Hannah lives and works in so-called Vancouver while finishing up her MFA degree in technical direction at UBC. She also works as the assistant technical director for Patrick Roberge Productions (PRP) where she’s worked on such gigs as the Grey Cup Halftime Show, The Fair at the PNE, and the 2022 Canada Summer Games ceremonies, to name a few. Upcoming credits include Le Soulier and Ceci est une histoire d’amour, both with Le Théâtre la Seizième. Other technical direction credits include Stallone (Le Théâtre la Seizième), La Mitchin di Mitchif (V’ni Dansi), Haunted Tales (Beach House Theatre Company), Machinal (UBC) and The Love Bubbles Project (Small Stage). Hannah can also be found designing, producing, and building for theatre and film productions across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. For more on Hannah, check out her website: hannahabbott421.wixsite.com/mysite

Vancouver-based Róisín Adams’ visionary work combines ethereal, textured melodicism with an underpinning of intellectual rigor. An imaginative and prolific composer, pianist, bandleader and educator, Adams is also an astute collaborator in a range of projects. She founded the improvisatory instrumental jazz quartet Hildegard’s Ghost in 2013, and also performs with contemporary electro-acoustic trio Beatings Are in the Body featuring Erika Angell (Thus Owls) and Peggy Lee (Peggy Lee Band). Early training from the Royal Conservatory of Music provided a classical foundation Adams has expanded upon through studies with jazz and avant-garde artists Lisa Cay Miller, Kris Davis, Sharon Minemoto, Alan Matheson and François Houle. Her work has been featured at the Silk Purse Jazz Waves Series, Queer Arts Festival, Sonic Boom Festival, Western Front, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Kay Meek Theatre, and TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. In January, 2019, the Vancouver Parks Board awarded Adams a Field House Artist residency for Music off the Page, a community engaged arts practice that explores interdisciplinary collaborations and contemporary music discourse with participants of all ages and abilities. She is currently working with composer/pianist Amanda Tosoff, studying composition and contemporary piano with the assistance of the BC Arts Council.

Cameron Anderson is a professional videographer with a special focus on live performance.

As a filmmaker, he has collaborated on several short documentaries, co-directed the short film Dust, and directed the short film Do Not Go. He has been the in-house Video Director at The Cultch since 2020. He has collaborated with several dozen local arts organizations, including Music on Main, Theatre Replacement, and Green Thumb Theatre. In 2022, Cameron was awarded the Jessie Richardson Innovation Award for his work on The Cultch’s digital season.

He is a graduate of the University of Victoria, and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with distinction. His film training includes a diploma in documentary filmmaking from In Focus Film School, and a year long videography practicum with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. 

Born in Mashhad, Iran and raised in Vancouver, Ghazal is an actor/creator/writer whose select theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet (Bard); Bunny (The Search Party); East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland  (Theatre Replacement); Being Here: The Refugee Story (Belfry); The Seagull and Innocence Lost (Soulpepper); Shakespeare in Love (Bard); and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Arts Club). TV/Film credits include Float (Lionsgate), Charmed (CW), and Kim’s Convenience (CBC). She is the writer/creator of Dear Konstantin (Spotify) and Tārof (currently in process) and is the winner of Hnatyshyn Award for excellence in acting. 

In 2010, Sonja decided to apply some of what she learned from 10 years in front of the camera and took up screenwriting. Her feature film Preggoland had a theatrical release with James Caan and Danny Trejo in lead roles opposite Sonja. It premiered as a special presentation at TIFF, was awarded “most popular film” at VIFF, was nominated for “best BC film” by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, won “most popular film” at the Omaha film festival and “best screenplay” at the Fargo film festival as well as receiving Leo nominations for Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Film. 

For TV, Sonja has written on Kim’s Convenience for CBC (Leo win for best screenwriting in a comedy), Ghost Wars for Netflix and Letterkenny for Crave/Hulu (Nominated for WGC Award and two-time recipient of the Leo for best screenwriting in a comedy), The Murders and Hudson and Rex for Rogers and Family Law for Global (WGC and Leo nominations for best screenwriting in a dramatic series). For theatre, she wrote last year’s East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland. She is a graduate of Studio 58.

Sonja would like to thank her kids, Maxwell and Scout, for being inspiring scamps.

Arthi Chandra is a Vancouver based director, writer, and theatre maker. Her practice is rooted in devising text-based new works, and adaptations of contemporary and classical plays. Her work focuses on queer joy, parties, and intimacy. Recent works include Done/Undone at Bard on the Beach, and Passenger Seat, a pop-rock theatre concert all about love. She has performed in Vancouver and New York. Arthi also teaches devising and directing (Toronto Metropolitan University, VanArts, Bard on the Beach, Studio 58). She is a graduate of the theatre performance stream from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts.  

Mark Chavez is an actor, writer, and comedian who is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico and now lives in East Vancouver.  Superfans of the East Van Panto might recognize Mark’s name as the writer of Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Panto Come Home. He was also in last year’s Panto, Alice in Wonderland. If you don’t remember any of these things that’s totally ok. Fresh start. Clean slate. 

Andy loves all things entertainment. He is a creative producer with a multidisciplinary and international history. Over the years, he has worn many hats in the industry as a performer, director, music director, arranger, and stage manager. He has worked across the country and beyond on plays and musicals with the Arts Club, Persephone, Urban Ink, Firehall, Catalyst, Axis, Chemainus, Stagewest, Rumble, Theaturtle, Mayfield, and Patrick Street Productions. He has worked on international mega-events including the Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth, Invictus, and Asian Indoor Games Opening & Closing Ceremonies in Brazil, Australia, and Turkmenistan. Most recently, Andy worked in the United Arab Emirates delivering site-wide entertainment at Expo 2020 Dubai. Andy is the recipient of the City of Richmond Arts Award, Ovation Awards, SATAwards, and a Jessie nomination for Artistic Achievement. He holds a BFA in Theatre from UBC and is glad to be back in the land of rain and farmer’s markets.  

Mishelle is a composer, sound designer, and musician based in East Vancouver. Some favourite projects include: Clean (Neworld), Made in Canada (rice & beans), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare in Love, Lysistrata, Done/Undone (Bard on the Beach), A Christmas Carol, The Herd, The Candidate, The Party, Sweat (Citadel). She was an artistic lead and performer for The Quarantettes – a project developed in the early pandemic to bring distanced micro performances to the doorsteps of households in East Vancouver during isolation, with the support of The Chop, Neworld, and Bard on the Beach. Upcoming – sound design for The Seventh Fire, an immersive audio ceremony by Lisa C. Ravensbergen (Delinquent Theatre). Mishelle has an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a BFA from UBC. She is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada. www.mishellecuttler.com

Brad is a Vancouver-based sound engineer who specializes in musical theatre sound design, and acoustic music recording and mixing. His design credits include productions for TUTS, Patrick Street Productions, Urban Ink, Theatre Replacement, Arts Club, Gateway Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Royal Manitoba Theatre, and others. He also works as a sound system design consultant.

Alaia is a local Vancouver theatre designer. Recent projects she has worked on include costume design for HMS Pinafore, Carmen Up Close and Personal, Associate for Amahl and the Night Visitors (Vancouver Opera); Beneath Springhill, The Birds and the Bees (Arts Club), costume design for Beautiful Man (Pi Theatre), assistant costume Romeo and Juliet, Coriolanus, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth (Bard on the Beach), set design for Seventeen (Western Gold), She Kills Monsters (UBC), production design for The Drawer Boy (ETC). She has worked on a variety of smaller shows through Vancouver and has a passion for costuming dance. Alaia is a graduate of the UBC Theatre Design program in 2017 and holds an English literature degree from 2012.

This is Veda’s 10th Panto, and she cannot imagine life without it.  In the rest of the year, she makes records (latest: Beach Practice), works on other shows (Little Volcano, Onegin, Craigslist Cantata, King Arthur’s Night), and walks around the neighbourhood humming things and frowning. www.vedahille.com &  Instagram

Barry Mirochnick is a drummer/bassist/guitarist originally from Winnipeg, MB. They have been playing music professionally since 1990 and have performed and recorded with numerous artists including Veda Hille, Neko Case, William Prince, Great Aunt Ida, Patsy Klein/Tony Wilson Band, Christine Fellows, John K. Samson, Whitehorse, and many others. They have also been part of many theatre productions as a musician. These include Onegin, Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata (Arts Club), King Arthur’s Night (Neworld), Made In Canada, an Agricultural Operetta (Rice and Beans Theatre). Barry has performed in six (!!) previous East Van Pantos and is very happy to return for The Little Mermaid.

Cindy Mochizuki creates multimedia installation, audio fiction, performance, animation, and drawings. She has exhibited, performed and screened her work in Canada, US, Australia, and Japan. Recent exhibitions include the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Burrard Arts Foundation, Richmond Art Gallery, Frye Art Museum, and Yonago City Museum. She has designed and provided visual+conceptual dramaturgical support for theatre and dance companies including Dream Walker Dance Company, Theatre Replacement, Lisa Mariko Gelley, and Little Onion Puppet Company. Her illustrated children’s book Things on the Shoreline was published with Access Artist Run Centre in 2016. She was the recipient of the Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award in New Media and Film (2015) and the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts VIVA Award (2020).

Mariana is a BIPOC bilingual, interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, BC. She continues to work as a performer and stage manager in the city, with recent credits at Bard on the Beach with the production of Harlem Duet, rice & beans theatre with Peace Country, Neworld Theatre with Clean/Espejos, and last but not least with East Van Panto’s production of Alice in Wonderland, as an Apprentice Stage Manager. Mariana holds a bachelor’s degree in performing arts and is a proud alumna of Studio 58.

Kevin Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Canadian artist who was born and raised right here in East Vancouver. After falling in love with acting in high school, Kevin decided to further his training at Studio 58’s theatre program. He has co-created and appeared in works such as Away with Home (Miscellaneous Productions), The Bright Young Things (Risky Nights, Studio 58), Everybody (Studio 58), The Rocky Horror Show (Studio 58), and Blue Stockings (Studio 58). Kevin was part of the 2022 Riotous Youth ensemble at Bard on the Beach and was the 2022 recipient of the United Players Andrée Karas scholarship award. He is also a playwright, having co-written The Banyan Tree, an original short play which featured at Studio’s Six of One play festival. Kevin is thrilled to be working alongside the talented artists and production team in his East Van Panto debut.

Hina is an emerging lighting designer based in the lower mainland of BC. Originally from Japan, she enjoys exploring projects with a variety of cultural backgrounds whether from the company or the project itself. Her selected recent lighting design credits include Yaga (Touchstone Theatre), Blue Stockings (Studio 58), Kwê (Jeanette Kotowich), and Threading Echo (NEXT Project 2021). Her assistant lighting design credits are Harlem Duet (Bard on the Beach, LD: Sophie Tang), Bad Parent (vAct, LD: Gerald King), Wabi-Sabi (Kokoro Dance, LD: Gerald King) and Othello (University of Victoria, LD: Michael Whitfield). She is also a lighting board operator for live events and film and TV shows. She holds BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria.

Based in Vancouver, Abi is a first generation Filipino immigrant theatre performer and filmmaker, whose artistic advocacy is telling stories of cultural collaboration and family reconciliation. She has performed in numerous arts festivals such as Talking Stick, Vines Art and Surrey Fusion. Prior to her acting training at Studio 58, Abi fulfilled various technical roles in MOWs, short films, and documentaries that were featured in CBC Arts. She debuted as a short film director and screenwriter in Thank You Mila which was showcased at the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon 2020. Her playwright credits include The Banyan Tree and How to F*ck Up a Funeral. Recent selected acting credits are Everybody, The Bright Young Things, Vietgone, and Blue Stockings. Abi is excited to be a part of East Van Panto: The Little Mermaid, her first musical.

Hard to believe that 10 years ago Dawn was in that first East Van Panto, playing the harp and singing the cheese song. Who knew then what a glorious annual neighbourhood tradition this would become. This year marks Dawn’s 7th joyous EVP but her first time playing the villain! In previous years she’s had the pleasure of being Hansel, a Prince, a Tin Them, Gloria Macarenko, and she was Alice in last year’s Alice in Wonderland. This is an extra special panto for Dawn because she is sharing the stage with her own little panto kid, and getting to sing her all time favourite song (since 1985!).  Other favourite theatre companies Dawn has trod the boards with include Bard on the Beach, Caravan Farm Theatre, and Touchstone Theatre. She is a grad of UBC’s BFA Acting Program and has a bunch of Jessie nominations and received some of the hardware/glassware. After the panto, she is acting in the world premiere of The Cull at the Arts Club.  Dawn is a proud East Van-er, Hastings-Sunrise styles, and adores New Brighton. Special thanks and love to her dear Mama and brother. 

Meg’s work as an actor, director, composer, sound designer, and dramaturg has been seen across the Canada at Crows Theatre, Shaw Festival, Theatre Calgary, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, PuSh Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, SoulPepper, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Junction, Citadel Theatre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Electric Company Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Arts Club, Belfry, Theatre SKAM, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Catalyst Theatre, RealWheels, Intrepid Theatre, Elbow Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, National Arts Centre, Centaur Theatre, The Banff Centre, Yukon Arts Centre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Why Not Theatre, Savage Society, vAct, Theatre Replacement, Rumble Theatre, The Cultch, Luminato Festival, and internationally with the American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), Center Theater Group (Los Angeles), and as a collaborator with Crystal Pite’s renowned dance company Kidd Pivot. She scored Esie Mensah’s short film Tessel, and Why Not Theatre’s feature What You Won’t Do For Love.

A couple of credits include twenty seasons at Bard on the Beach and three seasons of the East Van Panto.

Jenn Stewart is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist. Selected credits include: Studies in Motion (Wardrobe, Electric Company), Selfie (Seizieme, set and costumes), Little Brother, Little Sister (Caravan Farm, props), Wilderness (Studio 58, set) and Wet (Itsazoo, set). She has also been part of the Stage Management team at Bard on the Beach since 2013. Jenn studied at Studio 58 and holds an MFA in Theatre Design and Production from UBC. She is a member of CAEA and of the Associated Designers of Canada (IATSE 659). Jenn’s first professional credit was as the Apprentice ASM on T/R’s That Night Follows Day in 2009 so she is proud and honoured to still be working with such a phenomenal company. This is her fifth East Van Panto. 

Amanda Sum is a performer and creator dancing between theatre and music. Recent theatre projects include do you want what i have got? a craigslist cantata (The Cultch), East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland, Panto Come Home! and Pinocchio (Theatre Replacement), and Chicken Girl (rice&beans). Amanda released her debut album, New Age Attitudes, this fall. Her alt-indie-pop music has been played on CBC Radio, and her music video Different Than Before received a Vimeo Staff Pick and won the Excellence in Music Video Award from AAIFF in New York. As Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER Artist in Residence, Amanda created New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert. Part pop-up book, part performance, this new live music/theatre piece will be presented in full at PushOFF 2023, and at The Cultch in May. Amanda holds a BFA from SFU. Special thanks to her friends and family. Amanda dedicates this run to OQ. Antics and updates: @amanduhsum and amandasum.com.

Sophie Tang is an award-winning lighting and set designer working in Theatre, Opera and Dance. She has worked with companies including Stratford Festival, Push Festival, Electric Company Theatre, Vancouver Opera, Arts Club Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Citadel Theatre, Canadian Stage, Theatre Replacement and so on. Recent credits: Choir boy (Canadian Stage and Arts Club), The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera), Romeo and Juliet (Bard on the Beach), 9 to 5 (Citadel Theatre), S’effondrent Les Videoclubs (Theatre La Seizième), Do You Mind If I Sit Here (Theatre Replacement), Being Here (Belfry Theatre), Rez Sisters (Stratford Festival), At the Statue of Venus (City Opera). sophieyufeitang.com

Amanda Testini is so happy to be part of another East Van Panto! She is a performer, choreographer and director based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She has worked with Vancouver Opera, the Arts Club, Belfry Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Savage Society, Axis Theatre, Opera Kelowna, Theatre Under the Stars, Carousel Theatre for Young People, the response, Shameless Hussy Productions, the Firehall and, of course, Theatre Replacement and The Cultch! Amanda is a Jessie Award nominee and a graduate of Studio 58. Thank you to Meg, Veda, Maiko, Andy, Arthi, Chelsea, the cast and crew, and you, the audience, for being here!  For more info on Amanda, feel free to check out amandatestini.com.

Adam began his acting career in Kelowna, where he performed in Glengarry Glen Ross (Fred Skeleton), Liberation Days (New Vintage Theatre), and Late Company (Theatre Kelowna) for which he won the 2019 Okanagan Zone festival award for best supporting actor. He is a current student in the acting program at Studio 58. Before attending school, Adam worked as a freelance voice-over artist. His Studio 58 credits include Blue Stockings, Everybody, The Rocky Horror Show, How to F*ck Up a Funeral, written by fellow classmates Abigail Padilla and Zoë Autumn, and as the stage manager for their spring 2022 solo shows. Working with the East Van Panto has been a blast and the perfect wrap up for his final term.

John is honoured to be a part of the East Van Panto family for the second year and to be back once again at the Cultch. A long time designer of both Sets and Lighting he has had the privilege of working with some of Canada’s most talented and adventurous artists. He has received nine Jessie Richardson Awards, an Ovation Award, in Ottawa a Critics’ Circle award and a Prix Rideau Award, in Saskatoon a SAT Award, all for outstanding design. Past favourites include: Kinky Boots and Onegin for the Arts Club and Chelsea Hotel and Wizard of Oz at Western Canada Theatre.

Andrew is thrilled to be joining the East Van Panto team! Recent theatre includes: Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, Craigslist Cantata, and Kinky Boots. In the Before Times, credits included; House and Home (Firehall), Glory (WCTC/Drayton), HIR (Pi Theatre), Onegin (Arts Club/Belfry), and 12 seasons at Bard on the Beach. Film and TV credits include;  iZombie, Supernatural, Lucifer, Gracepoint, The Killing, The L Word, and two seasons of Pillow Talk (watch it on Crave!). Andrew recently celebrated his 40th year as a  professional actor!

This is Heidi’s 6th show with the East Van Panto. She teaches in both the Technical Theatre Program and Costuming Program at Capilano University. She has been the head of props for Bard on the Beach for 27 years and is the owner of Flying Fox Prop Shop. She’s the recipient of 5 Jessie awards (11 nominations) and 2 Leo Awards (art direction for children’s programming, Scout and the Gumboot Kids). Heidi also works in film, tv and commercials.

Viviane Wu is an interdisciplinary artist currently studying Theatre Performance at Simon Fraser University. Her work centers around racial, gender, and queer identities. Exploring the relationships between privileges and non-privileges in performances such as Order of the New Hyphae, Blackbox 2: Rewind, Replay, Recall, and Spring Tide, her practice takes place on the unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.

Yvonne is delighted to be back with the East Van Panto! Yvonne was born in colonial Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada with her family. She is a Vancouver based stage manager and Artistic Associate of Neworld Theatre. Recent credits include Redbone Coonhound, Kinky Boots (Arts Club), Himmat (Theatre Conspiracy), Clean/Espejos (Neworld Theatre), East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland (Theatre Replacement), and Inheritance: a pick the path experience (Alley Theatre & Touchstone Theatre). Favourite projects include King Arthur’s Night (Neworld Theatre), King of the Yees (Gateway Theatre), Competition Is Fierce (ItsaZoo), Fall Away Home (Boca del Lupo), and Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia’s Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favourites Tour (Canada, USA, Bahrain, and South Korea).