It’s not often as a theatre director you sense a star in your midst.

American director Albert Cremin once spotted greatness while working with a 17-year-old Matt Damon in a theatre production of The Visit.

He noticed it again recently while auditioning local songstress Samantha Smith.

Ms Smith was trying out for a role in the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society’s production of Sister Act, running from May 27 to June 6.

Just eight bars into the song he knew had found his leading lady.

“I told the cast the other day ‘Boy did I make the right choice’ because she was so outstanding in rehearsals,” he said.

“She has the most lines and songs, yet is spot on and brings the whole cast with her. She really is the pied piper of the show. She raises the bar.

“She has to be funny, dramatic, romantic and endearing — that’s what this role requires. The audience is going to fall in love with her.”

BMDS is putting on the production of Sister Act as part of its 70th Anniversary celebration.

It’s described as a feel-good musical comedy, based on the smash hit 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg.

It features a multi-talented local cast; Mr Cremin said he was excited to bring it to the Daylesford Theatre stage.

“Every director interprets a show differently,” Mr Cremin explained. “The goal is to stay true to the playwright and be true to your audience. And in my interpretation of the show I felt like it could be a little bit tacky and the romance between Eddy and Dolores on Broadway there was a certain level of uncomfortableness in dealing with them seriously as romantic leads.

“The show has so much comedy so I thought to avoid the charm of the romance within the story was doing the play a mis-service.”

Jon Brunson proved to be the perfect actor for the part. He and Ms Smith have a lot of chemistry on stage.

“Their romance is precious, so the audience should be in the middle of laughing at the comedy of it and then every now and then get caught up in the romance of ‘boy meets girl, boy loses girl and boy gets girl back’. That’s the recipe for a great American musical.”

Mr Cremin has been in the business for a long time. He began singing at age three and soon after got his first solo singing performance in a school play.

“It was a school musical variety show for the older class mates and I went down to the teacher running it,” he said. “I was four years old and in kindergarten and I told her ‘I want to be in the show’.

“She told me it was only for the older kids and I cried my heart out.

“My mom was always my biggest supporter and she went down to the school and asked for me to be in the play. I ended up singing the solo number and got a standing ovation. Needless to say I was hooked at a very early age.”

He pursued the performing arts all throughout high school and went on to major in it at Emerson College in Boston.

“I really absorbed everything that college had to offer and when I graduated in 1973 I received the Carol Burnett Award for the performing arts.

“That was only given to a person who they felt was most likely to succeed in show business. And since I graduated with Jay Leno I think they maybe mis-stepped a little on that one. Of course I’ve had my own level of success, but [former late night show host] Jay Leno is so famous.”

Mr Cremin’s first job out of graduate school was running the theatre department of a state college in Massachusetts. He was just 22-years-old at the time.

Then later on while working for Cambridge Public Schools he had his real claim to fame — teaching the likes of Hollywood actors Matt Damon and Ben and Casey Affleck.

“I cast Matt Damon as the lead Anton Schell in Broadway play, The Visit. Ben Affleck as another leading role and Casey was an assistant to the director. All those kids did very well. And when you consider their careers it wasn’t much longer until they became well known for Good Will Hunting.”

Mr Cremin admitted he’s very proud of his work.

“As a director and acting teacher you are probably the least recognised person in live theatre,” he said.

“It’s very known in the general population that the film director is an important person, but most people don’t know what those people do, so you don’t do it for the recognition.

“You really have to like what you do.

“You get wonderful feedback from the actors you work with and that’s the greatest gratification and to see them go on and succeed is very rewarding as well.”

Tickets, $45, are available online at ptix.bm.