The education I received at McGill was life-changing. I graduated in 1985 from the Faculty of Arts, with a Major in English: Drama & Theatre option. I did a further year (1985-86) as a special student, taking courses I could not fit in during my three-year undergraduate degree. The courses I took provided me with a strong foundation for my graduate work and subsequent teaching career at the university and college level.
Working long hours outside of class on theatre productions provided me with a group of like-minded colleagues who became my McGill family.”
I learned "on the job" through my involvement in the many extracurricular theatre opportunities McGill provided. I acted in mainstage shows at Moyse Hall, Players' Theatre, and Tuesday Night Café (TNC). I was on the executive of Players' and TNC. I got to direct, stage manage, build sets, hang lights, etc. Working long hours outside of class on theatre productions provided me with a group of like-minded colleagues who became my McGill family. We took class together during the day and worked on shows in the evenings and weekends. We became roommates in the McGill ghetto and Plateau area. We loved it all!
Thirty-five years later many of us are still in contact. In 2014 we had a reunion in Montreal. We picked up where we left off. Conversation was easy; we laughed, reminisced, visited the old haunts, and raised a glass to those who had passed away.
That one conversation, on an unseasonably warm April afternoon in 1986 in Prof. Anderson's office in the Arts Building, changed my life.”
In my last spring at McGill, I had an end of term meeting with Professor Harry Anderson. Harry had taught me for two years and directed me in a mainstage show. He looked at me and said, "What do you see when you're onstage?"
I was surprised by the question and muttered: "I see my fellow actors, the set, the lights, stuff in my peripheral vision."
He looked at me with an intense stare and said, "I think you're a director." I was a little ticked off that he didn't see me as an actor.
He continued: "You see the entire stage picture, and that's the vision/mind of a director."
"What do I do with that?" I asked.
He continued: "You're a bright young man. Go to graduate school."
"Where should I go?" I asked.
Harry counseled: "Look at the University of Alberta. They have the best graduate programs in drama and theatre in the country."
With that in mind, I applied to the U. of A. and was accepted into their master's program. My time at the U. of A. was also life-changing and led to many professional opportunities that paved the way for a 35-year career in the theatre. I have worked professionally as a director, taught and coached in university and college theatre programs, and been on the faculty of George Brown Theatre School for 23 years; 20 as artistic director. I have recently returned to school to take courses in art history, an interest also piqued at McGill during my undergraduate years.
Four years of immersing myself in what I loved, courses and faculty who challenged me, and lifelong friends are what McGill gave me. What an extraordinary gift. I look back on that time with fondness and gratitude. I owe a special debt to Professor Harry Anderson who took the time to really see me and counsel me on where he thought my strengths lay. That one conversation, on an unseasonably warm April afternoon in 1986 in Prof. Anderson's office in the Arts Building, changed my life. For that, and all the many other wonderful things McGill gave me, I am forever grateful.