Life in Stages with Joel Greenberg

Michael’s jam-packed resume is itself a testament to the many stages in a professional actor’s life. So, having Michael join me in conversation is precisely what I’d aimed my podcast to include.Selecting from among the many, many credits will provide a snapshot – our conversation will offer much more.Film and television credits include “Chucky” (regular guest star), “Fellow Travelers” (recurring role), “Guillermo del Toro presents THE VIEWING”, “Designated Survivor”, “Alaias Grace”, “Hemlock Grove” (series regular), “Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town”, “The Tommy Douglas Story” (title character) and “The Newsroom”.West End and Broadway credits include “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Tin Pan Alley Rag” and Fiddler on the Roof”.Stage credits include many seasons at both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, “The Importance of Being Earnest” (Neptune Theatre), “Jitters” (Manitoba Theatre Centre), “The Producers” (Mirvish Productions), “Billy Bishop Goes to War” (Orangeville Theatre), “She Loves Me” (Drayton Festival), “Peter Pan”, “Pericles”, “The Seagull” and “Oscar Remembered (Stratford Festival), “Rope”, “Brigadoon”, “Wait Until Dark” and “Anything Goes” (Shaw Festival).I worked with Michael in the Studio 180 Theatre/Musical Stage Company production of “Parade”.

Jim is a multi-talented writer-performer-director with more than 50 years of professional experience. I first saw Jim in the original Toronto production of “Godspell”, and soon after I was working with him on a series of original musical revues: “Tonight at 8:30…9 O’Clock in Newfoundland (Series 1, 2 and 3), I’ll Tell You Mine…If You Tell Me Yours”, “The Moose that Roared”. For these, he was writer, composer, performer – not EGOT, perhaps, but pretty damn close in Canadian terms. Playwriting credits include, among many others, “The Mystery of Oak Island Treasure” (Chalmers Award), Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Dora Award). Jim’s original musicals include “Colours in the Storm”, “Thin Ice” and “Dancer” (A Musical in Ten Furlongs – Marek Norman, Composer). Interspersed with many more projects, Jim has also taken on roles as producer, director, artistic director and Founding President of both The Guild of Canadian Musical Theatre Writers (1982-88) and The Group of Several (1982-87).

David has spent as much of his career onstage as he has in front of cameras. Stage credits include “The Nether” (Studio 180 theatre/Coalmine), “The Boy in the Moon” (Crows), “Noises Off” (Soulpepper), “Doubt” (Canadian Stage), “Frost/Nixon” (Vancouver Playhouse/ Canadian Stage), “Amadeus” (Citadel Theatre), “The Trials of Ezra Pound” (Stratford Festival) and “Nothing Sacred” (Winter Garden Theatre). Film and television roles have included “Burden of Truth”, “Designated Survivor”, “Saving Hope”, “Flashpoint”, “Republic of Doyle”, “The is Wonderland”, “Cold Squad”, “The Spiral Staircase” and “Street Legal”. Far too many credits to include them all here – best way forward: listen to my conversation with David and you’ll learn far more than any list of credits can provide.

Tom has been a member of the Stratford Company for 12 seasons. Additionally, he has performed in “Someone Else”, “The Seagull” and “The Wedding Party”, at Crows Theatre, Hairspray, both in Toronto and on Broadway, “Hamlet” at the National Arts Centre, Robert Lepage’s “Romeo et Juliette”, “I Am My Own Wife”, at the Vancouver Playhouse, and “Tartuffe”, at Canadian Stage. On television and in film, Tom can be seen in “This is Wonderland”, The Day After Tomorrow”, “Under the Banner of Heaven” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities”.Tom has just completed a highly successful run in Michael Healey’s new play. “Rogers V. Rogers” and in the 2026 summer season at the Shaw Festival, “Amadeus” and “Heartbreak House” will be added to his considerable resume.

Judith is the author of more than a dozen plays, all produced in Canada and many translated and produced internationally. She has written two produced films and two television films, plus many radio plays. Judith lists among her many awards two Governor General Awards, a Toronto Arts Award, a Dora Award and a Chalmers Award, The Epilepsy Ontario Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and The Amnesty International Freedom of Expressions Award In addition, she is an Officer of the Order of Canada as well as a member of the Royal Society. For over 30 years, Judith has taught theatre at the University of Guelph.

Evan has been a leading player across various stages and screens in Canada and the United States for 30 years. As a longtime member of both the Stratford and Shaw festivals, he has played ‘Sky Masterson’ in Guys & Dolls, ‘Mercutio’ in Romeo and Juliet, the title role in Pericles, ‘Stanhope’ in Journey’s End, ‘Jack” in The Importance of Being Earnest. Musical theatre credits include his Dora Award-winning performance in Fun Home, as well as starring roles in We Will Rock You and Dear Evan Hansen. In film and television, Evan has been seen in Under the Banner of Heaven, Murdoch Mysteries, Holly Hobbie, and his Canadian Screen nominated performance in Departure.

Brad is among the most produced and prolific Canadian playwrights. Born in Edmonton, he won his first playwriting competition at the age of 17. He hasn’t stopped writing since. Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, which premiered at Alberta Theatre projects PlayRites in 1989, after being developed by Workshop West (Edmonton), launched an international career with productions that followed in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Milan and London. The play has been translated into many languages and has recently been produced in Athens, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. The film version, Love and Human Remains, won Brad a Genie Award in 1994 for Best Adapted Screenplay. Poor Superman, Martin Yesterday, Snake in Fridge, Cold Meat Party, True Love Lies and 5 @ 50 followed – as have many, many more. Brad’s two musicals are Outrageous (composed by Joey Miller) and Prom Night of the Living Dead (composed by Darrin Hagen).Do yourselves a favour and check out Brad’s complete professional history - you can find him at www.Bradfraser.net.

Many of my guests have discussed the paths they followed through careers both linear and pin-ball like. Allan Stratton begins by stating that he was raised by a single mom in Bruce County, Sarnia and London. He has lived in Manhattan, Montreal, Vancouver and Switzerland — but mostly in Toronto. Allan began his professional life as an actor, moved on to playwriting (I ‘met’ Allan by directing his very successful play, Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii — we didn’t meet at the time, and it’s likely that until reading this, if he does read it, he won’t have known that our separate paths crossed), and then he spent a few years as head of an arts school. Since 2000, Allan has been a novelist. His books have won awards and have been published in over 20 countries — look him up to get the full picture.

Jon and I met in the early 90’s at the University of Waterloo where he was among the students who, years later, performed in The Laramie Project, the play that launched Studio 180 Theatre. Following his training at the National Theatre School of Canada, we worked together again on Our Class. Many seasons followed at the Stratford Festival, where he continues to perform. Among his many festival credits are Henry VIII, The Music Man, Orpheus Descending and Hamlet. Elsewhere, Jon has worked at the Blyth Festival, Canadian Stage and Soulpepper. Law and Order: Toronto, Republic of Doyle, Murdoch Mysteries and Nikita represent some of Jon’s tv and film work.

Among the country’s most versatile actors, Nora has performed in every style, just about everywhere in Canada. Listing many of her theatre credits will illustrate her range: Measure for Measure (Arts Club, Vancouver), John (Company Theatre, Toronto), For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon), The Matchmaker (Stratford Festival), The Heiress (Shaw Festival), The Stone Angel (Canadian Stage), Hello, Dolly (Citadel Theatre, Edmonton). Nora’s work in film and television has included Son of a Critch, Cardinal, Saving Hope, Orphan Black and The Associates.

Multi award-winning actor, Rosemary’s resume is its own mini-series. The range of her theatre, television and film credits is more than this brief snapshot can fairly provide. I first saw Rosemary at the Centaur Theatre, in Montreal, where her performance in Wit stays with me still. Raw, uncompromising, visceral — all these words barely convey the power she brought to the stage. Additionally, she has performed in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Tartuffe, King Charles III, Fallen Angels and A Streetcar Named Desire. Television performances include Fellow Travellers, Street Legal, Orphan Black, This is Wonderland and The Road to Avonlea. Total Recall, Twins and Dreamcatcher are but a few of the many films in which Rosemary has performed.

Currently Co-Artistic Director of Harold Green Jewish Theatre, Avery has an extensive resume as an actor both in Canada and beyond. In Canada, Avery’s performed in Guys & Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun, Hairspray, Sunset Boulevard and Little Shop of Horrors. Internationally, Avery was seen in Man of La Mancha, Candide, Pirates of Penzance and The Pajama Game among many others.

Introducing each of my guests is one of the challenges coordinating the roster for Life in Stages. The artists who accept my invitation to sit down and talk about their professional and personal stories represent the finest artists in the country. Each background is rich, varied, intriguing. Jimmy Mezon is no exception — in fact, his depth and range are nothing short of intimidating. And I’ve had the good fortune to see him play in as wide a range of theatrical styles as one can imagine. There’s nothing he cannot do and, in fact, has not done. A foundational presence at the Shaw Festival has included roles in St. Joan, The Madness of King George, The Intellectual Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism, Faith Healer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Pygmalion, Nothing Sacred, The Seagull and Translations. His performance in Picnic remains a standout for me - a role that played against so many strong, powerful characters that have dominated his stage career. Film and television credits include Workin’ Moms, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Murdoch Mysteries, Passchendaele, Road to Avonlea and Dieppe.