Look Who’s Working At GLT
At Guelph Little Theatre you will frequently encounter a very affable gentleman, with a lovely British accent, making himself useful in any number of ways. He might be designing a soundscape (piecing together the music and sound effects that enhance a production), memorizing his lines and learning his blocking (he has an affinity for Shakespeare), or he might be just helping to slap on a coat of paint somewhere. His name? Alex Kanarek.
As a young man, Alex lived in the United Kingdom and played a significant role in the eradication of the polio virus. Alex earned his PhD in Virology and in 1954, at the age of 24, was hired by the Burroughs Wellcome company to develop an effective and efficient method of mass producing the polio vaccine. After a long and fruitful career as a scientist, Alex now lives in Rockwood and volunteers at Guelph Little Theatre. It’s a small world.
One of the most remarkable things about community theatre is you never quite know who it is you may end up working with. On the face of it here’s a great guy and a lovely human being who likes few things better than to sit down at the Albion over a pint and share stories about that play he did with Elora Community Theatre and then you check out an article at CBC News and you discover that he’s made a place for himself in history like few others.
We at GLT are proud of our association with Alex, as we are with all our volunteers. They are wonderful, talented people who make theatre happen for the sheer joy of it.
And like Alex, they all have a story of their own.