Cast & Creatives – Sister Act

Jonathan Andre (Curtis) 

Jonathan trained at Kingston University. Theatre credits include: To The Streets! (China Plate/Birmingham Hippodrome); The Lion King (Lyceum); The Wiz (Hope Mill Theatre); Fela! (Broadway, US Tour, National Theatre); The Lion King: Rhythm of the Pridelands (Disneyland Paris); Undreamed Shores: The Grand Union Orchestra (Hackney Empire). Jonathan is the winner of the Apple AATCe Creative Talent Contest and has also appeared in television adverts and provides voiceover for television and radio. Instagram: @Jo.Nathan_andre 

Laura Marie Benson (Sister Mary Martin of Tours; u/s Sister Mary Patrick) 

Laura trained at The Urdang Academy. Her theatre credits include: Ensemble in Cinderella (Wolverhampton Grand); Lesley in American Idiot (UK Tour/New Zealand); Alice in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Canada); Angie in Summer Holiday (UK Tour); Ensemble in Cinderella (The Orchard Theatre); Alice in Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK Tour); Frenchy in Grease (Belinda King); Ensemble in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Venue Cymru); Backing Vocalist/ Dancer in The Stylophones (Leicester Square Theatre); Backing Dancer in Shoshana Bean – Back in London (Hippodrome). Television credits include: Jane McDonald & Friends (Channel 5), Strictly Come Dancing Launch Show (BBC). Twitter: @LauMarieBenson Instagram: @laumarie11

Xenoa Campbell-Ledgister  (Deloris Van Cartier) 

Xenoa trained at Arts Educational Schools & Emil Dale Academy. Credits whilst training include: Hetaira in Lysistrata Jones, Ensemble in Spongebob Squarepants and The Oliver Awards 2022. Xenoa is thrilled to be making her professional debut in Sister Act!

Ruby Davies  (Sister Mary Irene / Tina: u/s Sister Mary Robert) 

Ruby trained at Guildford School of Acting. Credits whilst training include: 9 to 5 The Musical (Bellair’s Theatre); Jane Eyre The Musical (PATS Studio Theatre) and Shrek The Musical (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre). Theatre credits include: With a little bit of Lerner (Royal Festival Hall) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (The English Theatre Frankfurt). 

Kimberley Ensor  (Sister Mary Patrick; u/s Tina/Michelle ) 

Kimberley trained at Mountview Academy Of Theatre Arts. Theatre credits include:

Uzo in Godspell (Ye Olde Rose and Crown); Rosie in Mamma Mia (Royal Carribean Cruise lines); Dragon in Shrek (The Gaiety Theatre); Samantha in Happy Ending (Arcola Theatre); Miss Sherman in Fame (Gordon Craig Theatre); Voice of Sonia in They’re playing our song (Yvonne Arnaud Mill Studio Theatre); Mrs Curtain in A Man of No Importance (The Union Theatre/Arts theatre transfer), Ensemble in Rent (The Broadway Theatre); Ensemble in HMS Pinafore (Battersea Barge); Wendy Jo in Footloose (Gordon Craig Theatre), Ensemble in Sweeney Todd (The Union Theatre).Production shows include: Tina in GLEE:Live (The Gaiety Theatre); Ensemble in Hits of the 70’s and 80’s (Blackpool Pier); Vanilla Sundae in The Sundaes (Balaerics tour). Tv credits include: Member of the Supergroup on Don’t Stop Believing (Channel 5). Pantomime credits: Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (The Regal Tenbury Theatre); Fairy Bowbells in DIck Whittington (Kenton Theatre); Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington (New Victoria theatre).

Ceris Hine  (Sister Mary Theresa; u/s Sister Mary Lazarus) 

Ceris trained at Italia Conti. Theatre credits include: Female Authority Figure in Hairspray (UK Tour); Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show (UK Tour & 40th Anniversary Tour); Sugar/Ruby-Lee  in The Rise And Fall of Little Voice (UK Tour); Rosie in Ushers: The Front of House Musical (Charing Cross); Susan in Miracle on 34th Street (UK Tour); Audrey in Little Shop Of Horrors (White Bear); Rachel in One Man, Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal Windsor); Dorothy in Stepping Out (Brockley Jack); Arianwen in My Land’s Shore (Theatre Soar); Bev in On The Piste (Brockley Jack); Kate in Zanna, Don’t! (Landor); Puppet Master/Cat in The Adventures of Pinocchio (Greenwich); The Tinderbox (Charing Cross); Mrs Darling/Tinderbell/Boris Johnson/Ethel Mermaid in Peter Pandemic (Canal Café); Lucy in Deadly Nightcap (Sidmouth); Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bromley); NewsRevue (Canal Café); Glinda in The Wizard Of Oz (UK Tour); Little Red Riding Hood in Robin Hood (UK Tour); Miss Fotherington in Around The World In 80 Days (Union); Sally in The Cat In The Hat (Pleasance); Maria in My Big Gay Italian Wedding (Edinburgh/London); Mileva Marić in Relativity: The Einstein Musical (Finborough); Octavia/Nanny in Cleopatra: A New Musical (Actors Church); Babes In Arms (Union); Red Riding Hood (Edinburgh); Alice (St James); Face The Music (Rose & Crown); Fairy Liquid in Beauty and the Beast (Shaw Theatre London); Spirit of the Ring/Empress in Aladdin (Harrow); Fairy Flutterby in Jack and the Beanstalk (Shaw Theatre London); Tinkerbell in Peter Pan (Crewe); Fairy Good in Snow White (Cannock); Jill in Jack and the Beanstalk (Worthing); Elf in The Night Before Christmas (Epsom Playhouse). Television: Janice in Parents Of The Band (BBC1); Anonymous (ITV). Other: Winner of The Voice Of Tomorrow 2009.wqq

Vanessa Grace Lee  (Sister Mary Lazarus; u/s Mother Superior) 

Vanessa trained at The Arts Educational Schools. Theatre credits includes: Standby in Calendar Girls (UK Tour), Ensemble in The Wedding Singing (UK Tour); Mrs Thompson in Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi (Union Theatre); Rose Stopnick Gelman in Caroline Or Change (National Theatre); Siren in Taniwha Thames (Oval Theatre); Rizzo in Grease (P&O Oriana/CMC Ltd); Tracey Lord in High Society (P&O Oriana CMC); Helen Walsingham in Half A Sixpence (P&O Oriana /CMC); Star To Be/Ensemble in Annie (UK Tour); Mary Jeffers in From Hell She Came (Pleasance, Edinburgh Festival); Dina Calamari in The Wedding (Café Royal London); Sheila Franklin in Hair (European Tour); Lynette Fromme in Assassins (Komedia Theatre, Brighton); Messua in Jungle Book (Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham); Ensemble in Moby Dick A Whale of a Tale (Piccadilly Theatre); Mrs Darling in Peter Pan (Theatre Royal Lincoln); Prince Charming in Cinderella (Southend/Qdos); Aladdin in Aladdin (Stoke on Trent/Qdos/ Llandudno/E&B), Dandini in Cinderella (Darlington/Qdos); Sybil in Beauty And The Beast (Theatre Royal, Wakefield). Commercial includes: Flower Seller in Tennent’s Lager (Leith Agency).

Joshua Lear  (TJ; u/s Eddie; Dance Captain) 

Joshua trained at Bird College. Theatre credits include: 9 to 5 the musical (UK tour); Big Fish (Bird College); Dance captain on Clueless the musical.  @joshualear_

Alfie Parker (Eddie) 

Alfie comes from Worthing, West Sussex and graduated from The Royal Academy of Music in 2015. Alfie made his West End debut as Swing/Cover Dewey in the original West End production of School of Rock. Other credits include: Tackaberry in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (City of London Festival); Nick in Aladdin (Buxton Opera House); Genie in Aladdin (Beck Theatre Hayes); Samuel Byck in Assassins (Pleasance Theatre); Mutt in Kinky Boots (UK Tour); The Baker in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK Tour); and cover Alan/Fergus in Fat Friends (UK Tour)  @ParkerAlfie

Lucas Piquero (Pablo; u/s Monsignore O’Hara) 

Lucas is a graduate of ArtsEd London. His credits include: West Side Story (70th Festival Ljubljana); Lohengrin (Royal Opera house) and is now delighted to be working on Sister Act at the English Theatre Frankfurt.  @lucaspiquero

Margaret Preece  (Mother Superior) 

Margaret trained at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is an acclaimed international operatic and musical theatre singer and actress. She has played numerous leading and diverse operatic and musical theatre roles with all the major opera companies in the UK, and many abroad, working with conductors and directors of inter-national acclaim. 

Additional theatre credits include: Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre); The Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music (The London Palladium/ National Tour and productions in Dubai, Jordan and Cairo);  Bacchai (Royal National Theatre and Epidaurus); Jean in Dinner Ladies (Comedy Productions Ltd); several seasons at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, playing numerous roles including Lady Bracknell in The Importance Of Being Earnest; Mrs Flint in This Happy Breed (also in Guildford);  Marion in Absurd Person Singular and Archdeacon June in People; Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady (Big League Productions NYC, China Tour);  Eleanor Roosevelt in a new musical play Melania  (Oran Mor, Glasgow); Mrs Fflyte in The Messiah! (UK tour, Mark Goucher Productions Ltd); Mrs McGee in Corpse! (Vienna’s English Theatre). Film credits include: The Phantom of the Opera (Warner Bros. – singing voice of Minnie Driver’s Carlotta, in addition to playing the role of the Confidante.) Recording credits include : Isn’t It Romantic? 

Emily Scott  (Sister Marey Celeste / Michelle)

Emily trained at Performers College. Her credits include: Ensemble in Cinderella (Wycombe Swan); Dance Captain in La Voix, Eighth Wonder of the World (UK Tour);  Dance Captain for Cinderella, Beauty & The Beast, Peter Pan (Aylesbury Waterside); Dance Captain for Hairspray (The Gaiety, Portsmouth); One More Time (Piccadilly Theatre); Big When I was Little – Eliza Doolittle (Music Video); Ensemble Trolls Live (Universal). @emilyscott.uk 

Biancha Szynal  (Sister Mary Robert) 

Biancha trained at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. 

Theatre credits include: Ensemble in 101 Dalmatians (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Cover Brooke in Legally Blonde (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Kylar in Bring it On (Southbank Centre, London); Swing in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Apollo Theatre); Ensemble in The Wizard Of Oz (Blackpool Winter Gardens); Acrobat in Matilda (Cambridge Theatre); Mrs Santiago in Ghost (The English Theatre, Frankfurt); Lead Vocalist for AIDA Cruise; Ensemble in Boy Meets Boy (Jermyn Street Theatre); Dancer in Classical Spectacular (Royal Albert Hall); Miss Rabbit in Fantastic Mr Fox (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Margaret Gormley in Billy Elliot (Original London Cast). Film credits: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Matilda (Netflix). 

Callum Tempest (Monsignore O’Hara; u/s Curtis; Resident Director)

Callum trained at CPA Studios. His credits include: Norway in Eurobeat (Scandinavia Tour);  Ensemble in IDENTITY ( Edinburgh Fringe); The Dr in Toy Boy (Above The Stag); Ensemble in The Producers (The Gordon Craig Theatre); Dorimant in Man Of Mode (Upstairs At The Gatehouse);  Ensemble in Six-FIve Rock N Rolle Express (Tunbridge wells There); Ensemble in New Jersey Nights (Australian Tour); Ensemble in Puttin On The Ritz (UK Tour); Robert in  Sincerely Yours (Landor Theatre); Prince In Sleeping Beauty (Princes Hall, Aldershot); Genie Of the Lamp (Bournemouth Pavilion). Choreography credits Include: Cinderella (Rhyl Pavilion) and Eurobeat Pride Of Europe (The Turbine and Online Stream).

Ewan Jones (Director / Choreographer)

As Director/Choreographer credits include: Matilda (Folketeateret, Oslo); L’Enfant et les Sortiléges (Opera de Lille); Bring It On (Southwark Playhouse); 13 – The Musical (Ambassadors Theatre); The Three Little Pigs (Palace Theatre West End, UK tour, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore); Three Billy Goats Gruff and Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Singapore Repertory Theatre); Hunchback of Notre Dame (Bird College); Big Fish (Bird College); Cry Baby (Bird College).

As Choreographer/Movement Director credit’s include: Disney+ series The Ballad of Renegade Nell (Movement Director); Netflix series Sex Education (Movement Director); Yeomen of the Guard (The Grange Festival); Milky Peaks (Theatr Clwyd); She Loves Me (Sheffield Crucible); The Phantom of the Opera (Galatsi Athens / Folketeateret Oslo); Midsummer Nights Dream (Royal Academy); Matilda (Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta); Der Mond (Opera National de Lyon); Fantasio (Garsington Opera); Merrily We Roll Along (Guildhall); L’Etoile (Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos); Into The Woods (RADA); The Wizard of Oz (Sheffield Crucible); Vert Vert (Garsington Opera); Travels with my Aunt (Chichester); Crazy for You (Guildhall); Ragtime (Charing Cross Theatre); West Side Story (RNCM Theatre); What I Go To School For – The 

Busted Musical (Brighton Theatre Royal); The Mystery of Edwin Drood (ArtsEd); The Tales of Hoffman (English Touring Opera); Ariodante (International Handel Festival); Altar Boyz (Greenwich Theatre); Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Criterion, London); Giove in Argo (International Handel Festival); The Mikado (Hackney Empire); Don Pasquale (Opera Holland Park); The Dreaming (The Rose Theatre); Fame (Grimsby Auditorium); Mexican Hayride (Sadlers Wells); Carousel (The Broadway Theatre).

Mal Hall (Musical Director)

As Musical Director/Associate: Young Frankenstein, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret (all for The English Theatre Frankfurt and Deutsches Theater Munchen); Summer Holiday (UK Tour); Mother Knows Best (Above the Arts); Let’s go MT for HD (Above the Arts); Bananaman the Musical (Southwark Playhouse); West End Jerseys (Magnetic Entertainment); Legally Blonde (University of Cumbria); Bananaman the Musical (From Page to Stage), Piaf (Charing Cross Theatre).

Workshops Include: Bananaman the Musical, Girl From the North Country (Assistant Musical Director – The Old Vic). As Keyboards/Rehearsal Pianist: Matilda (West End and UK tour); Forever Plaid (The Other Palace); Aladdin and Cinderella (both Liverpool Empire); You’ll Never Walk Alone (Queen’s Theatre, London); Tommy (Prince Edward Theatre). Mal is also a Musical Director for Blackburn International and David Michael Productions for Viking Cruises.

Stewart J. Charlesworth (Set & Costume Designer)

Musicals credits  include: The Producers (Asian Tour); Respect La Diva (Garrick Theatre); Carousel (Arcola Theatre); Henrietta (NYMT); Little Women (The Albany); Bat Boy (Southwark Playhouse); Title of Show (Above the Stag); Legally Blonde (Stratford Circus); Seussical the Musical (Pleasance London) and Calamity Jane (Bridewell Theatre). Plays credit include: Dennis of Penge (Guildhall); The Dark (UK Tour); Miss Moore Thought Otherwise (UK Tour); Me and the Girls (UK Tour); Cissie and Ada,  A Hysterical Rectomy (UK Tour).

Dance credits includes: Tribute (Acosta Danza and Carlos Acosta) and Pure Dance: Ave Maria for Natalia Osipova (Sadlers Wells/New York City Centre). Opera credits includes: Imeneo (Royal Academy of Music); The Magic Flute, Manon Lescaut, Don Giovanni (all Dorset Opera Festival). Upcoming work includes: From Here to Eternity (Charing Cross Theatre); and the new musical Claus (The Lowry, Manchester).

Jamie Platt (Lighting Designer)

Jamie trained at RWCMD and has been nominated for a Knight of Illumination Award, a BroadwayWorld Award and five Offie Awards for Best Lighting Design.

 

Lighting designs include: The Last Five Years (West End); Jellyfish (National Theatre); Kes (Octagon Theatre & Theatre by the Lake); Kinky Boots (New Wolsey Theatre); The Barber of Seville (Nevill Holt Opera); Either, Paradise, Yous Two (Hampstead Theatre); Something in the Air (Jermyn Street Theatre); The Last Five Years, Beast, Klippies (Southwark Playhouse); RIDE, Mythic (Charing Cross Theatre); Something in the Air (Jermyn Street Theatre); Whose Planet Are We On?, Cracked, Remembrance (Old Vic Theatre); Anna Karenina (Silk St. Theatre); Le Grand Mort (Trafalgar Studios); SUS, Never Not Once, Gently Down The Stream, Alkaline (Park Theatre); Moonlight and Magnolias (Nottingham Playhouse); Absurd Person Singular (Watford Palace Theatre); The Beat of our Hearts (Northcott Theatre); Singin’ in the Rain (The Mill at Sonning); To Dream Again (Theatr Clwyd & Polka Theatre); Blood Orange, The Moor, Where Do Little Birds Go? (Old Red Lion Theatre); Checkpoint Chana, Quaint Honour, P’yongyang, We Know Where You Live, Chicken Dust (Finborough Theatre); Pattern Recognition (Platform Theatre & world tour); Paper Cut, Reared, Screwed, Grey Man (Theatre 503).

 

Associate lighting designs include: Frozen, SIX (West End & International); INK, The Night of the Iguana, The Starry Messenger, Bitter Wheat (West End); Albion, The Hunt, Three Sisters, Machinal (Almeida Theatre); Piaf (Buenos Aires).

Michael Woods  (Sound Design)

Michael lives in London, and works predominantly in theatre, as a Sound Designer, Engineer and Operator. He trained at Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Michael has worked on a multitude of theatre projects, from new emerging works to high profile, large scale productions. In 2020, he received an Offie nomination for best sound design for the musical ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ which premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in the spring of 2019.

Sound Design credits include: Love Them To Death (Underbelly, Edinburgh); The Queen of Hearts (Greenwich Theatre); Ever Young (POSK Theatre); Sleeping Beauty (Greenwich Theatre); The Wave & (This Isn’t) A True Story (The Rose Lipman Building); Robinson Crusoe (Greenwich Theatre); Cinderella (Greenwich Theatre); Our Lovely Ugly City (Almeida Theatre); Rejsen (Teater Nordkraft, Denmark); The Dark Tower (CLF Art Cafe); Fables For A Boy (LOST Theatre); Hamlet (Riverside Studios).

Co-Sound Design and Associate Sound Design credits include: Love Loss & Chianti (Assembly Rooms Music Hall); Hymn (Almeida Theatre)

Melanie Schöberl  (Assistant Costume Design)

Melanie`s first experience as a costume designer was for the Chaincourt Theatre Company at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main. In 2006 she worked as a costume assistant for the choreographer/director Wanda Golonka on Crave by Sarah Kane. During the same year she was part of the creative team of the Sebastian Hartmann production Being Lawinky. She did costume design for The Threepenny Opera, The Crucible, Master Class and Secret Life of Humans.

 Her work for ETF as assistant costume designer includes The Who`s Tommy, Rain Man, Breaking the Code, Sweet Charity, Good People, The Ruling Class, Saturday Night Fever, Venus in Fur, The Collector, Other Desert Cities, Death and the Maiden, The Glass Menagerie, The Life, Disgraced, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Spamalot, Handbagged, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pygmalion, Jekyll & Hyde, Hand to God, The Lion in Winter, Cabaret, Apologia, The Children, One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Sweeney Todd, The Effect, Switzerland, The Girl on the Train and Young Frankenstein and The Totalitarians .

Marc Frankum CDG  (Casting Director)

Marc trained as an actor at Drama Centre London before moving into casting. For The English Theatre Frankfurt, Marc has cast Secret Life of Humans (twice), The Totalitarians, Young Frankenstein, The Girl on the Train, Switzerland, The Effect, Sweeney Todd, One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Children, Apologia, Cabaret, The Lion in Winter, Jekyll & Hyde – the Musical, Hand to God, Pygmalion, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Handbagged, Spamalot, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Glass Menagerie, Disgraced, Death and the Maiden, Other Desert Cities, Ghost – the Musical and Strangers on a Train.

 

Marc has also cast Bang Bang (Northcott Theatre/UK Tour); The History Boys (Grand Theatre Wolverhampton); God of Chaos; The Kneebone Cadillac (Theatre Royal Plymouth); Cinderella; Aladdin (Theatre Royal Norwich); Baskerville; Aladdin; Moll Flanders; Pieces of String; Much Ado About Nothing; Clybourne Park; Noises Off; Macbeth (Mercury Theatre Colchester); Dracula (Touring Consortium Theatre Company); Tonight at 8.30, Mother Adam (Jermyn Street Theatre); I Capture the Castle (Palace Theatre Watford/Bolton Octagon);  Hand to God, The Woman in Black, The Duck House (all West End); The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night (Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank/Shakespeare’s Globe); Barbarians (Tooting Arts Club); When Blair had Bush and Bunga (Pleasance One); Out of Order, The Full Monty 2018/19 & 2016/17, The Band, Dial M for Murder, An Inspector Calls, End of the Rainbow, Calendar Girls (all UK Tours); Goodnight Mister Tom (West End/Chichester Festival Theatre/The Childrens Touring Partnership); Stepping Out (Salisbury Playhouse); The Mousetrap (60th Anniversary Tour);  The Hairy Ape (Southwark Playhouse); Sign of the Times (Duchess Theatre); Far Away (Bristol Old Vic) and The History Boys (Theatre Royal Bath/West Yorkshire Playhouse) and was casting associate on Big, the Musical (Plymouth/Dublin); Good Canary (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Bodyguard (West End) and Elf – the Musical (West End/Plymouth/Dublin/Manchester) and casting consultant on Love on the Links (Salisbury Playhouse); The Dark Room (Theatre 503); Chinese Whispers (Greenwich Theatre).

 

Marc has worked alongside fellow Casting Director Sarah Bird on series 6 of Hustle, the BBC One Wales series Crash and various theatre productions.