ONSTAGE DIRECTION
Dow mentors students
After three decades as an awardwinning actor and director, Bruce Dow has some advice that’s just as important in real life as it is onstage.
Dow, who lists four featured roles on Broadway and 12 starring seasons at Stratford on his resume, is in Windsor to mentor students at the Walkerville Centre for the Creative Arts.
“There are people who think there is a right way and a wrong way to do it, and there really isn’t,” said Dow, 55. “It’s just a hot mess and you’ve just got to keep trying.” Dow was at Walkerville Collegiate on Monday helping students work on monologues and auditions for acting and musical theatre. “They’re all going to be applying to colleges and universities around the world,” he said. “It’s a very different thing from being in school to going out into that kind of world. So I’ve just been brought in for the day, because that’s what I do for a living.” He’ll be back Tuesday to do scene work with students starring in an upcoming production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Dow ’s Stratford roles include Trinculo in The Tempest, with Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer. His Broadway experience includes parts in Jane Eyre, The Music Man, Anything Goes, and as King Herod in the Tonynominated Jesus Christ Superstar. Dow has also led workshops and lectures at training venues including the National Theatre School of Canada and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Department of Theatre Training. “Everyplace I go to work as an actor, I’ve also worked as a teacher,” said Dow. “I’ve either taught with their training programs or I’ve gone to the nearby colleges and worked with them. Teaching is very important to me.”
He is in Windsor at the request of his friend, Jeff Marontate, director of the Walkerville Centre for the Creative Arts. They met in Stratford two decades ago.
“He’s got more expertise than you could ask for, and knows his stuff inside out when it comes to how to phrase and direct musical pieces,” said Marontate. “He does Shakespeare as well, and all the others, but it’s great to hear him kind of parse a song into a story. The kids get a lot from him.” Sarah Misiasz, 17, is among the students who count themselves a little richer for the experience. “He’s delightful,” she said. “I’ve never encountered someone with so much experience in the field. He just has such an incredible way of looking at things. He’s so insightful. I never saw anyone read anybody like that. It’s so incredibly helpful. I’ve never sung like that before. It’s wonderful, the work we can do together.”
The teacher was equally smitten with his students.
“The students are astounding here, and I’m not blowing smoke up your dress,” said Dow. “I’m serious. They are amazing. The training they get here is unbelievable and the calibre of student is incredibly high. I’ve had to work hard to give them notes. I’ve had to really dig deep and get picky with what they’re doing, because their skill set is so high.”