North Bay native Tamara Bernier Evans turned her love of performing in high school plays into a career spanning more than three decades.
“The majority of my work has been in theatre. I spent probably 30 years as a theatre actress and doing a little bit of television and film, but most of my focus has been in theatre, and musical theatre,” said Bernier Evans.
Some of her on-screen credits include appearances in Republic of Doyle, The Border, Catch and Release and The Breakup.
She was in North Bay for the launch of the North Bay Museum’s newest exhibit called “Where Are They Now?”
“My big break was at Stratford; it was my first job after I graduated from university. I spent four years at the Stratford Festival and then I did theatres across the country. I got the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia. Tanya is the wealthy socialite who has an affair with the young boy on the beach. Christine Baranski played her in the movie. That took me from New York to Las Vegas. I did a fair bit of voice-over when we were in L.A.”
Bernier Evans is now developing a television production company.
“I transitioned out of theatre performing, and I started working as a director and an artistic director. I worked at the Tarragon Theatre until June but in the meantime started a television production company with a partner and we’re working with TV writers to develop new series, comedies and dramas. We pitched Corus Entertainment on March 5th and on March 13th the world shut down so we’re still working with our writers to develop those series, and I’m a TV producer now.”
Bernier-Evans credits North Bay’s strong theatre community for helping her choose her career path.
“I think my love of theatre and being in the theatre community started in high school. I was part of both Theatre Outreach On Stage (TOROS summer school drama program) which was initiated by Art and Marty Southcott and the drama programs at high school were great because we were all part of the Sears Drama Festival. Kids from all over bonded in the summers doing TOROS and it became not just a fun thing to do but a great way to meet friends and form a community.”
“I didn’t know the scope of the candidates that were being considered. So, I’m absolutely thrilled to be among mathematicians and physiotherapists and environmentalists from all over the world.”
“I used the phrase “North Bay’s biggest and best export has always been its people,” explained exhibit curator Pat Moulson who credits her son with giving her the idea for the exhibit.
“The first people I talked to were retired teachers because nobody is prouder of kids who have succeeded than their teachers. Then I hit all of the service clubs and asked them to spread the word, and of course the media,” Moulson said.
“Thank heavens for the internet because that is how most of the research was done, and then a number of parents nominated their children, justifiably proud of them.”
The biographies of 11 people, along with a recent photo and one as a teen, together with a fond memory of their time in North Bay grace the walls upstairs at the museum.
Some other contributors include jazz performer, composer and educator Shirantha Beddage, mathematician Kate Stange, optical systems developer and business manager M. Roman Hachkowski, civil and environmental engineer Rebecca Saari and John Randle Orthopaedic surgeon.
“They had to be between the age of 35 and 55 because we wanted them at the height of their professional career. Next, we wanted them from all over, not just Toronto. We wanted to have a fairly even balance of male and female. We liked people who had more than one ‘thing’ in their background like Katie Stuart who is a physician but is also a world-class hiker, so that kind of thing,” Moulson explained.
Katie Stuart’s mother Heather nominated her daughter who is an emergency room physician working in New Zealand and an avid hiker who has trekked the Appalachian Trail.
“Her engineering degree is in biological engineering. As she progressed through that she became more and more interested in the medical side of it. It isn’t your common way of entering the field,” said Heather Stuart who also addressed her daughter’s interest in hiking.
“I think growing up in North Bay makes it easier to develop your love for the outdoors because it is all around you. One of the first long-distance hiking trips she went on was a long weekend in Algonquin Provincial Park with the Girl Guides. So, she sort of developed her skills from there.”
A proud mother, Stuart is pleased her daughter is part of the exhibit.
“It is always good for people in North Bay to know what happens to the people they may have taught or they may have run into in sports, or something like that, how they have progressed in their lives. And when you look around what an impact they had on various places around the world,” said Stuart who said she was most proud of her daughter’s determination.
Included in the exhibit is an honour wall acknowledging 36 other North Bay’s greats, listing their accomplishments.
“We’re hoping the city realizes they have a great talking point for why businesses should move to North Bay because it is not just the businesses,” said the exhibit curator.
“Employees want to raise their children in a place that produces good citizens, and so here we are.”
