A British-born actor began rehearsing for a legendary role just one week after moving to Priddis.
Louise Duff arrived from England three months ago. With a degree in musical theatre, she immediately found a leading role in the Heartbreak Hotel production at Jubilations Dinner Theatre, appearing as Marilyn Monroe.
“I have always loved performing in front of complete strangers,” Duff said.
She always wanted to visit Canada, and when her parents moved to Priddis from England four years ago, she had the opportunity.
Two things happened on her first trip to visit them.
The first is that Duff fell in love with Canada.
“I had always wanted to visit Canada,” she said. “But I didn't know how much I was going fall in love with it.
“I kind of landed and just felt like this was where I was supposed to be.”
The second was that, with a love of theatre, Duff went to a show at Jubilations Dinner Theatre in Calgary. There she met Mark Kazakov, a performer with a long history at Jubilations, who also happened to be a Priddis resident.
Although she could not work in Canada at the time, Duff was given an opportunity to audition for a role in an upcoming production.
“It's always good to keep auditioning just because it keeps you fresh,” Duff said.
In two days, she put some material together and took the last slot on the last day of auditions
A job offer was made on the spot, but she was unable to accept. However, by then Duff knew she wanted to move to Canada, and she began working on the process to make it happen.
“It’s just very beautiful here,” she said, adding Priddis reminds her of the countryside in England.
Then, as COVID-19 spread across the globe, her plans had to be put on hold.
“I think I ended up pausing all my applications and everything for about a year and a half, maybe even two years,” she said.
However, Duff and Kazakov stayed in touch.
He told her he wanted to write a play about Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. If it ever got off the ground, he wanted Duff to play the role of Marilyn Monroe. The play came to fruition, with Kazakov creating the idea, and co-writing, Heartland Hotel.
Eventually, Duff was able to make the move to Canada. She arrived one week before rehearsals started and thrived with the fast pace.
“It's nice because you kind of don't have a second to stop and worry,” she said. “We had two weeks of rehearsals, and that was it.”
The show has got excellent reviews, she said, with an average audience score of around 95 per cent.
"Apparently, a lot of people are saying that this is the best show that Jubilation has done in a long time," she said.
Heartbreak Hotel wrapped up in Calgary on Oct. 15, and the show is heading to Edmonton until the end of January and then makes a stop in Winnipeg.
“And I think the fun element of touring is that you don't become complacent, you don't get bored in the city that you're in. Because you know, by the time you've settled down, you're moving on to the next one, which is great,” she added.
Everybody in the five-person cast gets along well, she said, and she’s lucky to have family here, and to have made contacts in the industry so soon.
“It made my transition a lot easier,” she said.
