2 alumni theater stars from Albion join for duet performances on May 20, 21

Photo by Tom Rivers: Bradeen Walders, left, and Jackie Madejski will reunite for shows on May 20 at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion and on May 21 at the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina. The two graduated from Albion in 2012. Walders is best known for her role at Albion as Mother Superior singing “Climb Every Mountain” in the Sound of Music. Madejski had the lead role in Albion’s production of Peter Pan in 2011. The two were in several musicals together.

ALBION – Two Albion classmates starred in the theater program just over a decade ago are joining for a show later this month.

Jackie Madejski and Bradeen Walders, both 28, will perform “Duet Together” at Cabaret at Studio B on May 20, and then on May 21 at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina.

They will feature music from Chicago, Follies, Mame, Songs for a New World, Into the Woods and other shows.

The two have been close friends since they were in school, and even spent a year living together in Washington, D.C.

Provided photos: Jackie Madejski, far right, currently is part of the cast of Survivors, a production by the Jewish Community center in Rochester. The cast has been performing at schools in the Rochester region and tells the stories of 10 Holocaust survivors from the Rochester area. Madejski portrays Rosemarie Marianthal Molser and Helen Pryzsuskier Levinson. The cast includes Madejski, Sarah Malek, Miranda Rose Blood, Ged Owen, Alessandro Martellano, Evan Miller Watelet and the director, Sandi Henschel.

Madejski is best known for her role in Albion when she was Peter Pan in 2011, a role that earned her honors from the Rochester Broadway Theatre League. She works as a professional theater performer, and has been in more than 20 productions since 2016 with most in the Washington, DC area.

She lives in Fairfax, Va., but has been home for a few months because she is in the cast of Survivors, a production of the Jewish Community Center in Rochester. The cast performs the one-hour play at many local schools, telling the stories of 10 Holocaust survivors from Rochester. Click here for more information about that show, including a performance on May 24 at the JCC Hart Theater.

“I really believe in what this production is trying to do in bringing stories of these survivors to the schools,” Madejski said. “It is a message about the impact of hate and intolerance.”

She plays the roles of two of the survivors.

While she is home in Albion with her parents, Tom and Sandra Madejski, Jackie connected with Walders, who also recently moved back to Albion with her husband Sebastian Erakare, an Albion native. They are back in the area after five years in Tennessee. Walders worked a government job there, helping to process applications for Medicaid and Medicare benefits.

She also pursued her passion as an artist, but not on stage. Instead she is a painter and creates ceramic pieces.

She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater performance at Niagara University, but “fell out of love with the spotlight.”

At Albion, one of her bigger roles was Mother Superior, the head nun in the Sound of Music. She gave a soaring rendition of “Climb Every Mountain.”

Bradeen Walders now is focused on building a career as a painter and ceramics artist. She lives with her husband, Sebastian Erakare, in Albion after five years in Tennessee.

Although she hasn’t been singing publicly in years, Walders still has the impressive pipes, Madejski said. The two have been rehearsing for the upcoming shows, and Madejski is amazed at Walders’ range and talent.
“It is really unfair that she sings so beautifully and can do this,” Madejski said.

The upcoming concerts includes duets and solos from the two singers.

Besides the musicals of Peter Pan and the Sound of Music, Walders and Madejski also were in The Music Man and Cats while at Albion.

The two remain grateful for their musical experiences at Albion. Gary Simboli, who is now retired as the director, led the students and theater team to not only do high-quality shows, but create a welcoming environment for everyone, Walders said.

“I don’t think I would have made it through school without it,” she said.

For information about tickets to the May 20 at the Cabaret at Studio B in Albion, click here. For information about the show on May 21 at the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, click here.