It seems like actors with ties to Alberta continue to make waves. Recently Aaron Walpole, who has spent much time in Calgary came to town with Les Miserables. Last year local boy Michael Lomenda hit the Jubilee Auditorium stage in Jersey Boys.

Now we can add Calgary born Caden Douglas to that list. Douglas, along with Edmonton’s Dayna Tietzen will be the latest Albertans to be part of a major national tour. War Horse runs in Calgary September 10th to 15th and Edmonton September 17th to 22nd. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.

"I think it is pretty incredible. If you are part of the arts community anywhere in the country Alberta artists have a very strong representation. The theatre scene in Calgary is thriving, there are a lot of Alberta artists in Toronto where I have been for the last 10 years," Douglas said of the Alberta connection. "It shows what great programs and opportunity for growth exist in Alberta and I think that is really important. ...Of the Albertans that I have worked with in my career, we are from hearty stock out west and we are all hard workers and really talented and we all had such great opportunities growing up there it has allowed us to be very successful. I am grateful for that opportunity."

Douglas will be on the road for a year with the show.  Having friends who have done similar tours has helped prepare him for the highs and lows of life on the road.

"I’ve had friends who did tours of Hairspray and Mamma Mia. I work with people that I have learned were in the shows that I saw at the Jubilee when I was a kid and I am working with them as an adult. I got some really good advice on how to pack. I’ve been told to be open to the experience and what I will get to see and do in places that maybe I wouldn’t have been to otherwise. I am really looking forward to coming home to Calgary, that was a big selling part for me. I am really excited to go to New Orleans, I have never been there before. We get to visit parts of Texas and skip the winter which I am really excited about, we have 4 or 6 weeks in Florida right in February. Then we get to go to Japan at the end of the tour for five weeks which is really exciting. I never thought I would get to visit there but we get to go to Tokyo to do the show. It is in English, but it will be like in Opera sometime where a ticker tape runs across in Japanese. Everyone talks about how great it is to share the work you are doing to places where audiences are really appreciative. We had our first show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and the energy that was coming from the audience was really strong. Sometimes you get a standing ovation where the energy is so palpable and the audience is so appreciative that it is something very special. That night the audience was really grateful and appreciative and that people are excited about the work. A lot of people haven’t seen anything even remotely like War Horse before so they are really excited about it."

War Horse as revived rave reviews and accolades including the 2011 Tony Award for best play. Douglas first experienced War Horse during the Toronto run in 2012 where he had a different role, as the puppeteer of the back end of Joey the horse.

"It was pretty straightforward. My agent told me I had an audition for War Horse in Toronto and I didn’t think there was much in it for me so I was kind of surprised. I auditioned for one of the horses which was a pretty extensive audition. After I got through it I thought, that will be pretty fun for whoever gets to do it not thinking at all that I was going to be getting it. I got a call back and ended up booking the show and played Joey’s hind for the 1 year run. I came down to fill in for a couple of people on the tour last year and in talking to the creative team, [I] am now playing Captain Stewart for the tour this year. After doing a show for the year you end up being really intimate with the work and you know the story that is being collectively told. War Horse is an ensemble piece so everybody is working together to tell the story, so you have a clear understanding of how the whole show works. The transition of playing the horse to Captain Stewart - there were parts that I knew because I had watched it or been a part of it, so it wasn’t as big of a transition as I thought it would be."

Getting to perform as a human is a new challenge and change for Douglas, who, in seeing the horse in action, was as amazed as audiences are.

"I was halfway through rehearsals and I was watching my friend Dayna, who is playing Joey’s hind, in the scene where Joey is learning how to plow. I was just so taken with how beautiful the work is, it was a moment where I was like, I can’t believe I did that for an entire year. It was the hardest thing I’ve done in my career physically. It is definitely a nice change to play someone new. Like anything you learn and grow from every piece of work that you can, but then it gets to a point where it is awesome to work on something new. It has been perfect for me because I had such a wonderful time and learned so much in Toronto but was ready for a different set of challenges when the show closed. To get to do a show I love again with a whole different learning curve has been really exciting."

Regardless whether one is a musician or an actor, there is always something special about "coming home." Having seen many touring shows on the Jubilee Auditorium stage, it is special for Caden to be part of such an incredible show on the stage in front of friends, family and Calgarians.  The potential to influence others toward an acting career much like he was, inspires him on stage.

"I was just talking about this last night with some friends. Being kids... some of our very first experiences at the theatre were at the Jubilee Auditorium. To get to go back as an adult with a show that I love so much and is so beautiful, to get to come back and do it in my hometown in a theatre that was where I was inspired to pursue this as a career is really exciting. There were people in Calgary who were hugely influential in my growth and choice of career. Some were strangers I saw on stage and some were people that encouraged me growing up. The thought of potentially being a point of inspiration to somebody to pursue this is a pretty incredible thing. It makes me a bit emotional as it is coming full circle and I feel so blessed to get to do this show in Calgary."

War Horse is a powerful piece of theatre blending puppetry with live actors that is like nothing else. In speaking to Douglas, the passion and love for the show comes through.

"It is a beautiful story about a boy and his horse, and the bond they have. They are separated by the first world war and experience the war in different ways and grow from it. Albert, who is Joey’s owner, searches for him the whole war. Ultimately it is a story of hope and how, in the worst most brutal situations, the human spirit can overcome and the best of us is revealed. It is a really important piece and I think it is really moving. Calgary is a horse city and I think that bond is pretty strong. It is a beautiful and uplifting show and there is nothing like it that has existed before."