**WORLD PREMIERE**
# Grand Ghosts
October 18 to November 5, 2022
Spriet Stage
Additional Information
Opening Night October 21
Advisories by Trina Davies
Directed by Jillian Keiley
**Running Time**: 2 hours and 15 minutes
**Age Recommendation**: 10+
**Advisories**: In addition to fog and haze effects, patrons may experience ghostly apparitions, sharp comedic timing, and tunes that they simply can't get out of their head.
Title Sponsor
COMPASS Development Partner
Media Partner
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**Jump to:** [Tickets & Story](#upcoming) | [Videos & Gallery](#galleries) | [Cast & Creative Team](#cast)
[Program](https://www.grandtheatre.com/hp/grand-ghosts) [Full Calendar & Tickets ](https://tickets.grandtheatre.com/overview/9983)
***"In 1919, something happened..."***
## **The Story**
On December 2, 1919, Ontario theatre magnate Ambrose Small sold all of his theatre holdings, including London’s Grand Theatre, for a record sum. That very day, he disappeared. In his wake, Ambrose left behind his enormous fortune, a jealous wife, a disgruntled employee, gambling buddies, a mistress, and a ghostly mystery waiting to be solved.
In this world premiere imagining, every Halloween, the ghosts who haunt the Grand return to relive what actually happened on that fateful day, over a century ago. Through a ghostly spectacle, audiences will be left to decide: what really happened to Ambrose Small?
## **Enhance Your Experience**
### AfterWORDS
On Wednesday evenings, immediately after the performance, come up to the Drewlo Lounge for a brief guided discussion with Grand staff members, guest artists, and creative team members.
- October 19, 2022
With special guests: **Trina Davies** – Playwright, **Cyrus Lane** & **Jesse Gervais** – Cast members
- October 26, 2022
With special guest: **Anthony Raymond Yu** and **Jesse Gervais** – Cast members
- November 2, 2022
With special guest: **Tess Benger** and **Jesse Gervais** – Cast members
### Creative Conversations
Enjoy cookies, tea or coffee, and stimulating discussion about Grand productions during *Creative Conversations*, pre-show in the Spriet Theatre. Arrive by 12:00pm to ensure you don’t miss out on insights from host **James Stewart Reaney** prior to the 1:00pm matinee.
- Wednesday, November 2, 2022
With host **James Stewart Reaney**, featuring **Amber Lloydlangston**, Ph.D., Curator of Regional History at Museum London
## Study Guide
Wish to deepen your understanding of this show? [Click here for a Study Guide created to enrich your experience!](/sites/default/files/2223/guides/Grand%20Ghosts%20Study%20Guide.pdf)
## **From the Stage Door**
“This spooky, vaudeville-inspired piece won’t stop haunting me and I can hardly wait to share it with you. Filled with music, dance, and spectacle, our ghosts will haunt you with their rendition of a time in our theatre’s history that remains a mystery. And, who knows? Perhaps our ghost, Ambrose, might just drop in while you’re here.” **- Dennis Garnhum, Grand Theatre Artistic Director**
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### The Cast
Tess Benger
Ghost 'Ingenue' as: Clara Smith/Chorus
For The Grand Theatre: Cabaret, The Penelopiad.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods (TIFT); Alice in Wonderland (Bad Hats/Soulpepper); Sunday in the Park with George (Eclipse Theatre, Dora Nomination); Miss Bennet's Christmas at Pemberley (RMTC, Evie nomination); Girls Like That (Tarragon); Dora award-winning Chasse Galarie (Soulpepper / Storefront); Anne of Green Gables (Charlottetown); three seasons at The Shaw Festival including Top Girls, The Next Whiskey Bar, Sweeney Todd, The Philadelphia Story, Cabaret.
Other: During the pandemic Tess Benger and business partner Julia McLellan launched a notfor-profit called The Canadian Green Alliance, where they aim to bridge the gap between sustainability and theatre. @canadiangreenalliance or @tessybeng on Instagram.
Jesse Gervais
Ambrose Small
For The Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre credits (Selected): Jane Eyre, Silver Arrow, Crazy For You, Alice Through the Looking Glass, One Man Two Guvnors, Measure for Measure, A Christmas Carol (Citadel Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labours Lost (Free Will Players); 6.0, 4th Graders Present…, Fat Pig (NLT); 10\\12, Passion Play, Realistic Joneses (Wild Side Productions); Buddy, Little One, Let The Light Of Day Through (Theatre Network); Joy Ride, Black Horse (Caravan Farm Theatre).
Film and TV credits: Tiny Plastic Men Seasons 1-4 (Super Channel); Caution May Contain Nuts (APTN); Blind Ambition: The Wop May Story.
Other: Jesse has a BFA from the University of Alberta. [www.jessegervais.com](http://www.jessegervais.com).
Cyrus Lane
Ghost 'Acrobat' as: John Doughty (Jack)
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Sweeney Todd (Talk Is Free Theatre); On Golden Pond, Twelve Angry Men (Drayton Festival); Oil (Actors Repertory Company); The Secret Chord: a Leonard Cohen Experience (Soulpepper Theatre); Four Chords and Gun (Starvox, Toronto and Chicago); six seasons at the Stratford Festival, including As You Like It, Possible Worlds, Macbeth, Peter Pan and Bunny.
Other: Roger, then Rupert Newsome on The Murdoch Mysteries.
Upcoming: Accused (Fox).
Katelyn McCulloch
Ghost 'Contortionist Gambler' as Jennie the Bookie
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): The Crucible, Treasure Island,The Breathing Hole, Romeo & Juliet (Stratford Theatre Festival); The Never Ending Story (NAC/Stratford); Jerusalem (Outside the March/Company Theatre); The Silver Arrow (Citadel Theatre); The Heart of RobinHood (Mirvish/MTC).
Film and TV credits: Hudson&Rex, Pretty Hard Cases, Mary Kills People, Avocado Toast, Mind Fudge, Reign, Incorporated, Becoming Burlesque, Bystander.
Other: Dora and Broadway World award winner, Graduate of the BFA at York University, Award winning Film Director/Writer/Producer.
Christian Murray
Ghost 'Security Guard' as: Mitchell
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Afterimage (Artistic Fraud); The 39 Steps, Noises Off, The Producers, Seduced, The Little Years (Neptune Theatre); And Slowly Beauty (NAC / Tarragon); Underneath the Lintel (Frankie); Feelgood (GCTC / MTC); The Hobbit (Festival Antigonish); Lauchie Liza and Rory (Mulgrave Rd / NZ Tour).
Film and TV credits: Chapelwaite (EPIX); The Sinner (Netflix); Diggstown (CBC); Black Cop (The Movie Network); Haven (Showcase); Trailer Park Boys (Showcase).
Other: Founding member of Jest In Time Theatre. Gemini Award winning comedy writer. Member of The National Arts Centre’s English Theatre Company.
Andrew Prashad
Emcee
For the Grand theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Riverdance (20th Anniversary World Tour); Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Rep Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (Young People’s Theatre); Once: The Musical (Theatre St John’s); Cinderella (Neptune Theatre); Holiday Inn (Shaw Festival); One Step at a Time (Stratford Festival); Sweeney Todd (Talk is Free Theatre).
Film and TV credits: Spin (Disney); The Hot Zone: Anthrax; Larry; Blues Clues and You.
Other: Andrew is one of the leading Tap dance artists in Canada. His show One Step at a Time is a critically acclaimed, multi-medium show chronicling his family’s journey with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus and has been presented by schools and theatres, raising $11,500 (to date) for SickKids Hospital and ErinOak Kids.
Jan Alexandra Smith
Ghost 'Singing Diva' as: Theresa Small
For the Grand Theatre: 9 shows including: Grow, Mary Poppins, Vigilante, A Christmas Carol (2018), High School Project Evita (Director/Choreographer).
Theatre Credits (Selected): Driving Miss Daisy (Director, Stage West Calgary); Take Care (Director, Here For Now); Much Ado About Nothing (Director, Shakespeare Co.); Vigilante (Catalyst Theatre); The Hollow (Director, Vertigo Theatre); Mamma Mia!, Alice Through The Looking Glass (Charlottetown Festival); Seussical (Director/Choreographer, St. Lawrence College); As You Like It, Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare in High Park/CanStage); The Mountaintop, God of Carnage (Director, Theatre Calgary); Lost (Theatre Calgary); Forests (Tarragon); Shakespeare’s Will (Citadel Theatre); Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Shaw Festival); Les Misérables (Royal Alexandra).
Tahirih Vejdani
Ghost 'Dramatic Actress' as: Violet
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): HMS Pinafore, Treasure Island, The Pirates of Penzance, Elektra (Stratford Festival); The Invisible – Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Catalyst Theatre); Portia’s Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in the Ruff); The Men in White (Factory Theatre); Taming of the Shrew (Driftwood Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (Tarragon Theatre); The Jungle Book (Young Peoples Theatre); The Hobbit, Shrek, Honk! (Globe Theatre).
Film and TV credits (selected): Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (CBS); Kim’s Convenience (CBC); Let it Snow (Netflix).
Other: Catch Tahirih this December as Aurora in Sleeping Beauty – A Panto Awakening at The Capitol Theatre. [www.tahirihvejdani.ca](http://www.tahirihvejdani.ca)
Anthony Raymond Yu
Ghost 'Scaffold Worker' as: Painter/Frank (Vendor)
For The Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): \[inboks/outboks\] (Porchlight Theatre/Hamilton 7/rejzndkliv); Head à Tête (Roseneath Theatre); Then Comes Marriage, ANAK, KALDERO (Carlos Bulosan Theatre).
Film and TV credits (selected): Let’s Get Merried (Merry Me Productions); Y2K-9 (Mail with a Movie); Le Genre qui tue (Randy Cruz Productions).
Other: Graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies program at Sheridan College and the University of Toronto. Anthony is a Queer Canadian actor, director, producer, & circus collaborator of Filipino & Chinese heritage.
### Creative Team
Jillian Keiley
Director
For the Grand Theatre: Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Oil and Water, Tempting Providence.
Theatre Credits (selected): Under Wraps, AfterImage, The Cheat, Fear of Flight, The Chekhov Variations, Salvage: Story of a House and I Forgive You (Artistic Fraud); Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night (as imagined by the Old Trout Puppet Workshop), Metamorphoses: Based on the Myths of Ovid, Tartuffe, Copenhagen, Oil and Water (National Arts Centre); Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, As You Like It, The Neverending Story, Alice Through the Looking-Glass (Stratford Festival); Tell Tale Harbour (Confederation Centre for the Arts – touring this fall).
Other: Jillian holds Honorary Doctorates of Letters from both Memorial University and York University. She was the winner of the Siminovitch Prize for Directing in 2004 and the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize in 1997. Jillian was the first Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud, founded along with the team from In Your Dreams, Freud.
Allen Cole
Music Director, Composer & Pianist
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Alice (Shaw Festival); The Taming of the Shrew (Stratford Festival); Pélagie (Canadian Stage/NAC); Rockbound (Two Planks and a Passion); Mary Stuart (Soulpepper); Anything That Moves (Tarragon); Hush (Theatre Passe-Muraille); The Sound of Music (NAC).
Other: Five Dora Awards and eight Merritt Awards as composer, musical director and/or playwright. Former Artistic Director of The Caravan Farm Theatre.
Genny Sermonia
Choreographer
For The Grand Theatre: Elf (2013).
Theatre Credits (Selected): Choreographer/Movement Director: Take The Moment (Musical Stage Co.); Follies in Concert (Royal Conservatory of Music); The Barbecue King (Toronto Fringe, Globus Theatre) Little Women, Once On This Island (Stage Door Academy); A Funny Thing… Forum (Sunshine & Co.); Assistant Choreographer: The Phantom of the Opera, Urinetown (Theatre Sheridan).
Film and TV credits (selected): Odd Squad (PBS Kids); McDonald’s, Best Buy Canada.
Other: Honours Graduate of Sheridan College - Music Theatre Performance.
Shawn Kerwin
Set Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Buddy, Pride and Prejudice, Miracle on 34th St., Colours in the Storm, Moonlight and Magnolias, Sherlock Holmes, Later Life.
Theatre Credits (Selected): The Bakkai (Stratford Festival); float (Choral Canada); Between Breaths (Artistic Fraud); Sea Sick (Theatre Centre); Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Class, Speed the Plow (Belfry Theatre); Betty’s Song (Charlottetown Festival); The Two Odysseys, Pimooteewin (Signal Theatre /Soundstreams); Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Artistic Fraud); If Truth Be Told (Blyth Festival); How Do I Love Thee (Canadian Rep Theatre); All’s Well That Ends Well (Canadian Stage/Dream in High Park); Dead Metaphor (Mirvish Productions, Canadian Rep Theatre).
Other: Associate Professor, Department of Theatre & Performance, York University.
Joseph Abetria
Costume Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Costume Design: Calpurnia, Tiny Plays Big Ideas, Bang Bang, Last Train to Nibroc (RMTC); The Player King (SIR); Voice (PTE); Plé, Spelling 2-5-5 (MTYP); Mary’s Wedding, Iceland (TPM). Assistant Costume Design: The Neverending Story, Othello, The Rocky Horror Show, Romeo and Juliet (Stratford); Billy Elliot (RMTC).
Other: BA Honours University of Winnipeg
Bonnie Beecher
Lighting Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Room, Mary Poppins, The Penelopiad, A Christmas Carol (2018 and 2017), Timothy Findley’s The Wars, Art, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Ned Durango Comes to Big Oak.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Over 350 productions for theatre, opera, and dance across Canada and internationally. Recent productions include Just to Get Married (Shaw); Was Ihr Wollt (Karlsruhe Ballet, Germany); Swan Lake (National Ballet of Canada); I Forgive You (Artistic Fraud); Don Giovani ( Pacific Opera); What If (Ballet B.C.); Jane Eyre (Citadel Theatre).
Other: [www.bonniebeecher.com](http://www.bonniebeecher.com)
Richard Feren
Sound Designer
For the Grand Theatre: Every Brilliant Thing, The Wars, Silence.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Hamlet (Stratford Festival); The Cold War (VideoCabaret); Public Enemy, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure For Measure (Canadian Stage); Every Brilliant Thing, Perfect Wedding, Miss Caledonia (Thousand Islands Playhouse); The Flick (Outside the March/Crow’s Theatre).
Film and TV credits (selected): Going, Going (short film by Fiona Highet); Carmen (feature film score).
Upcoming: Frankenstein (Kidoons/Wyrd Productions).
Other: Richard has been creating music and soundscapes for theatre, dance & film since 1992. He has won seven Dora Awards, the 1999 Pauline McGibbon Award, and was the first sound designer ever shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize, in 2012.
Andrew Prashad
Tap Dance Choreographer
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Riverdance (20th Anniversary World Tour); Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Rep Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (Young People’s Theatre); Once: The Musical (Theatre St John’s); Cinderella (Neptune Theatre); Holiday Inn (Shaw Festival); One Step at a Time (Stratford Festival); Sweeney Todd (Talk is Free Theatre).
Film and TV credits: Spin (Disney); The Hot Zone: Anthrax; Larry; Blues Clues and You.
Other: Andrew is one of the leading Tap dance artists in Canada. His show One Step at a Time is a critically acclaimed, multi-medium show chronicling his family’s journey with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus and has been presented by schools and theatres, raising $11,500 (to date) for SickKids Hospital and ErinOak Kids.
Tess Benger
Dance Captain
For The Grand Theatre: Cabaret, The Penelopiad.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods (TIFT); Alice in Wonderland (Bad Hats/Soulpepper); Sunday in the Park with George (Eclipse Theatre, Dora Nomination); Miss Bennet's Christmas at Pemberley (RMTC, Evie nomination); Girls Like That (Tarragon); Dora award-winning Chasse Galarie (Soulpepper / Storefront); Anne of Green Gables (Charlottetown); three seasons at The Shaw Festival including Top Girls, The Next Whiskey Bar, Sweeney Todd, The Philadelphia Story, Cabaret.
Other: During the pandemic Tess Benger and business partner Julia McLellan launched a not-for-profit called The Canadian Green Alliance, where they aim to bridge the gap between sustainability and theatre. @canadiangreenalliance or @tessybeng on Instagram.
Suzanne McArthur
Stage Manager
For the Grand Theatre: 13th season (2 seasons with ghostly encounters).
Theatre Credits (Selected): Hamlet-911, Hosanna, The Tempest (Stratford Festival); The Birds and the Bees, Aladdin: The Panto, Snow White: The Panto, Weekend Comedy, Perfect Wedding (Drayton Entertainment); The Fixer-Upper, It’s Your Funeral, Lunenburg, Buying the Farm, Birds of a Feather, Storm Warning, Wrong for Each Other, Knickers! A Brief Comedy (Port Stanley Festival Theatre); The Normal Heart (Studio 180/Buddies in Bad TimesTheatre); Forests (Tarragon Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (Silver Mist Productions).
Upcoming: Controlled Damage, Homes: A Refugee Story (Grand Theatre).
Other: Love to Phil, Michael and Charlie.
Kelly Boudreau
Assistant Stage Manager
For the Grand Theatre: Silence.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Elf the Musical, Beauty and the Beast, It’s a Wonderful Life, Hairspray (Theatre Aquarius); Innocence Lost (Soulpepper); Mamma Mia!, The Sound of Music, Twelve Angry Men, Joseph and the… (Drayton Entertainment); Jerusalem, John (The Company Theatre); Dry Powder (Evermore Theatre); The Melville Boys (Bluewater Summer Playhouse); Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (Classical Theatre Project); On Golden Pond (Rose Theatre).
Other: Graduate of Sheridan College.
Andrea Handal Riviera
Apprentice Stage Manager
For the Grand Theatre: Debut.
Theatre Credits (Selected): Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Garneau Block (Citadel Theatre); I Don’t Even Miss You (Tiny Bear Jaws); once + after (KnK Collective); Michener Park (Independent).
Other: A proud Salvadoran stage manager and arts administrator based in Treaty 6 Territory, Andrea is passionate about the arts as a medium of connecting cultures and voices. They are a graduate of the BFA Stage Management program at the University of Alberta, and send love to their friends and family for all their support.
[Program](https://www.grandtheatre.com/hp/grand-ghosts) [Tickets ](https://tickets.grandtheatre.com/overview/9983)