Acting and Voice and Movement instructor Michelle Lieffertz plays Canadian pioneer Isabel Askew as she tours people around her picturesque hometown of Chemainus, BC, all summer. Her historical walking tours are so popular that she has become the face of Chemainus, featured on the covers of magazines and representing the town at the Winter Olymics.
To meet demand, Michelle has invited TWU student Julie Casselman to create the role of Isabel's daughter Julia. This summer, both of Askew women will be walking the streets of Chemainus, introducing tourists and locals to a bit of the town's fascinating history.
This is not the first time Michelle has used an entrepreneurial approach to her acting career; while living in London, England, she establshed a successful business visiting schools as a Victorian school marm. For the walking tours, Michelle and Julie researched and wrote their stories and even sewed their own costumes! To learn more about Michelle and Isabel, read the story in the Chemainus Courier or travel to "The Little Town That Did", meet Isabel and Julia, see the murals, and take the tour.