When he was younger, Stuart Barkley was all about sports.
Playing both soccer and basketball through his youth, his passion lay in anything athletic.
But when he was in Grade 10, a poster hanging on the walls of Brookswood Secondary advertising tryouts for Grease The Musical changed all of that.
Although he had no musical training — other than singing O Canada in the shower — Barkley decided to audition, ended up earning a part, and has since performed in many productions around Vancouver.
“I got bit by the theatre bug and I quit sports, I wrote my own play (and) directed my own play the next year, started doing shows and I went to university for theatre,” Barkley said.
Six years later and Barkley, now 23, has graduated from the musical theatre program at Capilano University, performed at Theatre Under the Stars for three summers, performed with the Arts Club in Les Misérables, co-stared as Birdlace in Dogfight, performed as Chuck in Footloose, and has even modelled on the runway for Vancouver Fashion Week and New Balance.
Now, he is taking on his largest theatrical role yet, playing the lead character, Joseph, in Align Entertainment’s production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Running today (Nov. 4) until Nov. 19 at the Michael J. Fox Theatre, 7373 MacPherson Ave. in Burnaby, the musical, set in ancient Egypt, follows the Bible’s Book of Genesis.
When Joseph receives a multicolour coat from his father, Jacob, his 11 brothers become jealous and plot to kill him. Instead, they decide to sell Joseph off as a slave. But through his talent of dream interpreting, Joseph ends up becoming the second in power in all of Egypt.
“Something I really like about my character is (that) he is journeying,” Barkley said.
“He is very naive and young at the beginning and then he gets back stabbed by all of his brothers, just because he’s his father’s favourite and has no idea.
“And so, he starts off young, doesn’t know a thing, is thrown into jail, becomes a slave, and he has to mature quite quickly and realize this is where I am, and I have to make the most of it. So he really grows up a lot.”
Directed by Chad Matchette, with Kevin Michael Cripps as musical director, and Melissa Turpin as choreographer, Barkley says the team has had a lot of fun putting this production together.
“I really like what the director, Chad Matchette, has done with it,” Barkley said.
“There’s lots of little tongue-in-cheek moments (and) he’s allowed me to make my own fun decisions on the side, which don’t take away from the story.
“The show is just fun.”
Despite Barkley’s love for acting, the transfer from athlete to thespian was never quite complete.
He is still very involved in the sports world, and is currently studying sports management full-time at Douglas College. He is also a certified personal trainer, teaches an exercise boot-camp on the weekends and is the founder of the new Exercise Is Medicine Club at Douglas College.
“Time management (is important). I don’t go out, if I have time then it’s (spent) studying for midterms, exercising first thing in the morning, practising for the show, then going to rehearsals at night,” he said.
“I can’t remember the last time I went out on a Saturday night — it’s been a long long time. If you love something enough, then you’ve got to pursue it, right?”
However, Barkley says he has no plans to give up acting.
“I can’t see myself not doing performing in some aspect,” he said.
“The goal is to get the house, have a job that allows me to be active, promote health and be able to perform on the side.”
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat runs Saturdays at 8 p.m. with matinées on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $39 for adults, $27 for students/seniors and $25 for all on Thrifty Thursdays. There will also be a school matinée on Nov. 18 at noon for $15.
For more info, go to www.alignentertainment.ca.