Alumni Back On Stage In "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

Since its inaugural summer in 1992, First Stage Theater Academy has fostered life skills through stage skills to thousands of young people. These students have learned acting, musical theater, improvisation, and much more, helping develop the creativity, confidence, and self-esteem needed to achieve any goal. For some, those goals have been the pursuit of a career in theater.  Several of the professional adult actors cast in First Stage productions this season are returning to the place where their theater studies began, making their mark as premier actors throughout Milwaukee and beyond. We are thrilled to have some of our alumni as part of our cast of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG! Recently, we sat down with them between rehearsals to hear about their fond memories as a student at First Stage and where we can find them next.

 Teddy Warren and Elyse Edelman in a Young Company production of MACBETH

Teddy Warren, Childcatcher/Ensemble

First Stage: What is your favorite show from your time as young performer at First Stage?

TW:  I think the most fun I had as a young performer with First Stage was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I was in a play called Shakespeare Stealer earlier that year, and wasn't originally cast in Tom Sawyer.  Shortly after the show opened, one of the young actors playing Huck Finn was diagnosed with appendicitis, so at the last minute I was asked to learn the part and understudy him. I learned the part in about five days and went on when the other young man playing Huck Finn needed time off to spend with his father before he did a tour of duty in Iraq. Up until that point, I had never learned a part so quickly, or felt as helpful to my cast-mates. It was truly an excellent experience.

FS: What do you want audiences to know about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? Why should families see this play?

TW: As much as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang embodies escapism, it also carries an important message. In the Vulgarian society, children are looked down on by the ruling class. They're seen as lazy, thieving, or even dangerous, so they are locked up or literally forced to hide in the sewers. Today, when we face questions about what to do with young people who are citizens in every way but name, we need to stop and think about which sort of society we'd like to embody: the imaginative, creative, world of Potts and his family; or the restrictive, stagnated world of the gilded Baron Bomburst and the beautiful Baroness.

FS:  What is one thing you learned at First Stage during your youth that you carry with you throughout your career today?

TW:   The story is always the most important part of theatre. Never let your ego, or anyone else's disrupt the action of the play. The play is the thing.

FS:   After this production, where can audiences see you next – in Milwaukee or beyond?

TW:   I spent the last month out of the country and I'm currently out auditioning right now.

Teddy Warren and Elyse Edelman in a Company Class production of YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

Elyse Edelman, Baroness/Ensemble

FS:   What is your favorite show from your time as young performer at First Stage?

EE:  I can’t choose a favorite! I loved them all for different reasons. I was in the first production of LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE in 2001 and then got to do it again as an adult (playing “Mom” and “Grammy”) 15 years later. That was a special experience that brought me full circle. It exemplified that Theater for Young Audiences isn’t just for children – it engages different ages, landing differently depending on where you are in your life. I also have great memories from THE HOBBIT and THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER, as well as from playing the little match girl in THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL'S CHRISTMAS GIFT, which was a large responsibility as a young person.

FS:  What do you want audiences to know about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? Why should families see this play?

EE:  CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is an adventure with all the iconic characters from the movie starring Dick Van Dyke. Michael and Jayne Pink’s choreography is sweeping, athletic, entertaining, and executed impressively by young performers. Paul Helm’s musical arrangements are both beautiful and toe-tapping. The designers have given us a fantastical playground.  And true to a Jeff Frank telling, there’s a whole lot of hope and heart. The good guys rise and the bad guys fall. I think now, more than ever, we deserve 90 minutes of time to turn off the daily news and escape into that kind of story.

 FS: What is one thing you learned at First Stage during your youth that you carry with you throughout your career today?

EE:  I’ve answered this question many times, and there are so many lessons from First Stage that I could share! I’ll talk about this: be the hardest worker in the room without trying to show you’re working hard. That’s exasperating and false. Do your work and let it speak for itself.

 FS: After this production, where can audiences see you next – in Milwaukee or beyond?

EE: I’ll be in SCROOGE IN ROUGE at In Tandem Theatre running November 30, 2017 – January 7, 2018, and then TOP GIRLS at Renaissance Theaterworks running April 6 – 29, 2018.

Maura Atwood, Understudy to Ms. Edelman and Ms. Zientek

FS:  What is your favorite show from your time as young performer at First Stage?

MA: The Thief Lord! I'm still friends with some of the cast members.

FS: What do you want audiences to know about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? Why should families see this play?

MA: It's extremely charming. Stories about an entire family having adventures together are rare, and this one is particularly fun.

FS:  What is one thing you learned at First Stage during your youth that you carry with you throughout your career today?

MA:  Being on time means being early! The artists who work hard are the most successful. Kindness is strength, not weakness.

FS:  After this production, where can audiences see you next – in Milwaukee or beyond?

MA: I'll be playing Susan in COMPANY with New Theater on Main in November, and Violet Bick in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE with Morningstar Productions in December.

Maura Atwood in THE THIEF LORD

Also appearing in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is Sara Zientek, as Boris. Sara has been seen on many Milwaukee stages, and also served as an intern for First Stage, was in the Milwaukee Repertory Emerging Professional Residency program, and was a Teaching Assistant for Shakespeare/Voice with First Stage Theater Academy. Sara can be seen next at First Stage in Dr. Seuss’s THE CAT IN THE HAT as The Cat, January 21 – February 25, 2018.

Sara Zientek

Don’t miss these distinguished alumni in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, playing now through November 5 at the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater.