Stratford Festival role a homecoming for actor Kolton Stewart

Kolton Stewart has returned to the Stratford Festival Theater stage and couldn’t be happy.

In addition to having a leading role in the festival’s production of the musical Rent, Stewart gets to go home every night – a privilege all too rare over the last couple of years.

“I’ve been traveling a lot and now, I’m getting to sleep in my own bed every night, which, for me as an actor is real blessing,” Stewart, who grew up in Lynedoch, Norfolk County, said in a telephone interview. “I’m not living out of a suitcase right now.

“I’m at home and doing work that I love.”

Set in Manhattan in the 1990s, Rent is a musical production that focuses on the lives of group of young artists when the AIDS epidemic reached its peak. They laugh, cry and love as they struggle through a time of upheaval.

Stewart plays Roger Davis, an HIV positive ex-junkie and musician who desperately wants to compose one memorable song before he dies.

“Most of my other roles rely on one skill set, maybe a bit of two,” Stewart said. “But this role stretches me to my furthest ability and the acting is crucial in this role and to the story.

“As an actor, you long for a role and the opportunity that requires this much out of you.”

Stewart said the role and the production is exciting, challenging and fulfilling.

“Having AIDS at that time, in some ways, was a crime, which is just so awful – because it’s not,” Stewart said. “But back then, you felt like you couldn’t even be seen by people.”

Stewart calls the production a beautiful, touching show and said he’s grateful to be part of such a wonderful cast and crew.

“We started rehearsals on Feb. 2, which is a considerably longer rehearsal process than usual,” Stewart said. “That’s one of the great things about performing at Stratford is the long rehearsal process.

“Now that I’ve done this production I can’t imagine doing it in a shorter time frame.”

Stewart found out that he had the role in October 2022, which gave him several months to prepare for the start of rehearsals.

It was an important step because there is a lot of music, a lot of singing, a lot of lines to memorize. Stewart wanted to be ready to do rehearsals off-book – that is without reading from a script.

The show is close to two-and-a-half hours and it’s a production that brings out all of the emotions.

“When you do a show like Rent, that’s so good, it doesn’t really feel like work because we’re all looking forward to performing and you feel so connected to the story that the adrenaline kicks in,” Stewart said.

For Stewart, the return to the Stratford festival stage, is a return to the beginning of his show business career. He was a child when he landed a role as a drummer in the Music Man.

He returned to the classical theater company to perform in West Side Story and Macbeth. Performing in Rent marks Stewart’s return to the Stratford festival stage for the first time in 15 years.

“There are so many things that go through my head,” Stewart said about returning to the festival where he began his career.

“Even though I haven’t performed at Stratford for a while I’ve been here pretty much every year.

“I’ve been here for the opening of at least one of the musicals and I try to see as many shows as possible.”

A singer and songwriter, Stewart sang on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and appeared in Angels in the Snow and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. He was the lead in the US tour of The Lion King.

At 14, Stewart landed the lead role in Some Assembly Required, a television series about a teenaged boy who owns and operates a video game company with his buddies.

Stewart also had roles in the Netflix series Locke & Key, The Expanse and Sneakerella. He also played Tyson Monroe, the son of Malvina Monroe, in the Walt Disney Production Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted.

Performances of Rent began April 8. The show’s official opening is in June and runs until October 28 in the Festival Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.

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