Theatre is a huge part of my life. Anyone who knows me has seen my pretentious side (I have an acting degree), and one of my favorite hobbies is getting into debates about why and how 'Into the Woods' in the greatest piece of theatrical writing from the 20th century. I will fight anyone on that.
My father was not a theatre person. His thing was always sports. Specifically tennis and golf. I tried sports for about 5 minutes when I was a kid before I retreated back to my Disney movies and "learn to draw" books.
When I was 11 or 12 and the internet was new (I love being able to say that...) I discovered there was a musical where all the fairytales got mixed together. I got my mom to order the VHS from Rogers video and much to her and my dads dismay 'Into the Woods' became my required summer viewing when we would go up to the Collingwood cottage. I'm not sure how many times my dad reluctantly sat in the same room as me while I watched that VHS tape, waiting for it to end so he could put on Rudy or Field of Dreams or some other movie with sports and stuff.
Fast forward about 5 years:
My grade 12 musical was 'Into the Woods'. I auditioned, obviously, and when my dad asked me what part I got I said "the mysterious man, he's the-" and then my dad finished the sentence and said "oh yeah, he's the one that turns out to be the father at the end". Hm.
Fast forward another few years. I'm in my second year at York University and a nearby theatre troupe is producing 'Into the Woods'. I tell my dad I'm thinking about auditioning and he says he'll drive me from my residence on campus to the audition. He does, and after the audition he takes me out for dinner. We're sitting and he says he thinks I'll be cast as the baker, and I say that if that happens it would be great but that I wasn't sure if I could make the commute from campus to rehearsal 3 times a week and that I didn't have the $150 registration fee to work with the company and he said not to worry about that, that if I got my dream role he would help make it possible. Then he went on talk about the other actors he saw at the audition, speculating stuff like "I think this person will be little red, that other girl will be the witch etc...". I was pleasantly surprised. Apparently, he was paying attention to that VHS copy of 'Into the Woods' those ten years prior.
I was cast as the baker.
He spent 3 months driving from Hamilton just to take me from campus to rehearsal. After each rehearsal he would show up with some kind of food or snack from the amazing bakery that was next to the rehearsal space....usually it was pizza. It was amazing pizza. I had a rehearsal on my birthday, and when he picked me up he had a chocolate cake because he knew I had planned a game night with my friends in residence and wanted me to have something to share/celebrate with.
For me, those few months doing that show were the perfect encapsulation of his dedication and love for me and the things he knew I cared about. Even if he didn't naturally gravitate to theatre, he took the time to learn and took every action he could to help support me in doing what I love. 'Into the Woods' is a beautiful show. I've had the honor of playing both the baker and his father, the mysterious man...and living through that relationship in my real life. Rest in peace father.
Theatre is a huge part of my life. Anyone who knows me has seen my pretentious side (I have an acting degree), and one of my favorite hobbies is getting into debates about why and how 'Into the Woods' in the greatest piece of theatrical writing from the 20th century. I will fight anyone on that.
My father was not a theatre person. His thing was always sports. Specifically tennis and golf. I tried sports for about 5 minutes when I was a kid before I retreated back to my Disney movies and "learn to draw" books.
When I was 11 or 12 and the internet was new (I love being able to say that...) I discovered there was a musical where all the fairytales got mixed together. I got my mom to order the VHS from Rogers video and much to her and my dads dismay 'Into the Woods' became my required summer viewing when we would go up to the Collingwood cottage. I'm not sure how many times my dad reluctantly sat in the same room as me while I watched that VHS tape, waiting for it to end so he could put on Rudy or Field of Dreams or some other movie with sports and stuff.
Fast forward about 5 years:
My grade 12 musical was 'Into the Woods'. I auditioned, obviously, and when my dad asked me what part I got I said "the mysterious man, he's the-" and then my dad finished the sentence and said "oh yeah, he's the one that turns out to be the father at the end". Hm.
Fast forward another few years. I'm in my second year at York University and a nearby theatre troupe is producing 'Into the Woods'. I tell my dad I'm thinking about auditioning and he says he'll drive me from my residence on campus to the audition. He does, and after the audition he takes me out for dinner. We're sitting and he says he thinks I'll be cast as the baker, and I say that if that happens it would be great but that I wasn't sure if I could make the commute from campus to rehearsal 3 times a week and that I didn't have the $150 registration fee to work with the company and he said not to worry about that, that if I got my dream role he would help make it possible. Then he went on talk about the other actors he saw at the audition, speculating stuff like "I think this person will be little red, that other girl will be the witch etc...". I was pleasantly surprised. Apparently, he was paying attention to that VHS copy of 'Into the Woods' those ten years prior.
I was cast as the baker.
He spent 3 months driving from Hamilton just to take me from campus to rehearsal. After each rehearsal he would show up with some kind of food or snack from the amazing bakery that was next to the rehearsal space....usually it was pizza. It was amazing pizza. I had a rehearsal on my birthday, and when he picked me up he had a chocolate cake because he knew I had planned a game night with my friends in residence and wanted me to have something to share/celebrate with.
For me, those few months doing that show were the perfect encapsulation of his dedication and love for me and the things he knew I cared about. Even if he didn't naturally gravitate to theatre, he took the time to learn and took every action he could to help support me in doing what I love. 'Into the Woods' is a beautiful show. I've had the honor of playing both the baker and his father, the mysterious man...and living through that relationship in my real life. Rest in peace father.
