow's all-female theatre for seven seasons, guest-starred in a rock opera, and held solo concerts before moving to Amsterdam in 2022. In Amsterdam, she continued her stage career with roles such as Morticia in "The Addams Family" (Cauldron), Lord Pinkleton in HEA's "Cinderella," and the Lady of the Lake in HEA's "Spamalot." Alex is honored and thrilled to portray Diana—a character whose story feels close to home.

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  Joanna Lucas

  DIANA U/S

  Joanna is a professional actress from the UK, performing for stage, screen, commercials and voiceover. Since graduating from Drama Studio London in 2013 she has worked in a variety of productions, including new writing, musicals, pantomimes, comedy and plenty of Shakespeare. In Amsterdam she has performed with Orange Theatre Company in The B Word, and arranged the musical harmonies for their 2022 and 2023 productions of A Christmas Carol. In 2023 she joined the ensemble of HAG, a physical theatre piece by Cezanne Tegelburg & Co, touring the Netherlands. Now with two young boys, Joanna also teaches, facilitating theatre workshops for schools, teaching for STET and Act Attack and co-running OTC Youth Theatre here in Amsterdam. She is delighted to be stretching her theatre muscles once more and joining the cast of A Chorus Line, a musical she has loved since she used to belt out the numbers in her bedroom as a teenager.

  www.joannalucas.com

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  Niels van der Linden

  DON

  As a programmer and educator for Stadsschouwburg Haarlem, Niels basically lives in the theatre. He is thrilled to be making his HEAP-debut in a show as legendary as A Chorus Line and is very thankful for the opportunity to sink his teeth into this amazing material. Just like every other musical theatre nerd he has screamed “5, 6, 7, 8” to himself in his living room before bursting into the famous opening dance.

  Over the past few years Niels has played roles such as Big Daddy Brubeck in Sweet Charity, Buddy Plummer in Follies, Mary Sunshine in Chicago, La Fleur in Nine, Ché in Evita and Jules in Foxtrot.

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  Raphael Dias e Silva

  GREG

  Raphael is a Exhibitions Manager by trade, working with international photojournalism discussing human rights via the lens of culture. By heart, he is a complete theater geek loving all things drama and performance. He is thrilled to join this iconic show as Greg, returning to the stage after being an ensemble member in HEAP's production of Chicago.

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  Brigid Boyle

  JUDY

  Originally from New Zealand, Brigid has performed in several musicals in Wellington (Rent, Legally Blonde, Ordinary Days) and has been thoroughly enjoying her return to the world of musical theatre in Amsterdam with HEA’s Chicago, The Cauldron’s The Addams Family, and most recently HEA's Spamalot. Brigid has a background singing with classical choirs and in classical guitar, and is thrilled to be given the chance to perform in the chorus line of one of her favourite musicals of all time.

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  Rhijja Jansen

  JUDY

  Rhijja Jansen is a dutchie and works as a freelance journalist and writer. She followed musical lessons at MusicAllFactory and performed in several music productions of LIZ Utrechts Ensemble voor Muziektheater, including Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Rent (Maureen), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), The Wild Party (Queenie) and Spamalot (Lady of the Lake). Her first show with HEA she had the honor to perform as Velma Kelly in Chicago. This is her second show.

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  Camille Gribbons

  KRISTINE

  Camille, originally from the US, works in tech as a UX designer by day. She spends all her hours outside of work dedicated to the Amsterdam theatre community, whether that be producing, handling marketing and PR, helping run theatre companies, promoting local shows on her radio show Onstage Amsterdam (BRAM RADIO), or her favorite thing of all, performing. In the past few years, Camille has been seen as Roxie Hart in Chicago (HEA), Lisa in Next Thing You Know (Cauldron), Schwartzy in Spelling Bee (Cauldron), Emcee in Cabaret (QETC), Kate Monster in Avenue Q (HEA), The Little Mermaid in Disenchanted! (Cauldron), Deb in Ordinary Days (HEA), and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (HEA). It is Camille's dream to be a local celebrity, so if you recognize her out and about, please feel free to say hi to help feed her delusions of grandeur.

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  Rosemary Lloyd

  MAGGIE

  Rosemary Lloyd is a Luxembourgish-American actor with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a distinction in Opera from the Conservatoire de Luxembourg. They taught Musical Theatre in Luxembourg and are working towards being a vocal coach and photographer in Amsterdam.

  Credits: Aida, Peter Pan, And Go To Inesfree, Oliver! The Musical, Harlem Hotel, Handel's Messiah, Showtime, Lost in the Stars, Young Frankenstein, Melusina the Pantomime, The Best of Men-The Worst of Men, Coronavirus Chronicles, We Happy Few, Di and Viv and Rose, Addams Family, Dogfight, Cinderella, Spamalot and The Good Guys?.

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  Britt Davis

  MAGGIE U/S

  Britt is delighted to be the alternate for Maggie in A Chorus Line, a character that means a lot to her, and join the ensemble. She is a Professional Acting Diploma student at Mulholland Academy, and has a background in classical music. From 5-8 September you can see her as Ms Lyons in HEA’s production of Blood Brothers at Het Amsterdams Theaterhuis. Previous credits include Grace (The Surprise Guest/Playhouse Theatre & InPlayers), Gabrielle (Cinderella/HEA) and singing in the choir of Asko|Schönberg's production of Cathy Milliken’s Night Shift. @itsbrittsophie

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  Blace Newkirk

  MARK

  Blace is an American/Swedish actor musician and teacher. After teaching music in Stockholm for 6 years he moved to the Netherlands and returned to theatre. Active in the Amsterdam area theatre scene, he has previously been seen in shows with Happily Ever After (Cinderella, Spamalot) Cauldron Performing Arts (Spelling Bee, Addams Family), QETC (Cabaret), and will be performing as Boland in Dogfight (MAE) in September. An avid D&D player, he loves to tell stories, and sincerely hopes you enjoy this one. Thanks to his friends and family in the US and Europe for always supporting him!

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  Fransisco Cabeda

  MIKE

  Francisco Cabeda leads a double life: by day, he's a dedicated mechanical engineer, but then, he takes center stage as a passionate actor and singer. His musical journey began at the tender age of 4, and over the past two decades, he has meticulously honed his skills in piano, classical and electric guitar, and vocal techniques.

  Francisco's theatrical repertoire is diverse. In Portugual he was in the Portuguese adaptation of 'Legally Blonde' as Warner to captivating performances in a Portuguese adaptation 'The Three Little Pigs' and the Portuguese rendition of 'Via Crucis.

  His international career started in Amsterdam in 2024 with the musical Spamalot where we was cast as Concorde and ensemble.

  Now residing in the Netherlands for work, Francisco continues to find joy in pursuing his musical career.

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  Mateo Abrahami de Melverda

  PAUL

  Mateo is a recent graduate from Amsterdam University College with a passion for music and dancing. He started performing at the Muziek- en Dansschool Amstelveen where he played in musicals such as Legally Blonde, Hairspray, and Beauty and the Beast. At university Mateo took on an organisational role, being part of the dance committee and performing arts committee, as well as having directed two musicals (Mamma Mia and Legally Blonde). Eager to finally perform again, Mateo is excited to take on the role of Paul in HEAs production of A Chorus Line.

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  Simon Bitton

  RICHIE

  Simon Bitton is a retired Background Vocalist & Session Singer. He currently works as a DevOps Engineer in Amsterdam. Simon started singing professionally at 18 as a background singer in recording studios and provided vocal backing for contestants in various reality TV shows, but took a break to focus on his studying and other career paths.

  In July 2023, Simon participated in HEA's production of the musical Be More Chill in the role of Mr. Reyes.

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  Sam Clarke

  SHEILA

  Sam is a British performer and has always had a passion for musical theatre since an early age. Previous theatre credits include Annie in Annie, Liesl in Sound of Music, Velma Kelly in Chicago, Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Original production at Edinburgh Fringe; TV credits include:- X Factor UK (ITV), We Want More NL and Zing NL. She is hugely excited to be in another HEA production playing the role of Sheila and gives special thanks to her mum for putting up with the audition songs on repeat. From 5-8 September you can see her as Linda in HEA's production of Blood Brothers. Outside of theatre, Sam can be found kitesurfing, on the tennis court or singing at a gig around the city! @sam.clarke.37

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  Cheryl Hart

  SHEILA U/S | ENSEMBLE

  Cheryl is an English dancer and photographer masquerading by day as a digital analyst. Previous credits include choreographing for musicals at the London Palladium and Bloomsbury Theater.

  2024 marked Cheryl's return to the stage with alexander.spotlight, a contemporary Skyfall dance piece at the Stadsschouwburg Haarlem and as a featured dancer in HEA's ""Cinderella"".

  She is delighted to play the alternate role of Sheila, a relatable and layered character, and is actually very excited to stand on the line alongside such talented co-auditionees (despite what her character may show).

  Cheryl would like to thank Sara for trusting her with this role, and her family, who have to put up with her incessant singing in the bathroom, kitchen, and inevitably on the bike around town."

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  Evelien Vermeulen

  VAL

  Evelien is a Dutch musical theatre performer. Having had a preliminary education in musical theatre at CodArts in Rotterdam, she now works at a publishing house for children’s books in Amsterdam, but in her free time she loves to be on stage. Having previously been part of HEA’s Be More Chill (swing Chloe/Jenna), she is beyond excited to take the stage with HEA again in A Chorus Line - a dream show! Other recent credits include Dogfight (Marcy), Company (Marta), Addams Family (Wednesday) and Evita (Peron’s mistress). Evelien is immensely passionate about all things musical theatre, so feel free to fangirl with her about any obscure musical you might know.

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  Michael Schilder

  ZACH

  Michael returns to the happily ever stage after having played in Spamalot (Knight of Ni, Father), Cinderella (Sebastian), Be More Chill (Mr Heere), and Chicago (Judge/Doctor). Before that he played a variety of roles in his native Canada including roles in Mamma Mia (Bill), Urinetown (Robbie), Beauty & The Beast (Gaston), The Full Monty (understudy for Horse), Jesus Christ Superstar (Matthew), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Asher) and many others. Michael immigrated to the Netherlands in 2022, the country where his parents grew up.

  5, 6, 7, 8!

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  Brian Ligthart

  ZACH

  Brian has been acting since 2013 and has been in multiple groups like InPlayers, Downstage Left, Playhouse and the Badhuistheater, in plays like “Don´t Dress for Dinner” by Marc Camoletti, “Mother Courage and her Children” by Bertolt Brecht, “The Portuguese Kid” by John Patrick Shanley, “It´s a Wonderful Life” by Joe Landry, and “Black Adder” and “Allo Allo”. Many more to name, this are just some of the highlights. He is also producing and directing plays with his own founded group Playhouse. Now he is very excited to be performing in A Chorus Line as director Zach.

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  Mary Lo

  ENSEMBLE

  From an early age, Mary started dancing classical ballet and has since been dancing and exploring several styles such as jazz, contemporary, street dance, burlesque, salsa, bachata and Brazilian Zouk. She has always been a big musical fan and prior to "A Chorus Line", she was in "Cinderella" and "Spamalot" by HEA and she also participated in HEA’s musical theatre bootcamps "Chicago", "Grease," and Disney on Broadway.

  Having previously worked in the international hotel business, she decided to switch careers four years ago and now works as a primary school teacher.

  Her biggest fans are her 7-year-old son and husband, and she could not be more grateful for their support in her newfound passion for musical theatre.

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  Philippe Bernay

  ENSEMBLE

  By day, Philippe works in Marketing. His passion for musical theatre started in 2016 when he played the role of Jamie in The Last 5 Years. After this, he was fortunate to join several productions: Allegro (as part of the Ensemble), Cabaret (as the Emcee), Into the Woods (as the Baker), Working (several characters), Little Shop of Horrors (as Seymour), Ordinary Days (as Warren), Avenue Q (as Rod), Monstersongs (as Igor), Be More Chill (as the Squip), Chicago (as Amos) and Spamalot (as Herbert). He is thrilled to join Happily Ever After again as one of the ensemble members for A Chorus Line.

Meet the Team

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  Sara Watts

  DIRECTOR

  Sara founded Happily Ever After Productions Amsterdam in 2019. Growing up in a musical theater family, she performed in over 200 musicals by the time she was 18. Although she still will occasionally get on stage, she has discovered that her passion is directing and producing musicals in this beautiful country. She hopes to build HEA Productions across the Netherlands providing opportunities to perform in and attend English speaking musical theater to everyone.

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  Michael Crowley

  BAND DIRECTOR

  Michael is an award winning classical guitarist from Cork, Ireland. Michael has been a musician for most of his life, having started piano at an early age before being drawn to the guitar and it’s diverse tonal palette. Since then he has explored a wide variety of genres, performing with a number of groups, but fell in love with the intimate tones of the classical guitar. Michael ventured into the world of musical theatre a couple years ago, where he started out playing in HEA Productions’ Little Shop of Horrors, and from there has music directed Disenchanted!, directed / music directed Monstersongs with the Cauldron, played in the band for HEA’s Chicago, and music directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Michael is excited to lead the band at HEA productions for A Chorus Line.

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  Roel Bakkum

  VOCAL DIRECTOR

  Roel Bakkum is a vocal coach based in Amsterdam. After graduating from the Amsterdam School of the Arts, he continued his education with the 3-year Estill Voice Training Pathway under Anne-Marie Speed in London.

  Roel's coaching approach is deeply rooted in the Estill Voice Training Model, which emphasizes understanding and mastering the various components associated with voice production. This model allows anyone to achieve a comprehensive understanding of craft and artistry, ultimately guiding students in seamlessly integrating these elements into their performances.

  Roel has worked with a wide range of clients, from theater, music, and TV professionals to corporate executives. Additionally, Roel has taught at prestigious theater academies like Mountview and Doreen Bird College.

  His studio, located in the heart of Amsterdam, offers a variety of lessons for different skill levels, from beginners to advanced professionals, creating a supportive and dynamic environment where students can develop their vocal abilities and performance. You can check out his website at vocalcoach.nl

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  Annick Huizinga

  CHOREOGRAPHER

  Annick Huizinga is a professional dancer educated at HBO Lucia Marthas Dansacademie Institute for Performing Arts in Amsterdam. She is an all-around dancer with a versatile background and an ability to dance in all styles. Annick has 10+ years of professional experience performing in many different productions worldwide, both as a dancer and as a Dance Captain Assistant, including Dinnershows in Studio 21 at Hilversum, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Mariner of the Seas and shows abroad. Annick has also performed in many televised performance events and TV shows such as Dancing With The Stars, Belgium’s Got Talent, Gouden Televisier-Ring Gala, X-Factor, 3FM Awards and dancing for Fedde Le Grand’s shows. Annick has multiple years of freelance experience dancing in numerous gigs throughout Europe and Asia, as well as dancing for various music videos and commercials. Since 2021 Annick is in charge of the choreography for the Bootcamps of Happily Ever After Production's .

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  Yaël Sarioa

  CHOREOGRAPHER

  Yaël Sarioa, professional educated at Lucia Marthas Institute for Performing Arts HBO. Trained to be an all-round dancer. He has been performing in (live TV) shows as Eurovision Song Contest, The Voice of Finland, X-Factor, Gouden Televizier-Ring, Grand Prix the Netherlands and Belgium with Armin van Buuren. Live performances for Nike, Tomorrowland, Hans Klok and dinner show Vegas. Yaël is experienced as dancer, dance-captain and choreographer in Europe and Asia.

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  Edward Kihn

  STAGE MANAGER

  Edward Kihn is a Luxembourgish national who is currently working on his undergraduate degree in English literature at the University of Amsterdam. He has had a lifelong passion for the theatre and loves being both on and behind the stage. He recently worked as a Stage Manager for the first time for The Cauldron’s production of The Addams Family and then again in HEA Production’s Spamalot. They are excited to work as a Stage Manager again for Happily Ever After’s A Chorus Line.

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  Marc de Wolf

  SET DESIGNER

  Marc is an animator and illustrator who started doing set design for HEAP a few years ago with their production of Into The Woods. He kept going ever since, designing sets for productions such as Little Shop of Horrors, Ordinary Days and Avenue Q, in which he also played Trekkie Monster. He also combines his love for theatre and animation in his very own YouTube series, @wolfgangluvsyou.

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  Viivi Valpuri

  COSTUMES

  Viivi Valpuri is a costume designer, puppet maker, and creator extraordinaire based in Amsterdam. Viivi has a master’s degree in theatre science at the University of Helsinki with a focus on immersive theatre and costume design. In the past decade, Viivi has had her hands full from running a film company to hosting tours in theatre history and from teaching embroidery to designing and making costumes and puppets. Viivi has been working with English language theatre in Amsterdam since her arrival in 2019 and has been with Happily Ever After since their production of Little Shop of Horrors. Viivi’s most recent activities have been with Happily Ever After as the mother of the Avenue Q puppets, with Orange Theatre Company as costume designer for A Christmas Carol, and HEA’s Chicago.

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  Stuart Gilfedder

  SOUND DESIGN AND TECH

  Originally from the UK, Stuart discovered audio engineering while in high school working as a musician on various theatre productions for both school and independent companies. This new found passion led him on a wild journey, working on shows in the UK, including the Edinburgh Fringe, then moving to Australia, Canada and now the Netherlands. Stuart re-connected with his passion for theatre playing drums in Monstersongs and has brougt his audio skills to the Happily Ever After family for shows such as Chicago, Be More Chill, and Spamalot.

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  Yann Belin

  LIGHTING TECH

  Yann has been involved in the Amsterdam theater community since 2014, and he has worked both onstage and backstage for English (Into the Woods, Contractions, Avenue Q, Monstersongs) and French (Les sept jours de Simon Labrosse, Le crime de l'Orient Express) productions since then. After working in the lighting booth for HEA's Little Shop of Horrors in 2021, he fell in love with light operation and design, and most recently designed and ran lights for HEA’s Chicago and Cinderella.