by MATTHEW HAYS

Joseph Gallaccio stops in his hometown of Montreal every now and then for a breather. The busy actor and painter has found steady work on stage, but, as expected for actors in this country, that means a great deal of time on the road at regional theatres.

"It's been a fantastic year with lots of work," says Gallaccio, of his seven-play schedule over the past 12 months. The downside? "You tend to get pegged in this business. The fact that I've had so much stage work has meant I didn't have time to audition for movie and TV roles. And after a while, they tend to assume that you're only interested in doing stage work."

That's about to change for Gallaccio, who has landed a film role that allows him to combine his stage expertise with the big screen. Halifax-based director Paul Kimball has cast Gallaccio in the lead role in Macbeth, which will be in principal shooting as of press time. "This is a great way for me to try a hand at filmmaking," says Gallaccio. Shooting was slated to begin in November but then the hurricane hit. Now, however, some of the destroyed trees and damaged buildings will come in handy, as this production of Macbeth will be filmed Mad Max style; it's set in a Halifax of the distant, post-apocalyptic future after a couple of world wars.

Gallaccio has also landed the lead role in Arthur Miller's After the Fall, the playwright's reflection on his life with Marilyn Monroe, which will open on a Toronto stage in March. Then it's back to a production of Mambo Italiano in Ottawa, where Gallaccio will reprise his role as Nino, the character he brought to life three times in the hugely successful Centaur productions (the last of which was remounted in Toronto in a Mirvish Bros. production). "I suppose it is a bit like Groundhog Day, tackling Mambo once more," Gallaccio admits. "But I'm assured this production's going to be a bit different, so it'll allow me to explore the character from a different angle."

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