Richard Lush

Performing at a High Level
By Larry Resnitzky

Some people dream about becoming professional football players, others dream about a life in the theatrical world. Rarely does one person dream about both, and it’s even more rare to find success in both worlds at the same time. Enter stage right, Richard Pellissier-Lush.
In Junior High, Richard was 5’4” small, 170 pounds and not much interested in football. Some would have said he was chubby. At the same time, his mom Julie had been a student of Theatre Arts at university, and Richard naturally began to angle towards theatre.
Then Richard and his family moved back to PEI from Manitoba. And suddenly, the little chubby kid had one big growth spurt —all the way up to 6’ and 200 pounds.
“All of a sudden I could play football,” he said. And his theatre interest dropped a little bit, but just a little bit.
If you happen to be in Winnipeg during the Varsity Football season, check out the University of Manitoba Bisons’ number 47. The Kinesiology and Recreation Management major is a defensive stalwart at the tough linebacker position. It’s hard to imagine such a pleasant guy like Richard playing such a body crunching position, but he does. And he does it well.
If you happened to be in Charlottetown this past summer, you may have seen Richard dancing and singing across the outdoor stage in front of hundreds of appreciative people. He was a key member of the cast of the Confederation Centre Young Company which performed outdoors just adjacent to where the Fathers of Confederation met in 1864 to chart the course for the birth of Canada. The talented troupe celebrated Prince Edward Island’s history in a 40-minute daily production called Abegweit—The Soul of the Island.
To make this theatre “team”, candidates had to be between 16 and 23 years of age. They had to be students planning to return to school or university in the fall of 2009. In the audition for the role, Richard had to meet or surpass the standard for three disciplines: Acting, Dancing and Singing. Chalk up another success for Richard.
This guy has lots of talent, as did the entire cast. I know—I saw the show. It was great and so was Richard.
The audience that day just loved the show. What a great step for Richard, if he wants to take it en route to a career in the theatre or film world.
The football and theatre combo has really worked well for Richard.
“They both help me in different ways,” he mentioned. “The theatre makes me more outgoing, makes me talk to more people, makes me get more friends on the team. The football makes me more aggressive and makes me read people,” like he’s learned to read plays and players in football. The end result is a very balanced person on and off the stage and field of play.
With Richard a mere 20 years young, his intense commitment to his passions augers well for his future.
Beginning this second semester of his second year at the University of Manitoba, he’s landed a main role in a mainstage play on campus. Over 100 people auditioned, and only three were cast in main roles. Richard was one of the three. In football “speak”, you might say this was another “quarterback sack for the middle linebacker”.
Richard is looking forward to the play called Milo. “It’s a really funny play,” he said, but the character he’s playing is mean to his wife. That’s a real character switch for Richard, who even on the football field is a really nice guy and a good sport. Memorizing many lines for a lead part and learning the plays that football teams run have much in common. You’ve got to have a good mind for both. Milo will see the stage in early February at the Black Hole Theatre at the University of Manitoba.
Richard has friends in both “camps”. His football friends are “crazy football head guys—go smash people,” Richard pointed out. His drama friends are “so outgoing—they’re funny; they make me laugh all the time,” he chuckled.
Clearly, “it’s a lot of fun to have such different categories of friends,” Richard added.
Do his football buddies know about his love of the theatre at the University of Manitoba? He laughed when he told me, “A lot of them really don’t know that I’m in theatre. When this play comes out, there might be a few chirps on the sidelines.” That won’t bother Richard though. He has a special inner strength that helps him adjust to what jocks refer to as “trash talk”.
Like many young people, Richard has many dreams. Of course, a career in the Canadian Football League and becoming a professional actor are high on his wish list. He’s also thought of becoming a member of the R.C.M.P. and a personal trainer. His dad Rick would like him to focus on one thing, if that’s possible.
Richard, right now, just wants to be sure that he can be a positive role model for Aboriginal kids, black kids, white kids—all kids.
Whatever path Richard takes, his commitment to excellence, his competitive nature, and his talent, will likely help him to be that positive role model throughout his adult years.