The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

WHILE she has always had an interest in acting and theatre, taking the stage for the first time sealed the deal for Bahamian actress Chrystall Bethell, who has recently starred in an Off-Broadway play. Now, the Nassau native, who has worked on local productions and American commercials, is pursuing a long-time professional career in acting.

The opportunity to work in a James Catalyn and Friends production back in 2001 after graduating high school gave Chrystall her first taste of the art and what it felt like to be on stage.

“I always had an interest in it, but I had a slight fear to go into it wholeheartedly and seriously as a career. Finally, when I went away to school to study psychology, I had a few friends that were in theatre and I became more encouraged and motivated to pursue it even more seriously. I later received my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Columbus State University in 2006,” Chrystall told Tribune Arts and Entertainment.

Living in Atlanta, Georgia for several years, Chrystall said she was able to visit movie sets for films like Tyler Perry’s “Daddy’s Little Girls” and do some stand-in work to get a feel for the craft.

She said this is where she got a taste of what set life is like.

“When they did things like the ‘Ugly Betty’ movie here in Nassau I was on set for that as a featured extra. I continued doing more and when I came back to Nassau in 2008 I was in the pageant world for a bit. I won Miss Bahamas Beauty of the World and Top Model of the Bahamas. I had an opportunity to travel to places like China and Germany,” she said.

Even though these were not forays into the arts as such, Chrystall said the experience still groomed and prepared her for the industry. She continued with theatre and was convinced at that point that there was no way she could work in any other field.

“I wanted to fine-tune my skills, so I decided to go and pursue my Master of Fine Arts degree from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York. It is one of the top programmes in the United States for acting and theatre. I graduated from there last year,” she said.

“Acting became fun for me and I knew that I wasn’t the business type girl to do the nine-to-five. I didn’t want to study accounts or be a lawyer like some of my friends were doing, but I just knew I wanted to do something more on the creative side. The more I dived into it I realised that this work is serious and it also is giving back to the community and people who really come to enjoy this work and appreciate it.”

Working as an actor, Chrystall said she realised that she was giving back more than she ever imagined.
“Yeah we have fun on stage, but when you really want to portray someone else’s life and tell that story, you really have to be believable and be committed to that part. Those are some of the things I really started to embrace and take more seriously,” Chrystall said.

In the summer of 2010, Chrystall directed a James Catalyn play called “My People, Other People’s Business”. She also starred in the production as Victoria. She later worked on a show called “I Remember That”, also a James Catalyn production. She worked on Shakespeare in Paradise’s “Tempest” play and did voice-over work for BTC.

“Most recently, I did my first Off-Broadway production in New York which was a play called ‘All My Struggles’ by Monique Lisa Riley. That was the first theatrical production I did over there since graduating. I have been constantly busy doing various commercials in New York. I have done print advertisement for Bank of America, Kyocera cell phones; I booked my first commercial for that company literally a week after graduation. It was for their new waterproof phone. I also booked work for PC Richard & Son, Law.com, Optimum Cable Company and many more,” said Chrystall.

In the future, she said wants to play roles of historical characters, action or superheroes, and characters with mental or physical disabilities, as she finds these characters to be challenging and telling their stories well worth telling.

“This is my career and this is what I am going to be doing for the rest of my life. I would like to be able to do workshops in the Bahamas one day,” said Chrystall.

For more information and up-to-date news on Chrystall, visit on to her website, www.ChrystalBethell.com.