#35 – Aisha Jarvis

Aisha Jarvis graduated from Sheridan College’s Bachelor of Music Theatre Program in 2015 and was a member of the Theatre 20 Conservatory Program from 2015 to 2016. She performed in Theatre Sheridan productions including Prom Queen (CMTP), Hello Dolly, Godspell, In The Heights, and Brantwood. Since graduating, other theatre credits have included Sally Styles in Hogtown, Wilhelmina in The Postman (Appledore Productions) and Snow White in Snow White (Solar Stage Children’s Theatre). She has been training since the age of 4 and has performed in corporate events for The United Way, TD Bank (Shaw Festival Theatre), and The Premier’s Awards Gala 2012. Some of her television credits include Breakfast Television, and a performance on ET Canada that she choreographed! Currently she is performing in the Charlottetown Festival playing Lisa in Mamma Mia and playing Prissy Andrews and understudying Miss Stacy/Mrs. Gillis in Anne of Green Gables.

Twitter: @AishaJarvis
Instagram: aishaljarvis

Stageworthy:
http://www.stageworthypodcast.com
Twitter @stageworthyPod
Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Transcript

Transcript auto generated. 

Phil Rickaby
Welcome to Episode 35 of Stageworthy I’m your host Phil Rickaby. Stageworthy is a podcast about people in Canadian Theatre on stage where the I might talk one on one with an actor, director, playwright or producer, or I might get a group of people together to talk about a specific aspects of theatre in Canada. My guest is Aisha Jarvis, a Toronto based actor and singer, currently appearing at the 2016 edition of the Charlottetown festival in both Mamma Mia and Anne of Green Gables. If you would like to be a guest on stage really or just want to drop me a line, you can find stage where the on Facebook and Twitter at stage relay pod, and you can find the website at stage really podcast.com. If you like what you hear, I hope you’ll subscribe on iTunes or Google music or whatever podcast app you use, and consider leaving a comment or rating.

How long how long have you been in in Charlottetown?

Aisha Jarvis
I’ve been here since beginning of May around midnight. I guess I got here then. 10. Yeah, yeah. So we started rehearsals on the 12th.

Phil Rickaby
And, and you’ve been primarily rehearsing Mamma Mia.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, we were rehearsing Mamma Mia. And we opened that on June 4. And so now we’re just doing performances only while we rehearse and of Green Gables. Yes. Which opens on the third year, and they’re gonna run iREP are they? They’re gonna run throughout the whole summer. Yeah. And we do. And for half the week, ammonia, okay, the other half. So on our double show days, we’ll do one of each foreign for because you’re not doing the same show twice a day. It’s kind of nice. It keeps it fresh. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
And how houses are good?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. I’m in an apartment building. That’s pretty new. Just subletting place for the summer and

Phil Rickaby
it’s been great. Cool. Um, is this your first time? Charlottetown?

Aisha Jarvis
I was here two years ago. I did there young company. And 2014. So that was my first time. So.

Phil Rickaby
You come from a theatre family? Like that? Right? Yeah. My

Aisha Jarvis
dad is in theatre. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
Was it was your dad in theatre the whole time? You were you were growing up?

Aisha Jarvis
Um, yeah, he was always a singer. He’s been a singer my whole life. He Tegid played in bands and different things like that. He got into music theatre. When I was about seven or eight, I started with the Lion King and then okay, from there, he’s been doing a lot of

Phil Rickaby
and was that? Were you interested in theatre before him or

Aisha Jarvis
wait, I grew up dancing. I did dance as a kid. And I kind of I was introduced to theatre. doing that. And through seeing him on stage. I always had an interest in performing. I never I wasn’t one of those kids who knew they were going to be a performer. Right from the get go, I kind of did it more for fun. thought about going into other things. But eventually, I you know, I I started to learn how to sing and acting and all different kinds of things around theatre, and just kind of found that it was where I felt most like myself and it was the kind of my love for Gru.

Phil Rickaby
When When did it become the thing that you that you were going to

Aisha Jarvis
do? Probably the end of high school, I went to an arts high school, did music theatre. There the typical School of the Arts. And even throughout there, I was still just doing it more for fun. But by the end when it came around to, you know, time to choose what you’re gonna do, and it’s like,

Phil Rickaby
so when you when you were doing just for fun, you’re at an arts like you were at a school doing theatre.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, we were do theatre but a lot of kids come out of that school and don’t go into it. So, a lot of my classmates, so a lot of the ones that theatre, but a lot of them went into other things as well. So,

Phil Rickaby
yeah, do you remember your first theatre experience? Like not necessarily performing but see that you saw?

Aisha Jarvis
Lion King was actually the first Yeah, so I saw

Phil Rickaby
that with your dad and yeah, that’s pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. Pretty cool. Who was your dad in that?

Aisha Jarvis
He was a swing so he swung all the male singer tracks and then he under studied for Simba and Pumbaa Yeah,

Phil Rickaby
swing is one of the is one of those jobs that people don’t talk about. Theatre, like people who aren’t in theatre don’t know what a swing is. And people who are in theatre sometimes don’t think so much about the swing, but it’s a hard job. Yeah, it really is. Is that something you would ever see yourself doing? Or is that like,

Aisha Jarvis
um, I think it would be a cool thing to do. It would be a big challenge for sure. And there’s parts of it I don’t envy. Yeah. Because it’s it’s hard and I I’ve done kind of swing tracks for like show choirs but that’s you know, that’s maybe a couple numbers so doing for a whole show would be crazy. But you get to show show choir in school. Yeah, my high school we did. Yeah. So choir was that

Phil Rickaby
was a you did show show choir and theatre at the same time? Or when did you go show choir and then sort of into theatre?

Aisha Jarvis
Well, we did full productions of musicals at our high school as well. And then show choir was kind of extracurricular thing you did.

Phil Rickaby
What was your first musical?

Aisha Jarvis
I did? Yeah. Um, I think in high school or ever, just ever, whatever.

Phil Rickaby
Whatever. Yeah,

Aisha Jarvis
I’m. I’m trying to think I must have been. You’re in town. I think that was the first show. I got to do at school.

Phil Rickaby
When you’re in town in school. Yeah. Okay.

You were at which, which? Were you at Sheridan theatre? Or? Yeah, you did that? I can’t remember the name of it. The the interactive. Brentwood. Brentwood? Yeah, yeah. So yeah. I know, so many people who, like were desperate to get tickets. And people who went so many times. And what was it like, doing a show? That’s not your traditional theatre? Stage. And there’s an audience that sits there it Brett would was as an interactive thing, people move around. Yeah, he ended up any moment. Yeah. Be a part of it.

Aisha Jarvis
So it’s, it’s a totally different energy level, I found you’re always you’re never offstage. Right? So you’re, you’re going and going for two hours non stop, I think it was a bit over two hours, actually, maybe two and a half. And we, our show ran, you do all your whole track, and then you run the whole thing again. So that was interesting to try, you get to the end of your story. And then you kind of have to, yeah, and you start right over

Phil Rickaby
again, is that was your story, like taking up the two and a half hours. And then you do the whole thing

Aisha Jarvis
took about four hours, took it about an hour, yeah, one track. And then we did another hour again, and there was a finale that we all did the end of the second run. And you’re as close to audience members as we are sitting out, sometimes even closer, and sometimes you’re talking directly to them and doing things with them. And so the show would change very drastically, depending on who you were interacting with and what you got to do with those audience members. But right at the beginning of my track, I had pretty much an improv sequence you had, you had a plot point that you had to hit certain things that you had to do, but within that you can interact with the audience members, kind of any way you want. You know, as long as it’s, it’s true to your character, of course, and then we’d have written scenes that we do, and it was such a cool, exciting experience. So different

Phil Rickaby
How do you prepare for that kind of interaction with an audience? Because that’s not something that you really that anybody’s really used to? Nobody teaches you that in school? Yeah, usually we learn that you’re getting the audience sits here and you’re they’re performing at them. Yeah. How do you prepare for interacting with the audience like

Aisha Jarvis
that? Well, we we actually got to perform for our classmates in the rehearsal process. Not a whole lot because with the nature of the piece, you had to rehearse multiple scenes at the same time, so you didn’t always get to see everything that was going on. But we did have rehearsal time dedicated to watching our peers and being those audience members for them. I think a lot of things we figured out once the show was open, cuz you can’t really, really learn how the that kind of a beast of a show is gonna work until you have everyone in there.

Phil Rickaby
You have no idea what the audience is gonna Yeah, because not everybody is going to be your classmates exact very giving audience members and regular audience could be very different. Yeah. Did you figure out any tricks for like drawing people in when they were resistant or

Aisha Jarvis
a lot of that is like eye contact and just showing people that you are genuinely interested in them and what they can bring to this. And I think you Sometimes getting people one on one would make them more willing to be free and talk to you. And, and I think that was some of people’s most favourite moments of the show because they had a little special thing that no one else had. Yeah. I know you get some audience members that just didn’t want to and and it’s kind of just reading them and you knowing you want to take a step back. You know, sometimes

Phil Rickaby
I find it difficult to take somebody one on one when they’re with a group of people or

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, like sometimes you’d have scenes where he just ended up being by yourself because you can’t you don’t want to draw it take audience away from another scene. And sometimes they’re just interested in something else. And we don’t ever stop them from leaving a room or anything like that. So

Phil Rickaby
when you’re by yourself, are you still doing the scene? Yeah, somebody comes in first.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, you just have to stay on. You’re doing it. Just like there’s an audience there. You keep going in? Yeah,

Phil Rickaby
that’s gonna be kind of weird. Sometimes. Yeah, to be able, I’m doing the scene. But there’s nobody here. Yeah. And there might not be any. Yeah, for sure. Overall, what did you think of the experience of doing a show like

Aisha Jarvis
that? I loved it. It was so different and interesting. And it taught me a lot about myself as an actor. And as a person. A lot of it scared me like the whole improv s aspect of it. Something I was as comfortable with, pushed me in the greatest way. And it’s still something I continue to work on. And yeah, it was a great experience. And I think it really bonded our class.

Phil Rickaby
Have you done any kind of improv outside of like, a couple of classes in school? Or?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, it was really just what we got, we got a school, we had a full semester of it, which was great. But nothing any classes here and there before that, but not a whole lot.

Phil Rickaby
Because I know that show has inspired a couple of other shows. I know Hogtown. Yeah, in Toronto. Sam Rosenthal was hugely inspired by that, and Sleep No More to create that. Yeah. And I think, I mean, if that show was not part of your part of school, it probably could have run a lot longer than it did,

Aisha Jarvis
maybe. Yeah. People really loved it seemed to pick up on it. And we’re still hopeful that maybe it’ll have another life. But what could be cool, be cool. And it’s awesome that it’s inspired things like Hogtown. And I was actually part of the workshop of that earlier this year. So it was cool to do grant with and then have that experience. Very cool. Because I know,

Phil Rickaby
I know, after that workshop, Sam had mentioned that that some actors found the interactivity very difficult. Yeah, to do, because it’s not what you’re expecting. Yeah. Like, if you only know, one, one type of the regular type of theatre for one of our better term, then it’s very shot of it’s like a shock to do that kind of interactivity. Were you able to give them give people pointers, or?

Aisha Jarvis
Well, we were open to there were a few of us that have done brantwood that were a part of Hogtown. And there was a little bit of discussion when people needed to there was a lot of people in it that had also done immersive theatre as well. So they, you know, brought in their insight. And yeah, I think we were, we were mostly there to show them that, you know, it’ll all come together. It’s all gonna work, even though it seems like it’s a lot going on at once. Because it’s more, it’s more than a regular rehearsal process. Oh, yeah. When you have three scenes that are going on at once, and you’re worried about timing, and you know whether things are going to flow the right way, and but Sam was brilliant, and the whole team drew and everyone who worked on the show was great. And HUD gave us great comfort. And yeah, having gone through brantwood We knew it was it would all work out as well.

Phil Rickaby
I know that with Hogtown. Salman talked about using music as sort of a way to keep things on track. To have like, music as the timekeeper would use your brandwood How did you manage? How did you keep things on track?

Aisha Jarvis
So we actually had clocks in pretty much every room. So you’d have to, you’d have, you know how much time you had for each scene for each moment. You know exactly what you’re supposed to be at six minutes or 13 minutes or so we kept track that way. And sometimes it would, you’d be able to clock from another scene that was ending but yours was supposed to begin or things like that, but it was a lot of us just keeping track of the time and eventually you could you could kind of feel it. It was kind of in your body. You know exactly where you’re supposed to be. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
After brantwood and before Hogtown was you doing any theatre in between there

Aisha Jarvis
it? Yes, I did. A couple shows in that summer, I did a production of Snow Whites, solar stage children’s theatre. And I did a show called The postman, which was another site specific show that we did. And then I was doing the theatre 20. conservatory. Right up until starting hometown and through hometown, as well. Yeah, cool.

Phil Rickaby
Well, you I mean, you’ve been you’ve been doing some theatre since you were a teenager and through through schools, and now you’re, you’re in Charlottetown. Working working professionally? Do you notice any differences in the way that you approach work from when you were starting out how you work now?

Aisha Jarvis
Hmm. It’s an interesting question. Um, I think just through, you know, life experiences that I’ve had, I’m able to find ways into characters a little more easily and dig deeper into the more difficult of characters, I think, I think I might, I’ve opened myself up a little bit more, so I’m able to access those different emotions more quickly and more easily or think about things in a different way. I think, you know, because I’ve picked up a lot more tools on the way there’s a lot more that goes into it. And my passion for it has only grown so. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
in Charlottetown, you’ve been, you were saying, Did you rehearse Mamma Mia? You open Mamma Mia and you start rehearsing and of Green Gables? How is how do you find the combination of rehearsing during the day performing at night? Do you find that? Is that is that draining? Or do you do you have any ways of keeping your energy for both?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, it can be a long day, I find I just have to keep myself going. And they do shorten our rehearsal schedule on the days that we do perform. And sometimes it’s just a matter of kind of getting that blood flowing again, if you know we have a little bit of a break and you eat and you settle down. You feel a little sleepy, but But you always know that there’s an audience, they’re coming to see you and you never know what you can do for that, you know, one or two people in the audience. You know, even if you move those one or two people, it’s worth it. And just remembering that I think gets me going ready to go. So

Phil Rickaby
I sometimes find that the worst thing I could do is have a nap.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. Yeah. Cuz that need to be too. Yeah, I can’t Yeah, it was

Phil Rickaby
just And you know what coffee doesn’t do it for me at that point. So I’m just gonna like it doesn’t hydrate doesn’t do anything. So you just got to, I guess just drink water and get your body moving.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Phil Rickaby
Do you have I mean, you’re I don’t want to I don’t want to ask you to choose between your children but you’re enjoying more right

Aisha Jarvis
now. One show that oh my goodness. I’m gonna get to know them. I I’m really enjoying both of them. It’ll be awesome to get an up and running I think. So I’m enjoying performing with me of course. And yeah, just being rehearsal processes for and it’s a whole different thing. And they’re such a completely different shows. So I love them for different reasons.

Phil Rickaby
I wonder what it’s like rehearsing a show like Anna Green Gables that has such a history here. Is there I don’t even know how I’m trying to try to phrase this but because Anna Green Gables is like the, like they do it every year. Are there? It? Is it the same every year? Do they find new ways to make it fresh every year? Is it

Aisha Jarvis
they? I believe last year was the year that they did a bit of a rework of and some things were taken out. I think they went back to the book and really stay true to what that story was. And who knows what the future of it will be. I don’t know if they’re going to do some big revamp of the whole thing or but

Phil Rickaby
is there is there something that that you saw obviously you’re gonna you’re gonna finish up this season. It’s gonna go till like September 3. Yeah. And then you’re gonna go you’re gonna go back to back to Toronto. And are they I mean, it’s so hard to set goals in this industry. Is there are there things that you want Want to do?

Aisha Jarvis
Well, I like there’s so many things I guess. I just love to work for, you know, any of the companies in Toronto, there’s so many different ones. And I’d love to work for any or all of them. I love to travel and just do theatre. That’s important. Yeah. that I’m passionate about. And yeah,

Phil Rickaby
your dad’s on tour. Yeah. And have you learned anything about about touring theatre from your Dad’s experience?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, well, he, he’s taught me a lot about just, you know, going after things, even if it scares you, because it was something that made him nervous. And it was something, something that would make me yes to going on tour for that long and jumping into a show where everyone already knows what they’re doing. And that’s kind of helped me in this process as well, because and was the show that most people in the cast have already done. So the process was pretty quick because of that. There were a handful full of us that were new, but most people had done it before. So it’s just remind myself that I’m here for a reason my dad tries to remind me that and reminds himself of that as well. And just going after things, and you know, the things that scare you really are the most,

Phil Rickaby
one of the things that I’m finding, yeah, like just myself, that if something scares you, it scares you for a reason. And it could be so easy to just sort of say, No, I’m not gonna I’m not gonna I’m not gonna do that, because it scares me. But if you push against it, obviously, it’s important to you or wouldn’t scary. Yeah. And that’s, it’s great that you have your dad to sort of show you that. And you’ve seen him perform in the show that he’s in. Yeah. And you’ve obviously you saw him, you’ve seen him perform a number of shows. What’s it? What’s it like watching your dad?

Aisha Jarvis
My dad up there? Yeah. I’m just filled with pride. And I, I love watching him out there. He’s a big inspiration for me big reason why I do what I do. I love seeing the way he works and keeps me working hard. He’s always learning and yeah. And he reminds me that, you know, you can learn something from everything. Yeah, he really lives by that, especially because he didn’t go to theatre school. So He credits his first show. He was in Lincoln for three years. And he kind of says that that was like his theatre school because he just would learn from everyone and everything. Oh, water. Three years? Yeah, for sure. Especially scoring that show. No, no, he was just in Toronto swinging. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
That’s I mean, had a thought and I lost it. The like, what your dad being in history inspiration to you and teaching you so much. Do you were saying your dad didn’t didn’t do theatre school? Did I know, these are questions that I would probably love to be asking your dad. Yeah. But he’s not here right now. Did you see a difficult transition in him from going from music, like being a musician into theatre? Or did you just dive in with both feet?

Aisha Jarvis
Well, I was I was also very young. So I think a lot of the challenges he, you know, I might not have seen, but I, you know, talking to him now I know that it was terrifying. And yeah, a lot of any did go into training outside of that as well, because he didn’t have that background. Having sung all his life, I think he was prepared in that sense. But singing music theatre is also very different.

Phil Rickaby
It’s very different. And there are more. There’s a lot more to it. Yes. Probably more shows in a week than he would normally. Yeah.

Aisha Jarvis
So he took a lot of lessons. Yeah. I mean, from what people ask a lot of questions. Yeah, but kind of just dove in headfirst. And I

Phil Rickaby
think that we don’t do enough of that. Generally. I, in my experience, there’s a lot of people who don’t ask, you know, people are afraid to ask the questions. I won’t look stupid. I don’t want to not know this. I don’t know. But I think that asking those questions is so important. If you don’t know a thing, you should

Aisha Jarvis
ask it for sure.

Phil Rickaby
As for yourself, when you were you, you’ve made that choice to go into theatre. But it wasn’t something that you were thinking of, what were some of the other things that you were thinking of doing before you’re

Aisha Jarvis
doing um, I was a kid I thought about, you know, maybe being a teacher or a doctor. And during high school, I thought a lot about going into psychology. And that was kind of my second plan. So my I, for a long time, I thought my parents wanted me to get a degree in something else, not theatre, something a little more stable. But and so I was looking into other things, seven degrees, but but then I found that they just really wanted me to get a degree, my mom coming from the business world, especially, was very passionate, and my dad as well about getting a degree and you know, and in our current society, having a degree can help just in other things, if I want to go into something else. So once I found out about Sheridan, and I knew that their programme was turning into degree programme, I was thrilled to have that

Phil Rickaby
option. So sometimes when I talk to people, and you know, they they get to that, you know, they were talking about, you know, when they went into decide they were going to go into theatre, and then I asked them about how their parents reacted. You had a father who was in theatre. Yeah. So. And I imagine that he wasn’t too resistant. No, but obviously, something was making you think that that your parents didn’t want you to do it.

Aisha Jarvis
Well, and not that they didn’t. They were, they were totally supportive and me doing that. I knew that I’d be allowed to do theatre, no matter what. It was just I thought they wanted me to get a base degree in something else, just in case. Yes, yeah. But that wasn’t the case. But I, I had never doubted that they were going to let me do theatre. And they talked to me a lot about the struggles that will come with it. They’re very realistic about what my life would be.

Phil Rickaby
It’s also good that you had somebody who had like, a little more firsthand. Yeah. Because not everybody has that as an asset. To give them a bit of, you know, yeah, so I know. Yeah.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. And those are the some of the struggles that that’s my father had seen, you know, transitioning as well. And because he had worked in an office job and, you know, had that steady paycheck. Yeah. And, and he was pretty lucky to work pretty steadily, but there were some breaks in there. I never noticed as a kid. But that was definitely something that they had to get used to. And and we were able, we were always able to stay, you know, comfortable. I think having my mom in a different fields helped a lot too. And he was very lucky with the flow of his career. That, yeah,

Phil Rickaby
it’s unusual to go. I don’t know if he did. If you worked up to being in The Lion King and did some other things if he just sort of was right into the Lion King.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, that was kind of his first he went to an open call, and it took it was a long process. Took took a while before he was actually in the show, but yeah, that was his very first. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. That

Phil Rickaby
doesn’t happen very Yeah.

Is I mean, one of the things that I always found the most difficult about doing theatre when I was trying to do it full time, was the the idea of picking up and leaving and going to where the work was because I was mostly I was very much a homebody. And so the idea of just, you know, oh, it’s time to pack my bags, and I’m gonna go here for six weeks. I’m here for six weeks, I found that really terrifying is not the word. But it was really, really daunting. I didn’t push myself enough to do it. Do you find it? You can go two ways you can say I’m really excited about it. Or you can say this is really scary and afraid of it. I went to the fear angle, do you find yourself more on the I’m just excited to do it sort of sort of

Aisha Jarvis
thing. So I’ve always been someone who loves to travel and the idea that my work can take me that to those different places is exciting. I do get very homesick. And I I love my family and I’m very close with them. So I miss them a lot. And you know, there is there are nerves that come with going away and I’ve never been away for contract for this long. Yeah, so was definitely a little scary coming here, but I was very excited.

Phil Rickaby
We’ve been here before. Yeah, that was a comfort as well. Yeah. Yeah. When you were here last time. How long were you here for three months? Yeah. So not quite as quite as long. Yeah,

Aisha Jarvis
this is just an extra month. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
What I mean, here you are in Charlottetown. It’s a place that I’ve never been before. What do you what do you really love about about Charlottetown? Whether it’s a festival or the city, or?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, well, the festival is amazing the people involved in that are incredible. And passionate. And there’s a lot of beautiful theatre that happens here. And the people that you see coming to the shows are wonderful. And, and I just found, I find it’s a very friendly place, everyone’s will always want to talk and get to know you. And just everyone has a smile on their faces. And it’s very cute, sweet place to be in. It’s beautiful, especially in the summer. And people always say that this place comes alive in the summer. I’ve only been here in the summer, but But what you see

Phil Rickaby
here through a very, yeah, it’s true. Yeah. So maybe you have a better seat.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Phil Rickaby
So Adam Brazier is the is the artistic director of the Charlottetown festival. And he was the artistic director of the artistic I don’t remember what his actual title was theatre 20. But he did that, who was the founding director of that? And then he’s come here. Have you ever had the opportunity to work with him or talk with him before?

Aisha Jarvis
I’d worked with him a bit just in like, master classes or things here and there. And I had met him before briefly because he actually worked with my dad. And yeah, so I, and we worked with him when I did the on company as well. So yeah.

Phil Rickaby
What’s what’s I mean, you were saying, and we’re jumping around a lot. That’s just the way of working. So you know, you were saying how Mamma Mia and Anna Green Gables are two very different shows. I imagine that like there’s so much about them. That’s different because Anna Green Gables, Pei, very specific style of music, with Mamma Mia being a very well, the other thing in in approaching those shows, is there any particular Do you is there something that you find as as sort of a seed that sort of links them together? It’s unusual to think of those two shows running together, they’re so different. And yet here they are sharing a stage at the Charlottetown there’s some kind of seed that connects them in some way?

Aisha Jarvis
Well, I think they both have a lot of heart. And I think they both centred around, you know, finding who you are. And growing into that, and, you know, accepting all the parts of your life and how they mesh to form the beam that is you. And I think I’d say that they both kind of centred around that in their own way. about finding your home, wherever that may be. Creating your own home, creating your own family.

And just staying true to who you are in what what you want your life to be. Yeah, yeah.

Phil Rickaby
How I mean, you were saying that, uh, that a number of the people who were here have been here in previous years, how’s it like being the like, the new kid on the block coming into a group of people that know each other and work together?

Aisha Jarvis
It’s been great. I, that brought a bit of nervousness to the process for me, but But everyone’s just been so welcoming and open. So as soon as I started that, you know, all those nerves went away. Yeah, it’s been great getting to know everybody. And it’s kind of nice, you know, having people who do know what they’re doing, they can guide you in certain ways. And yeah, and everyone’s really taken all the newcomers in just

Phil Rickaby
What’s the age range of the cast?

Aisha Jarvis
Oh, my goodness. Well, we have young kids in and of course, yeah, who? I’m not sure what the youngest hold the Emmys is but maybe eight to over 70. Yeah, I might be a little off on those numbers. But it ranges quite a

Phil Rickaby
bit. How was how was how were they? I mean, the kids are obviously a big part of the show. Is it? Have you worked with children in that way before? I mean, you’ve done Children’s Theatre? Yes, I’m married. Yeah, but we’re acting with kids.

Aisha Jarvis
With kids. Yeah, in one show. I mean, I’ve done shows or maybe had one younger but 12 was Yeah, Um, but yeah, so it’s it’s a different experience. And it’s, you know, you can see different personalities and how some of them are nervous being in a group of people who are so much older than them. So I find that I want to find ways to make them feel more welcome and connect with them. And yeah, because I’m sure they feel nervous coming into a process where, you know, a lot of people know what they’re doing as well. Yeah, I think some of them have done the festival before. So they probably know more than I do. Things I can learn from them, which is great as well. So, and they’re all very talented. And you can see more, some more of them come out of their shells day by day, and some of them are just ready to going. Yeah, that’s not the stage. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker
Do you?

Phil Rickaby
Do you ever want, like wonder about what it would have been like, if you were acting if you were in a show that young? Because you were not? You were not like, yeah, doing theatre?

Aisha Jarvis
No. I couldn’t imagine myself doing that because I was such a shy kid. So I don’t think I would have I think it would have been to terrify this kid to do that. Yeah, especially coming into a group of people so much older.

Phil Rickaby
As as somebody who was who was a shy kid, did you find that dance helped? Or because I know, everybody thinks you know, people who are not in theatre always, oh, actors are always they’re all extroverts. I have spoken most of the actors that I talked to are not extroverts, everybody’s an introvert. Did you find that the dance helped you come out of your shell? Or was it like all of the things that you started to do? made you a little more confident to be able to be on stage and interact with people and things like that?

Aisha Jarvis
I think dance helped a lot. And I think it also introduced me to a lot of like minded people, which made me more comfortable with myself. And yeah, as I added more and more things and do more things that I like to do and gotten to singing and acting and

made me more and more comfortable with myself. And was able to come out of my shell a little bit more.

Phil Rickaby
What kind of dancer did you do when you started?

Aisha Jarvis
I started with ballet and I took on tap and jazz and hip hop.

Phil Rickaby
Do you still do Do you still tap or? Yeah,

Aisha Jarvis
I do. So do that.

Phil Rickaby
I mean, that is that is something that people don’t it? It is a sadly dying art, you know? Yeah, because not many people do it. And there aren’t many shows that call for it. But when they do, there’s like you have something like anything goes which has like an entire cast of people or tap dancing, so it’s important to keep it going. Have you since you went more into the theatre. Have you had the opportunity to tap into show at all?

Aisha Jarvis
I haven’t yet? No. I’ve done some auditions you never ransack, but, uh, and then maybe a concert. But, ya know, full runs on the show. Yes.

Phil Rickaby
So is there is there a show that you can that you would imagine? Like if you close your eyes and you imagine yourself in the show that you can tap in is there so that you can think of? Oh

Aisha Jarvis
my goodness. I see it well. 42nd Street. Yeah. Crazy for you. Trying to think of the other tab shows. Even check there’s some tapping in there.

Phil Rickaby
I did not know that. Yeah, I don’t know.

Aisha Jarvis
I’m trying to think of what else 42nd Street totally like the big one that I think of first.

Phil Rickaby
Yeah, they’re a dream show. The Dream show show like if you could do any show me

Aisha Jarvis
so. The Lion King has always been a dream that

Phil Rickaby
that’s funny. You know what’s, what’s interesting to me about that? Is that that was the first show that you saw. Yeah. And I always find that people have this certain affinity for the first show they saw I know for me, this show that will never fade in my in my affections is as you’re like it. Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which is because it’s like the first thing I saw. But it’s interesting that you know, you want it to and it’s still going yeah, you might you might be able to know

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. Yeah, there’s so many though. Colour purples and other ones I love Hamilton, Hamilton would be amazing. Definitely on that train. Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
What I mean? Would you ever want to be in a show with your dad?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, yeah, I’d love to. Yeah. Yeah. That’d be really cool. Yeah. Where we get along really? Well, it’d be a totally different experience than in a situation like that with him. I think it’d be cool.

Phil Rickaby
It would certainly be a different professional.

relationship.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
From father, daughter to father daughter colleague.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah.

Phil Rickaby
Interesting.

Do you have you started to think yet about plans for when you get back to back to Toronto?

Aisha Jarvis
Um, I’m just planning to keep auditioning and training as much as I can. And see what happens. Maybe travel a bit?

Phil Rickaby
I don’t know. What kind of training do you do?

Aisha Jarvis
What kind of training? Yeah, um, well up dance training, try and go take classes as much as I can. I really want to get into more film acting. So I’ll probably do a lot more of that. When I get back as well.

Phil Rickaby
You have a studio that you work or group that you work with when you’re doing your dance.

Aisha Jarvis
I got a few different drop in studios, mostly Metro movement. But joy dance is another one I go to sometimes. Yeah, it’s just different studios

Phil Rickaby
around the city. Have you had the opportunity to watch film or television? No, I

Aisha Jarvis
haven’t. We did a little bit of training at Sheridan. And I’ve done maybe a couple of additions, but I think there’s a lot more work I can do on my own. Well,

Phil Rickaby
I haven’t cracked it. Yeah, I know. So many because it’s so it’s a different discipline. Yeah. I know. When I was in theatre school, we we talked about that. We had our, you know, film acting television acting class. But i Nobody cracked it. Yeah, then. And it’s still just this. It’s like, to me, it’s like this alien thing. But understand it. Yeah. But I was talking with Evan bugling. A couple couple weeks ago. And he I mean, he was saying that he’s still doesn’t, it hasn’t? Yeah. And he’s like working in television, you know? So it’s like one of those things that we continue to struggle with? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker
Have you?

Phil Rickaby
Seen you haven’t really done much film or television? Have you ever saw no short films or anything like that? No, no. It’s, it’s, I know, for me, I’ve only done one thing where I felt like I had it. And this group, they hired like these four theatre actors to do this film. And so they were like, Wait, these are theatre actors. So we’re gonna do rehearsals? Right, which had never happened in film. Yeah. So we had these rehearsals. And so when we got to actual film day, everything was great. Right? We’ve cracked it because we started theatre and there’s a ticket down a bit, a bit and take it down a bit. And then we had it. But man, I don’t I don’t know. Like, there. I can’t duplicate that. Yeah. Difficult. It’s one of those things. That’s, that scares me mostly. Because I always feel like as soon as somebody says, action, then I am now lost. Yeah. I don’t know what I’m doing. Yeah. And also, there’s something different about, you know, when the curtain goes up, somebody’s saying action. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like somebody’s saying, now act will act for me, please. Yeah. Which is always kind of difficult. Yeah. So you wanted to you want to take some some films and fell in

Aisha Jarvis
class? Yeah, try my best to crack it. Whatever it is.

Phil Rickaby
You do. take singing lessons as well. Yeah,

Aisha Jarvis
take singing lessons, trying to learn to play some instruments as well, whatever instruments you’re trying to play. piano, and guitar. I’ve seen ukulele a little bit.

Phil Rickaby
You have a background with piano where you started from scratch. Pretty much

Aisha Jarvis
starting from scratch. I took a little bit as a kid, but not very long.

Phil Rickaby
Did you hate it?

Aisha Jarvis
I think I was just interested in other things, and I just wasn’t focused on practising.

Phil Rickaby
Yeah, I mean, I think that’s that’s pretty common.

Aisha Jarvis
But no, I’m like, I wish they forced me to.

Phil Rickaby
And then of course, everybody who cuz you see somebody who really plays a piano, you’re like, Yeah, I could do that. You know? Yeah. And of course, that person is the person who stayed with it. made them go. And guitar. Is that again from scratch? How are your how your calluses Are you? Are they okay? They are or they’re not?

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. That’s always been the case for me. He’s like, pick up the

Phil Rickaby
pick up the stringed instrument. Guitar mandolin or something and like five minutes later, like, yeah, much, and I put it down and then I don’t touch it again.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I’ll get Busy with things and I’ll come back and I’m starting all over again. Yeah,

Phil Rickaby
yeah. Instead of the finger the transitions, which are always Yeah, yeah. Is there is there something that you’ve learned from either from doing this show or working at the solar stage and other shows that you want to go back and tell young high school you

Aisha Jarvis
just to go for it right from the get go and walk in on day one. And throw yourself into it fully, and not be scared of making a mistake? Not trying to get things so perfect. Right from the get go? Because they never are. Yeah. And usually, that holds me back from, you know, getting to where I want to be.

Phil Rickaby
Did you find that difficult when you were when you were younger? Just the going in? Free first and

Aisha Jarvis
not? Oh, yeah, for sure. I being shy kid, and always worrying about, you know, being, quote, unquote, perfect. Yeah, I think it stopped me in some areas, and it made me scared and, and, you know, I’m still learning how to take that off my brain, but I think through things I’ve been through, so far, you know, I have made mistakes, and I’ve, you know, fallen on my face and or never cracked in front of the audience or whatever. And, and you get back up and everything’s fine. Yeah, you know,

Phil Rickaby
is there any, is there a particular point in which you realised that you been able to accept that not perfect is okay.

Aisha Jarvis
Um, I think it was a gradual process of just letting myself be open and, you know, make mistakes and fall on my face enough to realise that it’s not really that big of a deal. And I, I’ve seen myself get better because I let myself fall, then you figure out the source of the problem, how to get out of it. And just realising that you could waste so much time just overthinking things and trying to be perfect. And, you know,

Phil Rickaby
you were talking about about cracking on stage. Did you have a legendary or big? I just laughed on stage.

Aisha Jarvis
Well, actually, you know, I don’t know if it’s ever happened on stage, but it’s happening in front of classmates, like performances in front of, you know, like 2025 other classmates? Or how many of us were there? Over 30 watching you and you crack in front of all of them. I used to be the norm for me, I just every performance I pull up and I just crack i

Phil Rickaby
i have had a number of performances. Yeah. I just I don’t know. laughs on steroids. Yeah. And in almost every instance, it was the same actor who made me break. Oh, my gosh, any targets me? Yeah. Anytime I do a show. I know. Try to find a moment and he’s gonna do it. So you’re lucky that you haven’t done it in front of an audience? Yeah. I almost think that like laughing in front of your your peers, your classmates is almost worse.

Aisha Jarvis
Yeah. Well, I should say when I say crack, I mean, like vocal crowd. I never laugh. Well, laughing. Laughing has happened on stage for sure. Where another colleague couldn’t, he just couldn’t keep it together. I think I kept it together. For the most part. That’s the way he was gone. And I’ve said trying so hard to I think I kept this together for the most part, not fully

Phil Rickaby
who

Aisha Jarvis
it was. I forget.

Phil Rickaby
But yeah, I remember all of mine. vividly. vividly. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Yeah. I was Peter Quinn’s. And he was one of the mechanicals and things. Yeah. And I’d be gone. I’d be on stage. Laughing. Yeah. Which is which is mortifying, but you know what the audience doesn’t really know that

Aisha Jarvis
it’s not supposed to happen.

Phil Rickaby
Yeah, you know, and all the actors that are on stage with no Yeah, but yeah. Just try to try to think because there’s, you know, you’re sort of you have a great role model and your father for for a solid career. And a lot of actors would be very fortunate to have the the theatre career that your father has had How

Unknown Speaker
do you

Phil Rickaby
I mean, obviously, every theatre career is different. But you have a foundation from from watching your father, is there something that you are looking at, in your father that you sort of tried to emulate?

Aisha Jarvis
I think mostly just the work ethic, and. And because I see him at home every day, trying to find his way into a script, or learning a new song, or various different things like that. He’s just always working and always learning. So I take that from him. But I also, I tried to focus on myself and not try to copy him. I tried to learn from him, but try and take that into myself and make it my

Unknown Speaker
own some way where you can’t copy somebody. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll

Aisha Jarvis
never be like him. Yeah, yeah.

Phil Rickaby
When you’re looking at a script, is there something that you look at first, it helps you find your way into it.

Aisha Jarvis
I think if I can find a way to relate it back to my life, find a experience that’s similar or an experience in my life that’ll just help me into a certain emotion. way of being in that character. That’s when I really can find it. A script clicks from here, find my way into the piece.

Phil Rickaby
Are you on social media at all? From Facebook, everybody’s on Facebook. Do you have a

Aisha Jarvis
Twitter and Instagram? Yeah, yeah.

Phil Rickaby
What’s your what’s your Twitter handle? If you don’t mind sharing

Aisha Jarvis
Twitter is I use a dot Jarvis, and my Instagram is I Isha L. Jarvis. Cool.

Phil Rickaby
Do you find you have a website? I don’t have one. No, no. Do you find? I mean people use Twitter for different things. Some people use it for networking. And then some people use it for self promotion and some people use it just to further the day away. Do you have a particular like how do you tend to use it

Aisha Jarvis
you know, I can I’m I think I’m going to begin to use it more to promote myself and my career but I find some mostly just been about me and you know, there’s something I feel like I want to share with the world. Share it and connect me with other people. Things like that. But

Phil Rickaby
that’s that’s like 50 minutes, I think. Fun. Great. Yeah, it’s been so much fun.