For years Jenn Campbell walked into Daylesford, looked around to see what needed to be done – and did it. On the stage, backstage, in the wings, behind the bar; BMDS members started to count on her to make things happen. Last month they decided to show just how much they appreciated her efforts.

At the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society annual general meeting, Ms Campbell was brought to tears when she was presented with the Stella Halsall Award for her contributions to Bermuda’s performing arts scene.

The award, a silver plate mounted on a cedar base, is one of the society’s most prestigious accolades, named in honour of one of its founding members. It was last presented in 2015 to Janice Howell, BMDS’s long-serving stage manager, upon her departure from the island after 30 years.

While volunteering with BMDS is necessary to be considered for the award, individuals must also contribute to the wider community.

In Ms Campbell’s case, the years she devoted to the Canadian Association of Bermuda, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Meals on Wheels, and other charitable organisations, were all considered.

“I will say that I was suspicious of something,” she said of the surprise presentation at the theatrical group’s AGM.

Kim Day had seemed overly interested in whether she was to attend, and whether she had paid the annual membership dues.

Once confirmed, she got a distinct sense of relief from the BMDS president and couldn’t help but wonder why.

“I’d said I was stepping back from a few things, just because it was time. I’d been doing the bar rota for so long; I produced, I think, something like three out of five shows last year. I just needed to take a little bit of a step back and let someone else step up and learn how to do it,” Ms Campbell said.

With that in mind she thought that the BMDS executive might use the AGM as an opportunity to “say a few nice things” and thank her for her years of service. She quickly surmised it was much more than that.

“I burst into tears,” she said. “Because it is a really big honour. Some of the other people that have won this award have been incredibly amazing people who have done a lot for the society – Adrian Lee-Emery is one of them, Carol Birch, Janice Howell, Barbara Jones – a lot of the names that you've heard over and over and over again coming out of BMDS. So it's a distinguished club to be in, and I'm very, very proud of it.”

Ms Campbell arrived here in 2001, recruited from Canada to work at an advertising firm. Although she’d spent seven years singing in a band at private events ― weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, birthday parties, and the like ― her theatre experience was limited to a few high school performances.

“I lived in Toronto for just about nine years and the community theatre was full of out of work actors. These were people who wanted to be real actors, who did commercials and TV and movies, and when they didn't have work they would keep themselves busy exercising their talent in the community theatre.

“So the competition was really fierce, which was one of the reasons why I didn't bother doing any community theatre in Toronto, because I thought there's no way I'm gonna get in; there are way more talented people than me.”

In Bermuda she developed what she now thinks was likely “an incredibly annoying habit” of singing as she walked down the office hallways.

A co-worker put an audition notice for an upcoming musical on her desk. Ms Campbell took it as a “subtle hint” that she should sing elsewhere, and tried out.

“I got a part in the chorus with two lines and I caught the bug. It was a wonderful group of people. I was relatively new to the island and I made some fast friends. I really, really enjoyed the process.”

She tried out again in 2002 and was cast as a courtesan in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

“I've been involved pretty much steadily ever since,” she said.

Much as she enjoyed being on stage, there were times she couldn’t take part ― some roles weren’t the right fit, or she auditioned and someone else was chosen. The theatre community welcomed her at every turn.

“I thought, ‘Well, if I'm not going to be on stage, I'll work the bar or I'll do the box office or I'll do something backstage’.’ And because BMDS is so volunteer-driven, you need the bodies and the hands to be able to pull off a show. It's not all about being on stage. There’s a lot of help that's required,” she said.

Although Ms Campbell has been on stage countless times, she has only once directed; producing has taken up much of her time. Her first attempt was a pantomime directed by Jo Shane.

“Producing is very much like what I was doing for a living ― it's project management. I worked in advertising and client services, which is all about making things happen for the client. The client or director says, 'I want this’, and as client services or producer, you do whatever you can to make it happen,” she said.

“So the ‘jobs’ were quite similar. It's a lot about putting out fires, about damage control, and I was familiar enough with the process of taking direction from someone and then just getting it done.”

She learnt a lot by making mistakes and asking for help. “I think I've produced 20-plus productions over the last 23 years.”

Twenty years ago, without a family to care for, it didn’t matter if she stayed at Daylesford until 10pm, rose early the next day for her full-time job, and then jumped back on the hamster wheel.

“I do look at people now, who have really full lives and still manage to make it to rehearsal and do performances, and I'm pretty amazed at them,” she said.

As for the future, Ms Campbell has no intention of leaving BMDS completely.

“I'm still a trustee for the Charitable Trust. They’re auditioning for [an upcoming show] and the producer had some questions. I’ll always be there to help.

“What I want to do now is share that experience of the last 20-plus years of producing, especially, so that other people can know how to do that. It’s a very important role and it's a big role and there are people who are out there who want to do it but don't quite know how to start.”

• For more information on the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society visit www.bmds.bm