Rosser girl ‘Strikes’ it big with stage debut

The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike occurred nearly 80 years before her birth, but that hasn’t prevented Hailey Witt from feeling like she was part of the protest.

The young Rosser-based performer was recently cast in Strike! — The Musical, which will be staged July 30 to Aug. 5 at the Canwest Performing Arts Centre at The Forks.

Strike will mark the first time Witt will appear on stage and says it is a dream come true.

“I love to sing, so I asked my mom if I could go the Manitoba Theater for Young People, and my awesome teacher (Cheyenne Schroeder) recommended me to be part of this production,” she says.

“She told me about this and I went to the audition and it was really cool because it was my first big audition and then I got the part and it has been so amazing.”

Witt will be part of the eight-member child chorus featured in this year’s production of Strike, which is expected to become an annual event at the Canwest Performing Arts Centre.

Strike composure and producer Danny Schur says Witt has been a pleasure to work with.

“She is what we call a triple threat in theatre. She can sing, she can dance and she can act. If you can do all of these things in theater, then my gawd, you have the ability to be really good,” he says.

Schur says that Witt’s abilities are even more impressive when one considers she is the youngest member of the cast.

“I was watching Hailey today and even though she is 11, she has a brain of a 15 year-old and she is really tall and lanky, which a lot of dancers are. She learns quickly, she sings really well and she is just immensely talented for an 11 year-old,” he says

“If she is that good at this age there is no telling where she can go.”

Schur says it wasn’t just Witt’s singing and dancing abilities that made her an ideal fit for the role.

“Her great grandmother was literally the maid to the Ashdowns. In the play, there is a maid to the Ashdowns. So in effect Hailey’s great grandmother was this character Emma in the play, which freaked me right out,” he says.

Witt is extremely grateful to be part of such a large and talented cast.

“ If you hear some of the voices of the other girls I am working with, you would know that there is a lot of talent here. It’s all too good to be true and I can’t wait for opening night,” Witt said.

It’s an opinion shared by Witt’s mother.

“Being her first audition, this has been a huge success for her. She is working with some really profound writers, actors and choreographers in this community, so I am pretty proud of her as a mother,” says Darlene Witt.

Witt’s her work on Strike has spurred her interest in acting and she says, “I’m going to keep going with acting until I can’t walk any further.”