Biog & Cv
Sean Power is an Irish-Italian actor who has lived in Canada, the U.S., Ireland and the U.K.
Early life
He was first on stage in the 5th grade in Edmonton, Alberta in the Christmas pageant playing the ‘bad boy’.
He performed his first play when he was in high school in Toronto playing Felix Unger in The Odd Couple. Soon after, he won the Sears Drama Festival Award for Babel Rap, a two-hander he directed as well as acting in. During this time, he was touring a Vaudville review to community centers and retirement homes with the Young Actors Performance troupe.
In 1989, he was one of the youngest of 14 people chosen nationwide to be accepted into The National Theatre School of Canada. (The National theatre School is Canada’s top theatre school and was the original model for the Juilliard School in New York). He trained there three years with the likes of Pierre Lebvevre, Perry Schneiderman, Brigit Panet, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, George F. Walker, Cirque de Soleil and Robert Lepage.
Six months after graduating, Sean crashed the auditions -and was hired by the Stratford Festival(Canada). He had his professional theatrical debut playing Demetrius in Joe Dowling’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the mainstage of the Festival where he acted opposite Colm Feore, William Hutt and was also the side kick of Mervyn ‘Butch’ Blake in Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid
Immediately following Stratford, Sean performed the lead roles in numerous Canadian premieres, including Z by poet Ann Szumagalski (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), Molly Wood (Lovers and Madmen productions, Toronto) which won two Dora Awards – ‘Best Musical’, ‘Best new Production’, and Crazy directed by Don Allison and John Godbury’s Bouncers directed by Shaun Austin-Olsen. He soon after played the role of Bertolt Brecht in Bald Ego’s critically acclaimed production The Three Penny Epic Caberet with Lisa Ryder and Bobby Wiseman playing Kurt Weil, directed by Adam Nashman. His summers he often enjoyed at the Red Barn performing in such summer-stock classics as High Temperature and No Sex Please We’re British under the direction of David Gardner.
Career
Sean is perhaps best known for creating the role of beat poet ‘Jack’ in David Rubinoff’s STUCK, the one man show in which he starred and dramaturged. STUCK was critically acclaimed in New York, Dublin and Toronto newspaper’s such as The Village Voice,The Times, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The Irish Times. It enjoyed sell out runs in many venues , and notably in New York was attended on separate occasions by Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. STUCK has been the recipient of CAA Chalmers Literary Award in 1998, Best New Play 1997, Best Actor Toronto Fringe 1996, Best Actor nomination Dublin Fringe 2001, and five nominations for the Canadian Dora Awards.
In New York, Sean performed at La Mama Etc., Second Stage, the Irish Rep, Gorilla Rep, HERE theatre, and the Irish Arts Centre among others. While there, he had close working relationships with Ellen Stewart, Ciaran O’Reilly, Oren Safdi, Neal Jones and Charlotte Moore. He was also invited to audition for the Actors Studio , which he deferred.
While at La MaMa, he wrote and directed Lady/Speak/Easy, an environmental piece based on the life and music of Billie Holiday set in Harlem speak. The production was funded through donations of friends and working actors in NYC and with a 12 member cast and 5 musicians, the show enjoyed a sold out run. Some musicians involved in the show were Bemshi Shearer (as Lady Day), bass player Theo Wilson (son of Billie’s piano player Teddy Wilson), Ed Swanston (ex-piano for Louis Armstrong), Kalil Madi (ex-drummer for Billie Holiday), Jeremy Pelt (the best trumpet player -in the world)and Michael ‘smallchange’ Johnson (The New Kings, Big Rude Jake) who was also musical director. The play received rave reviews from The New Yorker and The Globe and Mail, but more importantly was given the thumbs up from jazz musicians Annie Ross and Jean Jaques Butler, who both knew Billie Holiday personally. The play was under consideration for a large scale Broadway production by The Shubert Organization , but unfortunately was eventually deemed to be ’not commercial enough’.
In Dublin, Sean performed in a number of critically acclaimed productions. He performed as Juror #7 in the six month sell out run of 12 Angry Men (Lane Productions), Julius Caesar with Rattlebag productions, and 44 Sycamore (Lane Productions). His production company Big PaPa co-produced Fool For Love at the New Theatre in 2004. In 2005, he played Garth O’Hara: a lead character in Fair City, Ireland’s soap opera; as well as Vince in the RTE series The Big Bow Wow. In public protest for inexcusable bad taste he refused to perform at the Gate Theatre on three separate occasions.
Within nine months of arriving in London, Sean landed a role opposite Woody Harrelson,Clare Higgins, Jenny Seagrove and Nicola Mcauliffe in the West End production of The Night of the Iguana, directed by Anthony Page. He subsequently took over the role of Shannon from Woody Harrelson for January and February 2006, his first night he performed for and met ex prime minister John Major and his wife Norma.
This led to Sean being cast as Marty, the American comedy writer in Jack Dee‘s Lead Balloon, which started on BBC Four, and then moved toBBC Two. The Guardian called it “The Best Comedy Offering of 2006″, and has been nominated for BritComedy and RTS Awards. Lead Balloon has just finished its 3rd season.
Film wise, Sean starred in his first film Life With Mikey opposite Michael J. Fox, directed by James Lapine. Recent other films include Twisted Sheets which to date has won 11′Best Short’ Awards internationally. Bad Karma opposite Patsy Kensit, Joes Wedding with J.W. Moffat, Cowboys and Angels, Tara Road opposite Andie MacDowell and Played, 2:22 and recently A Kiss and A Promise with Mick Rossi.
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