ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE It’s an artistic family affair for the McLeods

All the World’s A STAGE

STORY BY CHRISTINA CHANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

TRUE TO FORM, SHAWNIGAN’S DYNAMIC THEATRE DUO – DIRECTOR OF 360 AND HEAD OF PERFORMING ARTS MORGAN MCLEOD AND HEAD OF DANCE KELLI MCLEOD – ORIGINALLY MET ONSTAGE, AT AN OPEN-AIR SERIES OF PERFORMANCES AT BUTCHART GARDENS IN SUMMER 1999.

Twenty-two years later, their shared personal and professional passion for musical theatre, dance, and performance is still very much evident – and now, with sons Ridley (13) and Remy (9) on the scene, it has become a full family affair. Through hugely successful Shawnigan productions such as The Wizard of Oz, Cabaret, Shrek The Musical, We Will Rock You, and a whole host of other beautifully quirky off-Broadway productions, the McLeods have helped build a rich artistic and performance tradition at the School. Their passionate tutelage has helped hundreds of Shawnigan students not just appreciate the entertainment aspect of musical theatre, but to understand and experience stage performance and productions as key stepping stones to growing confidence and an enduring sense of community. “At Shawnigan, you really feel like you are a part of the students’ lives because you become their family, and we’ve particularly found that to be the case with musical theatre. We’ve been here long enough now that, when alumni come back, we still have that special connection with them and you realize that you mean a lot to them – to see that is really powerful,” shares Kelli. “It’s a joy to recollect with them about their experiences, to hear them say ‘I will never forget the time that we did this play, or we did this show together, or we worked on this dance.’ It’s something that really does last forever and that makes teaching musical theatre, performance, and dance feel pretty special and worthwhile.” Morgan is quick to agree. “It’s a pretty special connection we have with the kids here. I think we give our students here at Shawnigan many opportunities to do as many interesting, eye-opening, and different things as possible. That’s where we have really succeeded over the years. I really like working with our students – I like the connection, watching them grow, watching what they do, seeing them learn. It’s just a neat process.” Along with exposure to acting and performance from an artistic standpoint, confidence-building is a huge aspect of theatre for Morgan. “Even when they’re just scared to be there, in Grades 8 and 9. When they’re actually mandated to be there! Then you get to see how far they come and how much they enjoy it when they commit.” He also points to the joys of seeing students for whom theatre and performance are completely new getting involved and developing longlife memories or, fortuitously, a hithertoundiscovered passion that they then carry with them for the rest of their lives. “One student told me that she never would have found her way into performing arts if she wasn’t encouraged to try something new,” he says. “I think we are lucky, in that all our students have to do a variety of things, and we expose a lot of kids to musical theatre who wouldn’t try it otherwise. There are a lot of kids who come here and are like, ‘Oh, hockey – and that’s all I am.’ And all of a sudden, they start doing other things and get a great deal of joy and satisfaction from them. To give kids that opportunity is pretty special.” Shrek The Musical was one such successful Shawnigan performance that drew a number of student-athletes, including hockey players and rowers, into the cast, the majority of whom were novices in the world of theatre. “Later that year, Morgan received an email from one of the students with his university entrance letter,” shares Kelli. “In terms of co-curriculars, he talked, of course, about rowing, but he also wrote about being in the musical and how he had never had any kind of experience with theatre before. He talked about how he gained a huge new respect for theatre, as he hadn’t realized how much time and teamwork and camaraderie came with it. He could see the heart in the arts now in a way he didn’t before. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we did it!’ He may never be

in a show ever again, but to have him see the benefit and carry that appreciation forward into his life is exactly what we always try to do. I think that’s pretty special.” While taking part in musicals indisputably builds young people’s confidence and, in many cases, opens their eyes to other co-curricular possibilities and passions, the process of bringing a show forward from first table read through to the final live performance also forces contributors to look beyond themselves to the collaborative nature of the production. Even further than that, musicals can expose performers to complex social and political issues and to the historical events and diverse cultures sometimes portrayed in the scripts. Through the shared effort of bringing a performance to fruition, musical theatre has the ability to unite performers and crew in a common goal and build and strengthen community partnerships in the process. “Musicals at Shawnigan are certainly never just the two of us,” Morgan explains. “We’ve got a great department that is part of our support network, and every year, the musical has grown in terms of the number of people involved, which can only make it a stronger, better process for everybody.” He also references connections to the broader community, locally in Shawnigan Lake and further afield in Victoria, as being critical to the success of each and every performance. “Unlike, say, a sports team, we’re not provincial champions or Canadian champions, we’re local, we’re on the Island. We’ve had a lot of support in the move to Victoria. We’ve got a lot of really good, strong, arts-going people coming to support our shows at the McPherson Playhouse. Our next show will be the fifth show in Victoria where people will see the name, Shawnigan Lake School, and go, ‘It’s going to be a great show.’ Our name now means that you’re going to see a really good production. Not just a good high school production – a really good musical theatre production. And that’s exciting.”

Morgan and Kelli also both set store in pushing themselves as performers, in terms of pursuing a personal passion as well as from a professional development perspective. In April 2019, the whole family appeared in the Victoria Operatic Society (VOS) production of Shrek The Musical, supported by two busloads of Shawnigan students, staff, and families who travelled down to Victoria to enjoy an evening performance. “It was such an amazing experience,” reflects Kelli. “I don’t think I even put it on my bucket list because I never thought it would happen, but we met on stage, so to have our kids on stage with us was such an incredible process. And everybody did such a great job. Morgan was a great Shrek, and our kids did such a good job, and for me, as a mom and an artist, I felt so lucky.” She references the importance as a performing arts educator of being able to experience a production from the performers’ perspective. “You put yourself on the other side of the table: you have to go and audition, and you research, and you prepare, and you get nervous just the same as our Shawnigan students do.” As the lead in the performance, spending over an hour and a half in the makeup chair before each show, the experience for Morgan, both as an actor and as a teacher, was also unparalleled. “Beyond VOS’s Spamalot in 2015, I hadn’t performed in a long time,” he says. “But for me it’s really important to be able to get out on the stage and get that perspective from the other side, to work with other directors, other choreographers, to see how they do it, to see what we do right, what we could do better, and to see the things we do really well. It’s extremely valuable professional development. And our boys loved it!” The closing show took place on Mother’s Day, and for Kelli, that particular show holds some of her favourite memories of the whole experience. “During our bows, I got to have Ridley on one side of me holding my hand, and Remy on the other, and we watched Morgan take his bows, and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s all my boys together!’ We feel very fortunate to get to work together. A lot of people ask, ‘You work with your husband? And you still like him?’” She laughs, “Yes. I actually really do like him. We feel really fortunate to be able to work together.” And, in their lives and work at Shawnigan, despite the unprecedented pandemic intermission, the show must go on. Morgan and Kelli, alongside fabulous Director of Music Shannon Tyrrell and new Production Assistant Emma Doig ’17 (Strathcona), worked safely and consciously with a smaller-thanusual cast and crew of just over 30 students to stage this year’s musical theatre production of Mamma Mia! for the students and staff of Shawnigan. Everyone involved was thrilled to be back performing, leading to a palpable atmosphere of excitement and action in the theatre throughout the year as students rehearsed for their outdoor show. Their spectacular performance in the Kaye Gardens during the final week of term was a resounding success and became an instant highlight of the year. “We wanted something fun for us all to do,” shares Morgan. “Mamma Mia! is a big, happy show and such a wonderful way to celebrate a return to the stage.”