Zephyrs Middle School Players Presents Music & Lyrics by: Elton John & Tim Rice • Additional Music & Lyrics By: Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, & Hans Zimmer Book By: Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi Based on the Broadway production directed by: Julie Taymor Music Adapted & Arranged and Additional Music & Lyrics and “Luau Hawaiian Treat” Written By: Will Van Dyke “It’s a Small World” Written By: Richard Sherman & Robert B Sherman Production Team Director: Assistant Director: Costume Directors: Stage Manager and Costume Assistant: Eric Conner Lainey Becker Liza DeWitt & Jeanne Oost Amy Carpenter Crew: John Auth, Martha Peters, Faith Bergstrom, CJ Hasz, Ruby Kuehn, Charlie Whaley, Anderson Homburg, Claire Higgins, Abigail McClone, Jonah DeWitt There will be one intermission. Disney’s The Lion King JR. is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized materials are supplied by Music Theatre International. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Script, music, and all other material 2015 Disney Broadway Junior and MTI’s Broadway Junior Collection are trademarks of Music Theatre International. All rights reserved.
Join us for all of our productions this 2022 - 2023 season. More information can be found at smcsfinearts.org Saturday Night Special Saturday Night’s performance will feature a few extra, and slightly older performers in the last musical number. Due to the Pandemic in 2020, the students involved in The Lion King Jr. were never able to perform after months of hard work. Because of this, we thought we should honor them by letting them join us for a number, take a bow, and then host a small reception after the performance. Please join us if you are able and give them a warm round of applause for a performance they were never able to put on. You can find names of individuals from that cast listed below the current cast list.
CAST Rafiki - Mina Jackson Mufasa - Henry Cedergren Sarabi - Halle Jannssen Zazu - Moira Lewis Scar - Nick Campbell Young Simba - Mercer Moss Simba - Charlie Penneau Young Nala - Amelia McClone Nala - Juliette Bergstrom Sarafina - Simone Koski Banzai - Aaron Ruppert Shenzi - Esther Pingel Ed - Jacob DeWitt Timon - Owen DeWitt Pumba - Gibson Rause Ensemble - Juliana Oost, Mary Auer, Izabelle Hernke, Kieran Bergstrom, Elsa Rossmeissl, Scarlett Bergstrom, Drew Cogswell, Tess Weber Members of the 2020 Lion King Jr. Cast Ian Albino, Raziel Dixon, Sophia Krema, Tristan King, Claire Benz, Annilee Molchany, Anna DeWitt, Alex Walsh, Norah Lee, Madeline Mittlestaedt, Charlie Cedergren, Harry Bergstrom, Jack Clark, Will Lawniczak, Haley Gustafson, Nate Pable, Jonah DeWitt, Mary McCurdy, Alice Cole, Audrey Weber, Edward Cedergren, Harry Bergstrom, Jack Clark, Lorelai Sonnenburg, Madeline Weninger, Mia Pable, Olivia McCauley, Thomas Siems, Anna Bayer, Jimena Argueta, Maria Johnson, Ava Hoger, Mia O’Toole, Grace Ogden Latecomers will be seated at a suitable break. As a courtesy to others, please turn off cellular phones and pagers and refrain from texting during the performance. Photography, audio recording, and videotaping of any kind are not permitted.
Musical Numbers Circle of Life with Nants’ Ingonyama......................................................... Rafiki, Ensemble Grasslands Chant................................................................................................................ Ensemble The Lioness Hunt.................................................................................................................. Lionesses I Just Can’t Wait to Be King................... Young Simba, Young Nala, Zazu, Ensemble Be Prepared............................................................................. Scar, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, Hyenas They Live in You................................................................................................ Mufasa, Ensemble The Stampede........................................................................................................................ Ensemble The Mourning .................................Sarabi, Young Nala, Rafiki, Lionesses, Hyenas, Scar Hakuna Matata....................................... Timon, Pumbaa, Young Simba, Simba, Ensemble Shadowland.................................................................................................... Nala, Lionesses, Rafiki Can You Feel the Love Tonight ....................... Timon, Pumbaa, Simba, Nala, Ensemble He Lives in You......................................................................................................... Rafiki, Ensemble Luau Hawaiian Treat................................................................................................. Timon, Pumbaa Finale........................................................................................................................................... Company
About the Cast Mary Auer Mary is so excited to be doing her second show through SMCS. She's very glad to be able to share The Lion King Jr. with you and hopes you enjoy the show! Juliette Bergstrom Juliette is thrilled to play Nala in The Lion King Jr. This is her 6th SMCS production. She would like to thank her parents for supporting her and taking her to rehearsals. She would also like to thank Mr. Conner for directing such a fun and amazing show. She hopes you enjoy the show! Kieran Bergstrom Kieran Bergstrom is excited to be in the Lion King Jr. Musical. This is her first SMCMS Musical. She hopes you enjoy the show! Scarlett Bergstrom Scarlett loves music and looks forward to sharing her 1st musical on stage with you. Nick Campbell This is Nick's 3rd production he's been in. While he wasn't expecting such a monumental role, he is very excited to play the role of Scar! Henry Cedergren Henry is in 8th grade at SMCMS and loves being a part of theater. He has been on crew for 3 shows. He is enjoying being on stage for the first time as Mufasa. He thanks Mr. Conner, Lainey Becker and the crew. Also thank you to Keagan Weis and Kathleen McCurdy for inspiring him to join the cast! He hopes that you enjoy the show! Drew Cogswell Drew has never been in a play before, but she has always loved theater. She thanks her mom and dad for signing her up. She hopes you enjoy the show! Jacob DeWitt Hehehe…Jacob DeWitt is excited to bring his goofiness to the comical hyena Ed, in this Lion King Jr. production. Jacob would like to thank his brother and sisters for encouraging him to perform in SMCS musical productions. He hopes that this show will lift your spirits and make you laugh!
Owen DeWitt If you're expecting Owen to put on a dress and dance the hula…you're in luck! Owen is ready to put his best furry foot forward and entertain you with his version of Timon from Disney's Lion King Jr show. Special thanks to his family for running lines and singing songs these last 6 weeks! He hopes you enjoy the show! Izabelle Hernke Izabelle is very excited to be part of this amazing show. She really enjoys spending time with friends in this new experience. Izabelle is looking forward to sharing all their hard work with everyone. Mina Jackson Mina is excited to be playing the part of Rafiki in The Lion King Jr. This is her eleventh SMCS production and loves being on stage. She would like to thank her mom,step-dad,and the amazing cast for their love and support. She would also like to thank Lainey and Mr. Conner for helping her and for directing such a fun and fabulous show. She hopes you enjoy The Lion King Jr.! Halle Janssen Halle is so excited to be playing the part of Sarabi. This is her 6th SMCS production. Halle would like to thank her parents, her directors, and everyone that has helped make this a great show. She hopes you enjoy the show! Simone Koski Simone is so excited to play the part of Sarafina. This is her 2nd SMCS musical, and she is ready to have another great year. She hopes you enjoy the show. Moira Lewis Moira is so excited to be playing the part of Zazu. This is her second show with SMCS and she is loving it. She can't wait for opening night and really enjoys the work from everyone to make this show wonderful. Amelia McClone Amelia is a 6th grade student at SMCS and is very excited to have her first ever role as Young Nala. She has been dreaming of performing for a while. She loves the roles that everyone was assigned. She hopes you have a good time as you watch the show! Mercer Moss Mercer is very excited to be Young Simba in Lion King Jr. This is his first musical for SMCS and most definitely will not be his last. Mercer loves the cast of the Lion King Jr. and hopes that you will enjoy this amazing production.
Juliana Oost Juliana is a 6th grade student at SMCS and is excited to be performing in her third show. Juliana loves theater and has been exposed to it since an early age. Last summer, Juliana went to a theater camp and is so excited to show what she learned. Charlie Penneau Charlie is in 7th grade and is very excited to play Simba in The Lion King Jr. Charlie enjoys talking with other 7th graders in theater and learning different tips about acting. Charlie's favorite part of the play is Hakuna Matatta and he can't wait to perform it. Esther Pingel Esther is an 8th grade student at SMCMS. She is very excited to be playing the role of Shenzi in this fall production, The Lion King Jr. She would like to thank her family, especially her mom, for helping her run lines. She would also like to thank Lainey and Mr. Conner for making an amazing show. She hopes you enjoy The Lion King Jr. Gibson Rause Gibson is an 8th grade student at SMCMS. He loves drama, singing and everything that comes with it. He thanks his director and cast mates for making an enjoyable environment to help him do his best in. He loves playing pumbaa and hopes that he can make you laugh. Elsa Rossmeissl Elsa is a 6th grade student at SMCS. She enjoys music and performing and is excited to be a part of her first musical! She thanks Mr Conner, Lainey and the crew for their dedication and hopes you enjoy the show! Aaron Ruppert Aaron is very happy to be playing the role of Banzai in this hopefully very good stage production of Disney's The Lion King Jr. He would like to thank the Crew, Mr.Conner, and Lainey. After this performance, you should rewatch the movie, it is very good. Tess Weber Tess is a 6th grade student at SMCS. This is her first musical and she is excited to be a lioness. Tess loves being in the show with friends. She would like to thank you for coming to the show!
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Please come support our High School cast of CLUE. November 11 & 12 at 7pm. November 13 at 2pm.
Thank You All the cast and crew parents Liza DeWitt Jeanne Oost Jean Lowney Ruth Gutierrez Obeso Laura McClone Stephanie Penneau Christine Cedergren Jimmy and Elaine Lewis Sarah Moss Cliff Uitenbroek Leila Mousai David Lehner Scott Zelinski and Envision Ink Virgil Van Asten Roselyn and Kaukauna Theater Melissa Sirstins Tim Phillips and Winneconne Theater Jeff Braatz Jim Romenesko and Xavier Theater Claire Schmidt The Zephyrs Community Theater Joe Roth Chelsey Kind Anne Ledwith Dan McKenna Stephanie Homburg All our Volunteers Build Crew Patti Fouts, Peter Post, and the rest of the SMCHS Admin Team Zephyrs Fine Arts Staff & Boosters A special thanks to all past Zephyrs Theater Cast, Crew, Production Team Members, Volunteers, and Patrons