Junior Dance Company
Madeleine Ascani is thrilled to join the Junior Company as an Apprentice. As the youngest member, her lack of experience is masked by her hard work and big smile. She has previously performed in The Pecan Cracker and Aladdin Jr. at Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts. She has also participated in Disney on Broadway, GLEE and GLEE 2, for Encore Studio's summer program. Her training includes musical theater, dance, piano and voice.
Catherine “Cappy” Elvir
is an eighth
grader at St. Mary’s Dominican High School. This is her second year with Gulf
Coast Theater on Tap. She has
participated in various school activities including drama, soccer, basketball,
Jr. Beta Club and Student Council. This summer, she completed filming her first
feature film as Arden Baker in Occupy, Texas which is now in post production.
She has also appeared as the Angelic Girl in the NOLA Project’s production of A Very Merry Unauthorized
Children’s Scientology Pageant, Theatre
13’s Grease as Miss Lynch, Thoroughly Modern Millie as Miss Flannery and Schoolhouse
Rock, Jr. Live. She takes acting, musical theater, tap and ballet classes at
Encore and attends NOCCA. She is
thrilled to be a pre-professional apprentice member of Gulf Coast Theater on Tap
and thanks “Miss Heidi” for encouraging her to love the art of being a tap
dancer and not allowing her to give up when she first started classes. Cappy
loves tap dancing so much that you may just find her tapping down the grocery
aisle or in between plays on the soccer or soft ball field.
Diana Ledet is so excited to be dancing with Gulf Coast Theatre on Tap’s Junior Company! She is an 8th grade student at Ursuline Academy and is starting her second year with NOCCA’s Musical Theater Prep Program. Diana has been very involved in school activities, including student council, Jr. Beta Club, choir, drama and orchestra. She is also a violinist with the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra. Diana has been taking piano and voice lessons with her grandmother, Diana Cangemi, for the past 5 years, and sings in her church choir. She recently won several awards at the Louisiana Federation of Music Clubs’ Junior State Convention in both vocal and piano categories, and for the past two years, has received the Overall Winner Award for the Metairie Music Club’s Junior Composer’s Competition. She placed 3rd Runner-Up in the 2014 National American Miss Pageant, Jr. Teen Division, and 4th Runner-Up in Talent. Diana has been performing on stage since the age of 9, beginning with the Jefferson Players’ “Annie” (July). Other favorite roles include Starstruck Theater’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Snow White) and “Pinocchio” (Jiminy Cricket) and Ursuline Academy’s “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (Mike Tevee) and “Alice in Wonderland” (Alice). Earlier this year, Diana performed numbers from “Shrek” with the JPAS Theatre Kids! Competition Team at the National Performing Arts Festival in Orlando, where she won Outstanding Performer Award (Teen Fiona). Diana’s latest role – that of Mayzie la Byrd at Rivertown’s Suessical, Jr., has been her most enjoyable. Although her dance training is quite limited - she has been taking dance lessons for only just over a year now - Diana has become passionate about it, especially tap! She thanks Ms. Heidi, and her dance teachers at Encore Studio, Karen Hebert and Danielle Scheib, for introducing her to this wonderful art form!
Marileah Niddrie was born in China and came to the U.S. when she was one year old. Her folks say she is a born performer because she learned to walk in response to applause. Walking was closely followed by dancing. Marileah began ballet at age three. She is now 12 years old. Marileah also enjoys gymnastics and volleyball. She loves dancing and takes as many classes as she can each week. She enjoys tap because of the variety of steps to go with the beats and rhythms. Marileah is grateful for the opportunity to learn and perform in the junior company with Gulf Coast Theatre on Tap.
Aaron Richert is thrilled to work with Gulf Coast Theatre on Tap! He is a freshman at NOCCA's Academic Studio, and a Level 1 in Musical Theatre. He has recently appeared as L. Ron Hubbard in A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, Evan in 13 the Musical, Lyncoya in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and Oliver in Oliver! (Big Easy Award). He would like to thank his teachers for making him who he is today, and his parents for everything.