Community Theater Chief Switches Hats

The founder and director of the Barrington Community Theatre has changed hats.

Joel Hellmann, who has operated the community theater for 10 years, is the new theatrical agent for the Rhode Island Modeling Agency. He is already sending out actors for movie, TV, voice-over and commercial auditions.

"I am very excited to take on this new job," Hellmann said. "I have always wanted to be an agent. I tend to do things in a big way. I expect I will be able to get a lot of actors work. I will concentrate on actors who are in RIMA's workshops and, of course, actors who are doing Barrington Community Theatre.”

"This was a perfect fit," said Sharon McCarthy of Barrington, president of RIMA. "We have been doing so well in our modeling business right now, and we have picked up large acting accounts, so having Joel on board has really helped. He has already had over a dozen actors get jobs, and very well paying, union-level paying jobs. Several of these actors are Barrington residents"

Hellmann will also conduct the six-week acting workshop “on how to get a job,” he said.

The culmination will be a showcase of monologues and scene work to be presented twice a year in front of RIMA's professional clients who cast commercials and TV, he said.

The first workshop begins Jan. 21. It will be limited to 14 actors to maximize personal attention, he said. This class is only for students who are looking to get professional acting work.

As the community theater director, Hellmann said, he directed and produced more than 500 different plays with more than 1,000 students. His last play, "It's a Wonderful Life," will be performed at the Barrington library auditorium on the weekends of Dec. 9-10 and 16-17.

“My heart will always be in Barrington Community Theatre,” he said. “I plan to go to all the Barrington Community Theatre auditions and to adjudicate the Barrington Community Theatre plays to be on the lookout for talent I can use.

“After looking for acting work for ten years in L.A., I have to tell you it feels great getting people real high-paying acting jobs. The difference between going to an audition by yourself and going into an audition as an actor, agent-submitted, is huge. This job is going to be a lot of fun."

Reid Eighme, a long-time staff member at the community theater and a director in training over the past year, will be taking over as its executive director in January, Hellmann said.  He will stay on as a consultant.

For more information about RIMA's acting workshop, contact Hellmann at 433-2323.