Michael Charrois

Biography

Michael Charrois was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada May 24th, 1962. After studying Acting and Playwrighting at the University of Alberta and the Banff School of Fine Arts he was hired into the Resident Acting Company of Edmonton's Family Theatre, Stage Polaris in 1986. In 1986 he also began teaching Performing Arts classes at the Stage Polaris Academy of Drama. In 1988 Michael became a member of Canadian Actors' Equity Association. At this time, Michael was also street performing with fire juggling and clowning as well as gigging around town with his friends in a rock band called Big Inc. In the late 80's and throughout the 90's, Michael wrote lyrics for songs and musical plays for the stage for Big Inc. and his second band, Baffin Island Party, which culminated in Y2K's The Illumination of Marshall McLuhan. Michael played Wiggens in Clint Eastwood's 1992 Academy Award-winning film Unforgiven. This was also the year he became a member of ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. While based in Edmonton in the 90's, festival performances took him throughout Western Canada, to Ottawa, and into the U.S. at the Orlando and New York Fringe Festivals. In 1996 Michael was asked to serve his Union, first as a Councillor, then President and Alternate National Councillor for the now-defunct Edmonton ACTRA Branch. In the year 2000 Michael was asked to represent the Alberta New Democratic Party in the Castledowns riding for the Alberta provincial election. He finished in third place behind the Liberal and Conservative. Like a character in a Chekhov play, Michael fulfilled the dream of every Edmontonian, by escaping winter with a move to Vancouver, September 2001. In 2002 he was cast in the first of over a dozen plays that he performed in at New Westminster's Burr Theatre. Throughout the early double aughts, Michael performed in plays and on screen, busked on Granville Island with his street show Economics 101, and ran around to various schools performing Mad Science experiments. Michael was asked to represent the New Democrats in his home riding of North Vancouver for the 2008 and 2012 federal elections. As of 2016, Michael is the Performing Arts Education Coordinator at the Evergeen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, BC, where he teaches public speaking and theatre arts. He also teaches for Burnaby's Shadbolt Arts Centre.