AS WE GET READY FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF ROBERT AT THE 2018 TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL, WE'RE INTRODUCING THE TALENTED INDIVIDUALS OF OUR CREATIVE TEAM.
Janelle is an actor, educator and short, sassy woman and is thrilled to be working with Lark and Whimsy again at the Toronto Fringe. Last year Lark and Whimsy produced her solo show featuring her clown character, Bad Baby Presents: Rules Control the Fun. This year Janelle is appearing as Kat in Robert.
Name: Janelle Hanna
What are you doing on Robert? Acting, Co-producing
Astrological Sign: Scorpio
Special Skills: I play many instruments, badly. Juggling many things (theoretically, not literally). Animal noises.
Do you have any siblings, if so how many? 1 older brother, 1 older sister
How many Roberts do you know? My Dad, my cousin, and then a whole bunch of Rob friends.
Do you play any musical instruments? Piano, Clarinet, a bit of harmonica, and umm now the bagpipes.
How do you feel about bagpipes? They are my everything right now. I sleep, breathe and eat bagpipes. It’s a blessing, and a curse.
Are you good at keeping secrets? Depends on the secret.
What kind of grand gesture would you want someone to do at your funeral? I mean I think we’ve all thought about this day at one point or another. I can see someone putting together a video of my acting clips, though I really need to do more film and tv work because theatre never looks as good on camera.
What’s the best thing about working on Robert? The opportunity to take on something new and outside of my comfort zone as an actor. The idea of playing the same type of character over and over again kind of bores me so I try to be a chameleon, as much as I can anyway. So I have to be willing to take on new (and sometimes scary) skills like the bagpipes. I appreciate the trust Bri has put in me to take on this role.
What’s your biggest challenge working on Robert? Bagpipes. It. Takes. So. Much. Breath.
Why should people come see Robert at the Toronto Fringe? Bri has a unique ability to mix comedy and tragedy together, I even compared her work to Chekhov the other day in rehearsal. Bri’s like Chekhov but swap Russia for Scotland. I also can’t wait for audiences to see how we’re transforming St. George the Martyr, the space works perfectly for our show. Also there are bagpipes. When is the last time you saw a Fringe show with bagpipes? Never? Never.
For more information on Robert, please visit www.larkandwhimsytheatre.com/robert. For ticket purchases, click here.