Biography

Mark Hall's Biography

Mark Hall was born in Brandon, Manitoba in 1982. He first got into acting at the age of eight after seeing a performance of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. He decided that performing on stage was something that he would enjoy doing, and so he became part of Treasure Chest Theatre, the same company that had performed “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.

In March 1991, he appeared as Old McDonald in a short performance called “Old McDonald and Friends”. After performing in this show, however, Mark would not perform in another theatrical performance until 1997, at the age of 14. It was at this point that he would begin a long string of theatrical performances. In the spring of 1997, Mark snagged the lead role (a werewolf) in a 1950s rock and roll musical called “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Werewolf”. Later that same year, Mark became part of another theatre group, this one called Fantasy Theatre for Children. With FTC, Mark performed as King Dune in “The Little Mermaid”. The following three springs would each see another musical performance from Mark in "Fiddler On the Roof", "Grease" and "The Sound Of Music", respectively. These three musicals were performed while Mark was in high school, during which time he also took part in drama and theatre practicum courses.

After graduating, his drama courses may have been over, but only the opposite was true for his acting ambitions. Now 18 years of age, and hoping to someday work in film as well as theatre, Mark participated in a movie camp during which he appeared in a short video called “Skanky McWhat?” After the movie camp, Mark took a year’s hiatus from acting, returning to musicals in September 2001, performing as Joseph’s brother Zebulun in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”.

Mark’s dream of taking part in a film became reality just as 2001 was coming to a close, when he had the opportunity to be an extra in the Brian Dennehy film “A Season On The Brink”. In the spring of 2002, Mark auditioned for “Children Of Eden” at Charleswood United Church, the same church that had performed “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” the previous year.

“Children Of Eden” was performed in September of 2002, and two months later, Mark was an extra for a second film, “Cowboys and Indians: The Killing Of J.J. Harper”. His third job as an extra for a film was in early September 2003 in the Matthew Modine film “The Winning Season”. During that same month, “Once On This Island” (Mark’s seventh musical) was performed at the church, with Mark obtaining no less than three different cameo roles, as well as an understudy role as Tonton Julian. By this time, in addition to already having a long history of acting, Mark had also been taking voice lessons, in order to further improve his on-stage singing performances.

The spring of 2004 saw Mark's return to Charleswood United Church, when he auditioned for their next musical, "The Wiz". Mark acquired the title role. Within weeks of the completion of "The Wiz", Mark got in contact with Fantasy Theatre for Children for the first time in five years. He was cast in four roles in FTC's production of "The Velveteen Rabbit", playing Uncle Fred, the third Tin Soldier, the Fire Truck and Muggsy.

After another brief hiatus from performing, Mark returned yet again to Charleswood United Church in May of 2005, and was cast in their production of "Seussical the Musical" in the role of Judge Yertle the Turtle. Following the completion of "Seussical the Musical", Mark, who by now was 23 years of age, chose to temporarily forgo searching for more auditions, and instead, further his acting education. In October 2005, Mark began taking classes at Winnipeg's Onalee Ames Film Studio.

On April 30, 2006 (exactly 9 years to the day that he performed in "You Ain't Nothin' But A Werewolf"), Mark worked as a film extra for the fourth time, this time for the Bill Paxton/Chris Klein film, "The Good Life". Three months later, the Winnipeg Fringe Festival saw Mark showcasing his singing talent in a show called "Audition".

In September of 2006, Mark did not appear in Charleswood United Church's annual musical for the first time in five years. He did, however, receive an opportunity for more extra work on a set, and this time around made his debut as a extra in a TV series, for the second season of the TV series "Falcon Beach".

Mark took a month off from his classes at the Onalee Ames Actor's Studio in February 2007, and auditioned for several different projects that month, netting himself a role in a short film directed by a student from the University of Winnipeg. The film was entitled "Idiot's Day", and in March, this feat was repeated, when Mark was cast by another University of Winnipeg student, in a short film entitled "Sidekicks of Canada". In April 2007, Mark was also cast as a featured extra in the Leelee Sobieski film "Walk All Over Me", playing a mall security guard.

Mark continued to study his acting at the Onalee Ames Film Studio, and in late spring of 2008, he was cast as the Gentleman in a short comedy/thriller film entitled "Wait". Just a few weeks after filming his scenes for "Wait", Mark would return to theatre for the first time in three years, playing a character named Phillip in a play entitled "A Party None the Less." This performance was included in Winnipeg's annual Fringe Festival.

In January of 2009, Mark filmed scenes for a lead role in another independent film, "The Table" (as Martin). This film had its premiere screening at the 2011 Gangrene Comedy Film Festival in Kaysville, Utah. In February, Mark was contacted by the directors of "Wait" with an offer to star in their next film, "White". Both films were eventually screened back-to-back at Winnipeg's Cinematheque venue in March 2010. In the weeks that "White" was being filmed, Mark also took part in a short student film entitled "One Shot". In May, Mark also returned to extra work, as an extra in the biopic "Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story". This was soon followed in June by filming a cameo in the film "Hockeyland".

Mark concluded his training at the Onalee Ames Film Studio in November 2009. In December, Jeremy Rafuse, (the director and writer of Hockeyland) cast Mark in his next project, entitled "Sunday", shot in February 2010. In that same month, Mark was cast as the lead role in two more independent films, playing the title character in "Paul Green" and Michael Frost in "Anthropophobiac".

The lead role in a short film entitled "Mother Knows Best" was obtained soon after, in May 2010. Before filming his scenes, however, Mark was briefly hospitalized with a viral infection, but made a quick recovery. In November 2010, Mark went on to take part as an extra in the Seann William Scott film "Goon" , as well as a role in a short U of W student film entitled "Battle For Two".

Justin Buhler, a crew member for "Battle For Two" gave Mark his first role of 2011, in Justin's own film entitled "Big Bad Wolf" . Soon after, Jeremy Rafuse also returned to cast Mark in his third film, "Goodbye Planet Earth".

In June, a new independent film company called ElectroQutie Productions, cast Mark in several film projects, the first one titled "You Guys Kill Me". Towards the end of filming, however, the footage was unfortunately lost due to a technical difficulty. The film is tentatively scheduled to be re-shot in 2014.

In June 2012, Mark was once again cast in a short U of W student film, playing a police officer in "The Hunter". Opportunities also arose for paid extra work for two more locally shot films, "Imperfect Justice" starring Rob Lowe, and "Smilin' Jack: The Jack Layton Story".

Mark took several months off before returning to acting in early 2013. He took part in the 168 Hour Film Festival, in which a film must be cast, shot, edited and submitted in 168 hours (7 days). The finished product featuring Mark was titled "Karaoke Nights". Incidentally, some of the footage from this film was shot during an actual karaoke show hosted by Mark himself. In April, director Chris Greenaway of Chad Media Inc., cast Mark in his company's debut feature film "Witchstalker".

This would be Mark's last film for some time, as a significant theatre opportunity would present itself in January 2014. Mark was invited to play the role of a lawyer named Larry Law, in the four-part theatrical production "Welcome Spikey's Points", which follows the adventures of Spikey, a singing, dancing porcupine who is an advocate for anti-bullying. In 2015, the first sequel was repeated, with Mark again playing the role of Larry, but also assuming the role of assistant director, alongside director Joy Winter-Schmidt. The second sequel, entitled "Catch A Friend", saw Joy and Mark swapping roles, giving Mark his official directorial debut in 2016, while again playing the role of Larry, with Joy Winter-Schmidt assistant directing. 2017's performance of the third sequel, "Spikey's Cool School", took things a step further, with Mark now playing the role of Spikey, while again directing the show. Mark again returned as Spikey, to direct the fourth and final sequel, "Happily Ever After", in 2018.

Due to creative differences, Mark left the Spikey series in the spring of 2019, but several months later, at the suggestion of some fellow actors, he began working on a new original script, with Mark making his debut as a scriptwriter. This new production, entitled "Crabs Gone Wild", was accepted into the 2020 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, an event which was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, with the show's acceptance, it will be making its on-stage debut upon the return of Winnipeg Fringe Festival, with Mark as director.

In the spring of 2021, Mark also returned to musical theatre after taking a hiatus due to the pandemic, and was cast in the role of the Baker in "Into The Woods" performed by Winnipeg's Theatre Dance Centre.

Today, Mark is continuing to look for more opportunities to add to his acting history and has no plans to quit anytime soon.



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