Once Lost

Cameron Fox

From a young age, I have been singing tunes, watching musicals and generally being an annoying child. After begging my mum and dad to let me have piano lessons, I started playing all this music I had been singing for years. It didn’t take long before I started writing my own music. Although it was a rough start, I’m proud to say that my abilities have come a long way (I hope) in the almost two decades since then. For a long time, I have been writing film music and honing my orchestration skills, but in recent years I have written music in all genres, from classical, to jazz, to electronic. More recently, I have been writing music and songs for musical theatre and generally still being that annoying kid. And I can say that I’ve been enjoying every minute of it.

Michael Smith

I originally disliked my piano lessons at a young age. Couldn’t stand them. Alas, my parents were persistent and devoted their time taking me to and from lessons every week-now for which I am eternally grateful. I eventually began to enjoy playing and branched out to learn other instruments. Into my teens, I performed in local bands which would soon become a key aspect of my life along with acting and involvement in theatre. I had always written melodies and lyrics and as I grew I began recording my ideas to develop them as well as my skills as a producer. Songwriting and music production became a great passion of mine and the moment I decided to study it at university was the moment I knew I wanted to make a career out of it.

Conor Smith

Creativity came to me quite naturally as a child. I would find myself lost in worlds with a singing tyrannosaurs waiting to give me a ride, spaceship's lighting the heavens and most probably a dog that was always a little too grumpy to like me. My youthful imagination is still with me today and I now find myself engrossed in many forms of artistic expression, telling stories through music, movement, and dialogue. I feel that the power of these forms of expression allow us all to feel the truth behind these stories, and gauge greater meaning from them. To this end, its not surprising that my love for musical theatre has grown as I have. In this respect it is of no surprise that I have been involved in all parts of a musical: as a performer and in tech and creative teams, spending months slaving away and loving every second of it. My favourite memory would definitely be when I first choreographed a show at university, putting myself out there and really being creative with music in a way I had until that point never attempted. To be a part of the creative process of making a musical is frankly a dream come true.

Luutsche Ozinga

My interest in music and theatre started at a very young age and, throughout my life, I have been involved in so many different theatre groups and orchestras that I have lost count! My musical skills began to take form after I started having cello lessons and the love of musical theatre began with videos (yes, good old VHS tapes!) such as Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. After being introduced to live musical theatre, I just knew that it would always be one of the greatest loves of my life. As a teenager, my weekends were taken up with attending Stagecoach Theatre Arts and the Oxfordshire Youth Orchestra and in my spare time you would find me in my bedroom doing creative writing. Being a part of a musical, whether in the cast, creative or production team, only strengthened my love and furthered my want to be more involved. Don’t get me wrong though, one of my favourite pastimes is still to watch a musical on DVD (ah, the world has upgraded). My greatest musical achievement was getting to write and direct my own rendition of Romeo & Juliet at university, where the setting was University of Sheffield vs Sheffield Hallam University during varsity, with the eponymous duo being members of the respective ice hockey teams.

Creating music and stories with other people has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, so getting to be a part of Once Lost is honestly a dream come true!

Bethany Staton

I’m Bethany, one of the lucky cast members of the new musical ‘Once Lost’. I have had a passion for performing since I was a young girl. It all started with karaoke really when I went on family holidays, which soon led onto an interest in anything musical at school. I always took part in the school plays which soon blossomed into a love for musical theatre, and I was lucky enough to go to a school which had a student orchestra with singers. This allowed me to travel to Ireland and Europe annually to perform, and I’ll be forever grateful to my school for the opportunities and to my mum for all the running around she did taking me to and from rehearsals. I went on to study musical theatre at the University of Chichester where I gained my 1st Class BA Hons degree. I am originally from Chester and now living in the big smoke where I attended the London School of Musical Theatre for further training which was a dream come true.

I am so excited to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival along with the wonderful company of Smitten Fox Productions. The fringe is something that has definitely been on my list of things to achieve. I love being involved in the creative process of new work and I am honoured to be a part of this fantastic project. The extra year wait will be worth it! The topics and themes covered throughout the musical are ones that may hit home for some people, but it’s so important to create awareness around the subject. Also, the musical arrangements and script are just awesome so you’re in for a massive treat!

Alex Hunt

Singing has always been a passion of mine, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do! I am lucky enough to have a mum and dad who, over the years, have driven me from place to place, sacrificed a lot in order for me to go out and fulfill my passion and thankfully I gained a place at a brilliant performing arts college in Chester called the Hammond where I was really able to train professionally!

If I’m not singing or generally being loud, I like to get out and explore! My passion for performing has allowed me to travel all around the globe from Norway to Singapore and Russia to Cambodia with lots of places in between! Now, all settled and back in the United Kingdom, I like to find interesting places to visit and try out some cool local restaurants along the way!

The opportunity to work with the brilliant team at Smitten Fox is extremely exciting for me as their passion and love for what they do has really inspired me and I’m grateful for that!

I can’t wait to perform this brilliant new musical ‘Once Lost’ and to put the thoughtful and difficult themes onto the stage and in front of an audience!

Briony Polz

From a young age, performing arts has always been a passion of mine and it lead me to proceed in private classical vocal training and Piano lessons. I'm a musician, strong lead vocalist, voice over artist and actor. I have a lot of experience being cast for lead and supporting roles in community performances, including; Glinda the Good Witch in 'The Wizard of Oz', Grusha in Bertolt Brecht's 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' and Ginny in Bettine Manktelow's 'Curtain Up On Murder'. As a member of The Military Wives Choirs, I also perform regularly and am a recording artist, featuring on the most recent 'Home For Christmas' album and the Military Wives 'We Are Family' soundtrack as well as the sub videos. I'm thrilled to pursue this new production, collaborating with Smitten Fox and other accomplished artists!

Adam Stickler

My name is Adam. Since I was very young I have been a performer. From acting out scenes in the latest Pixar films I saw, to joining a Saturday theatre school, it was a huge part of my childhood. Since then I have been to the University of Chichester attaining a BA (hons) in Musical Theatre Performance where I was extremely lucky to have been involved in many shows, including a number of world premiere musicals and a few music tours.

I am currently working as a children's party clown all around the South of England which is super fun and extremely rewarding, but most importantly each party is a performance of its own.

I am super excited to be going to the Fringe having never gone but always being recommended it. I am very very grateful to the team for this fantastic opportunity, especially for such a wonderful cause that is so close to my heart.

Lucy Counsell

Hi, my name is Lucy, I graduated from Chichester Conservatoire in 2018 with a first-class degree in Musical Theatre Performance. I have since moved to London in hope to pursue musical theatre as a career whilst currently I am working full time in a GP medical practice which I have found to be extremely fulfilling and rewarding during the pandemic. Within my training, I was fortunate enough to perform in productions of Little Women as 'Jo March,' the Wedding Singer as 'Linda' and Notre Dame: New Musical by Ed Court as 'Mother/Gypsy dancer,' as well as various other roles. I am so passionate about performing and anything theatre-related ever since the age of one and a half when I was taken to my first dance lessons. I feel so overwhelmed that I have been given this opportunity, not only because this project will be the premier of new and exciting writing but it also creates awareness for an important theme that hugely resonates with me. A massive thanks to Smitten Fox Productions for having me on board and I cannot wait to see first-hand how this production progresses and witness the joy and warmth it will bring to people's lives. The music and writing are truly wonderful and I do feel honoured to be a part of something which I know will be very special.

Berit Dybing

Berit helped us record vocals for some of the ‘Once Lost’ song demos shortly after we finished writing.

We met Berit at university through a mutual friend in 2017 and have developed a great friendship ever since. She has been involved with many of our productions and continues to amaze us. Berit is incredible. She has helped us bring our songs to life with her stunning vocals, focused attitude and willingness to collaborate. She is also a songwriter herself which makes it even better to work together. Thank you Berit for everything you do for us!

Ollie Wild

Ollie helped us record vocals for some of the ‘Once Lost’ song demos shortly after we finished writing.

Ollie is an exceptional collaborator. He has given his time, skills and wonderful voice to us on a lot of our songs and projects and we are forever grateful. He is a great friend and just a fantastic human being. Thank you Ollie!

Lauren Williams

Lauren designed the logo and marketing materials for ‘Once Lost’.

Lauren is an incredible artist and has an amazing eye for detail. She worked closely with us to make the artwork that would represent our musical – and we absolutely love it! Lauren is fantastic, thank you for your designs!

Darius Kiani

Darius allowed us access to his music studio to record demos of the songs we wrote for ‘Once Lost’.

Darius is a long time friend who has been there for us and helped us out in many ways over the years. Thank you for letting us use your studio!

Natalie Rawel

Natalie helped us record vocals for some of the ‘Once Lost’ song demos shortly after we finished writing.

We have worked with Natalie many times over the past couple of years and she really has gone above and beyond to help us record our songs. She is an exceptional vocalist and has a lot of experience in theatre/musical theatre making it even easier to collaborate with her. Thank you so much Natalie!