Artist John Wamsley is excited to dive deeply into the world premiere of ‘Rez Gas’ at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre. Billed on the website as a world premiere musical about discovering home, Wamsley plays Destin.

After moving away from his home reservation to pursue a music career, he’s struggling, Destin returns to town with his girlfriend and has to face the people whom he left in the town and tried to forget. The central hub of activity is the ‘Wide Wigwam’ diner.

Written by Cale Crowe and Genevieve Adam, Music Supervision by Jeff Newberry and directed by Herbie Barnes (Artistic Director of Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre) ‘Rez Gas’ has also been described as a cross between CTV’s ‘Corner Gas’ meeting the blockbuster ‘Come from Away’. John also made connections to a blend of the music from ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Waitress.’

‘Rez Gas’ will be a beautiful expression of Indigenous joy with a hip-hop-infused, unforgettable score. John says he doesn’t perform in musicals often so that’s a bit nerve wracking. He has been part of new Canadian works. John believes audiences are energized by these new works. Audiences want to know more about the theatre. There’s a desire to experience something new and for the first time; so being part of ‘Rez Gas’ is very special and an honour to be part of something to which he connects so deeply.

A member of the Alderville First Nation Wamsley is of Ojibwe and British settler descent. He earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre and Drama Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Upon his graduation, he then earned a Diploma in Acting from Sheridan College. Wamsley’s website also states he also completed the Social Media Marketing Program at George Brown College Continuing Education.

He certainly understands the life of an artist is one where you might not be working for awhile and there are times when you will be working constantly.

Currently, John is now in Port Hope for rehearsals of the musical.

Is there anyone else in Wamsley’s family who is an artist?

There was a twinkle in his eye, and I thought he was going to say that there are other family members who are part of the industry.

His response:

“No, no, I’m kinda the only one. Everyone else has stable, secure career paths and I was the only one foolish enough to do this.” He had a good laugh as he finished off the last part of the sentence.

John mentioned that members of his family often rely on him to provide comic relief when appropriate. He expressed satisfaction in embracing this role, finding fulfillment in entertaining others and bringing levity to various situations. Wamsley noted that pursuing a career as a performing artist felt like a natural progression for him. His family also expressed their appreciation that one of their own had chosen to become a performing artist.

Does or did John have any mentors or leaders to whom he could turn when he was in theatre school?

He credits the community of people with whom he surrounded himself. That was the biggest thing for him – the friendships he made, the relationships that he had were really what got him through. Theatre school was a hard time for John, yet an incredibly formative one in his early 20s where he completely threw himself at this career path. It was an emotional time with a lot of self discovery that happened. John felt that creation of a community of people to whom he could turn was extremely important for support or to celebrate.

What advice would he give to young actors exiting from theatre school now?

“Oh, dear…”(and he paused…we shared a good laugh, and I told him I know I put him on the spot).

John continued:

“Theatre school is a great foundation for young people to build the rest of their career on, but it’s not everything. You can curate your own practice as an artist and become the artist you actually want to be when you are in the field doing it in the community and building relationships with like-minded artists. The career really begins and your expression as an artist begins post theatre school. It’s a great training ground for flexing and strengthening that muscle and building those skills. But in terms of building yourself up as an artist, that continues to happen for many, many years beyond graduating.”

Wamsley isn’t naïve to think the theatre artist continually works. There will be periods of time in this long-chosen career where there’s going to be no work, or the artist will have to create his/her/their own work. This roller coaster of no work and abundance of work will continue to happen for most of this long career so young performing artists will have to get used to what he calls: “the weird cycle of feast or famine.”
If an artist is in love either with the thrill of the feast or famine, or the no-work versus the abundance of work of the theatre industry, then it’s all worthwhile.

Wamsley has been a working actor for the last ten years. I complemented him as I thought he was in his mid-late twenties. Does he have role models in his career? Does he feel comfortable speaking to anyone who has been in the business?

He credits two: Sarah Dodd and Mike Shara. John met them both when he worked at the Stratford Festival.
Working at the Festival was a big dream for John. He never thought he would be able to work there so early in his career, and it was an amazing experience for him.

When he arrived at the Festival, John said everyone was welcoming and supportive. He was able to work with Dodd and Shara in his first season. Dodd and Shara took Wamsley under their wing. He would go to them for advice, had drinks with them, and caught up with them often. Again, he credits Sarah and Mike for teaching him about the theatre industry and being resilient in this career path. Dodd and Shara value hard work, and Wamsley said he will always be grateful to them for sharing their knowledge with him and allowing him to grow into the artist he wants to be.

When our discussion focused on the upcoming opening of ‘Rez Gas’, the light in John’s eyes sparkled. He said he connected immediately with the character of Destin. He understands the character and his desire to leave a life behind. Destin carries a lot of hurt within him. Sometimes, when traumatic things happen in our lives, there’s an instinct that we try to forget what happened or that it even exists. That’s not often possible, and many have to carry those traumatic events for a very long time whether it’s wanted or not. Destin has that same desire and personal feeling of wanting to create a clean break from something painful and create something new.

Wamsley believes a lot of people can connect to this feeling. It’s a story about coming home and about embracing our hurt from the past and letting in love. As cheesy as it may sound, John says we need joy, spirit and family now more than ever because our world is in such a sad state of affair. If the cast can make audiences laugh and sing for two hours, then it has done its job.

He hopes audiences will fall in love with ‘Rez Gas’ at the Capitol. John believes a tether will connect the audience to the emotional action on stage. He has admired the Capitol’s Artistic Director Rob Kempson for a long time. Working with director Herbie Barnes (Artistic Director of Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre) and the Rez Gas creative team is incredible. John kicked his feet with excitement when he heard Barnes would direct this world premiere of this musical:

“I love Herbie. He’s so funny, so generous. He’s just a really great guy to be around. I’m really excited to work with him and develop a friendship with him.”

This cast had done a workshop week in February of this year. John got to know Herbie a little bit better that week.

Members of the Rez Gas cast include Nicole Joy-Fraser, Vinnie Alberto, Michelle Bardach, Jonathan Fisher, Emma Rudy and Dillan Meighan-Chiblow.

To learn more about the upcoming musical, visit capitoltheatre.com. To learn more about John Wamsley, go to his personal website: johnwamsley.ca.