Sister Agnes, Nun The Wiser
CASTING CALL
Apply before August 17th!
Due to vocal injury, we are currently searching for an understudy for our Sister Agnes in the upcoming performance of Nun the Wiser.
This role is paid, with a guaranteed matinee performance.
The deadline for your videos is August 17th
Callbacks will take place at the Godown on August 29th
About the role:
Agnes is an innocent and young seeming nun, who has never left the convent, however her exterior hides an inner resilience and depths.
High soprano with legit vocal quality, range: E4-B5
About this project
Nun the Wiser is a newly written musical comedy set in a nunnery in 18th-century Italy. The musical is written by Kat Carson, The Cauldron’s very own founder and artistic director.
What is the musical about?
‘Nun the Wiser’ is an irreverent new musical from the mind of Kat Carson. It is a satirical look at an imagined past where Italian nuns sing gospel music and dream of fame. It focusses on the lives of seven musical nuns. On the surface, they appear devout and ordinary, but beneath that exterior lies a world of interpersonal relationships, conflicts, love, and repressed emotion. Within the convent, the only permitted form of artistic expression is composing and performing religious music.
Their lives are thrown into turmoil when the famous composer Antonio Vivaldi comes to hear their compositions. As a man, he has the power to change their lives and introduce their music to the outside world. The nuns ask Mr. Vivaldi to review their own works, but what will he make of their explicit writings about love and desire?
Drawing on her extensive work on the music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and on her experiences in an all female education system, Kat has used the genre of musical theatre to examine LGBTQIA issues and to draw a picture of womanhood that is both funny and challenging. The nuns in the story are people first and foremost, and have their own dreams, lives, and troubles. The musical explores issues of sexual identity, living within a patriarchal society, and a love of music through the absurd lens of nuns in an 18th century convent.
Full run dates
November 13
Schuilkerk de Hoop
Hartveldseweg 23, 1111 BG Diemen
20:00 - 22:00
November 14
Schuilkerk de Hoop
Hartveldseweg 23, 1111 BG Diemen
20:00 - 22:00
November 14
Schuilkerk de Hoop
Hartveldseweg 23, 1111 BG Diemen
14:00 - 16:00
November 15
Schuilkerk de Hoop
Hartveldseweg 23, 1111 BG Diemen
14:00 - 16:00
Our cast
DEB BERMAN
MOTHER SUPERIORA United States transplant, Deb Berman trained at the California Institute of the Arts BFA program and is also a graduate of Sanford Meisner’s Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. She has taught acting and performance art at the Teatro Ortzai in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country and has appeared in over 200 theatrical productions, including multiple New York City Off-Broadway credits. Her stage work spans acclaimed venues such as Minetta Lane Theatre, Manhattan Theater Club, The Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C., The Barns at Wolf Trap, the Kennedy Center for the Performaing Arts, Los Angeles Theater for a New City, and numerous national tours. For nearly a decade, she lit up New York nightlife as a headlining professional drag performer in the raunchy, punk rock musical review Three Sheets to the Wind at Studio 54 and the Kit Kat Club. Deb Berman brings a little something extra to the role of Mother Superior in Nun the Wiser—because Deb is actually Reverend Dr. Deb Berman, an ordained, doctoral-level Interfaith minister and LGBTQAI2+ affirming theologian, and was a seminary dean.
YVETTE ELONDA
Yvette is a Dutch–Congolese singer, backing vocalist and actress who also appears in TV commercials alongside her daytime job as a lab technician. She made her musical theatre debut in 2022 in Disenchanted! (Princess Who Kissed the Frog) and has since performed in Monstersongs (The Witch), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona Lisa Peretti), Bare: A Pop Opera + reprise (Sister Chantelle), West Side Story in Concert (ensemble), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (understudy Madame, ensemble), and Dogfight (Mama). She also toured with the family musical Sneeuwwitje: Terug Naar De Kern (Asase Yaa) and as a choir member for CineMusic: The Special, which also tours throughout the Netherlands. She regularly performs with gospel choirs at festivals, weddings, parties, TV appearances, as a backing vocalist for artists, and at other events.
SISTER CECILIA
MAURI DE GOOIJER
SISTER SIMONAMauri is a musical theatre performer from Utrecht, who has been singing and dancing all her life and has been in love with the genre throughout. Currently studying at Toneelmeester in Amsterdam, she has played leading roles in several amateur musical productions, including Becky in Waitress and the title role in Anastasia, as well as performing in Aida, Hair, and Chicago. Mauri especially adores harmonizing with her castmates and connecting with people who share her passion for musical theatre.
ROSEMARY LLOYD
SISTER LUCREZIARosemary Lloyd has been performing in musical theatre for over 20 years. They are a versatile performer, specialising in musical theatre and classical singing. You may have seen them as Rose Fenny in Dogfight, Maggie Winslow in A Chorus Line and Lady Larkin in Once Upon A Mattress. She has received extensive vocal training, including classical voice studies with Monique Simon at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg and coaching with Anna Langner. In addition to performing, Rosemary has worked backstage in makeup, costuming, and stagehand roles. They are so excited to be part of this project and are looking forward to how far it goes.
ALEX MUKMANOVA
SISTER CRISTINAAlex is a seasoned musical theatre actor with over a decade of on-stage experience. She performed leading roles in Moscow's all-female musical theatre company for seven seasons, guest-starred in a rock opera, and gave solo concerts before moving to Amsterdam in 2022. Here, she continued her stage journey as Morticia in "The Addams Family" (The Cauldron), Lord Pinkleton in "Cinderella" (HEA), the Lady of the Lake in "Spamalot" (HEA), Diana Morales in "A Chorus Line" (HEA), Queen Aggravain in "Once Upon A Mattress" (HEA), and Ethel in "Footloose" (Confidential Musical Theatre Project, The Cauldron). Alex is thrilled to join the Nun the Wiser workshop cast and looks forward to bringing Sister Cristina to life!
MO'MEN EL SAWY
ANTONIO VIVALDIMomen Elsawy is an actor of Egyptian origin with over 14 years of experience in theatre and screen. He has played leading roles in the Netherlands, including The Odd Couple and The Surprise Guest. Trained in Meisner, improv, physical theatre, and on-camera acting, Momen is known for his strong comedic instincts and grounded performances. As a skilled baritone and actor-singer, he brings versatility and presence to every role.
ALCINA SUMMERS
SISTER PIAAlcina Summers is a multilingual actor, voice actor, and singer, fluent in English and Dutch. She was most recently seen onstage in Murder in the Studio, 9 to 5, and Bare: A Pop Opera, with Nun the Wiser coming up next. Alcina’s recent voice work includes Scene There Done That, Death Game, and the upcoming short film I Give to Thee. Trained in stage acting, improv, and vocal performance, she brings versatility, musicality, and a storytelling instinct to every project.
DANIELA VALENCIA
SISTER AGNESDaniela is a musician and actress originally from Spain. She has several years of study in Performing Arts and Screen Acting, as well as a music producer and singer-songwriter. She has participated in various short-films and advertisements, both as an actress and as a composer. She recently moved to Amsterdam to continue her studies in Sound Engineering and Music Production in the Abbey Road Institute.
Our musicians
LORI COPPERMAN EVANS
KEYSLori Copperman Evans accompanies singers and instrumentalists, plays in bands, and music directs and plays piano/keys for many musicals. Most recently, Lori won Best MD Broadway World NL 2025 for HEAP’s Once Upon A Mattress, and also MD’d Our Way Productions An Evening of Jacques Brel and QETC’s sold-out run of La Cage aux Folles at the CCAmstel Theater. With Cauldron, Lori performed in the band with Next Thing You Know and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In the US, some of the places Lori performed included Adventure Theatre, Washington DC’s longest-running children’s theater, The Greenbrier Hotel and Resort in WV, and The Greenbrier Valley Theater, WV’s only year-round professional theater. Lori currently teaches piano and drama classes in Haarlem, plays in the Blue Tone Big Band, and plays keytar/keys in the synthpop group Birmingham Electric.
DARAGH GILLEN
Daragh graduated in Music from Queen’s University Belfast with Irish Harp & Classical Guitar.
He performed in musicals across Ireland & the UK, in Footloose, Grease, The Last Five Years, Bring it On, and Sunset Boulevard.
Now living in Amsterdam, a regular in Musical Theatre bands and performing in his band Hi, Handsome.
HARPMeet the Team
-
Kat Carson
Composer / MD
Kat began singing lessons at 11 after being cast as a “tango dancing fish” in her school play—a twist of fate that sparked a lifelong love of performing. While studying music at Sussex University, she worked with the BREMF Community Choir and made her recording debut on Musica Secreta’s Lucrezia Borgia’s Daughter, later performing on BBC Radio 3. In the Netherlands, Kat earned her Masters at FONTYS and founded ensembles The Wandering Bard and Nymphes & Monstres, creating innovative projects. She also founded The Cauldron, producing musicals and teaching, and recently debuted her first script, Nun the Wiser.
-
Jon Madge
Director
Jon is a writer and director with a love for new and innovative theatre. Since moving to Amsterdam, they’ve worked on several award winning productions, including the Cauldron’s Addams Family and DSL’s The Arsonists, both praised for their direction, and helped found the Campfire of New Writing night of short plays. Jon’s just finishing work on Keeping the Zoo, an audio sitcom homage to classic radio comedies, which will launch on all good podcast apps later this year.
-
Caitlynn Schijff
Concept Artist
Caitlynn Schijff (she/her), an enthusiastic jack of all trades who's driven by curiosity and a love for all things ostentatious. Hailing from a background in video games and digital artistry, she chose to focus on the digital crafting and archiving of historical garments. Which led her to acquire skills from both the physical as well as digital realm. Under the pseudonym Venus Ferieuse, she commits burlesque with a loving blend of history, humor and heart.