Dec. 8, 2010
Stephen Ouimette, who plays Bejart in the current Broadway revival of "La Bête", talks about what it takes to hold the stage, with little dialogue, throughout the show's fabled 30 minute opening monologue -- especially after having played the voluble role of Valere himself almost 20 years ago in his native Canada. He also discusses his acting training at the University of Windsor; joining The Young Company at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario immediately after graduation; his 17 (soon to be 18) seasons with Canada's famed Stratford Festival, where his roles have included Mozart in "Amadeus", Hamlet and Richard III; how he has kept himself fresh by alternating work at Stratford with work at many of Canada's major companies; his prior forays to the U.S., including plays at Chicago Shakespeare and a run at City Center in New York in 1998; how he feels about Stratford's "The Importance of Being Earnest", in which he played Rev. Chasuble, coming to New York without him; his rare forays into musicals, notably "Oliver!" in Edmonton and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" in Stratford; what it has been like to make his Broadway and West End debuts in a single year; his anticipation of appearing with Brian Dennehy in both "Twelfth Night" and "The Homecoming" in summer 2011 at Stratford; and the singular experience of playing Oliver Welles in the television series "Slings and Arrows", which afforded him the opportunity to work one last time with his early mentor, legendary Canadian actor William Hutt. Original air date - December 8, 2010.
