Patron - Philip Aldridge ONZM
Creative Team
Director/MD - Louise Frost Glossop
Choreographer - Hillary Moulder
Pianist - Gabriel Baird
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The Secret Garden Cast
Mary Lennox - Madeleine Glossop & Lily Partridge
Colin Craven - Albert Anderson & Zachary Whelan
Captain Albert Lennox - Rory Sweeney
Rose Lennox - Kimberley Wood
Lily Craven - Madeline Bender
Archibald Craven - Nigel Withington
Dr Neville Craven - James Edward Foster
Mrs Medlock - Francesca Pashby
Ben Weatherstaff - Blair McHugh
Martha - Maria Morris
Dickon - Zachary Pearce
Mrs Winthrop - Sarena Harrison
Officer, Policeman, Servant - Ian Thomas
Reader, Servant, Nurse - Charis Naylor
Reader - Katya Atlas
Louise Frost Glossop
Director / MD
Raised in Christchurch (in the Curator's House in the Botanic Gardens), Louise trained in singing and drama at The University of Canterbury and The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Her other training and qualifications include a BA in Theatre and Film and English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington and Licentiate of Trinity College, London (LTCL) in Speech and Drama.
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Louise’s Court Theatre credits include: Gypsy, The Sex Fiend, Daughters of Heaven, Private Lives, Shadowlands, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Larnach- Castle of Lies, Legless, Big River, Arcadia, She Stoops to Conquer, She Loves Me and two seasons of The Wind in the Willows. Other theatre credits include: The Importance of Being Earnest, Hay Fever and Mamma Mia!
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Louise is a former member of the New Zealand Youth Choir, the Cambridge University Musical Society and the Wellington Cathedral Choir. She now sings in two vocal ensembles including Conspiro.
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Awards include winning the National Speech and Drama Award.
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Louise has loved directing since she was 15 and has now directed and produced over 60 productions, both for her own theatre group and for The Cathedral Grammar School. Directing highlights have included: Madagascar Jr, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Producing The Secret Garden has been a dream for some years and Louise is excited to be sharing this wonderful Tony Award-winning musical with Christchurch audiences.
Hillary Moulder
Choreographer
Hillary is a graduate of the Selwyn College Performing Arts Programme (Diploma of Performing Arts). She holds her associate diploma in modern and tap, which she has taught for over 10 years, with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance.
Hillary has just finished performing in the sold out season of Jersey Boys at The Court Theatre. Her other Court Theatre credits include Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Time Machine, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Escape from Haunted House, A Christmas Carol and A Streetcar Named Desire. Hillary has also worked on projects which include A Fine Romance (JTM Productions AUS); Bechdel Test, Severely Queer- a Little Cabaret, He Says, She Says (Blackboard Theatre Collective); Nine (Auckland Music Theatre); Oliver, Me and My Gal, Alice in Wonderland, The Wasps and Hamlet. She has performed with Disneyland Paris and The RNZB, and is an apprentice with The Court Jesters.
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Most recently Hillary has produced and directed her one woman show Chats with Pat, which she performed at the Isaac Theatre Royal.
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Hillary is delighted to be a part of Enchanting Productions' creative team for The Secret Garden- Spring Version and looks forward to bringing such a beautiful story to life.
Danielle Rackham
Stage Manager
Danielle is a graduate of the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (Bachelor of Performing Arts).
Since graduating in 2017, Danielle has been working as a Performer, Stage Manager, ASM, Venue Manager, Sound and Lighting Operator, Wig Assistant, Stagehand/Dresser for multiple Christchurch based companies, as well as several national and international touring companies. Her theatre credits include: Crash Bash 2021, Jekyll and Hyde, Scared Scriptless, Early Early Late Show, Jesus Christ Superstar, Time Machine and The Princess and The Frog (and the Robber!) (The Court Theatre); Suor Angelica & Elegies (Toi Toi Opera); Cinderella The Pantomime (GMG Productions); Sexwise Tour 2020, Di and Viv and Rose (Fusion Productions); Bread and Circus World Buskers Festival 2020; Barber of Seville (NZ Opera); New Zealand Dance Awards, In Session; Catch Me If You Can the Musical (Blackboard Theatre Collective); Broadway Hitmen (Showbiz Christchurch); and Little Women (NASDA).
Albert Anderson
Cast Member - Colin Craven
Albie is a 13 year old Christ's College student.
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He attended Cathedral Grammar School for four years as a chorister where he learnt musical theory and singing and enjoyed the hard work choristers put into singing 18+ hours a week. The choir toured Australia and Japan in 2018 singing in a variety of venues including universities, churches and cathedrals. He took part in the RSCM event “Sydney Inspires” in 2019, a residential summer school culminating in a large concert at the Sydney Town Hall. He was the winner of the “Most Promising Unbroken Voice” cup at the RSCM NZ choir school in Wellington 2020.
Albie's love of acting and dancing began early when he started ballet at 4 years of age, rising to Intermediate Foundation last year. In Year 4 at primary school he took the lead role in a production of History Rocks with Broomfield School. He sang in the children’s choir for NZ Opera in the 2018 production of Tosca in Christchurch.
Now on a performing arts scholarship at Christ’s College, Albie plays bass guitar and sings lead vocals in the band Unknown. Prior to that he was lead singer and bass guitarist in The G4s who won heat awards two years in a row at Rockshop Bandquest. His vocals were recorded on vinyl for the band Glass Vaults, and he acted in a music video for Christchurch band Rhomboid. This is Albie's first full length stage musical.
Katya Atlas
Cast Member - Reader
Katya Atlas is in Year 7 at Beckenham Te Kura o Puroto, and has amassed a lot of performance experience over the last few years. As a student at Impact Dance and Stage School she has regularly performed in their showcases, has reached Introduction Level Five in Jazz Dance (Highly Commended), and achieved Honours Distinction in her Grade 1 Tap Dance exam. She is a keen musical theatre performer, and studies singing and acting at the new Greenstone Performance Academy.
Katya has performed as an ensemble member in Seussical the Musical, in the Christmas Recital at the Isaac Theatre Royal, and in Kidsfest concerts at the Aurora Centre for the last seven years, all with Impact. She was an Ensemble Member and Soloist with Showbiz Christchurch in their Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber concert with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at the Isaac Theatre Royal, and played Chip the Teacup for Burnside High School’s 2017 production of Beauty and the Beast.
Katya is also an auditioned member of the Christchurch Girls' Choir, and will be singing with the choir and the CSO in their September performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. She is very excited to be making her debut with Enchanting Productions in their performances of The Secret Garden.
Madeline Bender
Cast Member - Lily Craven
Madeline has had a rich career as an international opera singer, writer, director and producer. She has created numerous devised performances including Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space in Manhattan in collaboration with Concert Artists Guild, the annual Creative Stage Spectacular performances, also at Symphony Space (2018, 2019, 2020), Creative Stage Uptown at the Alvin Ailey Room at the Harry Belafonte Branch of the NYPL; and Dancing Storytellers for Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day (2018). She specialises in devising original work with multi-generational, multidisciplinary groups.
As a performer, Madeline has worked with notable opera directors such Sir Peter Hall, Robert Wilson, David McVicar, Paul Curran, and Sir Jonathan Miller. Career highlights include performances as Euridice in Orphee et Euridice (Le Theatre du Chatelet, Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting), Helene in A Midsummer Night's Dream(La Monnaie, Brussels, Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Konstanza in Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Baden Baden, Aix en Provence), Violetta in La Traviata(Santa Fe Opera), Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (New York Philharmonic), and Handel's Messiah (Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with Sir Andrew Davis conducting).
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Also a passionate performing arts educator, Madeline founded Creative Stage in 2012. Her innovative arts curricula in the fields music, theatre, dance, and filmmaking serve hundreds of students each year and are taught across Manhattan in esteemed private and public schools, alike.
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Madeline, along with partner Timothy Long, is the Founder and Director of Voices of Hope- an annual opera gala event which has raised over $250,000 to provide life-changing education to severely underprivileged children around the globe. This gala has hosted esteemed international artists such as: Anna Christy, Erin Morley, Meagan Miller, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Gordon Geitz, John Belemer, Bryan Register, Jonathan Boyd, Christopher Herbert, and Paul Whelan to name just a few.
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Madeline received her Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She usually lives in NYC with her husband, operatic bass Paul Whelan, and their twelve-year-old son, Zachary.
James Edward Foster
Cast Member - Dr Neville Craven
James graduated in 2013 from the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art with a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Music Theatre). ​
After several years performing around NZ, James returned to Christchurch where he now works as a drama and music teacher at St Margaret’s College, and as a vocal tutor at NASDA.
James is also the leader of a new theatre enterprise in Christchurch called Moonlight Theatre, which aims to showcase the talents of the sometimes-overlooked pool of talent existing in the world of Christchurch community theatre. He directed the first production, The Moonlight Cabaret, and looks forward to the next upcoming project.
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His performance credits include: West End to Broadway, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Dusty (Musical Theatre Dunedin); Flagons and Foxtrots (Fortune Theatre); Wicked, Les Misérables, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Miss Saigon and My Fair Lady (Showbiz Christchurch); and Jesus Christ Superstar (The Court Theatre).
Madeleine Grace Glossop
Cast Member - Mary Lennox
Maddie has been learning singing and acting since she was six, and began dancing at three. She has performed in many plays with the Cathedral Grammar Drama Club, and also performed in Cathedral Grammar’s operettas: Pirate Cantata (solo), The Wizard of Oz and Madagascar Jnr. Maddie was part of the children's chorus in Broadway to the West End with the CSO at the Theatre Royal, and played Gretl in the professional nationwide tour of The Sound of Music in 2017, being lucky enough to play in some of New Zealand’s most beautiful theatres.
Maddie has learned many instruments including drums, bagpipes and bass, but her favourite is ukulele and she was part of the Not Yet band who were placed first and third in Bandquest over the last couple years and were also awarded best original composition in New Zealand.
Last year, Maddie became one of the Inaugural Girl Choristers in the ChristChurch Cathedral and also attended the RSCM Choir School in Wellington. Maddie has just started at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School this year, sings with Rangi Voices and plays the oboe in Rangi Players. She also enjoys theatresports, drama, debating and, outside of school, singing with the Christchurch Girls' Choir. Maddie recently passed Grade 6 singing with distinction, and is looking forward to the Christchurch Vocal Competitions in July where she has done well in the past.
Blair McHugh
Cast Member - Ben Weatherstaff
Blair has been performing in Christchurch since joining MUSOC in the ‘80s, including Little Shop of Horrors (voicing Audrey ll), followed by five more shows including Wal in Footrot Flats.
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He first appeared with Showbiz in Anything Goes and subsequently appeared in: Les Misérables, Into the Woods, 42nd Street, Chess, A Chorus Line, WestEnd to Broadway I & ll, Little Shop of Horrors, Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, CATS, Miss Saigon, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sweeney Todd, Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, Avenue Q, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, An Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein Classics and Sister Act.
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In 2014 Blair played the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago in Ashburton, and has appeared in four operas for Canterbury Opera.
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Blair is a foundation member of the Christchurch Pops Choir and Pro Arte Chorale, has performed in three concerts with the CSO, and as part of Coca Cola Christmas in the Park.
Maria Morris
Cast Member - Martha
Maria is currently in her final year at The National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA). Originally from Auckland, she now considers herself a Christchurch-based performer, and has grown to love the theatre community down here.
Her credits at NASDA include Mrs Van Amersfort in The Book of Everything and Ivy Smith in Leonard Bernstein’s On The Town. Other roles she has played are Patty Simcox in Grease! and Beth in Little Women.
Maria is excited to be a part of such a talented cast and can’t wait to connect with everyone on stage!
Charis Naylor
Cast Member - Reader, Servant, Nurse
Charis has been involved in the arts from a very young age - from primary school choir and orchestra, to full scale productions and choral performances inside and outside of high school, Charis has always loved to perform.
Over the years, Charis has been part of six major choral groups: Aurora Voices, Junior Performance Choir, Voices Re:Choired, Bel Canto, Senior Chorale and most recently, Atlas Voices. From 2016-2019, Charis was also part of Burnside's Specialist Music Programme for Voice.
Charis has also performed in numerous productions over her time at Burnside, including: Elf Jr (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Almost Maine (2018), Confusions(2019) and Lord of the Flies (2020).
Lily Partridge
Cast Member - Mary Lennox
Lily Partridge is 12 years old and currently attends Selwyn House School. Lily loves singing, dancing, and has loved performing in many shows such as Aladdin Jnr, Shrek Jnr and The Lion King Jnr. Lily aspires to be an actress one day.
She has thoroughly enjoyed her time playing Mary in The Secret Garden alongside such a talented cast and crew, and can’t wait for the show to begin!
Francesca Pashby
Cast Member - Mrs Medlock
Francesca is currently starring in her dream role as a librarian at St Margaret’s College, but over the course of many years she has portrayed a varied series of crusty old bats, including Miss Hannigan in Annie, Mrs Sparsit in Hard Times, and Clara in Hay Fever. She is looking forward to adding to her repertoire of aged crones!
Rory Sweeney
Cast Member - Captain Albert Lennox
Rory is a Christchurch-based baritone. He completed a Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of Richard Greager at the New Zealand School of Music in 2013, studied with Richard Conrad at his home near Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 2016/17, and completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours under the tutelage of his current teacher, Judy Bellingham, at the University of Otago in 2018.
Rory is a member of the Voices NZ Chamber Choir, the NZ Opera Chorus, and a Lay Clerk in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral Choir. In February, Rory performed in Toi Toi Opera’s inaugural production of Suor Angelica and Elegies, singing Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad.
Rory will soon perform in the chorus of NZ Opera’s Christchurch season of The Marriage of Figaro, and he is looking forward to presenting two song cycles by Gerald Finzi at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral as part of their lunchtime concert series on 5th August 2021.
Ian Thomas
Cast Member - Office, Policeman, Servant
Ian was born and raised an hour outside the Washington D.C. area. Frequently listening to show tunes and film scores, his dream has always been to be on the stage as a performer, and/or a composer. Now a high-school graduate with a national certificate in Music and Drama, Ian is taking his first steps into the theatre scene outside a school environment.
His performance credits include: Disney's Beauty and the Beast - The Beast, Our Town- Stage Manager (role), Cagebirds - Thump, Suor Angelica & Elegies - Chorus, The Importance of Being Earnest - Jack Worthington.
In everyday life, he's committed to whatever he sets his mind to and enjoys being busy working whether it be garden work for his parents, or his part time job. In everything he does, his drive is to build relationships with others, and to bring a little more light into the world. He's passionate about helping others and his relationship with God helps him stand strong when things fall apart. In everything Ian does, he lives by his hero Desmond Doss's saying: "With the world so set on tearing itself apart, doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me to wanna put a little bit of it back together".
Zachary Whelan
Cast Member - Colin
Zachary, originally from New York City, has spent the past year as part of the Special Music Programme at Westburn School. Zachary is an avid cellist, singer and actor. Past credits in Manhattan include performances with the Riverside Sing Ensemble (cello), and Creative Stage Spectacular performances at Symphony Space (as singer and actor). Most recently, Zachary performed in the Creative Stage Spectacular, NZ performance in the Great Hall of the Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora this past December with Louise Glossop! His parents are Paul Whelan and Madeline Bender and his grandparents are life-long Christchurch residents, Don and Beris Whelan.
Nigel Withington
Cast Member - Archibald Craven
Nigel has a strong, diverse musical background and began his singing career in choirs and regional music festivals in primary school. During high school, Nigel performed in productions of Oliver and South Pacific in principal roles and has since appeared in Westend To Broadway 3, Starry Nights and as a soloist in An Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein Classics for Showbiz Canterbury.
Nigel has trained classically with local voice coaches Helen Charlton and Ravil Atlas and is a member of the New Zealand Opera chorus appearing in productions Acis and Galatea, Don Giovanni, La Boheme (understudied the role of "Parpignol"), Madame Butterfly (solo role “Official Registrar”, La Traviata (solo role “Guiseppe”), Carmen, Tosca, Trial by Jury and The Barber of Seville. Nigel holds an Advanced Certificate in Singing from Trinity Guildhall.
Nigel also regularly performs around Christchurch with “The Opera Club”, cabaret band “The Great Pretenders” and in duo act “The Fun Key Notes” where the repertoire has more of a pop/rock flavour. Nigel is also a regular soloist in Christchurch’s annual “Carols by Candlelight” event.
Kimberley Wood
Cast Member - Rose Lennox
Kimberley is currently completing her PhD studies in Marketing at the University of Canterbury. In 2020, she received her Masters degree in Commerce (MCOM), and her Bachelor of Music degree in 2018.
In the past, Kimberley has musically directed Jesus Christ Superstar (2016), Spring Awakening (2017), Miscast: an Arts Month Cabaret (2017), and Footloose (2019) for MUSOC, and played keys for Dirty Rotten Scoundrel (NCMS, 2019), 42nd Street(NASDA, 2019), Beauty and the Beast (CentreStage Rolleston, 2019), Miss Saigon (Showbiz, 2019), Jersey Boys (The Court Theatre, 2020-21), Chicago (CentreStage Rolleston, 2021), and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (NCMS, 2021). She also enjoyed her brief moment not in the orchestral pit as an ensemble member in Evitafor Showbiz (2016).
This year, Kimberley is working at NASDA (National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art) as a musicianship and singing tutor, as well as at the University of Canterbury as a tutor in music theory. She is thoroughly looking forward to being back on stage for this production.