Ep. 49 - Jim Betts

Jim is a multi-talented writer-performer-director with more than 50 years of professional experience. I first saw Jim in the original Toronto production of “Godspell”, and soon after I was working with him on a series of original musical revues: “Tonight at 8:30…9 O’Clock in Newfoundland (Series 1, 2 and 3), I’ll Tell You Mine…If You Tell Me Yours”, “The Moose that Roared”. For these, he was writer, composer, performer – not EGOT, perhaps, but pretty damn close in Canadian terms. Playwriting credits include, among many others, “The Mystery of Oak Island Treasure” (Chalmers Award), Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Dora Award). Jim’s original musicals include “Colours in the Storm”, “Thin Ice” and “Dancer” (A Musical in Ten Furlongs – Marek Norman, Composer). Interspersed with many more projects, Jim has also taken on roles as producer, director, artistic director and Founding President of both The Guild of Canadian Musical Theatre Writers (1982-88) and The Group of Several (1982-87).