The Ottawa Citizen - High Tech

Curtain Up!

by Marlene Orton [Monday, March 19, 2001]

Chris Mikula, The Ottawa Citizen / Full-time tech recruiter and part-time actress Robin Guy has decorated her office at Inbusiness Solutions to look like the backstage area of a theatre.

Company: Inbusiness Solutions

(formerly NewSys)

Age: 28

On the Job: Two years

Position: Recruiter

The Job

"In a nutshell, we are a consulting company and I find the consultants with skills that our clients need. I specialize in business intelligence and financial packages. My job is to get to know everyone who is worth knowing in that field so that when the requirements come from the client, I can contact the people. We have a database of consultants who we are already acquainted with. I track their availability. I track their interests so that when a project comes up, I will know whether they are interested.'' InBusiness, known previously as NewSys, provides clients with services in business intelligence, data warehouses, financial reporting and information management.

Spare Time

"I am an actress. I've been working a lot with Orpheus (Musical Theatre Society)over the last five years. I got involved with the Ottawa Little Theatre last year and they had a great season. It's a completely different creature in straight theatre than doing musicals. There is no safety net. There is no dance number coming out to save you if your scene bombs. You are on your own.''

Last Musical for Orpheus

"I did Chorus Line. I played Connie. I was on the 'line.' In the last scene, we were all on the chorus line and we had a 30-second change. For that final scene, there were 16 of us and we all had to get completely out of our costume and into another costume, which was essentially a body suit, hat and different shoes. It was crazy. Everybody had two dressers -- people backstage waiting for us to come out so they could strip us down and help us into body suits. The stage hands must have gotten a good eyeful in that show.''

Favourite Production

The Secret Garden, 1997, Orpheus. "I was Martha, the chambermaid. There are several versions of that play and I like the one they picked. It was written by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman. Lucy Simon is singer Carly Simon's sister. It is my favourite overall musical because the score is so wonderful. The score is haunting and powerful. The audience was in tears at the end.

"But I also have a personal connection to that story. When I was a little girl, the neighbour down the street used to give me tea and lend me her books. One of the books was The Secret Garden. So I have a real attachment to that story. And to top it off, I got the role I really wanted and that almost never happens. Although I have the role I want now.''

Current Production

The Miracle Worker with the Ottawa Little Theatre. "I'm Annie Sullivan. Is that not just amazing? I haven't been so desperately wanting something like that since The Secret Garden.'' (The play is based on the work of Annie Sullivan, the lifelong teacher to Helen Keller, a blind deaf mute who eventually went on to become a renowned author, lecturer, university graduate and winner of multiple awards for her achievements. Keller in particular was regarded as a hero to many famed personalities from Eleanor Roosevelt to Alexander Graham Bell, whose primary interest lay in educating the deaf).

Do You Go to the Cinema?

"Occasionally. I refuse to pay $10 for a ticket so it's got to be a pretty attractive movie. When you can go to an OLT show for $12, why on earth would you pay $10 for a movie? People are scared of the theatre. Live theatre is an interactive experience. You are not passively entertained. Live theatre at its best is about ideas, humanity and interactive because the actors are feeding off the energy of the audience. It's not about car chases and gun shootouts. For me, live theatre is my art so it's very sacred for me.''

Last Film at the Cinema

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. "I had a close friend who was Chinese so I've seen a lot of Kung Fu movies. It was odd to see a Kung Fu movie gone mainstream. It was utterly true to the genre. What a gorgeous film. It's quite worth seeing on the big screen.''