It started out as a project in university when Bobbi-Lee Jones was still trying to find out who she was and what she wanted out of life.

“I realized I was building my identity around what everyone else wanted me to be and I could make a different choice.”

Typecastress is based on Jones’ own life experiences growing up. (Stobbe Photo)

“Growing up I always wanted to be a performer but, after graduating High School, I had it in my head I just couldn’t do that as a career. I took a drama class as an elective and, it reignited the drive to create that I had as a child,” says Jones. “I realized I was building my identity around what everyone else wanted me to be and I could make a different choice.”

That one-act script blossomed into Typecastress a brand-new musical written and composed by Jones. Based on her own life, it tells the story of Nora, an aspiring actress called in for her big audition. In that moment, she’s plagued by self-doubt; the times she was put down, second guessed and pressured to be something she’s not. It’s a story Jones knows intimately.

“If you’ve grown up in a female body, you’ve learned to deal with people looking at you a certain way. The conditioning we all grow up with to listen rather than speak, to base our self-worth on what others think of us,” says Jones. “Typecastress is special because it breaks down the psychology of why women are made to feel small, why it’s still happening in an age where we have much more agency.”

The musical has been developed through a series of lucky breaks and incredible community support. Jones was working as a waitress and met Alex Fallon, a fellow writer and the president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Regional Economic Development Authority. The pair shared what they were each working on, and Fallon pledged to help bring her musical to the masses. Local audio engineer tBone helped Jones out in university and rejoined her as soundtrack producer and Jones’ vocal coach Anastasia Winterhalt jumped at the chance to support her student’s dream as music director.

“When I read the script, I understood all of it. I see the same struggles I had growing up.”

Winterhalt says this musical speaks to the universal experience of being a woman. (Photo Provided)

“It’s been so exciting to watch Bobbi-Lee step into her own, having a dream and bringing it to life,” says Winterhalt. “This is a personal story but, when I read the script, I understood all of it. I see the same struggles I had growing up, that my mom had and that women before her had as well. The facts may be different but the experience of being a woman is the same.”

This project is a double bill. Typecastress – the film will screen at the Roxy Theatre March 11th. The cast reassembles for a live, reimagined show on the BackStage Stage at the Remai Arts Centre. Jones, who will play Nora in the live show, says the entire experience has been life affirming and she hopes others will find strength in the shows message.

“This is my own expression of feminism,” she explains. “I want anyone that presents as a woman to be fearless, to be who they truly are rather than worry about fulfilling anyone else’s expectations.”