He's shooting a new film with some big Hollywood stars. His most recent movie has been tagged as a possible Oscar contender. And he's wrapping up a new series by one of the hottest creators in Canadian television.

So why is Tom McCamus performing a shoe-string production in a small, downstairs London theatre for minimal pay? Shouldn't he be lounging poolside in Los Angeles, fending off calls from big-buck producers, aspiring script writers and starstruck groupies?

"It's Canada," he laughs. "It

doesn't happen that way."

The London actor is certainly riding a wave of commercial and critical success. This week, he's been in Toronto shooting scenes for two separate projects -- a movie called The Passion of Ayn Rand, with Peter Fonda, Eric Stoltz and Helen Mirren; and the newest six-episode series by Ken Finkleman, the producer/writer/director/actor who turned Canadian television on its head in 1996 with his satirical comedy series, The Newsroom.

PLAUDITS

McCamus' most recent film -- The Sweet Hereafter, directed by Atom Egoyan -- has been tagged as a possible Oscar contender as best film. And people are still talking about his riveting work as the consumptive son in director David Wellington's acclaimed film version of Long Day's Journey into Night.

Next month, McCamus starts rehearsing for a new season at the Stratford Festival. Last season, he starred in the festival's runaway box-office hit, Camelot. This year, he'll appear in three productions, including Julius Caesar (as Marcus Brutus), a remounted version of Waiting for Godot and Much Ado about Nothing.

"All of a sudden, everybody wants to do everything at exactly the same time," says McCamus in his rapid-fire delivery. "But I'm having fun."

It's the joy of the work -- or in this case, the word -- that brought McCamus back to his home town this week. Born in Winnipeg but raised in London, the former Oakridge secondary school student is starring in an unusual production called Four Wishes. Conceived by Orchestra London violinist Karen Zielinski, this one-actor "narrative musical" sets the words of H.G. Wells, O. Henry and Ovid against a new, original score by London composer Arsenio Giron.

McCamus will read four stories: The Whirligig of Life, by O. Henry (1862-1910); The Man Who Could Work Miracles, by H.G. Wells (1866-1946) and two tales from Metamorphoses, the epic tale by Roman poet Ovid (43 BC -- AD 17).

"Each story is about someone who wishes for something and gets it," says Zielinski, who met McCamus through her involvement with the Stratford Festival Orchestra.

Giron, who retired four years ago from his position as a professor of musical theory and composition at the University of Western Ontario, started writing the musical score last August.

"For me, this is a completely new experience," says Giron. "In fact, I don't know if there are any models."

The score -- which will be performed by a quartet featuring clarinet, percussion, violin and piano -- is designed to complement the meaning and atmosphere of the words.

"Basically, I'm just trying to tell the stories as simply as possible," says McCamus. "The music supplies all the emotion -- I don't have to do the same emotion as the music's doing. But, who knows -- the music will go do something and then I'll do something. I'll just wing it."

McCamus says his nine-month commitment to the Stratford Festival prevents him from taking on a lot of other projects. But this sort of small production, with its short rehearsal period, fits his schedule. And his more-lucrative film work allows him to accept a low-paying gig such as Four Wishes.

"This kind of stuff, this keeps your hand in," says McCamus. "(These are) interesting people to work with, interesting projects, but it's not all-consuming like Long Day's Journey.

"I thought this would be great -- to speak, with music behind. Which I've never done before. . . . That's one of the reasons. Also, it's nice to do things in London."


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