GBC alum to star in local production of Tick, Tick… Boom!
Misha Sharivker started his studies in neuropsychology; however, his heart belonged to the theatre.
Originally studying neuroscience at the University of Guelph, Sharivker worked hard on what seemed a safe career path. Being published for work done on addiction research, he spent his free time as a member of the musical theatre club.
Realizing his heart was doing theatre – including directing a play during his final year at Guelph – Sharivker chose to take a chance after graduation, lest he regret not following his dreams.
“While I was doing the research and studying, I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I would constantly be distracted by the media and the acting, and I was directing a show also in my last year of school, and that took up more of my time than my studies; and I loved it, and I knew that I wanted to do anything in that world,” said Sharivker.
During the pandemic he would end up auditioning for the theatre school at George Brown College (GBC) – among other schools. While it was late in the application process by the time he chose to take the leap, including for the National Theatre School of Canada, Sharviker managed to gain entry to each of the schools to which he applied. He would end up choosing GBC due to a few defining factors.
“I knew someone that had been in that program, so I had a really long Facetime with them. Their name is Karen, and we had a really great conversation, and they told me about how great the school was. George Brown has a great reputation, I think, in the industry as well. So those two things really drew me to audition,” he added. “So, I’d only managed to submit to York and George Brown, and I got into both, and I chose to do George Brown because the program is shorter, three years instead of four years. And I wanted the sort of hands-on experience that I saw the program provided, and I got that. So, no regrets.”
Spending 2021 through 2024 studying at the college, Sharivker’s original plan was to work on the craft of acting so he could have a career doing film, television, and even standard theatre. Only being an alum for about a year, he says he has spent most of his time doing musical theatre – something he originally thought he wasn’t good enough to do professionally.
This all changed when one professor gave him the boost he needed.
In the third year of the program, Sharivker says students are required to sing a solo. Practicing just prior to his performance, he says he was working with Stephan Ermel, professor with the theatre school, who told him that he belonged in musical theatre.
“I did musicals all the time in community theatre and at the university as well, in their community theatre club. But I never thought I was good enough to hold my own and get paid to do it. And I remember I finished running through my song, and he looked at me and he said, ‘Misha, you are a musical theatre performer.’ And that sort of changed everything for me. My first contract I booked out of theatre school was musicals. I got to do Legally Blonde and Next to Normal in Newfoundland. So, I got paid to fly out and perform there, which was incredible, a great experience.”
For his next project, Sharivker is part of the cast that will bring Tick, Tick… Boom!, to the Alumnae Theatre starting Nov. 7. Based on the original play by Jonathan Larson (Rent), and the 2021 Netflix film, Tick, Tick… Boom!, tells the story of ‘Jon’ an aspiring composer who looks back on his choice to work in the arts.
Sharivker says the performance they’re doing is a shorter version – more in line with the three-actor piece revised by David Auburn (The Lake House, Proof) after the death of Larson. He adds the upcoming performance has an emphasis on viewing things through the lens of Jon.
“The story that we have access to, that the rights sort of provide us to do, is much quicker than, the characters aren’t as rounded out as in the movie; so, you’re sort of getting a faster glimpse of it. And I will also say that the version that we’re doing is a more biased perspective of what happened in Jonathan’s life, bias to Jonathan’s lens, whereas the movie is [a] more rounded out version. We’re getting perspectives from other characters. Stories are expanded upon. I think there are songs that were added, songs that were cut. So, it’s definitely sort of like the movie is a reworked version of what we’re doing,” he said.
Tick, Tick… Boom!, will run from Nov. 7 to 15 at the Alumnae Theatre. For more information visit www.bowtieproductions.ca/tick%2C-tick-boom-1.
