Franco Celli has one of those recognizable faces, for local theatre goers. He keeps appearing in prominent roles on Prince George stages. It has made him one of the most recognizable faces in the cast of Into The Woods, on this week at UNBC.
The production of Into The Woods gets the benefit of Celli's high-profile turn as Cliff the American novelist caught up in the disintegration of Berlin social life as the Nazis rise to power, as discussed in the Broadway smash Cabaret put on last month by Judy Russell Presents.
Celli is a UNBC student like most of the others in this edition of Into The Woods by UNBC Musical Productions, under the direction of Veronica Church.
Having two significant roles, scheduled back to back, and also juggling his academic workload has been a Tony-worthy personal performance by Celli. Cabaret and Into The Woods definitely had overlapping duties.
"We actually thought, during Cabaret, we would just give Franco a pass on learning his lines but then he'd show up and he would know them. We couldn't believe how prepared he was," said Rylee Spencer, musical director and co-star of Into The Woods.
It's actually something he has experience with. As a youth in the Lower Mainland, Celli had a busy 2013 when he was in the cast of Changing Minds, an entry by Awkward Stage Productions in the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and also in Oklahoma by Royal City Musical Theatre in New Westminister.
He moved to Prince George to attend UNBC where he is a master's student today and he made time in his scholarly schedule to also be in local theatre shows.
"It's a passion of mine," he said. "Here in Prince George I started out with the UNBC productions and then I found Judy, and I don't know where it's going from here but I get a lot of enjoyment out of it and I'm always learning."
He is a on a career path into the field of counselling and believes the emotional exploration required for theatre, as well as the pressures of being a good performer and a good teammate with the cast, will ultimately help him in his chosen profession.
He has gotten a lot of support from his domestic partner, Jenny Lind, who understands empirically what he's going through. She, too, is a master's student at UNBC and she, too, is one of the leads in Into The Woods.
The two met when they were cast together in the UNBC Musical Productions fundraiser show A Very Potter Musical and now, a few years later, they are a couple portraying a couple in yet another production by their alma mater's musical drama club.
UNBC Musical Productions' version of Into The Woods runs Friday-Sunday from March 16-25 at the Canfor Lecture Theatre at the university. Each performance happens at 7 p.m. with additional 1 p.m. matinees each Saturday.
Tickets can be purchased in the UNBC Winter Garden, at Books & Company, and online at www.centralinteriortickets.com.
