Ella Olesen is an Island actor currently living and working in one of the epicentres of live theatre, New York City.<\/p>\n
Right now she\u2019s performing in the Ensemble Shakespeare Company\u2019s production of Julius Caesar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my dream come true,\u201d she says. \u201cI can\u2019t believe that I get to go downtown in Manhattan, in New York and play a principal character in a Shakespeare play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI get to play Marc Antony who has some of the most iconic lines in the Shakespearean canon, such as \u2018Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears.\u2019 That scene is a miracle,\u201d says Olesen.<\/p>\n
Olesen graduated from the prestigious musical theatre program at the University of Michigan, but her love of performance was born in her hometown of Nanaimo.<\/p>\n
Watch the story in the video below:<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up dancing and singing and doing musicals in high school and at my dance studio, and the level in Nanaimo is really high,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Ella thought she would be a dentist, just like both her parents, but thought she\u2019d give theatre a try. The rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs brilliant as she is, it\u2019s never about her, it\u2019s always about what moves the story forward or what serves the other characters in the room,\u201d says Dylan Diehl, director at the Ensemble Shakespeare Company.<\/p>\n
Dylan says Ella embraces the lyrical quality and rhythm of Shakespeare so well because of her background in musical theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s my secret weapon, right? She is a secret weapon because the depths of her are so tremendous and when she brings that all on stage she roars, she\u2019s badass,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that\u2019s why New York is such a good fit for Ella. She\u2019s had steady work since arriving in 2022, but Vancouver Island is never too far away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s told me a little about where she comes from and how it has built her work ethic and the way she approaches her job and they way she approaches life as a human. So I just assume it\u2019s a very special place and I think she comes from a very special family, so I salute you,\u201d says Dylan.<\/p>\n
Work ethic is what Ella says is her key message to aspiring performers back home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you love it, work hard,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She added that while Nanaimo will always be her roots, she\u2019s not coming back any time soon, with a few exciting opportunities coming up in the Big Apple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say I\u2019m grateful to come from Nanaimo because we have a rich artist scene. So go Nanaimo!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n