Halifax-born, Fredericton-raised Alex Rioux never considered acting as a career path. Until he came to St. Thomas University, that is.
With major roles in both of Theatre St. Thomas’ productions this semester, Rioux is starting to make a name for himself in the local acting community.
The third-year student has been involved in theatre since he was little, when his parents enrolled him in Theatre New Brunswick’s theatre camps. He said he always saw it as a hobby he loved but didn’t believe he had what it took to make it in the acting world.
“Theatre is full of rejection, that’s like a fact of the business. You’re gonna be going [to auditions] and told what you are doing wrong, and what things you’re not going to be getting into,” Rioux said.
“I thought, you know, sure I’d do it, but I don’t think I have the ability, or the emotional security to actually work in the business.”
That changed when he same to STU. Rioux said encouragement from his drama professors and directors had a big impact on his confidence in his abilities.
“They reaffirmed that I was growing as an artist, which I never really expected,” Rioux said.
Originally planning to major in English with a history minor and continue to get his Bachelors of Education, Rioux is now majoring in English with a concentration in drama. He hopes to look at acting conservatories this summer, something he never thought he would succeed at before coming to STU.
Rioux said he changed his mind about not going into acting after realizing “there’s going to be that [rejection] in anything I choose… so that’s just kind of like, not ignoring that but not letting that stopping me from doing something that I could have real potential in doing.”
Rioux said what he learned in his drama classes, particularly from STU’s new musical theatre professor Leigh Rivenbark, has helped him feel more confident in his abilities.
“Now I think it’s not about being a perfect actor right off the bat, it’s about having the foundations and if someone else takes you and sees stuff they can work on… then you can grow,” he said.
This past week, Rioux starred in TST’s production of the Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, as Dionysus, the vengeful god who destroys the lives of the royal family of Thebes when they refuse to recognize him as a god. Rioux says one of trickiest things about playing a character as powerful as Dionysus is making sure to communicate physical confidence.
“He’s not like a human where he hesitates, he know exactly what he feels exactly when he feels it and he just goes with it, like nothing is wrong, so he can just feel completely confident in everything,” Rioux said.
In March he will play Jason Dean, a bad-boy outsider in the musical theatre class’ production of Heathers: The Musical.
Although he still has one more year left in university, Rioux said he hopes he will find the same supportive community of theatre artists that he has found in Fredericton.
“What I love about theatre is that there’ always people that want to do theatre, there’s always people that want to make theatre, and see theatre, and participate in theatre… creative souls that work so hard to put together this art for everyone to see.”
