ROLE OF HER DREAMS
Jayne Peters, a native of Souris, P.E.I., thrilled with the chance to play lead in ‘Anne & Gilbert’
Jayne Peters, a native of Souris, P.E.I., thrilled with the chance to play lead in ‘Anne & Gilbert’
Jayne Peters has landed the role she had dreamed of while growing up after making the most of her opportunity last summer.
The Souris-born Peters was given the chance to play Anne for four shows during her second season with “Anne & Gilbert, The Musical”. With only a few days to prepare, Peters impressed the staff and they offered her the position full time for 2017.
“Anne Shirley feels like a very dear friend to me that I have looked up to for my entire life, it seems,” Peters said Wednesday, during a short break from rehearsals. “Ever since I decided that performing was what I wanted to do, I knew it was Anne that I wanted to play. It’s a dream come true.”
“Anne & Gilbert, The Musical”, opens Tuesday at The Guild in Charlottetown with Jonathan Gysbers starring as Gilbert alongside Peters as Anne.
Gysbers, a 24-year-old London, Ont., native, auditioned for the role of Gilbert along with Peters. He said that normally when auditioning for roles, actors don’t have the chance to do it with the other lead.
The chemistry was immediately apparent.
“We really hit it off. I could really feel we had some kind of a connection, even though I didn’t know her,” said Gysbers. “When you find that with someone, it’s very unique (and) it makes your job a lot easier.”
Campbell Webster, president of Anne & Gilbert Incorporated, wasn’t at the audition, but he said chemistry was the first thing the directors mentioned when he spoke with them.
“They kind of electrified the room in their romantic energy and tension,” he said.
Peters, 27, was young when she moved with her family to New Glasgow, N.S., but they spent a lot of time here during summers. Her first performance, she estimated, would have come as a four-year-old at a dance recital. She also performed at music festivals and said she was fortunate to receive “amazing” training from dance and vocal teachers.
“Getting those opportunities to be on stage made me realize how much I loved it,” said Peters, who has lived in Toronto for the last six years after studying at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.
“Anne of Green Gables” was the first show Peters saw in Prince Edward Island, and she immediately fell in love with the beloved character.
“Anne has been for a dream of mine to play for years and years and years,” said Peters. “The way she describes how much she loves Prince Edward Island, and the way Lucy Maud describes Prince Edward Island, is something I am very in tune with and that I feel as well every time I come home.”
Two years ago Peters was the understudy for a number of roles and last year was Annetta Bell and the dance captain. When the girl cast to be Anne had to leave the show, the understudy took over except for four shows while she was attending a wedding.
Webster used a baseball analogy to explain how Peters pinch hit as Anne.
“(She gets) one swing at the plate and knocks it out of the park,” he said.
Peters said she is excited to take on the lead role this year.
“I am used to sometimes being the dancer in the background, and that’s what I have done for a long time,” she said. “It’s nice to get the shot to be out front.”
Four years ago Gysbers visited the Island and saw “Anne of Green Gables” and “Anne & Gilbert, The Musical” at The Guild.
“I never thought that I would be back to play Gilbert,” he said.
The love story between Anne and Gilbert and Anne’s character caught Gysbers attention.
“It seems like a simple love story, but they have so much history as characters, as many people know from the books,” he said. “I think I fell in love with Anne before I fell in love with Gilbert. She’s such an iconic heroine.”
Both leads understand the show’s importance and know they are the latest in a long line
of great actors who have held the starring roles.
“My best friend who I went to school with, Cameron Kneteman, actually played Gilbert last year,” Gysbers said. “I immediately phoned him” upon landing the role.
With the first show fast approaching, he said there is a buzz in the air and he is looking forward to hitting the stage and performing for the crowd.
“I am so confident in this cast and this guy as Gilbert,” Peters said, referring to Gysbers. “He makes my job extremely easy. I think the cast is really, really strong this year and everyone is bringing new energy and new ideas and I think the show will be really special this year.”