KAREN EARNSHAW
“When I was a kid, my father told me there was to be a play and that we should go see it,” said Wilmer Joel, then a Rita Elementary School student. It was 2014 and the musical was Fiddler on the Roof: “I was captivated. I felt a magical tingling feeling as I watched…”
Forward to 2019 and MIHS student Wilmer Joel was walking past the Marshall Islands High School library and he saw a load of people inside. “I peeked in as a friend of mine, Germaine Muller, was coming out. I asked him what they were doing and he told they were holding auditions and if I was interested, I was welcome to try for a part.
“I thought why not participate and see how it will change my life. It was impromptu … I didn’t prepare anything.”
After the last person auditioned for Professor Andrew Garrod he sat down in the chair. “They said to me ‘Are you here to audition?’ I said yes, but was a bit nervous.” They asked him to sing a song. “The only one that came to mind was Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love and then I did a few dance movements for them.”
He was given the role of Charlie in The Music Man. “He was the antagonist in the play. He was an anvil salesman and it was a major role. I had thought I’d get something small.”
Wilmer was excited to be in the rehearsals. “It was a lot of work because you’re doing something you’ve never done before and we had to learn our lines as quickly as possible.”
His character was a jealous, sly man and he had a temper. “This character was not my character, so I had to work out how to step into another person’s shoes. I watched the movie and then I figured out a way I could make the role my own.”
This first venture into being a performer was great fun for Wilmer. “When we went on stage we were not too nervous because we were now confident with our lines … We were in that story without noticing the audience.”
The following year the Professor and his sidekick Bonny Taggart were back in Majuro to produce the musical Carousel. Wilmer auditioned and got the part of Mr. Bascombe. “He was a pompous, rich businessman who owned a mill. This role was different to the last in that it was a small speaking role. It was the first time I was the lead dancer. I did steps I’d never done before.”
And now he’s playing the role of Fagin in the musical Oliver! “This is my first play with a singing part. Fagin is in his sixties and he has a mixed personality and is the most difficult I have done. He can be a kind grandpa to Oliver, but then he can be a very manipulative character as well.
“This play has a lot of kids … even more than The Music Man. And the leading character is a young boy, which is refreshing.”
Wilmer believes everyone should come to the International Conference Center to see Oliver!: “When you watch the show you will see the youth of the Marshall Islands shine like they’ve never shined before. You will see a different side of them. Not shy, but with a new type of personality.
“It’s a family opportunity that will inspire. Kids in the audience will look at the kids on stage being open and not shy.
“Plus, these plays are a community effort. It’s not just Youth Bridge Global* that puts it on. There are government and non-government people helping. It’s like the line ‘It takes a village to raise a child’.”
And he’s right, it takes the big village of Majuro to put on a five-star musical…a task that the Professor always manages to pull off in spectacular fashion.
- Youth Bridge Global was co-founded by Professor Andrew Garrod and started out in 2004 with the mission of producing an annual Shakespeare production in the Marshall Islands “providing a cast of students with a powerful education and cultural experience, while generating acclaim from the local community.”