“I’ve wanted to do this (be an actor) since I was a little kid, and then in 1983, for a school project, I was lucky enough to interview John Candy. So, I spent the day at Baghdar Studios in Scarborough with John and my best friend at the time was also there interviewing Andrea Martin. Of course, John’s best advice to me was do not do this!”
“He said 97 per cent of acting actors are unemployed. It’s horrible! I barely see my daughter, all these things, and of course, as a little kid, I’m like, John Candy is talking to me, and that’s all I hear.” After forty-plus years in acting, Scott Edgecombe has learned his lessons well.
On October 4, 2024, Edgecombe and fellow thespian and thriving Huntsville actor Grant Nickalls opened the newly renovated Muskoka Creative Arts Studio on 4 Centre St N, Huntsville. A lively crowd of interested and curious alike was guided through the freshly decorated facility and discovered the full curriculum the studio plans to deliver.
The Muskoka Creative Arts Studio is a beautifully appointed series of rooms designed to accommodate their proposed syllabus. Immaculate, clean, and smartly decorated with local paintings, headshot photographs, knickknacks, and comfortable furniture, the space, with three separate activity rooms, is inviting and well-suited to its purpose.
MCAS will offer professional programs and classes for children and adults alike in creative arts, coaching children and teens in all aspects of preparing for and competing in the dramatic arts on stage, film and television.
“I’ve been teaching since I was about 14 years old. I’ve been a nanny. I was a vice principal of a school for a while in Los Angeles. I’ve been a guidance counsellor. I was even a college advisor. So, I have a slew of references for my background, and I know that doesn’t really help anybody, but they’ll see when, hopefully, they trust us enough with their kids that I have a gift for this,” Edgecombe explains.
Muskoka Creative Arts Studio will focus on seven key developmental programs for young aspiring actors, playwrights or others seeking to improve on their necessary skills from performance to public speaking.
Imagination Station After-School Creation will serve as an after-school program. With its close proximity to Huntsville Public School, MCAS can be a place for school kids to apply their creative energies in a safe, supervised space that can enhance a student’s learning while providing after-school care.
Adult & Teen Scene Study consists of two weekly classes, one for adults and one for teens. Students work on longer periods, including cold readings as well as working with other students.
Improvisation Workshops are perhaps Scott’s forte. Along with his extensive background as a working actor, Scott has studied the art and craft of acting his whole professional life with masters such as Harry Mastrogeorge, whose mantra was to work “from your soul”—finding the deepest personal honesty and heuristic truth that an actor can bring to a scene or a reaction shot, even if or when the part is small. You can find more information about programming at: https://muskokacreativearts.com/
As a graduate of The Second City Conservatory, Los Angeles, where he lived and worked for fifteen years, Edgecombe has led over 200 Improv workshops at camps, businesses, and schools.
“For me, acting is trying to be real in unreal circumstances. It’s our job to be able to be real when the circumstances are anything but, so I approach it as plain pretend,” Scott points out. Of course, like any other profession, you have to know the nomenclature. You must possess the skill, the process of freeing one’s talents up in the moment, techniques of breathing, and getting out of your own way. All of which takes time, study, and practice.
Muskoka Creative Arts Studio will also provide a Full-Service Self-Tape Studio. In-person auditions have been less of a factor in an actor’s business since the pandemic. It is integral, essential, that aspiring actors master taping themselves for prospective roles. MCAS will provide a soundproof studio and training in preparation for this elemental aspect of the vocation.
Before moving to Huntsville four years ago with his family, Edgecombe derived most of his income as a reader – the off-scene actor reading sides (audition pages) with the auditionee for casting directors.
With his co-founder Grant Nickalls, a local Huntsville actor who has managed a long, successful career, Edgecombe will also offer detailed training in professional voice-over workshops. Nickalls, a graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada, continues to earn a number of roles in television advertisements, animation, video games, and audiobooks, with his commanding vocal characteristics. His subdued timbre, seductive throaty enunciation, and sultry tone have given him viable employment when acting roles were sparse. With his personable rugged elegance and graceful demeanour, Grant has acting credits in over twenty-five movies and television series.
As a local radio morning show host, Nickalls is a well-known celebrity. Grant is also a proud ambassador for Huntsville, where he grew up and, in turn, raised his sons and established his family. It is a testament to his skill and uncompromising talent that he has remained in Huntsville. And certainly, he is an inspiration to others who are pursuing a life and profession in the arts.
Edgecombe has accumulated fifty credits in television and movies in his forty years in acting. He has worked in New York City and Los Angeles, where he earned a Double Honours Degree in Child & Adolescent Development and Religious Studies, and he has worked in Toronto. Tall, energetic, fast speaking, brimming with enthusiasm and mirth, and a headful of unruly red hair, Scott possesses an articulate passion for acting, focus, and determined purpose. He is a conversant, effective, proven teacher with a long track record in the performing arts and a welcome addition to Huntsville’s blossoming acting scene.
Scott Edgecombe speaks animatedly to attendees at the official opening of Muskoka Creative Arts Studio.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
Helena Renwick says
Congratulations to both Grant and Scott. The space is a wonderful addition to our community. Thank you to both for allowing visual artists to hang their art on the walls and create a welcoming environment. Loved the tribute wall of work by the late great Billy Mac.