After nearly 20 years of rejections, Julie Ringuette finally landed a lead role in a musical.
Like you should never say never.
“I have been auditioning for all the musicals every summer since I graduated in 2005; I was told ‘no’ for 18 years,” says Julie Ringuette, with a hint of relief, who will take the stage in the role of Dawn during the French-language world premiere of the play Waitress in Montreal.
“This role reflects all my perseverance and hard work, even better if it can inspire others.”
“I went to the hairdresser or the beautician”
Julie Ringuette has been working her way through show business in Quebec for around ten years, but she almost went back to school before landing a job on the series 30 Vies in the early 2010s.
“For the first six or seven years, before I came forward, I was rejected everywhere, both on television and in the theater. I told myself I needed to retrain in something else,” she recalls. “I was enrolled in the DEP for Aesthetics right before I got the role in 30 Lives.”
Even after making a name for herself as a television actress and host, Julie Ringuette continued to bang her nose against the musical theater door.
“It became a running joke,” she remembers with a laugh. “I could meet Joël Legendre and say to him: ‘I know you will say no to me, but here is what I have prepared’.”
Convince Broadway
Ultimately, it wasn’t a Quebec production team that put their trust in Julie Ringuette, but rather the members of the original Broadway production who traveled to the auditions.
“They wanted it to be an exact replica of the play that played on Broadway,” says the next Dawn. “I was so nervous that my knees were literally clicking together; They finally saw that I had the talent and, more importantly, the desire.”
The musical Waitress was performed in the New York City Theater District from 2016 to 2020. Just for Laughs will produce the French-language version of the piece, but the direction and choreography will remain the originals of Diane Paulus and Lorin Latarro.
In this stage adaptation of the 2007 film Waitress, Julie Ringuette will complete a trio of friends with Marie-Ève Janvier, who will headline with her character Jenna, and Sharon James, who will play Becky.
Waitress follows the adventures of a young pregnant pastry chef caught up in an unhealthy relationship and trying to find a way to rebuild her life.
The piece will be presented in Montreal from June 22nd and in Quebec City from August 10th.