For years he's been acting in and around Toronto. Now Eric Gibson is dipping his toes into the Vancouver theatre scene as one of the kids in .
Opening night for the musical is Friday, Oct. 11 at Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre in Vancouver, where Gibson plays Golden Ticket winner Mike Teavee in a CTORA Productions staging of the beloved Roald Dahl story, starring Daniel Curalli (Willy Wonka) and Quinlan McDonald (Charlie Bucket).
The Teavee character is quite a bit younger than Gibson in real life.
"That's how they did it on Broadway where I think they had all adults playing the children, and luckily I can still play those younger roles," noted Gibson in a phone call. "In theatre you can get away with it a lot more because you're further away (from the audience). A little stage makeup on and you look 12 years old."
This is when I asked Gibson his age, of course.
"I'm over 25, we'll leave it at that," he responded with a laugh.
Gibson, who moved to Surrey last year for a job in the airline industry, got his acting start in Toronto-area productions including Jesus Christ Superstar, The Book of Mormon, A Chorus Line, The Who鈥檚 Tommy and Les Miserables.
In Vancouver, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a first for Gibson in more ways than one.
"I did a lot of acting in Toronto and took it pretty serious for awhile, but after the pandemic I wanted to find something else to do," Gibson explained. "This is my first time getting back into acting since before the pandemic, so I'm flattered to be a part of this production. I took a little break."
, the website of CTORA Productions. Founded as Children's Theatre of Richmond Association in 2017, the non-profit company aims to provide emerging artists with job opportunities on stage, film and television.
Gibson has long loved the Willy Wonka story, which is why he auditioned for this fall production, staged until Oct. 27 at 950 West 41 Ave., Vancouver.
The script sees Wonka open the gates to his mysterious factory to only to a lucky few. Young Charlie Bucket and four other Golden Ticket winners embark on a life-changing journey through Wonka鈥檚 world of pure imagination including chocolate waterfalls, nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka's army of curious Oompa-Loompas.
"I'm a huge fan of the story," Gibson said, "and I actually share the same birthday as Gene Wilder, the original Willy Wonka (in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory). I love watching him in anything he does."
Musically, with an eight-piece orchestra, Charlie pays homage to the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley score from the 1971 film.
"Our production takes a lot of inspiration from the book and its original illustrations," notes director Mark Carter. "This relatively new musical beautifully blends the familiar story and classic songs like 鈥楥andy Man鈥� and 鈥楶ure Imagination鈥� with fresh, clever musical numbers. Whether you're experiencing the story for the first time or revisiting an old friend, there鈥檚 something for everyone in this production."
Gibson said the show has rekindled his love for acting.
"Nothing's really lined up after this," he said, "but this has definitely caused that spark to come back, for sure. I really want to start doing more performances, more theatre here in Vancouver. I'm slowly starting to get into the theatre community here in Vancouver, which I was a part of in Toronto, and I am really enjoying being here in the Vancouver. There's a lot of great opportunities."
