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Desmond Baxter loves the community of theatre

June 21, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

“I’ve been with OMT (Orangeville Music Theatre) since 2007 when we did HMS Pinafore. I had to sing. We had quite a few members from the original OMT, who could sing – we have so many talented singers. It was a musical that we did with Century Church Theatre in Hillsburgh.”

This all came about: “I was doing a dinner murder mystery and a lady was there, ‘You’re such a wonderful actor,’ she said. ‘We have a small part you might like to play for a theatre group.’ 

“I had never done theatre before. I always knew I was going to be an actor because my grandmother said I should be.

“This part turned out to be the lead but I had nodules on my vocal chords and I had an operation a week before we went on. It was the comedy, Roomies, by Jack Starkey. I was hearing the lines, then, it was my turn and I kept saying to myself, I can’t do this – my cue was to knock on the door and I thought I had made a mess of it. During the intermission, the director came and told me, ‘It was the best performance I’ve ever seen on this stage.’ I told him I didn’t know what I was doing and he said, ‘You were dead on  point every moment.’ ”

For HMS Pinafore, “someone from OMT asked me to come and try out for one of their shows; now I had the bug for acting.

“My very first show for OMT [not in partnership with Century Church], I believe, was Little Mermaid. I played King Triton, who had eight daughters. I did that and we got rave reviews. I had found my niche in musical theatre.”

We had caught up with Desmond – Des – Baxter who has lived a couple of different stages of his life here in Orangeville and is currently a resident with no plans for leaving.

He went on with his tale, backing up toward the beginning, “I wanted to be a stunt person but, in 1980’s it was a lot of money to train. Still, I did go to George Brown, Casa Loma campus and studied commercial TV, filming and acting. 

“But I was on my own in a big city. I guess I just had to survive. So, I started in the music business, working for big corporations. I basically worked on stage for Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Whitney Houston – the Monkeys – I was a stage hand – and Phil Collins. I took Ray Charles in his limousine. 

“I was on stage one time, on the follow spot with Ziggy Marley (Bob’s son). That was before I did any theatre but after I studied at Casa Loma.”

More life: “I met a lady and we ended up having children and moving to Creemore. We separated and she moved to Orangeville with our kids; so, I moved to Orangeville to be near my kids.

Back another couple of steps: “Before that, my mom was a nurse and my father was a pilot for Air Canada. He was killed in an accident. Mom took us to New Brunswick and then back to Orangeville in 1978 when I was 14, for two years. Then, she moved us to Barrie, with a man. 

“I didn’t get along with my step-father. It was my 16th birthday. I got up from dinner; packed a bag and left, with $5 in my pocket. I hitched into Barrie and the bus cost $4.80 to Toronto. A guy gave me a subway token and I had a dime left to call my grandmother, who said ‘You come here.’ She lived to 101 and was the strongest-minded person I ever knew.

“It was from there that my life started on my own. She was the one who said, ‘Des, you should be an actor.’ The funny guy – I’ve always been an entertainer.” 

He paused to reflect for a second on his present day: “Now, I’m a retired iron worker. I worked for International Iron Workers almost 30 years … doing theatre on the side.”

He mixed it up. “I love music theatre more. I love it all but musical theatre is my niche. … I’m retired but it’s too early to collect any pensions so I drive a tractor trailer, hauling heavy equipment all over Ontario.”

Of the many roles, the most fun was “Henry Higgins, in My Fair Lady, with Kat Anderson as Eliza Dolittle. She is absolutely my favourite co-actor. I just love her.”

On the practical side, “I started making props for OMT, for Legally Blonde. I did so well that Raeburne Ferguson asked me to make a set: ‘Do you want me to make a set for you?’ ‘Can you?’ ‘Absolutely.’ I made it for Mary Poppins.” 

“The most important ingredient was Kelly McDowell – the most talented artist that I’ve had to work with and one of my dearest friends in this world,” he enthused. Once again, “Kat Anderson was Mary Poppins – she is absolutely wonderful to work with.” 

Then came “Beauty and the Beast. There wasn’t flaw in it. I got talked into it and Kelly came too. I was nominated by ACT-CO twice for Set Design in a Musical and another nomination Best Set Painting in a Musical.” The competition was tough: “My budget is low compared to other larger companies, but to be nominated at all is good.”

Philosophically, “I’ve done quite a bit. I like to help. Anybody needs help and, then, I volunteer.” 

Recently, Des Baxter’s big news is that he has taken up with Treisha Dinsdale and her Swing & Sass, Dufferin Dance Troupe.

This has Mr. Baxter very excited: “We did a guest appearance at Blues and Jazz, we were doing on the street dance with three couples. Then, we’re going to Shelburne on June 15 for a festival there , with nine couples – dancing in the street – six songs. Then, back here to Celebrate Your Awesome on the 22nd of June.

“We’ve got to run and do a show for Grease right after that. I just seem to be going all the time. My dance partner is Treisha Dinsdale, the teacher. A lot of our dance troupe is made up of OMT members. Treisha is Spanish. She’s such a great teacher. 

Ecstatic: “It’s great exercise, my new love is dance. There is choreography in OMT and now, it’s great to be learning new stuff – we get along well and we’re becoming fast friends.”

After the summer, “In September, we’re going to get ready for more shows. I might take a break from theatre to concentrate on dance – it’s just another branch of learning about what I love.

“I’ve had my children in theatre too.

“My daughter – she just finished four years of college always on the Dean’s List, “ he told us with considerable parental pride. “She studying International Development and Sustainability and she was accepted to her Masters. The same university that rejected her at the end of high school because her marks weren’t good enough. But she was so highly recommended by her college professors that she was accepted.

“My son going to business school.” 

Des Baxter summed up his life now, saying, “I love Orangeville. It’s friendly, it’s clean. I love OMT theatre – they are wonderful people.

“I’m just happy and I love what I do and I love my life…”

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