Spotlight on Helene Hewitt - Our Lady of the Spa in Nine, the musical

So Helene, tell us what you are doing in the show... In our production of Nine, I play Our Lady of the Spa. She is a bit of an enigma. Not only is she the owner of the spa in which the musical takes place but she is also a narrator and then sometimes acts as a guide to Guido. One of the things I admire most about Our Lady is the fact that she is a business woman in the 1960s which was undoubtedly a time in which men were more likely to dominate private enterprise. In order to play Our Lady of the Spa I try to channel feelings of being an ultra-hip entrepreneur mixed with the kindness of a beneficent goddess. It's simple, really!

What do you do when you are not at Walterdale? When I am not singing and dancing at the Walterdale Playhouse am I either working as an Assistant Principal at a Fine Arts, French Immersion elementary school or spending time with my husband and my two Jack Russell Terriers (read that terrors!), Pippin and Dent. I enjoying reading, singing (of course!) and basket weaving while juggling on a unicycle. (I'm just kidding on that last one...just checking to see if you were still reading!)

What's your favorite song from the show? My favourite song and dance number in the show is Germans at the Spa. I know you're thinking that as Our Lady of the Spa I am somewhat biased about this seeing as I own the spa. However, I would like to make it known that I love this number because it has a combination of fun, silliness, ridiculous German accents, and trench walks. The only thing that could make it better would be jazz hands but that just didn't fit in! (I bet you're surprised I am not the choreographer! Sorry, Adam! I'll keep my jazz hands to myself!)

What's one cool fact about you that people might not know? One cool fact about me that people might not know is that I am part Colombian. That is from South America (not that other province to the west of us!). My mother is from Bogota and my fierce love of latin music and coffee no doubt hail from my Colombian roots. You must be wondering what my other half is? My paternal side of the family is German! Yet another reason to love Germans at the Spa!