Class Clown
It might surprise you to learn that I was a bit of a class clown. I was the kid that was told on many occasions that I needed to “turn around and stop talking” because, “I was never going to find a job where I would get paid to talk.”
My public school report cards are full of comments that all centre on a very similar theme … that I needed to learn the importance of putting things on paper, relative to just talking which I, from all accounts, already excelled at.
Actual screen shot of one of my public school report cards.
My mother tells me when I was about 4 years old, while on a family drive I said something from the back seat that made everyone in the car laugh. She tells me I sat up and said, “Hey, I like that.” I believe it was in that moment that I first knew my purpose. Is class clown a “purpose” ?
It wasn’t until grade 7 when my teacher Ms. Brown, tired of keeping me after school to clean chalk boards and clap the brushes for my incessant jabbering, decided that maybe it was a different kind of clapping my young, exuberant nature was starving for. One day, while cleaning the blackboards after class, she told me she thought it would be a good idea for me to be in the class play … a thought that I’m sure almost stopped my pre-teen heart. It was one thing to act up in class, quite another to do it in front of the whole school where mass judgement was a reasonable expectation.
The play was to be Henry’s Mail-Order Wife by Freda Graham-Bundy. I was to play Henry. I can’t say I remember a lot about the play itself or the process of putting it together, but the peacock in me will never forget the spotlight, the first laugh or the applause.
The only picture I have and perhaps the only one in existence of my stage debut as a student in Ms. Brown’s grade 7 class at Robertson Memorial Public School. That would be me as Henry (far left) in the checkered shirt. I’m not 100% sure of the year but I feel like it was sometime in the 1920’s.
I find a bit of irony in the playwright’s last name being Bundy, because less than a year later, a young man with the same last name (no relation that I know of) and an inventory of needs very similar to mine, would move to town. Rob Bundy would become my best friend, co-star, co-writer, co-mischief maker … and lover of all things involving the spotlight. We did a ton of shows together through high-school, took a 30+ year break and then teamed up again a few years ago to perform a show Rob wrote for Goderich Little Theatre in 2013 and then again in Blyth in 2017. Rob e-mailed me the script for “Guys in the Garage” while I was on a mission trip in Guatemala with a note that said, “Hey, wanna do a show?” I’m sure the rest of the team wondered what was keeping me awake late and laughing out loud in my bunk.
One of my favourite adventures with Rob was this 2-man production of “Babel Rab” (above)
Ask me what my favourite show that I’ve ever been in is, and most days I will say this one. It’s 17 year old me as El Gallo in “The Fantasticks”
The two casts 2013 (above) and 2017 (below) of Guys in the Garage. So much love for all these people and all the wonderful memories.
As I write this week, my heart is flooded with the warmest thoughts of the theatre and finding my people there. I can be a massively insecure human so putting myself out there comes with much trepidation .. and yes, I experience that insecurity EVERY time since that first time on stage as Henry at Robertson Memorial Public School.
But, I will be forever grateful to those who believed in me and taught me to, at least occasionally, believe in myself. Top of mind are Warren and Eleanor Robinson and Philip McMillan at GDCI who nourished a young man’s dreams of acting, singing and creating. And a heartfelt thank you to ALL the special friends, directors and creators who’ve shared the spotlights over the years.
You might be thinking, “But Phil, you’re in radio?” It’s true, I am. Weirdly though, the professions are symbiotic in many ways and I don’t believe I could have had this career were it not for the experiences I’ve had on stage. I don’t know what I would have loved most but I do know when my radio days are done, or at least diminished, I hope I can find a stage somewhere that will have me.
And it’s always when I have a chance to bring these two great loves of mine together like I was able to this week. The past couple of years have been difficult for theatre but it’s back baby! Below, please find a chat I had this week with Ann Swerdfager, Publicity Director for Stratford Festival. There are some very exciting things happening in Stratford this year.
And of course, check out the Stratford Festival web site.
This blog post is dedicated to Ms. Brown and to the Robinson’s and Mac for seeing who I was and all I could be. I am forever grateful.
Stay well friends … Until next time <3
