day out with Hansel, Gretal and The Witch- The Civic’s Halloween Spooktacular
Meet the cast:
Wicked Witch : Helen Jordan
Helen Jordan’s career began at age 6 when she joined the Freda Bannon Stage School, performing many shows around Dublin and surrounding areas. At age 12 she auditioned for a part in a West End touring production of ‘The King and I’ at the Gaiety Theatre. This was where her professional career began. She went on to Panto and Summer Shows working with the Legendary Maureen Potter at the Gaiety and Jack Cruise at The Olympia Theatres, before leaving at age 17 to join The Laurel Park Big Band as their Vocalist. Helen was part of a huge Cabaret Scene in the 1970s. She left that to Join The Big 8 Showband with Brendan Bowyer but only stuck the gruelling travelling for 6 months. After that Helen returned to the Theatre , TV and Cabaret. She sang in The Eurovision Song Contest with Colm Wilkinson when he represented Ireland in Paris in 1978. Her stage credits include ‘Sweet Charity’, Gaiety Theatre, singing for Irving Berlin on his 100th birthday at NCH. Many Brendan Grace Pantos and Shows. TV credits include; Award winning special Duets for Piano and Voice, written by the legendary Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent. Sunday Night at the Olympia series. Fair City, The Late Late Show. Killinaskully and many more. Helen recently appeared in the comedy movie Deadly Cuts.
Wiggles: Kevin Keeley
A Tallaght native, Kevin attended Atomic Stage School for many years. And after finishing secondary school went on to become a finalist in ‘The Voice Of Ireland’ mentored by Sharon Corr.
Credits include playing Snake Eyes in the Spotlight production of ‘Bugsy Malone’. From then he went on to return to the Olympia Theatre for 7consecutive years playing main characters in the Olympia Pantomime such as The Ugly Sister in ‘Cinderella’, Aladdin in ‘Aladdin’, Jack in ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ and many more from 2004-2011. Other credits include ‘The June Rogers Christmas Show’.
Kevin worked with some of Ireland’s most well-known talents having shared the stage with The Great Noel V Ginnity, Linda Martin, Johnny Logan, Al Porter and Jedward, June Rodgers. Recently he toured The States for 15 weeks as a backing vocalist for ‘Celtic Woman’, before making his return to the show business industry. Now based and living in the UK , Kevin also plays the butler ‘Tickles’ in The Civic Panto.
Fairy: Keila Ana Whelan
Keila graduated from BIMM Dublin in 2017 with a BA in Commercial and Modern Music. Credits include ‘Raising your Voice Through the Power of Music’, Concert for Mental Health Ireland alongside Colm Wilkinson, Wendla in ‘Spring Awakening’, understudy Fantine in ‘Les Miserables’, Wednesday in ‘The Addams Family’, (AIMS Best Supporting Actress Nominee) and Laurie in ‘Oklahoma’ in the National Concert Hall.
Professional Credits Include Princess Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella & Wendy with ‘Cheerios Panto’ 2018-2021 at The Tivoli, RHK and Malahide Castle. She was a featured Soloist in ‘Encore’ at The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Anna in ‘New Fish’ at Smock Alley Theatre, (Original Cast), Swing for ‘SHOUT! The Mod Musical’ (Irish Tour) and also as part of the ensemble in ‘SCAM The Musical’ (Irish Premiere at The Civic Theatre) and many more. Keila played the part of Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty at The Civic in 2022 and is set to play the lead role in #TheCivicPabto 2024 #’Cinderella.
Adam is a 22 year old performer. He began performing with Dramatic Action Stage School at the age of 7. He has completed his performing arts training in Liberties College, Bull Alley. Adam has been part of The Stadium Panto’s productions for the last number of years, working his way up from junior chorus to cast member. He recently played the role of Tik in ‘Sammy, Buffy and the Beanstalk’. In 2022, Adam joined the chorus of ‘Rob Murphy – Let Loose’ which was showcased in Vicar St. He performed numerous songs, as well as comedy sketches as part of the chorus. Adam is looking forward to playing the role of ‘Hansel’ alongside this talented cast!Abby Keane: Gretal
Abby Keane I will play the role of Gretel in this years Halloween Panto at the Civic. Performing from a young age, Abbey has attended Got2Dance stage school for 13 years, and is an a teaching assistant there now. Abbey also attends spotlight theatre group. Having just completed the Performance course in Bull Alley following 2 years of studying, Abbey is excited to take on the role of Gretel this Halloween …… ‘I’m so excited for you all to see it’.
