Cast

JULIE HAY
Penny

Julie was born in Toronto. Leaving home at an early age to be trained in classical ballet, she attended the Quinte Ballet School. After graduating, she immediately joined the National Ballet of Canada and was soon promoted to second soloist. Some of her featured roles include the principal role Emeralds in George Balanchine's Jewels, as well as the Dark Angel in Balanchine's Serenade and featured roles in his Don Quixote. She has danced the Spanish Princess in Swan Lake, the Principal Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Tall Girl in Elite Syncopations, The Prostitute in Glen Tetley's La Ronde, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Queen of Hearts in Alice. Julie has danced many roles in James Kudelka's choreography, including Petal and the Stepsister in his Cinderella and featured roles in Cruel World; Desir; There, below; Four Seasons and Terra Firma. After many wonderful years with the National Ballet of Canada, Julie is thrilled to be part of the Toronto production of Dirty Dancing. She would like to thank her family and friends for their love and encouragement throughout her career.

ASHLEY LEGGAT
Frances "Baby" Houseman

Ashley is absolutely thrilled to be returning to the theatre in this terrific production. She is best known as Casey McDonald in the television show Life With Derek (Shaftesbury Productions), which is shown around the world on the Family and Disney networks. Her television and movie credits include Marcia in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Libby in What Girls Learn, Kelly in 11 Cameras, Brittany MacMillan in Darcy's Wild Life, Kat Adams in Ace Lightning, Michelle in Real Kids, Real Adventures, The Music Man, A Very Married Christmas, Roxana and Cadet Kelly as well as recurring roles in In a Heartbeat and I Was a Sixth Grade Alien. Ashley's theatrical credits include The Sound of Music, Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Theatre Aquarius). She also performed the role of Clara in The Nutcracker at Hamilton Place. Ashley thanks God, her family and her friends for their loving support. "I couldn't do it without you." Special thanks to the amazing creative team, the wonderfully talented cast and crew, Faith Halman, Joannie Burstein, Stephanie Gorin and Byron Bellows. So sit back, relax and enjoy your stay at Kellerman's.

JAKE SIMONS
Johnny Castle

Jake is pleased to be involved in the North American premiere of Dirty Dancing. Selected theatre credits include Riff in West Side Story (Stratford Festival), Joe in Song & Dance (Theatre Calgary), Grease (The Elgin Theatre), the pantomimes Aladdin and Cinderella (The Elgin) and Hoopz (Off-Broadway). Film and television credits include The Gathering, Missing, Metropia, Savage Planet, Queer As Folk, Soul Food, Forbidden Fruit, La Femme Nikita, Earth: Final Conflict, Mutant X, Godsend, Witchblade, Terminal Invasion, Mythquest, Crossed Over and Elvis Meets Nixon. Jake is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, guitarist and saxophonist. Having led several bands, his original music has broken request records on Japanese radio. Born in Mississauga and raised in Kitchener, Jake attended the University of Western Ontario and graduated from the Randolph School of Performing Arts in Toronto. Jake dedicates his performance to his wife Zoe and daughter Abby.

JOHNNY WRIGHT
Johnny Castle

Johnny is thrilled to have been cast as Johnny Castle here in Toronto. Born in Vancouver, BC, Johnny's career began with Judith Marcuse Dance Company, followed by Alberta Ballet, before joining the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1997 with wife and fellow dancer Sarah Murphy-Dyson. During his decade with the RWB as a first soloist, Johnny portrayed many principal roles, such as Tamino in The Magic Flute, the title role in Dracula, Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, the Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille's Rodeo, Hilarion in Giselle, the sorcerer Baron von Rothbart in Swan Lake and the evil fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty. His physicality in contemporary works has made him sought-after in such productions as Carmina Burana, Four Last Songs, Angels in the Architecture and Hikarazatto, to name a few. This led him to be a guest artist with Ballet British Columbia and with the Banff Festival Ballet, where he also worked on the artistic staff. He credits his experiences in Banff for much of his early artistic development. Career highlights include performing for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, performing a gala performance for Ballet Victoria, with wife Sarah, in the title roles in the balcony pas de deux in Romeo & Juliet, performing Brian Macdonald's Offetorium for the 60th Anniversary Gala at the Banff Centre and again at the 2008 Governor General's Awards Gala at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. His film credits include Shall We Dance?, Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary, Sombra Delarosa and CBC's The Tale of the Magic Flute, for which he was awarded a 2006 Gemini for his portrayal of Tamino. Auditioning for the Dirty Dancing creative team, and his desire to portray Johnny Castle inspired Johnny to leave the ballet world and explore new opportunities, even before he knew he was cast in the show. He would like to thank them for their inspiration, his wife for her encouragement, his family and friends for their support, and the cast for making a remarkable journey.

They are joined by Al Sapienza as Baby’s father, Dr. Jake Houseman, Victoria Adilman as her
mother Majorie and Natalie Krill as her sister Lisa. Victor A. Young plays Max Kellerman, owner of the resort at which the story is set, with Adèle Gigantes as Vivian, Eric Fink as Mr. Schumacher, Dylan Trowbridge as Neil Kellerman, Kent Sheridan as Moe Pressman, Rudy Webb as Tito Suarez, Storm Newton as Billy, Jeffrey Wetsch as Robbie, Tyler Murree as Stan and Joyce Krenz as Mrs. Schumacher.

The ensemble includes Michelle Black, Lydia Bouchard, Todd Burnsed, Peter Buzny, Christopher Compton, Diana Diaz, Milda Gecaite, Ryan Gifford, Elizabeth Gordon, Bryan Hindle, Lane Kwederis, Jodi McFadden, Sarah Murphy-Dyson, Tammy Nera, Jesse Robb, Dominique Roy, Jaz Sealey, Jason Sermonia, JD Aubrey Smith, Jivaro Smith, Christopher Tierney, Michael Torontow, Jonathan Whittaker and 2005 Canadian Idol winner, Melissa O'Neil.