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Health & Fitness

JCA Invites All To 'The Uninvited'

Students from Naperville help make Joliet Catholic Academy's fall play 'The Uninvited' possible.

The veterans are seniors Austin Kairis and Morgan Schrage. The newcomer is senior Kelsie Chasten.

Together, Kairis (Crest Hill), Schrage (Joliet) and Chasten (Channahon) have been chosen as the lead characters in Joliet Catholic Academy’s fall play, “The Uninvited,” which will run from Nov. 17-19 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet. Showtime for each performance is 7 p.m.

Kairis and Schrage will take the stage as brother and sister Roderick and Pamela Fitzgerald, who buy an abandoned seaside house from Commander Brooke, a role being handled by Naperville’s Sam Juveland in the play directed by JCA’s International Thespian Troupe 1046 moderator Jennifer Szynal.

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“Austin and Morgan are trained veterans as far as high school students are concerned,” Szynal said. “They’ve earned these roles because they are good leaders. Not only do they lead the play, they lead our drama club and they have taken responsibility for the large chunk of work they have to do.

“They are very passionate and very determined, and because of that, they are leading our underclassmen by example and showing that if you give 110 percent, you will receive 110 percent back.”

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In her first production, Chasten plays the part of Stella Meredith, Commander Brooke’s granddaughter, who lives with her grandfather in a nearby town but has been forbidden to enter the house she loves.

“Kelsie is involved with dance outside of school, so she’s a performing artist and she understands the time commitment,” Szynal said. “She has stepped up. She always comes prepared and is ready to go.”

Other cast members include Shorewood’s Alessa Smith as Miss Holloway, Joliet’s Lauren Faber as Lizzie Flynn, Joliet’s Adele Dalton as Mrs. Jessup, Wilmington’s Nick Humbles as Dr. Scott, Joliet’s Ian Rambo as Max Hillard, Joliet’s Kelsie Fenske as Wendy and Channahon’s Sam DeBenedetti as Mary Meredith.

The understudies are Channahon’s Robert Babich (Roderick Fitzgerald), Joliet’s Lizzie Minarich (Pamela Fitzgerald), Joliet’s Lucas Tyler (Commander Brooke), Joliet’s Michelle Poplawski (Stella Meredith), Bolingbrook’s Katie Rejsek (Miss Holloway), Naperville’s Theresa Gallo (Lizzie Flynn), Naperville’s Abby Corless (Mrs. Jessup), Wilmington’s Sam Ryan (Dr. Scott), Joliet’s Andrew Casey (Max Hillard), Shorewood’s Julia Malinowski (Wendy) and Plainfield’s Megan Lemke (Mary Meredith).

Forty-two students from the theatre arts program at JCA were recently inducted into the International Thespian Society and will be featured in this play. Emmy Award winner Melissa McCarthy started here.

“It really shows the fine arts and performing arts do mean something at JCA and everybody enjoys,” Szynal said. “It’s nice to see so many people getting involved with some capacity of our play.”

The staff of the play includes assistant directors Lucas Tyler (Joliet) and Lizzie Minarich; assistant crew directors Cailea Styx (Joliet), Megan Lemke and Tracey Sams (Plainfield); theatre tech Scott Simpson (Joliet) and Damian Wahl (Joliet); lights and sound Kevin Heinemann (Joliet) and Ian Aker (Naperville); stage managers Anne Thuot (Joliet) and Molly Whalen (Joliet); assistant stage managers Matt Casey (Joliet) and Andrew Casey (Joliet); special effects Anthony Gomez (Plainfield), Katie Rejsek and Antoniao Bouie (Joliet); house managers Kirsten Carlson (Joliet) and Julia Malinowski; and makeup and costumes Olivia Blake (Joliet), Gabby Demick (Joliet) and Jillian Koren (Joliet).

Jake Marmo (Plainfield), Maire Burkett (Plainfield), Anna Faber (Joliet), Laura Gordon (Bolingbrook), Rebecca Michalak (Joliet), Jared Prokuski (Joliet), Madeline Zinanni (Joliet), Rafael Garcia (Joliet), Lauren Osuch (Joliet) and Alexis Kwaben (Shorewood) work with the set design and construction.

Rachel Kennedy (Channahon), Hannah McGee (Joliet), Meghan Allen (Joliet), Jessica Gnutek (Joliet), Ryann Querio (Joliet), Regan Dougherty (Naperville) and Colleen Fritz (Naperville) organize the props.

The crew behind the makeup and costumes are Lexi Rotnicki (Shorewood), Tiffany Taylor (Joliet), Shannon Ryan (Minooka), Anna Wardlow (Plainfield), Mary Rose Bruno (Frankfort), Kennedy Lees (Shorewood), Molly Gunning (Joliet), Nicole Trafton (Joliet), Mary Ronchetti (Joliet), Lysette Robles (Joliet) and Margariette Ernst (Plainfield).

Serving as house ushers and staff are Theresa Garza (Joliet), Hannah Terlep (Joliet), Maddie Seneker (Joliet), Taylar Testin (Plainfield), Victoria Ford (Romeoville), Lauren Kelley (Joliet), Jacey Lambert (Plainfield), Molly Gunning, Nicole Trafton and Mary Ronchetti.

Tickets for students, senior citizens and children 12-and-under are $7. Tickets for adults are $9. For more information, contact Szynal at 815-741-0500, ext. 432.

“It’s a supernatural thriller,” Szynal said of the fall play. “A brother and a sister buy a home and they discover it is being haunted by a ghost. Through meeting different people involved with the house’s history, they try to discover who the ghost is and to get rid of the malignant spirits.”

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