A young actor who has trained with the Yellow Door Theatre project has been given an opportunity to join the Shaw Festival ensemble for Holiday Inn, the Christmas classic which opens this weekend.
Irving Berlin’s beloved musical tells the traditional Christmas story of Jim, who quits showbiz and the bright lights of New York City for a quiet Connecticut farmhouse. There, he meets Linda, a tap-dancing schoolteacher who has never forgotten her stage dreams, and together they turn the profit-losing farmhouse into a spectacular inn, open only on holidays.
Some of the greatest Irving Berlin songs – including Cheek to Cheek, Easter Parade and White Christmas – are brought to the stage with glorious singing and dancing.
And 12-year-old Wren Evans will be part of the ensemble, on stage for his first season with the Shaw Festival.
For those who don’t remember a young person in the traditional version of the classic, Evans explains the character he portrays, Charlie Winslow, is a new addition to the play. “It’s considered a main role, providing some comic relief, as he helps to pass information on to the audience.”
There are a lot of comical scenes in the play, he adds. “I’m just one of many.”
His role is shared with another young person, Julia Thompson, who plays Charley Winslow — they divide the performances between them.
Evans has trained with the Yellow Door Theatre Project, and been in some of their productions, including Little Mermaid in its summer camp, and has been taking dance and voice classes. He expected to be part of the Yellow Door Hansel & Gretel production, also opening soon, but encouraged by YD artistic producer Andorlie Hillstrom, he says, he tried out for the Shaw role, “not expecting to get it, but for the auditioning credit.”
“But I got it, and had to leave the Hansel & Gretel production.”
Hillstrom is excited for him. “I am always proud of the accomplishments of our young performers, and cannot wait to see Wren onstage at the Festival stage,” she says.
As excited as he is to be in rehearsal with the Shaw, seeing what goes on backstage and learning so much about something he loves to do, “I’m nervous,” he says, in bit of a stage whisper. “I’m really nervous.”
Then, asked if he is also excited by the opportunity, he says “yes, I’m nervcited.”
He feels the Shaw actors “are so much better than me,” and he finds that very intimidating.
But he loves acting, and knows that this is a great opportunity to help get him where he wants to go, with theatre a part of his future. And he admits to being proud of being on the Shaw Festival stage at the age of 12.
“I’ve seen other Shaw plays,” he says, and loved them, but being in one is a very different experience.
As he headed off to rehearsal for the evening, he says his days are often divided — a morning at school, a couple of hours rehearsing, a dinner break and then back to rehearsing, sometimes until 10 p.m. He is often tired on school mornings, but “on weekends, I sleep.”
Holiday Inn runs at the Festival Theatre from Nov. 20 to Nov. 28, with tickets available for previews beginning this Sunday,
Nov. 14.
For tickets visit https://www.shawfest.com/whats-on-tickets/#list
