Bermudian actor Daren Herbert has been bestowed special recognition in the Toronto Theatre Critics Awards for his role in an edgy jazz age musical The Wild Party.

At present caught up in a one-man musical in Barre that concludes this weekend, Mr Herbert said he had barely had time to read about Wednesday’s awards — in which he took Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Burr, a vaudevillian blackface minstrel ordinarily played by white actors.

“Joanne, my wife, sent me a text to tell me, ‘Baby, you won an award’,” he said.

“We just opened Stop the World, I Want to Get Off. I still honestly haven’t read the articles in their entirety, but it’s always nice to get recognition for your work. It does add a little cachet to my name.”

Mr Herbert will rub shoulders with other artists at the awards ceremony on June 8, at which fellow The Wild Party actor Susan Gilmour will also be commended for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

The lead role was his third one in the show: he played a different character when The Wild Party premiered and was on standby as a covering actor in Vancouver.

“The story is heavy, but it’s a fun show,” Mr Herbert said, calling it “a rough ride but very enjoyable”.

“There’s joy, there’s tragedy — it packs a lot for a two-hour musical. I like something that stirs up a little chaos in people and in my own life.”

Mr Herbert and his wife return to the Island regularly, and he has taken the opportunity to give workshops.

The actor said he looked forward to teaching more: he is a teacher in training with the actress Michèle Lonsdale Smith.

“When I’m not working, I’m studying, and when I’m not studying, I’m teaching,” he said. “I want to teach whenever I get the opportunity. It all depends on this very full schedule.”