The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Triple-threat Kelly Wong eats up the Shaw Festival stage by Kathy Yanchus Special to the Beaver Artscene 21 | Friday, November 1, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" S heridan College's music theatre program has spawned triple-threat performers for years, some who alight on international stages, and others who embark on careers closer to home. Kelly Wong is one of the latter. Originally from Calgary, the 31-year-old is currently winding up his fifth season at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he has perpetuated its reputation as a showcase for great character actors. Last year, Wong's portrayal of Harry Houdini in Ragtime garnered him rave reviews and this year is no different as Wong tackled the roles of womanizer Giuseppe Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza, and gambler Rusty Charlie in Guys and Dolls. "I got to explore different sides of myself that don't usually come out in day-to-day life. I'm a pretty reserved, introverted guy by nature, so to be able to play a big boisterous womanizing Italian is kind of fun," laughed Wong. "Those characters live within me, but I just don't often get to let them come out to the degree I get to on stage." After graduating from Mount Royal College's Theatre Arts program in his hometown, Wong headed east to Sheridan, enticed by its reputation as one of the country's leading music theatre schools. "Sheridan was my only choice; it was the only school I applied to. Thankfully I got in. Sheridan is, in my opinion, the best music theatre training that we have in Canada. It's fantastic. I can't speak highly enough about it." All he knew when he left Sheridan's cocoon, was that he wanted to perform. Joining Shaw's ensemble has given him this opportunity and so much more. "I love it. It's a small enough group of people that we all really feel like members of a family. I think it's a testament to this company how much people love being here, and how much we all look forward to going to work." When breathing life into new characters Houdini was a highlight for me because I really loved the piece and I really loved the challenges that it brought. Every role I take on has some little nugget of fun. Kelly Wong, actor Character actor Kelly Wong is a triple threat and a familiar face at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The Sheridan grad has donned the roles of Houdini and gangsters to womanizers -- characters Wong said are fun to step into. | submitted photo each season, it's comforting being in a safe environment where you can take risks and not worry about falling flat on your face, said Wong. "Because we feel like such a family, you're able to do that and go for it and if you do (fall on your face), it's alright because you've got everyone else there to pick you up." Wong has settled into the niche of the character actor with great fervor. "The way that my career seems to be going is playing parts that are very different than myself and I guess that's what a character actor is. (Character roles) offer their own challenges, they're very unique," said Wong. You find something that you love about each character that you play, he said. "Houdini was a highlight for me because I really loved the piece and I really loved the challenges that it brought." But this season at Shaw has brought him equally rich and demanding roles, one an American gangster living in a world of New York City gamblers and do-gooders, and the other, an Italian lady's man. "Every role I take on has some little nugget of fun." Although Wong harboured dreams of an acting career, and fondly remembers staging plays for his parents as a youngster, he never believed it would become a reality. Interestingly enough, his path to performing was triggered by his shyness. "As I got older, I got really, really shy and my parents thought it would be good idea for me to go into drama and maybe improve my public speaking, break out of my shell a bit. Little did they know they were sending me into a career in the arts." Throughout his fifth season at Shaw, Wong has balanced eight shows a week. Although Piazza's run is over, Guys and Dolls has been extended to Nov. 3. "It's really exciting for us. The houses have been really great, really generous." When the season ends, Wong will search for acting work elsewhere and pursue another of his artistic passions, web design, until rehearsals begin for Shaw's 2014 season. "All I wanted going into this, was to be able to make a living doing this and I'm able to make a fairly comfortable living doing what I love. I get to go to work every day, put on funny costumes, make funny voices and get paid to do it. I love it. Things are going just the way I had hoped." For ticket information, visit www.shawfest. com. The curtain rises on professional company's Tuesdays with Morrie Oakville's own professional theatre company, Act of Faith (AoF) Productions, is launching its next show Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom's classic tale of love, life and death, on the West End Studio Theatre (WEST) stage this weekend. Shows are tonight, tomorrow and Sunday (Nov. 1, 2 and 3 (a 2 p.m. matinée)) as well as Nov. 7-9 at WEST, 1109 North Service Rd. E. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. The play, written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Albom, is based on the latter's best-selling book, which focuses on his conversations with long-ignored college professor, Morrie Schwartz. After discovering that Schwartz is fighting Lou Gehrig's disease, Albom sought Schwartz out and the pair spent a year making up for lost time. Act of Faith (AoF) has been staging plays in Oakville for a number of years. In this Dia Frid production, Chris Reid plays Mitch and Vince Carlin is in the role of Morrie. Frid has been acting and directing in the Toronto area for 25 years. She has mounted shows for Ryerson Theatre School, is a noted teacher at both Sheridan College and the University of Toronto. Frid co-authored and co-directed the stage adaptation of Barry Broadfoot's Six War Years, which was performed as the 50th anniversary celebration of the Ryerson University Theatre School. Reid is a primary school teacher with a love for the performing arts. He was named Best Actor in the Oakville Drama Series for his roles in The Winslow Boy and ART, and he won a THEA Award for his performance in Vinci. Carlin, after a long career as a journalist, is acting and producing full-time. He appeared last season in the new series of Murdoch Mysteries on television and was voted Best Actor in the Oakville Drama Series three times. This show is produced by John O'Hara, who boasts 30 years experience in regional theatre and is also one of the founding members of WEST. Tickets for Tuesdays With Morrie are available at www.aofproductions.ca.