COMPETITIVE FUN
providing musical theatre opportunity for over 30 years
30 years of Theatre Fun
DENISE KRAWCZUK
Denise Krawczuk – Owner/Director & Vocal Coach
With over 30 years of experience as a vocal coach, director, producer, and performer, Denise has dedicated her career to helping singers and performers discover their voices, build confidence, and develop a lifelong love of performing.
Throughout her career, Denise has produced, directed, and vocal coached numerous musical productions, including Bring It On, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, and Footloose, as well as a wide variety of junior and youth musical theatre productions.
Denise has had the honour of mentoring many talented vocalists over the years, watching with great pride as former and current students continue to grow, perform, and pursue opportunities in the performing arts. At the heart of her teaching is a commitment to creating confident, expressive performers in an encouraging and supportive environment where every student has the opportunity to shine.
In addition to teaching, directing, and producing, Denise continues to perform as a vocalist at events throughout Thunder Bay. She is passionate about creating meaningful performance opportunities for her students and encouraging them to use their talents to give back to the community.
As the Owner and Director of Applauze Productions, Denise teaches private vocal lessons and works closely with all Applauze groups, showcases, and musical productions. Her greatest joy continues to be watching performers of all ages grow in confidence, discover what they are capable of, and experience the magic of performing.
RUSSELL KRAWCZUK
Russell has been a lighting & sound engineer for 55 years he has had vast experience working with top Canadian artists and has gone on tour with them as well he was a founding member and technical director of the live from the rock concert series and folk festival. He has been Applauze’s tech director for over 30 years. He has received many accolades for his lighting & sound design and takes great joy in being creative and precise in his work.
Russell will be working on showcases, productions, recitals & festivals.
THOMAS MCDONALD
Thomas has been working with Applauze in a variety of roles since 2011, first as a set and costume designer, then as a director and as a facilitator for the Supernovaz. Thomas has directed Cinderella, Guys and Dolls Chicago, Spring Awakening & the Broadway In The Bay series at Applauze and works with a variety of companies creating a wide range of theatrical experiences in our community. Working & performing with Applauze brings joy to his life and he loves helping others find that joy in performing.
Thomas will be working on showcases, productions and with the Supernovaz.
annika harrison
Annika is a passionate dancer, as well as a dedicated singer and musical theatre performer. She has been dancing since she was 4 years-old and has achieved numerous Judge’s Choice and Overall awards in competitive dance over the years, participated in summer training at the National Ballet School of Canada, and performed in various local dance productions and showcases, including The Nutcracker. Annika has been a student at Applauze for many years as a member of the Eclipze vocal group, a soloist, and a cast member of multiple musical theatre productions, including Percy Jackson, 13 Jr, and Footloose. She is so excited to join the Applauze Team as a teacher and share her love of dancing, singing, and musical theatre.
ISABEL Binette
Isabel Binette is a true triple threat. She began dancing at the age of 3 and began her vocal/stage training with Applauze at the age of 7. She has choreographed for shows such as High School Musical Jr., Finding Nemo kids, 13 Jr., Little Mermaid Jr., and Footloose, as well as, choreographing for the Bright Starz, Shining Starz, Shooting Starz, and Eclipze groups at Applauze. She was previously the lead choreographer for Hammarskjold High School’s musical drama productions and is a current member of Applauze’s Supernovaz adult musical theatre group. Outside of theatre, she enjoys reading, yoga and playing the clarinet. Izzy is currently enrolled in the Honours Bachelor of Arts – Psychology program at Lakehead University and hopes to continue working with youth in the future
CIARA RAPOSO
Ciara MacKinnon Raposo is a 16 year old musical theatre performer born and raised in Thunder Bay Ontario. She has been attending Applauze Productions since the age of 7 and had has many accomplishments there, including just this year placing 3rd overall at provincials in the category Songs of the screen. Apart from singing, she also does many musicals. Some standout roles of hers have been Elle Woods in Legally blonde Jr, Cady Heran in Mean Girls Jr and Constance Blackwood in Ride the cyclone. This summer she is off to train for musical theatre in a Broadway level summer camp in NYC and she hopes to continue performing for the rest of her life! She is so excited to be teaching at Applauze this season!