Centre Stage Artists 2010-11 Season 

  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Touring September 2010 to April 2011, and at Stage West May & June 2011

  Bonnie Gratz - Director (and Founder and Artistic Director of Centre Stage Theatre)      Bonnie Gratz is an award winning teacher, author, playwright, actor, and director of over 50 plays performed throughout Alberta and British Columbia. Bonnie has worked with many great companies including: Workshop Theatre, Fringe Theatre Adventures, Walterdale Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Rapid Fire Theatre, Loose Change Films, Principle Theatre Players, Loose Moose, Storybook Theatre, and Peak Theatre Players. Her play a 1970's Cinderella is just finishing a successful run at Stage West.  Bonnie's most recent directing credits include: Charlotte's Web, The Glass Menagerie, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, A Most Dangerous Game, and Munschapalooza!, She also wrote and performed in her original Fringe play The Venus Of Milo, AB with co-author Mary-Jean Uszy at the 2006 Calgary Fringe. 

  Xstine Cook - Puppetry / Prop Design      Xstine Cook is the Artistic Director and Founder of CAOS, and Curator of the International Festival of Animated Objects, a biennial festival of mask and puppetry in Calgary. A mask and puppet maker for over 20 years, Xstine studied mask and puppetry in Bali, Italy, France, California, and the West Coast of Canada. Xstine trained at the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre in California, and has worked as a performer and designer on several Dell’Arte International productions.

A co-founder and former Co-Artistic director of Calgary’s Green Fools Theatre, Xstine was a major creator, writer, performer, and rabble-rouser in that troupe’s original mask, puppet and stilt productions from 1991 to 2004.  She also managed the troupe for many years in tours around the province, country and globe.  Many of Xstine’s large puppets and stilt figures still appear at provincial and national festivals.

Xstine’s love and admiration for native North American culture is reflected in the performance works she has helped create:  Original Instructions with the Karuk Storytellers & Dell’Arte, Goosluxxs, the Tsimphsian Legend of Hartley Bay with Big Sky, The Trial of Standing Bear with Opera Omaha and the Ponca Tribe, The Gift, a railroad reconciliation with Green Fools’ B&E Circus, and Journey of Ten Moons with Dell’Arte International.   

Xstine also plays the singing saw, has performed as a whip artist in a circus, and occasionally sings original songs with her band.  She makes short puppet films, such as the trilogy Face and Mooks at Home, which was shown at the National Gallery as part of Alberta Scene, and Dead Boyfriends, which was shown in numerous film festivals including Radar Hamburg, Coney Island, and the Strausbourg and Edmonton International Film Festivals. Suckathumb and Tar Sand Pudding are films currently in the festival mill.  Her most recent creation was The Device to Root Out Stink, a giant flame throwing dead chicken created with the community of Ramsay to lampoon Lilydale Chicken Plant’s un-neighbourly business practices.

                                 Jesse Harlton - as Charlie    

  Kim Julia Howard - as Veruca Salt    Kim is a graduate of Mount Royal, recent credits include Charlotte in Charlottes Web (Centre Stage), Laura in A Glass Menagerie (Centre Stage), and Little Red Riding Hood in  Once Upon a Christmas (Stage West / Centre Stage)

  Adam Klassen - as Mike TeeVee    

  Jordan Koop - as Grandpa Joe    Jordan is a graduate of Play House North and started with Centre Stage in 2009 in Charlotte's Web.

  Matthew McKinney - as Willy Wonka    

  Anastasia St.Amand - as Mrs. Bucket    Anastasia is excited to be working as an actor for Centre Stage. She is a theatre arts graduate from Mount Royal College. She spends her summers as a character actor at Heritage Park. The rest of her year is spending teaching and directing kids for Centre Stage and DramaWorks Scenic Acres. Her recent Theatre credits include: Charlottes Web and A 70’s Cinderella for Centre Stage, Tiny Replicas – IGNITE ’09 and Seasons In the West – Scorpio Theatre. She also acted in and choreographed fights for a 48 Hour Film festival entry. 

                               Cassidy Waring - as Violet Beauregard    

                               Heather Young - Stage Manager / Technical Director

  Derek Gratz - Production Design / Sets  Derek is an internationally recognized designer with 20 years experience in stage, graphic, and product design.  Holding a Masters in Environmental Design from the U of C, as well as a undergrad degree from the Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena California, he was worked with numerous theatre groups and has developed creative stage solutions for more than 20 productions.  Derek also designs and produces props and promotional material for Centre Stage. Derek presents at conferences throughout North America, and has worked as a sessional Professor at the University of Alberta and is an Adjunct Professor of Design at the University of Calgary.

Reindeer - A Christmas Adventure  at Stage West November - December 2010

  Bonnie Gratz - Playwright and Director (and Founder and Artistic Director of Centre Stage Theatre)      Bonnie Gratz is an award winning teacher, author, playwright, actor, and director of over 50 plays performed throughout Alberta and British Columbia. Bonnie has worked with many great companies including: Workshop Theatre, Fringe Theatre Adventures, Walterdale Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Rapid Fire Theatre, Loose Change Films, Principle Theatre Players, Loose Moose, Storybook Theatre, and Peak Theatre Players. Her play a 1970's Cinderella is just finishing a successful run at Stage West.  Bonnie's most recent directing credits include: Charlotte's Web, The Glass Menagerie, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Mixed Up, A Most Dangerous Game, and Munschapalooza!, and she was jazzed to write and perform in her original Fringe play The Venus Of Milo, AB with co-author Mary-Jean Uszy at the 2006 Calgary Fringe. 

   Andrea Halwas - as Mrs. Donner, Toy Doll     Andrea Halwas is a recent graduate from the University of Calgary M.F.A. Program in Drama. After publishing her thesis and other non-fiction work, she is now trying her hand at playwrighting. A Winnipeg native, Andrea gained acting experience in the 'Peg while completing in B.A. Honours at the University of Winnipeg. Now she acts and teaches drama with Centre Stage Theatre Company, Pegasus Performances, and Pumphouse Theatre. She was also delighted to act as the Dramaturg for the debut of Mixed-Up.

                                Thomas Demkey - as Santa, Yukon Hero    

                                Jesse Harlton - as Rudolph    

  Jordan Koop - as Snowbeast, Head Elf   Jordan is a graduate of Play House North and started with Centre Stage in 2009 in Charlotte's Web.

  Mitchell Verigin - as Coach, Donner, Dentist 

  Christie Viera - as Mrs. Claus 

                              Cassidy Waring - as Clarice    

  Blair Young - as Narrator, Comet    

The Astonishing Adventures of Awesome Girl and Radical Boy  Touring Fall 2010

                                          Simon Mallet - Director    This is Simon's first production with Centre Stage, and he is very pleased to have the opportunity to direct Ethan Cole's play.  Recent works include In The Wake and Bone Cage for Downstage, The Attic, the Pearls... for New West Theatre, Under the Bright Sun for Lunchbox Theatre, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for Theatre Calgary. He is the Founder and Artistic Producer of The Downstage Performance Society, and has received numerous awards, including the Oxford University Press Drama Prize, and the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award.  We are thrilled to have Simon join with Centre Stage Theatre on this wonderful play.

  Ethan Cole - Playwright    Ethan Cole is a playwright, composer, lyricist and librettist. He has worked with a great number of Calgary theatre companies, including Lunchbox Theatre, Downstage Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary Opera, Calgary Young Peoples Theatre, Evergreen Theatre, and Mob Hit Productions. Ethan is a frequent facilitator of workshops, residencies, and theatre education projects for youth. Recent projects include In The Wake (Downstage Theatre), The Astonishing Adventures of Awesome Girl and Radical Boy  (Lunchbox Theatre), On The Loose With Dr. Seuss  (Calgary Young Peoples Theatre), and Hearts Of The New West  (Alberta Theatre Projects).  Ethan is thrilled to be working with Centre Stage Theatre on this exciting new production of Astonishing Adventures!

Cast Details coming soon!

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