FRAMINGHAM – Weston Drama Workshop, a nonprofit youth theater organization in its 59th season, will stage eight productions this month at Regis College, featuring students from middle school through college.
All eight casts have been hard at work rehearsing for these productions since early June, and will perform at the Regis Fine Arts Center between July 15 and July 31.
With more than 30 performances in the span of a jam-packed three weeks, Weston Drama Workshop continues its long-standing tradition of providing the MetroWest community and beyond with quality youth theater.
WDW’s younger ensemble—participants in the Morning Program and the Afternoon Program—will perform three productions: Disney’s Descendants: The Musical, a brand-new musical comedy based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies; Disney’s The Lion King, Jr.; and Beware the Jabberwock, a play set in the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories.
Descendants and The Lion King, Jr. are directed by Aidan O’Hara, while Beware the Jabberwock is directed by Framingham High alumni Callie Llewellyn.
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The casts include Framingham residents Emma Botelho (Royal Page in Descendants and Second Rath in Beware the Jabberwock), Nicholas Harutunian (Jafar in Descendants), Aubrey Klippenstein (Queen Belle in Descendants), Elizabeth St. Louis (Cruella de Vil in Descendants), Talia Wesson (Maleficent in Descendants), Emmalene Caruso (First Bandersnatch in Beware the Jabberwock), and Sophie Doucet (Ensemble
in The Lion King, Jr.)
The program’s older ensemble, ages 14-23, will perform three main stage musicals, one black box play, and one outdoor play. Audiences will travel backwards in time against the backdrop of a moving Sondheim score in Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Nick Oberstein; explore the world of Bikini Bottom in The SpongeBob Musical, based on the popular Nickelodeon series and directed by Framingham High teacher Chris Brindley; follow a son’s investigation of his father’s larger-than-life tales in Big Fish, based on the acclaimed novel and film and directed by Skylar Grossman; experience Mary Zimmerman’s retelling of Ovid’s myths in Metamorphoses, directed by Framingham High alumni Tristan Burke; and hear the story of Mowgli and friends in The Jungle Book, an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s enchanted tale, performed under the stars and directed by Stephanie Manning.
Among the young actors performing in these five productions are Framingham residents Madilyn Spear (Mary Flynn in Merrily), Olivia Palmer (Ensemble in SpongeBob), Grace Beaudet (The Witch in Big Fish), Brock Hoey (Amos Calloway in Big Fish), Antonio Mele (Edward Bloom in Big Fish), Jocelyn Wadland (Josephine in Big Fish), Hadley Connor (Mowgli in The Jungle Book), Ailadis Hernandez (Mother Wolf and other roles
in The Jungle Book), Brendan Qi (Baloo in The Jungle Book), Cassandra Till (Akela and other roles in The Jungle Book), Jillian Wadland (Bagheera in The Jungle Book), Max Connor (Franklin Shepard in Merrily), Amelia Klippenstein (Ru and other roles in Merrily), Corinne Leeming (Meg and other roles in Merrily), Michelle Moran (Gussie Carnegie in Merrily), Caitlyn Luria (4th Woman in Metamorphoses), Christina Mula (Ensemble in SpongeBob), Emily Spalding (Mrs. Puff and other roles in SpongeBob), Rachel Varley (Ensemble in SpongeBob), and Nyosha Homicii (Monkey and other roles in The Jungle Book).
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Tickets are available at westondramaworkshop.org/online-tickets-home, and questions can be directed to the box office at 781-768-7070. Most performances are held at Regis College’s Fine Arts Center; venues will be at two-thirds capacity, and masks will be required for audience members.
The Jungle Book will perform on an outdoor stage elsewhere on the Regis campus.
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The performance schedule:
Disney’s Descendants: The Musical: Saturday, July 24th at 10:30am; Monday, July 26th at 7:30pm; Thursday, July 29th at 10:30am; Saturday, July 31st at 10:30am.
Disney’s The Lion King, Jr.: Sunday, July 25th at 10:30am; Monday, July 26th at 5:00pm; Wednesday, July 28th at 10:30am; Saturday, July 31st at 1:00pm.
Beware the Jabberwock: Sunday, July 18th at 10:30am; Wednesday, July 21st at 5:00pm; Sunday, July 25th at 2:00pm; Thursday, July 29th at 5:00pm.
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The SpongeBob Musical: Sunday, July 18th at 7pm; Friday, July 23rd at 8pm; Sunday, July 25th at 7pm; Saturday, July 31st at 8pm.
Merrily We Roll Along: Friday, July 16th at 8pm; Wednesday, July 21st at 8pm; Saturday, July 24th at 8pm; Thursday, July 29th at 8pm.
Big Fish: Saturday, July 17th at 8pm; Thursday, July 22nd at 8pm; Tuesday, July 27th at 8pm; Friday, July 30th at 8pm.
Metamorphoses: Thursday, July 22 at 7:30pm; Saturday, July 24 at 2:00pm; Sunday, July 25 at 7:30pm; Wednesday, July 28 at 9pm; Friday, July 30 at 7:30pm; Saturday, July 31 at 7:30pm.
The Jungle Book: Thursday, July 15th at 8pm; Sunday, July 18th at 8pm; Tuesday, July 20th at 8pm; Friday, July 23rd at 8:30pm; Tuesday, July 27th at 8:30pm; Friday, July 30th at 8:30pm.
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Framingham residents appearing in Disney’s The Lion King, Jr., Disney’s Descendants, or Beware the Jabberwock include Emmalene Caruso, Aubrey Klippenstein, Elizabeth St. Louis, Nicholas Harutunian, Emma Botelho, Talia Wesson, and Sophie Doucet.
Framingham residents appearing in Merrily We Roll Along, Big Fish, The SpongeBob Musical, Metamorphoses, or The Jungle Book. Front row: Rachel Varley, Olivia Palmer, Rinny Leeming, Emily Spalding, Amelia Klippenstein, Madilyn Spear, Nyosha Homicii, and Ailadis Hernandez. Middle row: Hadley Connor, Jillian Wadland, Antonio Mele, Christina Mula, and Cassandra Till. Back row: Brock Hoey, Grace Beaudet, Michelle
Moran, Max Connor, Caitlyn Luria, Jocelyn Wadland, and Brendan Qi.
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Editor’s Note: In full transparency, the photos and press release were submitted to SOURCE media
A Common Thread Theatre Company 
The A Cappella Singers 
MassBay Community College