High School Memories: Keanu & Brenda Mention

I have a fond memory of our grade 12 play in Miss Yarmouth’s class. It was the year-end play for our exam in the large group room 1981. A girlfriend of mine who had left Monarch in grade 10 (Brenda Davis) to attend The Toronto School of Performing Arts was coming to watch me perform with a good friend of hers, a fellow TSPA student. We were putting on “The Trysting Place” by Mary Balogh.

They sat in the front row to the left. My character was an elderly woman in a wheelchair (office chair on wheels, lol). At the time I was a big fan of Carol Burnett’s old woman character so I thought I would incorporate a few of her characteristics into my performance. Somehow my character had managed to almost swallow her own dangly earring as the actor behind me whacked my back a little as I pretended to choke. Baby powder from my white wig filled the air, the earring popped out of my mouth. My friend Brenda Davis and her friend burst out into laughter. I loved that moment. Her friend was Keanu Reeves!

They are still friends to this day and she accompanied him to the Academy Awards several years back. They were in People magazine!