{"id":206994,"date":"2026-06-16T20:40:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T01:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=206994"},"modified":"2026-06-16T20:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T01:41:24","slug":"cast-set-for-youth-theatre-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/06\/16\/cast-set-for-youth-theatre-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Cast set for Youth Theatre production"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Van Wert Civic Theatre has announced the cast and creative team for its upcoming Youth Theatre production, <em>Dear Edwina Jr.<\/em>, a heartwarming and hilarious musical that celebrates friendship, confidence, and the importance of being yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Dear Edwina Jr.<\/em> follows the story of Edwina Spoonapple, an advice-giving extraordinaire who dreams of becoming the next great advice columnist. Through a series of lively songs, colorful characters, and entertaining production numbers, Edwina and her neighborhood friends tackle everyday problems ranging from table manners to making friends. Filled with humor, charm, and valuable life lessons, this delightful musical is sure to entertain audiences of all ages.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Dear-Edwina-6-2026.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-206995\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Dear-Edwina-6-2026.png 300w, https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Dear-Edwina-6-2026-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Leading the production team is Director Emily Gehle, joined by Assistant Director Alyssa Taylor, Music Director Grace Doctor, and Rehearsal Assistant Abbie Mengerink. Together, they have been working with a talented group of young performers to bring this energetic and inspiring musical to the VWCT stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The talented cast includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Edwina Spoonapple \u2014 Sophia Rupert<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kelli Poshkonozovich \u2014 Madalynn Laukhuf<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Becky Del Vecchio \u2014 Grace Spieles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scott Kunkle \u2014 Xadriana Groves<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Annie \u2014 Lily Schnipke<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bobby Newsome \u2014 J.D. Giesige<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cordell Vanderploonk \u2014 Deagan Schlemmer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Billy Vanderploonk \u2014 Levi Schlemmer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lars Vanderploonk \/ Mary Sue Betty Bob \u2014 Emily Foudy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Katie Spoonapple \/ Frank\u2019s Ma \u2014 Lainey Custis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ann Van Buren \/ Sonoma \u2014 Normajean Stickney<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Susie \u2014 Annabelle Harvey<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Johnny \u2014 Ryker DeVelvis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Queen of Boolah Boolah \/ Chef Ludmilla \u2014 Evvy Lamb<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frank \u2014 Jon Caldwell<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fairy Forkmother \u2014 Ella Lamb<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>William \u2014 Karalina Sterrett<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Harry \u2014 Grayson Baker<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lola \u2014 Vivian Laukhuf<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Farmer Jerry \u2014 Colby Tyas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aphrodite Colossus Athena Swenson \u2014 Linley Young<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Abigail Mathilda Fleckenheimer \u2014 Natalie Caldwell<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Periwinkle Hurgen Burgen Yurrgensson \u2014 Brooklyn Beining<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carrie \u2014 Layla Norton<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The ensemble includes Lettie Baker, Braxton Beining, Josie Dettrow, Adeline English, Holly Feasel, ALeah Font, Russell Giesige, Ellie Hamman, Lillian Laukhuf, Nayela Leggitt, Amelia Schlangen, Anna Stoller, Phillip Tyas, Shepherd Young, and Woodward Young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Performances of <em>Dear Edwina Jr.<\/em> will take place at the Van Wert Civic Theatre on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Thursday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saturday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sunday, June 28 at 2:00 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Tickets are on sale NOW and are just $10 for all performances. Tickets may be purchased by visiting VWCT.org or by calling the box office at 419.238.9689.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For additional information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/VWCT.org\">VWCT.org<\/a> or follow the Van Wert Civic Theatre on social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Submitted information The Van Wert Civic Theatre has announced the cast and creative team for its upcoming Youth Theatre production, Dear Edwina Jr., a heartwarming and hilarious musical that celebrates friendship, confidence, and the importance of being yourself. Dear Edwina Jr. follows the story of Edwina Spoonapple, an advice-giving extraordinaire who dreams of becoming the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 00:11:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207027,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206994\/revisions\/207027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}