Stage notes: Edmonton theatre community mourns Jim DeFelice

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Jim DeFelice never left the theatre. Though he retired as a drama professor in 2002, the playwright, actor, director and dramaturge nourished the Edmonton theatre community until the final days of his life.

Though weakened by poor health at the time of the Edmonton Fringe Festival in August, DeFelice came out to support a new musical co-written by one of his mentees, Collin Doyle.

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In doing so, he assumed a familiar position in the Varscona Theatre, where he was often seen with daughter Amy at his side, chatting cheerfully in his broad Boston accent to former students and overall fans. It was DeFelice’s habit, his vocation, his heart’s desire, to attend as many opening nights for as many plays as he could for the many decades he lived in Edmonton.

“He loved other people’s stuff,” says Amy, who followed her father into the theatre world as a director and teacher. “He got a nice jolt of energy at opening nights, meeting people and seeing what they were up to.”

DeFelice died Oct. 5, leaving his wife Gail, and daughters Amy and Gwen. He was 87. A celebration of life is planned for 2025.

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the youngest of six kids in a boisterous Italian family. DeFelice studied at Northeastern University in Boston and earned a Master’s degree in theatre at the University of Indiana.

Early in his career, DeFelice was a sportswriter at the Boston Globe and he remained an ardent fan of the Red Sox and Celtics. In 1969, he and Gail — also a journalist turned teacher — took instructing jobs at the University of Alberta.

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“He taught me a great lesson there in being prepared and being able to support your fellow actor…he was a very special man,” says Theatre Network’s Bradley Moss, a former student of DeFelice in the Master’s directing program.

He was also a “killer basketball player,” says Moss.

“He was in his sixties and came out to play with a bunch of us theatre folks and was hitting three-pointers and kicking ass against guys in their thirties.”

Amy says her father was a great watcher of sports, plays and birds. He also loved to walk, never having learned to drive. He brought his work home from the office, but in a good way.

“Whenever dad was thinking of directing a play for his students, we’d read it aloud as a family, the four of us,” she says. “And we were always going to lots of events and plays – sometimes super-inappropriate plays with adult content, Jacobean dramas, at far too young an age.”

DeFelice was involved in many creative endeavours, both during and after his time as a professor. He wrote jokes for the iconic 1970s American television program, Laugh-In, as well as the screenplay for Why Shoot the Teacher? based on Max Braithwaite’s Depression-era experiences. The movie was the highest-grossing Canadian film in 1978, winning a Canadian Screen Award for best screenplay.

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DeFelice appeared in the inaugural production by Shadow Theatre in 1989, Fool for Love. He was on the founding board of Northern Light Theatre and was involved in more than 20 productions at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. He won Sterling awards, including for lifetime achievement in 1995. DeFelice taught, mentored and performed alongside some of the biggest names in Canadian acting, including Shaun Johnston and Paul Gross.

He acted in movies; Brad Pitt delivered him a cup of chai during the Edmonton filming of the 2007 Hollywood production, The Assassination of Jesse James, in which DeFelice played a baggage handler on a train. In 2018, at 81, he took up improv, performing for a stretch with Coyote Comedy at the Grindstone.

Late in life, he continued to mentor creatives, young and old, often meeting them for coffee and a pastry (he had a sweet tooth) at The Upper Crust or Krew Café. Moss describes him as a “positive force” who shared knowledge and connections, but didn’t tell people what to do.

“He gave direction and intention in a way that left you in charge,” says Moss.

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DeFelice once told the Edmonton Sun that he wasn’t one to impose himself on a play. Rather, he tried to discover it. He held that perspective about being an actor in improv, too.

“It’s not about you,” he said in a 2019 interview with the Edmonton Journal about his late-life gig at the Grindstone. “It’s about the story.”

Fringe Theatre goes punk

Is it a play, or a punk concert? How about both? That’s playwright Erik Richards’ vision for his new work, Brother Rat, which kicks off the 2024/25 Fringe Theatre season at Backstage Theatre, running Nov. 26 to Dec. 7.

“As far as what you can expect to see and hear, it’s going to be loud like a punk show. We’re providing ear plugs,” says Richards, who co-wrote the music with Josh Meredith.

While Richards emphasizes the show is still a play — “with actors playing characters and characters with stories of their own” — the tale is tied to music and is set at a punk concert.

Richards’ father is a fan of punk, and Richards grew up obsessed with the music. Themes in the show include mental health, substance abuse, homelessness and family dynamics.

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“The show is inextricably tied to substance abuse and mental health in the sense of diagnosis and medication, and frustration with the character’s experiences with the mental health sector,” says Richards.

“Characters have received various diagnoses and prescriptions and counselling sessions that have not been effective. They are trapped between two worlds that both make them feel awful.”

Richards, 25, is a director, sound designer and production manager who has been bringing shows to the Edmonton Fringe Festival since 2017. Brother Rat came about after Richards had a conversation with Murray Utas, artistic director of the Fringe, who offered encouragement in making the transition from a university theatre grad and festival producer to a full-on career in the theatre.

For further information and tickets, visit fringetheatre.ca or call 780-448-9000.

Mayfield turns 50

The Mayfield Dinner Theatre is turning 50 years old and it’s celebrating with a new show called Flashback Fever. The production features some of the best rock-and-roll songs of the last 50 years, including tunes by everyone from ABBA to Adele. The show runs until January 26, 2025. For further information, call 877-529-7829 or visit mayfieldtheatre.ca.

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