By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - September 23, 2025

Earlier this month, the Grand Marais Playhouse held auditions for The Witch's Princess. The play, written by Don Zolidis, is described as a comedy and revolves around a kingdom that is cursed after the queen's death. To break the curse, the king promises his daughter's hand in marriage to any knight who can defeat the evil bog witch. Princess Alessandra, determined to avoid this marriage, secretly goes on a quest to kill the witch herself. She assembles a team of monsters for the journey, but soon discovers that nothing is as it appears—neither the monsters, the witch, nor the curse itself. 

Yesterday, the Playhouse announced the cast for the production: 

The Narrators:

Runa Morse                  Narrator 1: a rather traditional Narrator

Lynnea Morse               Narrator 2: A rather untraditional Narrator

The Royal Court:

Isreal Monero               King Eldergaarde: The Very Noble King of Artemisia

Alyssa Sushoreba          Queen Violette: The First Queen

Ava Niemeyer               Queen Selyse: His second wife

Sigrid Jorgenson           Allessandra: A headstrong Princess

Aubrey Williams           Gabriella: Allessandra's Lady-in-waiting and closest friend

Birk Jansen                   Courier: Also known as Jeff

The Knights:

JD Christenson             The Knight of Feathers: The first knight

Tommy Kerntz              The Knight of Blossoms: The second Knight, very dreamy

Anson Travis                The Knight of Hammers: the third knight, less than dreamy

Sage Sorenson              The Knight of Oranges

Kadence Peterson          The Squire of Oranges

Sophia Franks               Page of Oranges

Harper Hardin               The Assistant Knight of Oranges

The Monsters:

Carrie Jansen                Bog Witch: a Hideous and powerful witch

Kathy Ann Travis          Grendel's Mother: A ferocious Maternal Terror

Sig Sherman                 The Jabberwock: High-spirited and slithery, but mostly fun

Evelyn Kennedy           Megoosa: A woman cursed with geese for hair; terrifying

Cori Wallner                 Vita: A fairy enchantress, big into essential oils

Orin Jansen                   Scrud: her son- bit of an underachiever, fairy-wise

The Others:

Joe Drotos                   Beaowulf: A hearty and Powerful Dane

Arlo  Drotos                 Dane 1

Mikey Johnson             Dane 2

Robert Christenson        Dane 3: warriors who have not showered in a long time

Jude Lindstrom             Dane

James Niemeyer            Dane

Lars Jansen                   Dane

Elijah Olson                  Harald: a young boy, destined to be a warrior

Megan Goettl                Jubjub Bird: a large and annoying bird

Alma Jansen                 Maiden 1

Nora Andrus                 Maiden 2

Kadence Goettl             Maiden 3

Maria Young                 Maiden

Olivia Buttery               Maiden

Alanya Niemyer            Maiden

Leah Balisdell               Maiden

Selah Ross                    Maiden

Sylvia Altemus Schmidt Guards 1

Emma Usem                 Guard 2

Freddie Waters              Guard 3

Performances will take place Dec. 5-7 & 12-14. 

Tickets are available for purchase here.