Theatrical Direction

When one of Brendan’s best friends and fellow peers and creatives (throughout three intensive academic years of conservatory performing arts training, production company management, and collective production development at the Canadian College of Performing Arts), Jennifer Fontaine, invited him in 2006 to consider directing for her company at some point, he was reticent and declined.

At that time, he was engaged in a comprehensive learning-curve at the Canadian College of Performing Arts having taken on a position as their Technical and Production Assistant coordinating with the McPherson and Royal Theatres and other companies. Jennifer’s offer both daunted and intrigued Brendan, but as it happened, they were both otherwise engaged anyway.

However, the pair did join forces to create shorter, themed musical theatre recitals for investment groups in Victoria. Brendan also applied his nascent skills in marketing and publicity to Gotta Getta Gimmick’s production of Songs for a New World at Intrepid Theatre’s Metro Studio.

Jennifer was persuasive, though, and later in the year after their separate seasonal commitments on either side of the country had resolved, she highlighted for Brendan the many times that he had, in fact, demonstrated his skills as a theatre director through application, and then continued to note a number of occasions where he had, in fact, formally directed during their tenure at the college.

Her argument included their two years (four semesters) of daily Connections classes, helmed by Janis Dunning, wherein the class ensemble provided feedback and direction to help hone fellow peer’s performances. Unbeknownst to Brendan, he had become recognized for his attention to detail, directorial insight, and careful, compassionate performance suggestions. He had also directed a public staged reading of his own work to conclude a seven-month playwrighting and dramaturgical mentorship helmed by Christopher Weddell. He had also directed components of collectively developed work.

Both Brendan and Jennifer were inaugural and developmental members of CCPA’s Company C program. Helmed by Dr. Iris MacGregor-Bannerman with the dedicated support of college founders and program directors, Jacques Lemay and Janis Dunning, Company C was a practicum in theatre production. Twelve artists mounted three professional show runs in four months: A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Kate Twa, a collectively-devised multi-disciplinary play called SpeakOffice directed by Dr. Iris MacGregor-Bannerman, and Into the Woods directed by Gerald Isaac. The twelve company members comprised the performance cast but were also involved in all the aspects of production, from finance to lighting design, from props sourcing and set construction to costume design. Brendan’s assignments were as equity deputy, script supervisor, and in marketing/sponsorship. 2005’s Company C was, by design, a comprehensive work-study in company management and theatre production. For their efforts in helping to craft the next tier of CCPA’s training, the students were each awarded an accredited Diploma in Performing Arts. Of far more importance, the college alumni had managed their own production company (with the benefit of the college’s safety net) and had fully produced three mainstage productions in only four months: a crash course in management and business operation.

In this way, Brendan learned directing through osmosis and self-application: he always studied the techniques of the directors he was directed-by: what worked, what didn’t, what communication actors responded to, what communication actors struggled with, how to motivate the best work from an actor and how to best isolate the highlights discovered during exploratory rehearsal, how to maintain an emotionally grounded and dynamic cast, how to teach a show to a cast and mentor or encourage their analysis and process, and how to best use the stage, adapt to venue, and incorporate thematic components. He applied these lessons in his own unique style. Jennifer not only encouraged him, but she offered him a chance to explore, learn through practical application, and grow.

With trepidation and self-doubt, Brendan finally accepted Jennifer’s offer and joined the ASNY team in Rockland, Ontario, in 2007 for their second production. ASNY was a family affair; the company producers were Jen’s wonderful parents and they provided room, board, guidance, friendship, and signed the paycheques for the fledgling professional company.

Jennifer and Brendan were a directorial pair; Brendan formally taking the place of theatrical director and Jennifer formally taking the place of musical director, but they were a team and worked as such, coordinating on production, design, direction, and each taking on components of choreography.

They were also educators. ASNY held a summer youth theatre camp every July as well as mounting a professional production for two weeks in the summer.

In 2007, the summer camp was a resounding success, as was ASNY’s production of Songs for a New World thanks to Brendan and Jen’s unique dramatic vision for the song-cycle, all held in du Moulin Parc under the city’s big tent. The tent was a remarkable venue to perform in, but it proved challenging acoustically, so all performers were mic’d and the sound balanced by a technician. As well as directing, both Brendan and Jen performed principal roles in the production (arranged so that they could direct one another alternately). Songs for a New World was traditionally written for a cast of four, which Brendan and Jen expanded into six accompanied by a three-piece band.

Brendan attended the University of Victoria for two semesters over 2007 and 2008 with the intent of transferring his accredited Diploma in Performing Arts to a Theatre Education BFA. Quickly becoming dissatisfied and frustrated with his decision to do so (a late clerical error on the university’s part prevented UVic from accepting his prior academic credits), he only pursued the degree for one year. During that year, Brendan volunteered for 3rd year directing student’s projects and realized that the training and practical experience he had already received surpassed some of those in focused study in the field.  

In 2008, ASNY took their summer youth theatre camp a step further and invited their students on stage as chorus members as well as casting them in select roles for their semi-professional production of Urinetown: the Musical (also held in du Moulin Parc’s big tent). This model was also a natural evolution: Not only did the campers have days of theatrical fun, learning, and exploration, they were able to experience the guild model of performing alongside professional musical theatre artists and a professional band. Using a manual control board and PARcans, Brendan also began designing lighting for the productions in the big tent. A unique challenge, provided that the summer sunsets illuminated the interior of the tent and stage for most of the first act. Throughout the second act, as night fell, the lighting design had to be cleverly adaptive. Again, Brendan and Jennifer were also performers; Brendan as Officer Lockstock and Jennifer as Hope Cladwell. An additional cast member (Little Sally), assistant director, and camp counsellor joined them in MFA Directing student, Bronwyn Steinberg. Urinetown had a cast of twenty accompanied by a three-piece band.

In 2009, Brendan and Jennifer were invited guest instructors for a choral program at a local secondary school. Once a week for a few months, Brendan and Jennifer worked with the students to develop their confidence, introduce them to musical theatre, coach them vocally, direct them musically, and to choreograph and stage the students in a song-cycle concert. The program was also a success.

During the summer of 2009, du Moulin Parc was unavailable to ASNY, so a local secondary school gymnasium was converted into a theatrical venue to follow the same camp and production model as with Urinetown: the Musical. Only this year, ASNY was tackling Suessical: the Musical. A 3 foot high, 30 foot wide thrust stage with a 16 foot depth was constructed below the gymnasium’s 26 foot by 13 foot proscenium stage, and a designated orchestra pit was designed for the band. Combining the existent gymnasium lighting (controlled by fixed light-switches) with 16 PARcans and a spotlight controlled at the booth, Brendan held the dual role of director and lighting technician for Suessical.

Brendan appeared on stage only briefly during the musical: in a cameo as Vlad Vladikoff. ASNY brought on two additional camp counsellors, Jess Shed as a production assistant, and Silvia Baltodano as choreographer. Suessical had a cast of twenty with a four-piece band.

“As an actor, Brendan was dedicated to his craft, always seeking ways to improve the scenes he was working on. He would take the time to work with others, to bring them up, teaching them the importance of making choices in character development. … Brendan’s leadership, his ability to teach, and his passion for art were evident.”

-Andrew Galligan, fellow performer, Anne & Gilbert and Gabriel; Cat in the Hat

“His dedication to any task and his team members was nothing short of remarkable. As the director of the musical and part of the production team, Brendan also took care of the making of the show, scene development, set building, costumes, and everything else related to the production. Brendan worked closely with the performers, some of them as young as 8 years old and mostly untrained, while the adults varied in experience, age, and talent. His teaching method was excellent and as a result, many of these young performers are today working professionally across Canada and the US. … He has an impressive artistic flair and Brendan is, simply put, brilliant.”

-Jean Fontaine, ASNY Director General

It was this summer production, ASNY’s fourth, that really garnered the attention of the nearby Ottawa theatre community. Brendan and Jennifer were invited to direct a local composer’s opus, Gabriel: the Musical (which had last been produced in concert in the 1980s) on the Centrepointe Stage; an Ottawa union house and 1,000 seat auditorium. The show would be produced by GOYA productions that autumn. Mirroring the tradition of their work at ASNY, Brendan and Jen were also both cast in demanding principal roles.

Gabriel was a biblically-allegorical dramedy musical comprised of lengthy scenes exploring interpersonal family conflict and trauma, in the style of Miller, juxtaposed against an array of traditionally-styled musical theatre numbers. Gabriel: the Musical was a genre-bending enigma and required great care and attention. Brendan directed Act 1 (with Jen directing Brendan in his scenes) and Jen directed Act 2 (with Brendan directing Jen in her scenes). Their grounded, emotive style of realism in musical theatre required buy-in from the production team and cast, and while the beginning of the rehearsal process had its rocky moments, when all parties began to realize what a unique and impactful production they were involved in, the directorial duo had their full support. Gabriel became a success for GOYA and for award-winning playwright, producer, composer and librettist, Gordon Carruth; hosting a cast of 38 performers and an extensive production team.

“It was once again the creativity and sensitivity of his direction that I found to be exemplary. … Above and beyond his indisputable talent as an actor and director and his professionalism, Brendan is a warm, compassionate, positive young man who plain and simply makes people with whom he works feel good about themselves. He has learned at a young age the only way to be successful is to first help others to find success. He does this with a rare ease.”

-Gordon Carruth, President of GOYA Theatre Productions

“I experienced first-hand his ability to craft scenes, to bring depth to text that was dated and slow, and his energy and enthusiasm was reflected by the cast. Brendan’s ability to bring out the best in his cast brought new life to challenging and difficult scenes and led to better ticket sales than expected. … When we look for Directors, we look for people like Brendan, leaders with a proven track record of artistic success, financial success, and the goal of always bringing people up.”

-Andrew Galligan, performer; former director GOYA; IATSE Production Coordinator

After three seasons with ASNY, including a year spent living in Rockland, ON, working a mixture of part-time and full-time employment in theatre and also in retention and disposition as a federal filing clerk for a temp agency, a family emergency called Brendan back home in late 2009.

While having proven himself an adaptive theatrical director thanks to Jennifer’s encouragement and partnership, Brendan found himself still needing to explore an inner desire to prove his capability in the film and television industry in Vancouver. In order to do so, Brendan took a hiatus from ASNY that became unintentionally permanent. In turn, he also took a hiatus from theatrical direction that became unintentionally semi-permanent. 

In 2012, while working for Newman & Wright Productions at the Theatre Royal in Barkerville Historic Town for a second season, Brendan was instrumental as a cast member, dramaturge, director, and writer in the collective development of their highly regarded summer historical variety show. Much of the writing and stage direction of the 2012 Gold Rush Revue can be attributed to Brendan’s involvement, although it is important to note that the production was very much a collective effort: Alison Jenkins (known professionally as recording artist LittleFox) contributing her own powerful musical number and an arrangement of an emotional historical international medley while sharing the duties of musical director with Amy Newman and accompanist Robert Ahad; Amy Newman and Richard Wright bringing over a decade of Theatre Royal performance and development experience to the stage; Wright, himself, bringing over three decades of historical gold rush music and Barkerville research to the table; the lighting was designed by Edward Menesis; and the overall production and direction was managed by Wright. The 60-minute show had a production run of 135 performances (as well as also performing a same-day historic drama and a weekend evening revue show) and is still remembered today as one of the most dynamic, well paced, and entertaining variety shows produced on the Theatre Royal stage. It was reviewed by a young patron as, “A little laughin’, a little cryin’… good show.” Add to that recipe four cups of historical education through drama and comedy, two cups of authenticity (especially pertaining to the time span of the musical selections), and dashes of folk rhythm and traditional dance, and you have the makings of that season’s highly celebrated Gold Rush Revue. 

With some regret, Brendan has been too busy in recent years to seek out opportunities to direct (although there are upcoming projects on the horizon). That said, he does still ply the trade occasionally when staging select scenes that he has written (as well as group poetry performance-art recitations) for Sunset Cabaret contributions which are often held monthly during the annual tourism season at the Sunset Theatre in Wells, BC. In 2021, Brendan was endorsed by Dr. Iris MacGregor-Bannerman to coach her speech voice method Think. Breathe. Speak (connective emotional, physical, and vocal training for the actor). In 2023, Brendan certified as a Fire Service Instructor (essentially an adult educator with an emphasis on safety and fire service). 

Meanwhile, ASNY continues to flourish under the management of Jennifer Fontaine in Ottawa, ON, as both an educational conservatory and one of the leading musical theatre companies in the National Capital Region having produced show such as: Les Miserables, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Jekyll and Hyde. All this, while maintaining a 99% attendance record prior to the Covid Coronavirus pandemic. Brendan and Jennifer remain dear friends and occasionally tease future theatrical collaborations. ASNY Director General, Jean Fontaine, noted in 2019: “Brendan’s contribution setting up the foundation that allowed ASNY to become what it is today is undeniable.” However, for Brendan’s part, he will be forever grateful to have been invited along for the ride, to have made some theatre magic with dear friends, and to have had a friend who believed in and nurtured a gift he hadn’t known he had. He is incredibly proud of Jennifer and the incredible company she has built, and is honoured to have been a small part of it in its early years. 

In 2019, Brendan and Emily Bailey brought Noble Players Theatrics into being. While, like most theatre companies, they were forced to remain stagnant throughout the pandemic, the company first produced Sawney’s Legacy in 2022 and continues to do so while also developing new works within the purview of their mandate.