Happy New Year!  December came and went before we even noticed, but January’s here and we’re deep into rehearsals for Village of Idiots.  One of the young men appearing in Village has had a very busy year, having just also been involved in Atlantis, all the while navigating the craziness of Grade 12… and this young man just happens to be January’s YP of the Month!  We have had the pleasure of working with this really intelligent young actors for several years, and he always brings a level of perfectionism and pride to his work.  He is also extremely multi-talented, having not only lent us his fine acting skills, but his gifted musical ear as well.  And who is this meticulous and mirthful master of mayhem?

January’s YP of the Month is none other than,

Connor Welsh!!!!

Connor as Tiresias, amid his army of Sirens in Atlantis (2015)

A long time ago in a galaxy not unlike our own, there was a young sapling of a boy headed to an acting camp on a warm summer day. This boy had never embarked on any sort of theatrical adventures and had no idea that his life was about to change forever. It was at this summer camp where he played a fearless hero who was charged with saving a princess from a gang of pirates, and learned two very important life lessons: The first being that theatre was rad, and the second being that “people’s” is in fact a word. Nearly a decade later he is still romping about theatres far and wide, though he has yet to use the word “people’s” in a sentence that doesn’t also include the words “Calgary”, “young”, and “theatre.”

Connor and Taylor in Wooer’s Woods (2013/14)

Connor has partaken in four CYPT productions over the last three years, including The Wooers Woods and Atlantis. He is also in the midst of rehearsals for CYPT’s upcoming production of Village of Idiots. While working with CYPT on and off over the years he has also attended Central Memorial as a member of the PVA drama program where he has done an additional two productions with them. Having done 7 plays in three years it can be considered a miracle that Connor still manages to pass his classes (granted he has come close a few times).

While he does spend a great deal of his time in rehearsal, Connor spends what little free time he does have sitting in a dingy basement studio honing his skills as an audio engineer and musician by either creating or mixing songs of the hip hop variety. He would like to give a special thanks to Kristin for giving him the opportunity to embody what has thus far been his favourite role in Tiresias, the tyrannical and most definitely evil dictator of Atlantis, as well as being a part of the music team for the show. Lastly he would like to thank CYPT as a whole for bringing him into the world of theatre from a young age, watching him grow as both an actor and a person, but most of all providing a great community in which to do so.

Through years of acting the one lesson that has stuck with him the most is that the best thing you can do in life is follow your impulses and take risks, for those who fear taking a wrong will never go anywhere.

“Life is multiple choice, but all the answers are correct.”
– Zeko Deshoda’s “Dysgraphia”