John Robert McGie

A proud Canadian, John's father was John (known as "Jack") McGie and his mother was the former Angela Gill. Though born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, John's family moved and he was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a youth, his father taught him sailing. When he became a young man, he expressed a desire to become a priest but later changed his mind. However, he would volunteer and work with troubled youth. He also worked as a youth counselor for an agency contracted by Children and Family Services. He would also help establish "The Nepal House Society," a non-profit organization whose aim is to provide therapeutic support to the children of Nepal. John showed an early interest in songwriting and has written over a hundred songs. One request to write lyrics for a song turned into a challenge to write a stage play. The piece was entered in a festival and it won "Best Play" in a competition. John's second stage play required a cast of 30 players, ranging in ages 6 to 65, songs with original lyrics sung in Latin, an opera singer, and a semi-truck parked in the alley outside the theater for sound effects, There was also a Santa character, musical and dance segments, and a set that imploded. "Foreign Affairs Canada" sent John to the "Edinburgh Fringe Festival" in Scotland where a Canadian cast, alongside additional performers from the U.K., performed two of John's works. John has written and staged a full-length musical. John is regularly heard on Vancouver Co-Op Radio as a guest host and contributor. Neil Freeman, a Shakespeare authority and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing, University of British Columbia called John "...a once in a lifetime voice". Some of the awards John has received are "Best Usage of Audio and Visual Design", "Excellence in Theatre Creation", "Significant Artistic Achievement, Original Script and Visual Concept" and "Best Film in a Theatre Festival". By the early 2000s, John focused on "The Chair Series" for which he has written over 300 monologues. One of the Chair Series monologues, "The Christmas Red Eye," was made into a short film "Red Eye" which screened at the Cannes Film Festival. He was nominated for a "Leo Award" as a co-writer for "best screenplay" for the film.