For the fifth year in a row, Calgary actor Elinor Holt has been nominated for a Betty Mitchell Award. This time, however, she’s received not one but two nominations: one for her turn as Princess Puffer in Vertigo Theatre’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and one for her lead role in Urban Curvz’s Helen’s Necklace.
“I was very shocked and surprised and delighted. I didn’t really expect that,” says Holt. “It was a very diverse season for me, starting out with The Full Monty, and ending with Helen’s Necklace. I don’t think you can get any different than that.” Holt also played Mrs. Gibbs in Theatre Calgary’s Our Town.
The big theatres haven’t always come knocking as frequently as they do now, though. Holt was born in New Norway, Alberta. After doing an undergrad degree in Edmonton, she graduated from Toronto’s York University with an MFA in the early ’90s. After a brief stint performing in Kananaskis Country, she’s been working in Calgary ever since. “I’ve been lucky, but I’ve also been working hard for it,” she says.
When first starting out as an actor in Calgary, Holt co-founded Evergreen Theatre, a group that did “theatre of the natural world for kids.” The group toured science centres across the country. “If you’re not getting work, you create your own work,” Holt says. “I did self-generated work for quite a few years. Even up to a couple of years ago I was producing work with Dirty Laundry, the improvised soap opera company in town. Work begets work.”
Holt has three children, at least one of whom might be following in her mother’s footsteps. Her eight-year-old daughter, Ava, is taking Quest Theatre’s summer drama camp, and she helped her mom learn her lines for Helen’s Necklace.
Holt is pursuing a new challenge now: writing music with her husband, a full-time musician. They’ll be recording an album at the end of August that will come out in the fall. “I’m heavily inspired by ’70s AM radio,” Holt laughs, almost guiltily, as she struggles to describe the genre of music she’s making. “It’s kind of pop, kind of adult contemporary.”
Holt will start off next season with ATP’s Unity 1918, which she describes as a “great play about Saskatchewan.” Holt will then be appearing in Sage Theatre’s production of The Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls, written by a group of women including Ann-Marie MacDonald. “It’s a play about three sisters that’s part acting, part clown show, part improvisation,” she says.
As we’re talking, little voices saying “mommy” are heard in the background. We put the interview on hold as she pauses a moment to give one of her children a snack. I ask her how she manages being wife, mother to three, actor and, now, musician. “Better busy than bored, that’s what my mom used to say,” she replies.
I also ask her what the acting prospects are like for women as they grow older. “There’s just not that much for older women,” she sighs. “Sadly, that’s still the case, even with this season coming up. There’s a dark phase for a woman’s career in her 30s, when you’re too old to be the young love interest, and too young to be the mother of the hero.
“It’s certainly rewarding to do work with Urban Curvz, who are producing stories that have really good roles for women,” she adds. “It’s great for female audience members to see themselves reflected, and to see a really good story about the female perspective.”
Holt comments on how challenging her role in Helen’s Necklace was. “When I was doing it, and even when it was over, I thought to myself, ‘I want to be a better actor than I am for this play.’ And that’s not a bad place to be,” she says. “It doesn’t give you a chance to sit back on your heels and say, ’Oh, yeah, I’m it.’
“I want to keep on learning,” she adds. “I want to keep on growing. That’s the place I’m still at.”
The Betty Mitchell Awards will be held at Stage West on Monday, August 25.
