Lillian Beutelschies (Child Catcher)
Lillian Beutelschies is thrilled to stretch her talents in villainous roles in this years’ spring show. She has played Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical Jr. and Dolly in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Lillian is wrapping up the 6th grade at HMS and when she’s not living her best life at Grandstreet Theatre, she’ll be snow or water skiing, experiencing the great outdoors, or be involved in her school and community.
Aiofe Brachmann (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Aoife (pronounced “eefa”) hails from the big little town of Basin Montana, to make her debut performance on the Grandstreet stage! In Basin, she has enjoyed the fame of her solo musical performances from the front porch stage to standing room only audiences of neighbors, family, and friends. However, she is excited to take her career to the next level and delighted to work with the wonderful Chitty cast and crew. In her spare time, Aoife enjoys creating and experiencing art of any medium, playing in the great outdoors, and baking with her grandmother.
Harper Bushilla (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Harper Bushilla (she/her) is a rising 6th grader at HMS. She loves everything about Grandstreet and is excited to share this experience with her sisters. Previous roles include Doug/Magician in 48 Hours to Curtain, Elf #2 in Rudolph Jr. and Whisk Broom in Beauty and the Beast Jr. When not on the stage you can find Harps climbing at Stonetree. Harper would like to thank her awesome parents and the wonderful cast!
Leslie Carr (Caractacus Potts)
Leslie is an honor roll student at HMS and has been attending Grandstreet Theatre School for 8 years. He is honored to be playing the part of Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr. Some of his past roles include Erik in Matilda, Blitzen and the understudy for Rudolph in Rudolph Jr. Leslie loves acting and playing basketball. He is thankful for his family and everyone at Grandstreet who supports and believes in him.
Haddie Dailey (Jemima Potts)
Haddie Dailey, age 11, couldn’t be happier to be singing and dancing in Grandstreet’s production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr. Previous roles with Grandstreet include Little Fiona in Shrek the Musical Jr, Gretl in The Sound of Music. She has enjoyed her ensemble roles for Junior Theatre Festival and Missoula Children’s Theatre. You may also see her on the big screen as Margarite in Outlaw Posse. “Grandsreet is home!” All my love to my family.
Leah Gardner (Toymaker)
Leah is very excited to be making her Grandstreet debut in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr. Leah loves being a 7th grader at Clancy Elementary School. She has acted in school productions of The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy) and Little Red Riding Hood (Red). Leah enjoys singing and will be performing at Clancy Days on June 3rd. She wants to thank her mom and dad for their support and love!
Ashlyn Grasmick (Baroness)
Ashlyn Grasmick (Baroness, She/Her) is a rising sophomore at Capital High School. Ashlyn is excited to be a part of this amazing production and is so thankful for everyone who is making it happen. You may have seen Ashlyn as Ms Claus in Grandstreet’s Production of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Jr and a Big Kid in Matilda. Ashlyn would like to give a big thanks to her parents for their unconditional support and Gretchen for helping her on this journey!
Grey Haladay (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Grey Haladay (he/him) is thrilled to be a part of the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You may have seen him as a misfit toy in Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Jr, or a villager in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr. Grey wants to give a shout-out to his family for having his back. He loves the Theatre School community & is very grateful to be a part of Grandstreet.
Kenley Higgins (Grandpa)
Kenley Higgins is a rising 8th grader at CRA. She is thrilled to be playing the role of Grandpa in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jr. Previous roles include Dolly in Rudolph, Jr and Middle Fiona in Shrek, Jr. Kenley loves attending classes at Grandstreet and performing on stage. She would like to thank her family for their support and especially thanks Liz and Brandon for their dedication to helping her become a better actor.
Tristan Hill (Baron)
Tristan Hill is a 6th grader at Helena Middle School. Most recently, Tristan performed as Hermey in Grandstreet Theatre’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Jr. He has also performed in Frozen Jr., Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Jr., and Elf Jr. When not at Grandstreet, Tristan loves to mountain bike and practice his bass at home. He would like to thank his family and his dog, Humphrey, for their support along the way.
Gavin Hussey (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Gavin Hussey (They/Them). This is Gavin’s Grandstreet debut. Gavin has been dancing with Queen City Ballet for nearly four years and has danced at the Civic Center in Alice in Wonderland, Return to the Stage and two different studios’ Nutcracker. They have also acted the title role in The Frog Prince with Missoula Children’s theater among other roles. Gavin will be in the 6th grade at St Andrew School. They are excited to start their career at Grandstreet!
Shannon Hussey (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Shannon Hussey (She/Her). Shannon will be a 4th grader at St Andrew School this fall. This is already her 3rd Grandstreet show. She has been a Cup in Beauty and the Beast, Jr and an Elf in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jr. She has also performed at the local schools with the Words By Kids group. Shannon was born to be in front of a crowd and is just getting her career started!
Emory Kreissler (Goran)
Emory is a rising 7th grader at Helena Middle School and is excited to be a part of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr. He is also a student at Grandstreet Theatre School. He loves playing basketball and doing Grandstreet. Emory would like to thank his family and friends for their support. Enjoy the show!
Ella McCullough (Truly Scrumptious)
Ella Is a rising 8th grader at C R Anderson Middle School and has been a part of Grandstreet Theatre for the past 7 years. Her favorite role to date is Matilda’s Understudy in Matilda the Musical. She also enjoyed being Clarice in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Jr. and participating in the Junior Theatre Festival. Ella would like to thank the Grandstreet community for always having open doors, open hearts and for letting her grow up on the stage.
Huw McVie (Jeremy Potts)
Huw is thrilled to be a part of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jr for his first Grandstreet production! He spent the first 7 years of his life in Chattanooga, Tennessee and moved to Helena in 2020 with his parents and best friend/big brother, Reiter. He is a rising 4th grader at Jefferson where his favorite subject is Math. Huw also enjoys playing all sports, reading, yo-yoing, and hanging out with his friends.
Ida Munson (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
During her three years with Grandstreet Theatre school, Ida has delivered memorable performances as “Enchanted Teacup” and “Elf #16”. When she’s not hustling on the soccer pitch with her Helena Academy team, Ida is tuning up to join the cello section of Helena Middle School’s 6th grade orchestra in the fall. Look for Ida coming up the theatre ranks as she pursues her life goal to play “Anita” in West Side Story.
Declan Van Wyk (Boris)
Declan Van Wyk (he/him/his) is 14 years old and is attending his last year at Helena Middle School. His most memorable performances include Wildwood, Madagascar Jr, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer Jr and JTF- 13 Jr. In addition to theatre, he enjoys biking, playing jazz on his alto saxophone and beekeeping. He would like to thank his fellow cast members and amazing crew.
Cyrus Wright (Lord Scrumptious/Vulgarians)
(He/They) from Cascade, MT is making their Grandstreet debut! He is a homeschooled Freshman, going into his Sophomore year in September. They have been interested in theatre from a very young age but only recently joined Grandstreet. Cyrus wants to thank “my friends and family for supporting me, and pushing me to keep going every day! I’m looking forward to working in theatre for many years to come.”
Liz Adler (Director/Musical Director)
Marking her ninth production with Grandstreet Theatre, Liz is excited to be involved in the last show of the 2022/23 season. Although she has musical directed many shows this is her Grandstreet directing debut! Up next for Liz, will be roles both on and off stage as musical director and Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid.
Brandon Taylor (Choreographer)
Brandon is so excited to be choreographing this show! He is from Hollister, California and got his BA in Musical Theatre from Chico State. Since moving to Helena, he has choreographed musicals for both Grandstreet Theatre and Carroll College. Some of his past roles include Billy Cane in Bright Star, Jesus in Godspell, and Johnny in Green Day’s American Idiot. Up next for him will be Flotsam in The Little Mermaid in July. Special thanks to his family and friends for their support!
Paige O'Neill (Scenic Designer)
Paige O’Neill (Stage Manager/Technical Director, she/her), who considers the Northwest her home, holds a BFA in Technical Theatre from the University of Montana and has been the Technical Director at Grandstreet Theatre since 2018. She has built every set at GST from Sense and Sensibility to Bright Star, but is especially proud of those for The Cake, Murder on the Orient Express, and Treasure Island. Paige worked for the Montana Repertory Theatre, Missoula Children’s Theatre, and Fort Peck Summer Theatre. “Thanks to my wife and best friend Lilly—I couldn’t do this without you.”
Flora Bella of Helena, Montana (Costume Designer)
Costuming services for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr were designed and built by Flora Bella of Helena, Montana with additional assistance by Melanie Shaffer, Sarah Eldridge, Danielle Beutelschies, Grey Gildroy, Karen Marble and Keir Balukas.
Alyx Gage (Lighting Designer)
Alyx Gage is a senior at Carroll College getting her degree in Performance Theater and History. She is originally from Bozeman,MT. This is her first Grandstreet project and she is so thankful to get to work with such a talented cast and crew. She would like to that her friends and parents who have always supported her.
Mary Gegenhuber (Props Designer)
Mary is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She moved to Montana in 1976. Mary performed her first play, The Mouse That Roared, at age twelve. But, she was bitten by the production bug and became a stage manager by age sixteen. She started as props designer at Grandstreet in 2006 for Ah, Wilderness. She has performed on the Grandstreet stage in Titanic and Annie Get Your Gun. Mary dedicates everything she does to her mother Dolores, the person who introduced her to the arts.
Heather Brown (Production Stage Manager)
Heather Brown is stage managing her first production at Grandstreet Theatre and has learned amazing lessons in the process! She is a 5th grade teacher at Broadwater Elementary School and mom to two beautifully, talented girls. She is grateful to the production team for baring with her questions. It has been quite the ride. To all the amazing children in this cast – you are so brave, so talented, and so wonderful. Break legs and have fun! To Quincey and Kenley – you are my shining stars!