Theatre camp lit a fire for actor
Chance unlocked new world for Malvern native who has starred on the big screen
If not for the Bard and years of summers on stage at Shakespearience Performing Arts, there’s no telling what path Shaquan Lewis may have taken.
It was the beginning of the journey for the 21-year-old actor. His love of the stage began as a dancer when he was 7 and within a few years, he had moved to the big screen, appearing in the movie Honey staring Jessica Alba.
“There was something about the process that reassured me I wanted to perform,” Lewis says, recalling the excitement of being on the movie set with all the lights, cameras, actors — even his own trailer.
While his movie career simmered, Lewis’s mother Maxine convinced him to attend summer camp at Shakespearience with his brother. “I didn’t want to go,” Lewis says.
But like a good son, he listened, and is still thanking his mother to this day. Like other family members, the arts were in his future. His brother Deshawn Lewis is big in the dance scene, and brother Jalani Daley is a musician. They supported his goals just as his mother did: “She always said that as long as I was happy, she was happy. I’m very blessed.” The summer camp gave the budding young thespian an opportunity to understand and appreciate the art and craft of William Shakespeare and hone his skills working with professional actors. It opened a whole new world for the youth from Scarborough’s Malvern neighbourhood where gangs and crime were in the spotlight for many of his young peers. It wasn’t a path Lewis wanted to follow.
At camp, he acquired important life lessons as he practised his craft. When Shakespearience executive director Marvin Karon advised him and his brother that they’d be cut from the play if they continued to arrive late, Lewis pulled up his socks.
“From then, I came early or on time,” says Lewis. “It was about more than acting. It was about the importance of being disciplined and professional in life.
“I tip my hat to Marvin Karon. He really guided me into acting and Sha- kespearience really helped me revisit my career in acting.”
He also credits teachers at Wexler School of Performing Arts where he focused his studies on drama as well as musical theatre. His professional career picked up after graduation when his agent hooked him up with his first big gig on the TV series Rookie Blue and then on The Next Step as well as a Disney TV movie, How to Build a Better Boy.
“For me, it’s not about the fame, glory, glitz or glamour. It’s all about the work, respecting the craft and loving what I do,” says Lewis. It’s the kind of advice he gives to young people, encouraging them to follow their dreams, too.
And the Fresh Air Fund helped him along the way.
“Without the Fresh Air Fund, I wouldn’t have been able to attend camp,” he says.
He’d never have met some of the friends, actors and mentors who have had such a great influence on his future, “and who guided and helped me.” If you have benefited from the Fresh Air Fund or have a story to tell, email lferenc@thestar.ca or phone 416-869-4309.