Tom McCamus, Chick Reid (10/10 Grapes of Wrath)
Excerpt from Playbill 10/7/10: Tom McCamus, Nigel Bennett (John Warren in "Final Judgement"), Andrew Gillies (Dr. Ken Harrison), and Chick Reid (Nicole Carter in "Blood Ties")
Josh Young, Brent Carver, Paul Nolan Will Star in Des McAnuff's Jesus Christ Superstar at Stratford
By Kenneth Jones 07 Oct 2010
Initial principal casting for the 2011 playbill of the world-renowned festival in Stratford, Ontario, was announced Oct. 7. More casting will be announced at a later date. The season will also include: Tom McCamus, Victor Ertmanis, Randy Hughson, Chick Reid, Evan Buliung, Chilina Kennedy and Paul Nolan in The Grapes of Wrath directed by Antoni Cimolino. Tom McCamus, Laura Condlln, Nigel Bennett and Andrew Gillies in The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Frank Galati.
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Sean Arbuckle, Nigel Bennett, Andrew Gillies, Bethany Jillard, Martha Henry, Peter Donaldson, Yanna McIntosh and Seana McKenna (previously announced for the title role) in Richard III directed by Miles Potter. Yanna McIntosh, Irene Poole, Chick Reid and Bethany Jillard in John Mighton's new version of The Little Years, commissioned by the Festival.
© Playbill
Excerpt from Stratford Shakespeare Festival 3/18/11: Tom McCamus
Between the Lines: The Grapes of Wrath, the human spirit
Director Antoni Cimolino: Well, here I am with Tom McCamus and Evan Buliung. We're playing Jim Casey in Grapees of Wrath and Tom Joad respectively, so how are ya?
Tom: Pretty good. We just finished rehearsal with you.
Antoni: Yeah, yeah. Of course, there are two scenes that begin the play with these two characters. In the first one they meet. And they had had a relationship before. Tell me about that.
Tom: Long time ago.
Evan: Yeah.
Tom: I baptised him in an irrigation ditch. But I probably haven't seen him in an adult's state, I haven't seen him. So we sort of get reaquainted in that first scene.
Antoni: You're a preacher.
Tom: I was a preacher, as he says, "He was a burnin' busher, but not no more." So he's sort of had a crisis of conscience and he's been out in the desert so to speak, thinking about things. And now he's coming up with new ideas.
Antoni: And there's been a big change in Tom Joad's life too.
Evan: Yeah, Tom's just returned from four years of prison for murder. He's returned home to the family and I think the major change will happen over the course of the play. He's just come home to sort of relax and kick back and enjoy all that Oklahoma has to offer.
Antoni: Yeah, after four years of prison, you're gonna get home and some good life. That's not what happens, obviously, they come home and home ain't no home anymore. It's interesting Steinbeck chooses two characters who are kind of extraordinary, in a way, right? I mean, the ex-con and the ex-preacher.
Tom: People on the outside, they can make comments about what's actually happening. When you're actually in it, you know, you're just kind of going along day to day, so.
Antoni: And it's a book that's about the vulnerable, the people who are dispossessed. There's a tendency for us to think that the world is, you know, vastly changed now. But so much of these situations seem to resonate for life for poor people today. We, early on, had some people in actually represent migrant workers. What struck you as you heard them speak about those conditions?
Evan: Well, the fact that we don't really know about it here in Canada. It's kind of, as it was put, Canada's dirty little secret, right? There's a huge amount of migrant workers who come to work our luscious fields to make Ontario grow, and are not treated, maybe, as well as they should be in a country that touts itself as wonderfully as Canada does.
Antoni: Yeah. I think most people think of poverty as being a problem in another country.
Tom: Yeah, or a problem of the past. The economic situation these days is making people more aware of that. Because everybody knows somebody who's suddenly lost a job, and doesn't have what they used to have.
Antoni: Steinbeck spent about three, four months during the winter of '37-'38 before he started writing the novel, helping these people in the rainy season in California without any homes. And apparently, it was just horrific. Which leads us to that final scene, which with the rain coming down. What do you think of biblical allusions in this? It's very ripe; it's rich with all this imagery from the Bible. I mean, do you find that part of your work as you're working on these characters?
Tom: Well, certainly for me, simply because he was a preacher. As we say, he's Jim Casey, so he's J.C., so there's a lot of that kind of -- he represents, well, not necessarily religion. He represents the spirit. And, what is the spirit? Is it an institutionalized spirit, which is certainly religion? Or it is the spirit, the spirit of the people? So I think there's that kind of searching to find out what truly is, trying to find if there's a difference between the human spirit and the holy spirit.
Evan: The human spirit, I think that's, like, we see it going on in states right now. Certainly in Wisconsin, were just the other day, the entire police force walked in and sat with the protestors.
Antoni: Oh, is that true? Wow.
Evan: Yeah, they went in and sat down with them. That's where the human spirit comes together in the form of union, right, and a collective of people getting together and saying, "We won't stand for something," of "We will stand for something."
Antoni: You're making a good point. It's fantastic to be rehearsing this play during the revolution in Egypt, in Libya and what happened in Tunisia. It's exactly that. It's people rising up and saying, from the Grapes of Wrath, you know, "We can't take this anymore." The women's roles are also really examined in a kind of remarkable way in this work. Ma has so much strength and she turns into the real leader. It's a kind of transformation of the power structure within the family and society as it goes on.
Tom: Yeah, they said it. If they hadn't been forced to leave, the power structure would have been the patriarchal. Pa would be the one, because he knows about the practicalities of stuff. But because that's gone, he doesn't know how to deal with it. So she becomes, as they travel, because the female spirit is somehow more adaptable to change, you know, she talks about that. Whereas the male spirit is like, "Eeer, I don't know what to do anymore." So there's a bit of that. That's where she takes over, just by, which is more natural, I guess, Mother Nature, that kind of thing.
© Stratford
Excerpt from Stratford Shakespeare Festival 4/21/11: Tom McCamus
Tony-winning classic The Grapes of Wrath starts previews
April 21, 2011
The Tony Award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s literary classic The Grapes of Wrath, an epic story about a family’s strength and will to survive during the Great Depression, begins previews Saturday, April 23, at the Avon Theatre.
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This production features some of the company’s most versatile and distinguished talent including Evan Buliung as Tom Joad, Victor Ertmanis as Pa, Tom McCamus as Jim Casey, Janet Wright as Ma, Randy Hughson as Uncle John, Chilina Kennedy as Rose of Sharon, Paul Nolan as Al and Chick Reid as Granma. Based on the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, who, after surviving the drought of the 1930s Dust Bowl, decide to embark on the harrowing journey from Oklahoma to California in hope of starting anew as migrant farmers. Their arrival in this “promised land,” however, brings about its own test of the human spirit.
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Cast (in alphabetical order)
Musician..................Anna Atkinson
Tom Joad..................Evan Buliung
5th Narrator, 1st Agricultural Officer, 3rd Salesman...Mark Cassius
Grampa, Weedpatch Camp Director...Ian D. Clark
Ensemble..................Jessi Elgood
Camp Guard, 1st Man in Boxcar, 1st Salesman, Gas Station Owner...Josh Epstein
Pa........................Victor Ertmanis
Bookkeeper, 4th Saleman...Kyle Golemba
Al’s Girl, Floyd's Wife...Ashleigh Hendry
Uncle John................Randy Hughson
Contractor, Muley Graves, 2nd Man in Boxcar...Peter Hutt
Rose of Sharon............Chilina Kennedy
1st Man with Club, Man Going Back...Robert King
Mayor of Hooverville......Robert King
Aggie Wainwright..........Amanda Lisman
Jim Casey.................Tom McCamus
Musician..................George Meanwell
Al........................Paul Nolan
4th Narrator, Man with the Guitar, 1st Narrator...Andrew Penner
Hooper Ranch Guard, Man, Man in Tent City, 2nd Agricultural Officer, 2nd Man with Club, Willy...Christopher Prentice
Granma, Elizabeth Sandry..Chick Reid
Winfield..................Gregor Reynolds
Ensemble..................Owen Reynolds
Deputy Sheriff, Noah......Steve Ross
Ensemble..................Emma Rouse
1st Striker, Floyd Knowles, 2nd Salesman, 3rd Man in Boxcar, Young Man...Tyrone Savage
Boy in the Barn...........R. Shayne Simpson
5th Salesman, Gas Station Attendant, Man in the Barn, 2nd Striker...Dylan Trowbridge
Camp Proprietor, Mr. Wainwright, Officer...John Vickery
2nd Narrator, 3rd Narrator...Sophia Walker
Mrs. Wainwright...........Brigit Wilson
Ruthie....................Abigail Winter-Culliford
Ma........................Janet Wright
Connie....................Josh Young
© Stratford
Excerpt from The Record 6/2/11: Tom McCamus, Chick Reid
Stratford Festival: The Grapes of Wrath an epic story adeptly presented
By Robert Reid, Record staff Thu Jun 2 20111
Tom McCamus is riveting as the preacher-turned-union leader Jim Casy. The production benefits enormously from talented actors who excel in roles that are little more than cameos, including Chick Reid, Peter Hutt, John Vickery and Robert King.
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The Grapes of Wrath continues through Oct. 29 at the Avon Theatre. Tickets are available at 1-800-567-1600 or online at www.stratfordfestival.ca
© The Record
Excerpt from The Beacon Herald 6/2/11
Grapes of Wrath: Indeed a grim tale of desperation
By DONAL O'CONNOR STAFF REPORTER
That sorry story drawn from Frank Galati's adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1939 novel "The Grapes of Wrath" opened Wednesday at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Avon Theatre.
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Randy Hughson's Uncle John, Steve Ross' Noah, Ian D. Clark as a lascivious Grampa and Tom McCamus as the former preacher Jim Casy are among the more satisfying portrayals.
© Beacon Herald
Excerpt from Toronto Sun 6/2/11: Tom McCamus
Grapes a tad sour: Stage adaptation of sweeping Steinbeck novel lacks human touch
By John Coulbourn First posted: Thursday, June 2, 2011 2:23:37 EDT PM
Of course, superb actors like Buliung and McCamus bring dimension to even the most underdrawn characters, but in the main, while there are a few touching moments courtesy of actors like Ross and Robert King, others like Wright and Ertmanis never seem to achieve that vital third dimension that brings the theatre to life.
© Toronto Sun
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail 6/2/11: Tom McCamus
Unflinching ensemble packs a punch in "Grapes of Wrath"
J. Kelly Nestruck Published Thursday, Jun. 02, 2011 3:47PM EDT
The Grapes of Wrath’s two central performances are powerfully played. Evan Buliung gives us a passionate everyman in Tom Joad, the angry young man who seeks out justice, but makes trouble for his family in the process. Likewise, Tom McCamus is right on the mark with his louche and loquacious Jim Casy, a lapsed preacher who dispenses world-weary wisdom. The folksiness of Casy’s speechifying does wear thin after a while, but that’s Steinbeck and Galati’s fault rather than McCamus’s.
© The Globe and Mail
Excerpt from Toronto Star 6/2/11: Tom McCamus, Chick Reid
Review: Stratford’s Grapes of Wrath bring the wine of bitter truth
By: Richard Ouzounian Theatre Critic, Published on Thu Jun 02 2011
And Tom McCamus's brimstone-tinged bonhomie has never been more apt than it is here as Jim Casy, the former minister who forsakes the word of Jesus Christ for the word of Karl Marx, becoming a martyr for a cause he never knew he really espoused.
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It takes a company with the size and scope of Stratford to be as profligate with talent as it is here, giving established actors like Chick Reid, Peter Hutt and John Vickery relatively minor roles that they fill with distinction, or allowing first-year company members like Tyrone Savage to make a deep impression with a single scene.
© Toronto Star
Excerpt from Canada.com 6/3/11: Tom McCamus
Stratford Theatre's mixed bag: The Grapes of Wrath shines, Merry Wives, Camelot are flawed
By Jamie Portman June 3, 2011
At Stratford, it is beautifully directed by Antoni Cimolino, who has drawn solid ensemble work from a huge cast and invested the material with a rough, honest humanity.
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And Tom McCamus brings a ravaged wisdom to the role of a defrocked preacher man.
© Canada.com
Excerpt from London Free Press 6/3/11: Tom McCamus
Distilled Grapes of Wrath too sparse to be potent
JOHN COULBOURN, QMI Agency Friday, June 3, 2011 8:22:57 EDT AM
Under the tutelage of Jim Casy (Tom McCamus), a one-time preacher fallen from the faith, the Joads slowly re-invent the old time religion of their forbearers to accommodate a vision of the shared spirituality of humanity -- a vision that resonates with even more truth today perhaps than when it was written, in a world where mankind still struggles with defining our role as our brothers' keeper.
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Of course, superb actors like Buliung and McCamus bring dimension to even the most underdrawn characters, but in the main, while there are a few touching moments courtesy of actors such as Ross and Robert King, others such as Wright and Ertmanis never seem to achieve that vital third dimension that brings the theatre to life.
© London Free Press
Excerpt from Entertain This Thought 6/4/11: Tom McCamus
The Grapes of Wrath
Reviewed by Mary Alderson Written on June 4th, 2011
Tom McCamus is excellent as the laid back ex-preacher Jim Casey. His philosophies hold the audience’s interest, and he creates some optimism when he becomes a union organizer fighting on behalf of the itinerant fruit pickers. Chick Reid as Granma and Ian D. Clark as Grandpa offer some humour, but both die during the journey.
© Entertain This Thought
Excerpt from The National Post 6/6/11: Tom McCamus
Theatre Review: Jesus Christ Superstar & The Grapes of Wrath
Antoni Cimolino’s production is in fact full of remarkable scenes, culminating in the frantic building of trenches to stem a flood; though, given the sight-lines at the Avon, it’s cruel to the audience to have so many scenes of actors sitting on the floor. Evan Buliung is riveting as Tom Joad, the hero in spite of himself, doggedly cresting wave after wave of disaster; Tom McCamus no less so as his de facto mentor, a self-defrocked pastor who ends up preaching what the authorities take to be red revolution - i.e. social justice - though still in sacerdotal cadences. (Rather too many of them, I think)
© The National Post
Excerpt from The Windsor Star 6/18/11: Tom McCamus
Trio reworks Grapes of Wrath: Local musicians write, perform music for Stratford performance
By Ted Shaw June 18, 2011
The production, as it turns out, has strong connections to this part of Canada. Besides the musicians, the production was directed by University of Windsor graduate Antoni Cimolino, Stratford's general director, and the cast includes two Windsor alumni -Tom McCamus as Jim Casy and Brigit Wilson (Cimolino's wife) as Mrs. Wainwright.
© The Windsor Star
Excerpt from The Spec 6/21/11: Tom McCamus
Deep, disturbing, Stratford gives Steinbeck epic its due
Tue Jun 21 2011
Tom McCamus is mercurial as failed preacher man Jim Casy. He knows how to speak in tongues and rile up a crowd for his own advantage. He also knows salvation is scarce in the dust fields of Oklahoma.
© The Spec
Excerpt from The Detroit News 6/23/11: Tom McCamus
Review: Stratford's 'Grapes of Wrath' has a modern ring
Lawrence B. Johnson Last Updated: June 23. 2011 1:00AM
In Galati's closely worked distillation, "The Grapes of Wrath" as drama rests chiefly on three characters. Tom Joad, an impetuous young man newly paroled from prison, is played to a passionate edge by Evan Buliung. Jim Casy, a one-time preacher who has come to view life with cynical resignation, finds a wry and merciful charm as played by Tom McCamus.
© The Detroit News
Excerpt from Chatham This Week 6/27/11: Tom McCamus
Grapes Of Wrath pulls out all the stops
By Karen Robinet Monday, June 27, 2011 3:57:26 EDT PM
He meets up with former preacher cum philosopher Jim Casy (Tom McCamus) and the pair arrive at the Joad homestead, only to find it abandoned, having been repossessed by the bank.
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Buliung is fine as the man who did his final 'growing up' years in jail, as evidenced by his initial costume and McCamus is a treat as Casy.
© Chatham This Week
Excerpt from Grosse Pointe News 6/30/11: Tom McCamus
Illumination of truth
Alex Suczek June 30, 2011
Meanwhile, a thoughtful perspective is provided by Tom McCamus as the fallen preacher, Jim Casey. Opportunistically joining the family, he brings a convincing earthiness to the clan.
© Grosse Pointe News
Excerpt from Strathroy Age Dispatch 9/1/11: Tom McCamus, Chick Reid
Dark and Depressing: The Grapes of Wrath
Tom McCamus is excellent as the laid back ex-preacher Jim Casey. His philosophies hold the audience's interest, and he creates some optimism when he becomes a union organizer fighting on behalf of the itinerant fruit pickers. Chick Reid as Granma and Ian D. Clark as Grandpa offer some humour, but both die during the journey.
© Strathroy Age Dispatch
Excerpt from The American Conservative 9/13/11: Tom McCamus
Mine Eyes Have Seen
Posted on September 13, 2011, 7:43 PM Noah Millman
The two principal male characters are played by exceptionally strong actors - Tom Joad by Evan Buliung and Jim Casy by Tom McCamus - who are perfectly cast in these roles. Buliung has been playing Tom Joad for years, and McCamus has just the right faded vulpine charm to make us see the lustful preacher he once was.
© The American Conservative
Excerpt from Ontario Performing Arts Fall 2011: Tom McCamus
Sharp Stratford productions challenge and entertain audiences
It’s a life with which Tom McCamus, who plays this season in Stratford’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ based on the novel by John Steinbeck, as well as the popular Shakespeare farce ‘Merry Wives of Windsor,’ is all too familiar. McCamus is a veteran of repertory ensemble theatre, now in his 11th season at Stratford and having worked for eight seasons at the Shaw Festival as well as other summer theatre. He says that performing in different kinds of roles and plays at the same time “shakes your brain free.”
The Grapes of Wrath is especially a play that works in the late season, when some members of the audience and indeed students come to town for more serious fare, he says. “This play is also very relevant today,” McCamus adds, with its themes of economic hardship and environmental degradation. “Any time something is that close, it’s a great reason to do theatre.”
With so many different shows on the go, by the time Stratfordactors reach the fall, it’s important to “have something left,” says McCamus, who started rehearsals at the festival in mid-February. “You have to find ways to keep it alive and keep it smart.”
© Ontario Performing Arts
Suite 101 1/31/12: Tom McCamus
Actor Tom McCamus on role of Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath: One of Canada's finest and most prolific actors finds a kindred spirit through a beloved 1939 John Steinbeck novel adapted for the stage by Frank Galati.
by Coral Andrews Jan 31, 2012
Tom McCamus has had many a role in his actor's repertoire. From evildoers Captain Hook in Peter Pan or Bard's scheming rockstar-like personna in Richard III to his dashing roles as the charismatic Vernshinin in Chekhov's Three Sisters or the lascivious Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons. He's played Arthur In Camelot and MacHeath in Threepenny Opera. But whatever the role, from sweetheart to badass, McCamus always brings another dimension of excitement to every production he is in, from finest comedy to poignant tragedy.And for McCamus The Grapes of Wrath's was a little bit of both as Jim Casy - the long haired, liberated former Man of God who simply figgered 'There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing.'
Grapes of Wrath director Antoni Cimolino recently won a Toronto Broadway World Award for his brilliant direction of this 2011 Stratford Shakespeare Festival production. The play also starred Chilina Kennedy who won the Toronto Broadway Award for Best Performance by a Female, for her role as Rose of Sharon, in addition to Evan Buliuing as Tom Joad, Janet Wright as Ma Joad, and (McCamus' wife) Chick Reid as Gramma.
Can you comment about your research for the role of Jim Casey?
Tom McCamus: “First of all, any research is just reading the script and then the book Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Then in terms of actual research of how to play the guy, you try to play him as close as you possibly can to the character in the book. Jim is actually based on a real life person in John Steinbeck's life. I think he was a marine biologist in San Francisco and he was a good friend. Steinbeck uses him in a lot in his other books like Cannery Row. The character of Doc is based on this guy too. So it has more to do with his philosophy of life as opposed to him not really being a preacher. It is just that common sense philosophy of life. And that is the best part about Jim. I love speaking those lines because it is kind of what I believe.”
Did you find yourself relating to the character?
Tom McCamus: “I did. And I didn't know that until I started playing him. I sort of went to church when I was a kid and I didn't continue on with it. I think partly it's because there is so much about organized religion that left me uncomfortable. And I think just the common sense about what this man speaks about the human spirit and human nature, well.. I totally believe in that.
I think Casey makes more sense than many on today's pulpit. I also love the timeliness of this play as well, the poor economy, and people who have been displaced or who are suffering in society, plus the strength that the Joads find in adversity. Casey helps the Joads but at the same time he's a restless soul ….
Tom McCamus: “I think Casey is trying to take whatever teachings and beliefs that he has and tries to give them to somebody else. But he does not want to force them on anybody, he just wants them to realize it for themselves at the same time. I think what he is trying to do is impart all of that stuff to Tom Joad because he realizes that Tom is the guy that is actually going to go and carry on with some sort of action. With Jim Casey, other than the fact that I am kicking the guy in the head, there is not a huge amount for him to do. All he can do is talk he says. So Casey needs someone that can actually take those thoughts and those beliefs and put them into action. It is not until Tom Joad is actually prepared to do that, that Casey feels finished in his work.”
It is not lost on the audience that that he has the initials JC as well...
Tom McCamus: “Plus I have the long hair and the designer went wait a minute, Jim Casey, JC. He said to me keep the long hair”
This show had a very unique staging from the Joads revolving wagon to the swimming hole, which suggests a sort of baptism for some of the characters.
Tom McCamus: “Yes all the elements are there, water, fire, earth. And that is definitely in the script. This was a production that was created by Chicago's Steppenwolf Company and Frank Galati. Frank Galati actually directed me Merry Wives of Windsor this past year but he did Grapes in the early 90's.
"They spent many years paring this show down to what it was. We had that script and we had to discover why they did what they did and they had many years to choose, but we had to figure it all out.
"It was a difficult thing to do but Antoni Cimolino did a great job in terms of making it our own but still being very truthful to what Frank and Steppenwolf Company had created. Frank actually came in a couple of times. He never told us what to do but he came in to speak to us and this man has an incredible spirit. And he imparted that spirit onto us, so that was great.”
What was the audience response to the end of the play?
Tom McCamus: “When we come out to take the curtain call at the end, you can see them. Sometimes they are just stunned, and sometimes they just leap to their feet. But the ending is the culmination of the whole piece and that scene sort of puts a real capper on it. I was concerned because we have a lot of students that come in, that we might get some uncomfortable giggles. Not once did that happen. The students were with the play right to the end, and I think that ending shocked them more than anything else.”
Tom McCamus returns to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2012 starring as Iachimo in Cymbeline and Horace Vandergelder in The Matchmaker. He is also part of an ensemble cast including Liane Balaban, and Maggie Huculak, in the remount of Divisadero at from Feb 8 to Feb 26 at Theatre Passe Muraille's Mainspace produced by Necessary Angel featuring the text of Micheal Ondaatje with songs written and performed by Justin Rutledge.
© Suite 101