I have been asked "Why such a book?" My reply was simple: "Why not?"
We have, after all, sixty years of history behind us. During that time we have presented over one hundred and twenty major musical shows in thirteen venues. The shows have ranged from light and frothy musical comedies through American blockbusters, full scale concert versions, operettas and grand opera.
Nevertheless we remain an amateur company, of no great cultural importance to the nation. "On the other hand", as Tevye the milkman would say, we have entertained many thousands of people with first class presentations of magnificent shows. We have risen from total obscurity to become acknowledged as one of the foremost companies in the region.
The amateur theatre performs before over twelve million people every year; this is far more than the professional theatre achieves. It is a training ground for professionals and, of course, its doors are always open to those who wish to return from the professional theatre. The Harrow Light Opera Company has had many members who have either gone on to, or returned from, the world of professional theatre. It still has several among its current membership. They have all helped us to achieve the very highest standards.
In the course of achieving this we have had many experiences, some humorous, some dramatic, some touching; some exhilarating, some verging on the disastrous. I believe that it is well worth recording these before the memory of them is dimmed and lost for good. In doing so I also acknowledge the great debt we owe to the founder and early members and to all those others who have put in so much time and effort over the sixty years, to keep the Company alive and afloat. I am very conscious that many of the anecdotes concern myself. This is not to give myself undue prominence but simply because these are the ones I know about.
I hope that readers will find this book not only interesting and informative but also entertaining. In saying this I am only too well aware that it is never possible to completely satisfy or please everybody. I am quite certain that there will be readers who are not satisfied with the way their role has been treated or described; some will wish that they had been given greater prominence. There will be some, without doubt, that have not been mentioned by name and who think they should have been. All I can do now is to apologise to everyone in advance and to mention the one hundred and twenty programmes, the innumerable press cuttings, the mountains of minutes and correspondence, the albums of photographs and publicity material from which I have gleaned material for the book. It has not been my intention to write anyone's biography or to compile a catalogue although there are, inevitably, elements of both in this history. Rather it has been my intention to record, inform and entertain.
This book has been written primarily for members past and present but I hope that friends and relations might also read it and form an appreciation for the work that goes on behind the scenes as much as for what they see and hear on stage. I am very appreciative of the assistance I received from Angela Brown. Not only did she go through the typescript with a fine tooth comb no less than three times, finding many literal mistakes but she also made some very helpful observations and suggestions.
Maurice Ray
It is probably true to say that our Company owes its existence directly to the second world war! During that period many professional artistes were called up to serve in the armed forces or in ENSA, the entertainment organisation for all armed services. This left gaps in the ranks of players available for the professional theatre. Locally a band of amateur enthusiasts was formed to help fill these gaps in local theatres such as the Coliseum and the Granada (a cinema which occasionally included live presentations in its programmes), both in central Harrow.
To begin with these enthusiasts provided chorus and small part players to such touring Companies as the Carl Rosa and D'Oyley Carte. In a Harrow Coliseum programme for a 1942 presentation of Merrie England we find the names of John Engleman, Ralph Satch, William Kenhope, Charlotte Morgan, Peter Haynes, Mrs. D.Davis and Mr. C.H.Davis. All these names were eventually associated with the Harrow Light Opera Company, some for a considerable time. The group also augmented those few amateur groups which managed to keep going. Two further such players were Renee Forder and Cyril Rogers, for many years members of our Company.
From this situation it was but a short step to stage their own presentations of such shows as The Mikado, The Vagabond King and Merrie England. When the Coliseum staged a pantomime, The Sleeping Beauty, with professionals playing the leading roles, this group of amateurs was called in to provide the chorus. They were also called in by the Granada to provide chorus for yet another production of Merrie England.
All of this was, of course, going on whilst the war was still on. It was, however, beginning to draw to a close and this prompted some of the group to consider their future. The band of players had gained considerable experience, not only of performing in but also of staging major shows. They realised that they had a wealth of talent between them. Surely this was not to be wasted or frittered away!
One of these men, William J. Kenhope (known to all of us as 'Ken'), conceived the idea of a Light Opera Company with the name of 'The Corinthians'. On October 10th. 1944 he wrote to another of the group, C.H. (Ross) Davis, setting up a meeting to attempt to form this Company. His letter even carried the name and logo of the proposed new Company. The meeting was duly held at the Greenhill Crescent Schools (on Station Road, close to where the main post office now stands, in central Harrow), on October 16th., 1944.
There was a good attendance by the casts of The Mikado, Merrie England and The Vagabond King productions and, after some discussion, the decision was taken to go ahead with the idea and to present, as the new Company's first show, the famous Daly Theatre production of The Geisha with Elsie Rendell as producer. Another letter followed from Ken to Ross, dated 27th. October 1944; it made arrangements for the first ever rehearsal of the Corinthian Light Opera Company.
On Monday, October 30th. 1944, this first rehearsal took place. It was due to be held at Bridge Schools, in Station Road, Wealdstone (now the site of the Civic Centre), but was eventually held in a church hall in Hindes Road, Harrow. However, Bridge Schools became the venue for our rehearsals for many years, until it was pulled down for re-development. This first rehearsal was attended by Ken, Ross, Joe Fuggle (a replacement conductor brought in from Ruislip by Charlotte Morgan as their original one had been unable to undertake the job after all) and eight singers with Mrs. Gladys Satch as their accompanist. From this modest beginning attendance gradually increased as rehearsals progressed in a rather desultory manner. Then, on April 25th. 1945, a general meeting was held. It was decided that, with the war now being concentrated on Japan The Geisha was not the happiest choice of shows.
More importantly, it was decided that the infant Company should be put on a more formal footing. A committee and officers were elected at this meeting. These included W.J. Kenhope as Chairman, Joe Fuggle as Musical Director, Ross Davis as General Secretary, John Howard as Treasurer. Charlotte Morgan, Dorothy Davis, John Engleman and Harry Pearce were also elected as members of our first committee. We were pleased to have, as our first President, the proprietor of the Coliseum Theatre, Alfred Denville. In addition, as one of our Vice Presidents, we were honoured to have the famous actor Leslie Henson, who then lived in this area. Leslie, however, never performed with us.
At subsequent committee meetings a constitution and draft rules were drawn up for consideration by the members. On June 12th., these were duly approved with one important amendment; the name of the Company was changed to The Harrow Light Opera Company. At this same meeting it was decided to present Rose Marie in the autumn of that year. There were only six paid up members at that point: W.J. Kenhope, C.H. Ross-Davis, J.A.Fuggle, Charlotte Morgan, Arthur Guy and Fred Bishop These could truly claim to be the original founder members of the Harrow Light Opera Company although there were also several 'honorary' members.
The committee (mainly Ken) negotiated with the management of the Coliseum Theatre to allow us to present our shows on their stage commencing with our first presentation, Rose Marie. This negotiation was not as simple as it sounds. Alfred Denville (the theatre proprietor and our President) had agreed to our putting on our shows but proved vague when pressed for an actual date. Ken obtained vacant dates from the box office and approval from the General Manager, a Mister Pickering but final approval was still needed from the proprietor.
It was Alfred Denville's habit to spend time each evening in the lounge bar of the Coliseum. Ken developed the same habit, becoming a frequent visitor but could never nail the proprietor down to a specific date. Time wore on. The booking of scenery, costumes and the performing rights became urgent. At last the deadline arrived without that vital date having been secured. Ken and Ross attended the theatre to find Alfred Denville deep in conversation with a small circle of friends.
Not wishing to interrupt they sat nearby and waited. They were taken completely by surprise when Denville left very suddenly, paying them no attention. Ken was convinced they had failed and would have to call off everything. Ross was having none of this. He dashed after Denville, catching up with him as he was about to step into his Rolls Royce. "Is it all right then, for us to present Rose Marie in November 12th week?" "Yes," came the reply. "Fix it up with Pickering." If it had not been for Ross's sudden impulse we might never have performed at the Coliseum, certainly not that year!
This chapter aims to establish the early history of the Company when the major figures arrived and the pattern of performances was established.
Built in 1920 the Coliseum was, for the first nineteen years of its existence, a cinema. It was opened on Monday, October 11th. 1920, with 2000 seats at prices ranging from one shilling and three pence to three shillings and sixpence. This is today's equivalent of 6p to 16p. It was designed to provide a luxury family treat and this it certainly did.
Blue curtains and carpets; carved plaster work in buff, blue and gold; an American style soda fountain; a British vacuum cleaner (a real technical innovation in those days) and twin domes which were floodlit landmarks. The house tabs of red plush heavily ornamented with gold trimmings were from the famous Gaiety Theatre in the Strand.
Its first presentation was Alf's Button with Leslie Henson and Heart of the Hills with Mary Pickford. This was followed by a succession of famous and not so famous films. However, successful as the venture undoubtedly was, fashions change and the cinema was open only for the period between the two world wars. In July 1939 the last film was shown and the Coliseum changed hands. Its new owner, Justice of the Peace, Alfred Denville, bought it with the aim of providing a home for good plays, opera and ballet. Fortunately the building had a good sized stage and he was able to realise his ambition. His theatre became a venue for touring Companies and for a repertory Company run by his nephew, Barry Denville. Pre-West End runs were also frequently staged at the Coliseum.
This went on until 1944 when events took a different turn. This was the year of the foundation of the Harrow Light Opera Company and, as explained in the preceding chapter, we had successfully negotiated with Denville to allow us to present major shows in the theatre; but there were conditions attached to this agreement.
By now the theatre had a reputation for staging first class shows and Alfred Denville was not about to allow an amateur Company to jeopardise this. There was no way in which 'amateurish' productions would ever find their way onto the Coliseum stage. It was a condition of our performance that the Company was as nearly professional as possible! Alfred Denville insisted that principal parts should be played by professionals as often as possible. On advance publicity only the name "H L Opera Company" could appear, there being no mention of the fact that we were largely amateur. Nowadays, of course, we are not allowed to present copyright material unless we declare that we are an amateur Company!
Whilst these negotiations were going on efforts were being made to put together a cast, company and production team. Our business manager was Ken; our stage manager was Peter Haynes and publicity and general organisation was in the hands of Ross Davis. Our two accompanists were Ivy Fennimore Cooper (a relation of the famous author of "The Last of the Mohicans") and Gladys Satch. Joe Fuggle, our musical director, brought with him from Ruislip ten singers to augment our growing Company.
At last serious rehearsals for Rose Marie got underway. Many of them were held on Sunday mornings, on the stage of the Coliseum. With the scenery bay doors wide open at the back of the stage it was often extremely cold and draughty. In addition the working lights were turned down as low as possible to save money, so that rehearsals were conducted in perpetual gloom. One member actually has memories of having to grope his way across the stage, so dim were the lights. Not the most conducive of environments in which to 'give of your best' and certainly not one to inspire much imagination.
The entire production and choreography was in the hands of Miss Eva Callebaut, a producer-choreographer of French extraction. Her fee was 1.5 guineas per rehearsal with a total of only twenty rehearsals for an entire show. Today we have more than double that number of rehearsals. The fee of 1.5 guineas is today's equivalent of £1.57. She was always smart and elegant, showing lace frills when demonstrating a dance step, but definitely a case of the iron hand in a velvet glove. She was present backstage during all performances, dressed as if on her way to a grand ball. However, despite wearing a long evening dress and immaculate white gloves she was always ready to lend a hand on lights, props, tabs, anything and everything else requiring assistance.
Eva Callebaut has been described in many ways ranging from 'pleasant' to 'domineering'; from 'charming' to 'martinet'. However you viewed her there was no denying that she was a personality. Her great forte was in grouping the chorus whilst giving scant attention to directing her principals. During this first show the Company became familiar with her warning, just before curtain up, "Joe's going down," often followed by "so come along duckies." She was referring to the fact that Joe Fuggle, our Musical Director, was making his way to the orchestra pit and therefore it was time that the performers were heading for the stage. This was to become an oft repeated phrase through many shows.
In that first production, of Rose Marie, we suffered the many little difficulties you would expect of a new Company in its first show. For example, the house tabs becoming entangled in a 'camp fire' and the case of the flying false teeth. During the famous Mounties song Ivy Hayes-Miller, playing the title role, was sitting on the shoulders of Ross Davis and Donald Fraser. At one point she was to lift Donald's hat high into the air. Unfortunately the chin strap caught his false teeth and carried them up with it. Picture his hat, with his teeth dangling from them several feet above his head. Eventually they disentangled and fell straight into his cupped hand waiting, waist high, as if they were attached to a piece of elastic. He did not move a muscle. He even managed to replace them without the audience reacting. Needless to say, those on stage found it extremely difficult to keep a straight face.
It was Joe's practice, standing in the orchestra pit with his back to the audience, to chew a toffee. He was under instruction from Alfred Denville to turn and face the audience whilst conducting the national anthem. On one particular evening he had to hastily swallow the remains of his toffee as he turned round. Fleeting as this moment was the sharp eyes of the Theatre proprietor spotted the incident. Joe was reprimanded for chewing during a performance and furthermore informed that, as he would be turning towards the audience, albeit for only a minute or two, he would henceforth have to wear full make up!
The prices of admission to this first show ranged from the equivalent of 7p to 32p. Members were expected to pay for one costume, a cost of approximately 62p! All in all that first show was a remarkable occasion. It demonstrated to the Theatre Management, the Members of the Company and the general public that the H L Opera Company was capable of presenting a first class production on a large scale.
Amongst the cast and company of some 67 performers were names who were to go on to have a long association with the Company. Joe Fuggle who was our Musical Director for many years and then our President until his death at the age of ninety three. Charlotte Morgan, his wife, who played many principal parts for us. June Scott, still a Life Member; Renee Forder who became President of NODA; Olive Hurford who later directed and choreographed for us; William Kenhope, our founder and Chairman; Ross Davis another founder and Company Secretary.
Our next production however, was not to be at the Coliseum. In May 1946 we presented the Gilbert and Sullivan fairy comic opera Iolanthe at the Pinner County School with a total budget of £222. It is almost impossible to imagine that a major musical show could ever have been put on for a total cost of only £222 but this figure included scenery, props, costumes, Director's fee, theatre hire, royalties - everything! The programme records that Alfred Denville had by then become our first President.
A notice requested patrons not to smoke on the school premises and on the back page of the programme were set out the objectives of the Company. In the rather formal language of the day these were stated as:
(1) To provide social and educational recreation whereby
Members may mutually engage in greater appreciation
of Operatic and Dramatic Art.
(2) To foster and cultivate latent vocal and acting ability
of local residents.
(3) To assist local charities, after the formation of a very
modest reserve fund to create greater future activities.
These rather formal words simply meant that we would put on shows using local talent and donate funds to charities when possible. There was a further notice that we had already, during the war years, donated many hundreds of pounds to local and HM Service charities. Interesting advertisements included one for dental repairs for five shillings (25 pence) and ladies permanent waves for thirty shillings (£1.50).
This chapter is headed up "The Coliseum" but in fact we performed twenty-four shows during this early period of which sixteen were at this Theatre. The other eight were at a variety of other venues, namely large school and church halls. To give you an idea of the size of some of these venues our concert version production of Carmen in the spring of 1947 at the Baptist Hall, Harrow, had a cast of ninety-seven and a forty-three piece orchestra!
Our production of Showboat at The Coliseum in 1947 capped that number with over one hundred performers. Owing to a very important football match at the Wealdstone F.C. ground our matinee performance started at a much later hour than usual. This resulted in a very fast moving show with some of the crispest dialogue delivery ever likely to be heard. Even so there was barely twenty minutes between matinee and evening performances.
This show also introduced to the Company Cyril Rogers, who later became our Treasurer for many years, and Kay Lane who remained our accompanist for over twenty-five years. Kay is remembered with a silver cup bearing her name which originally was presented to the member who sold the most tickets in a full year but now annually marks the new member deemed to have made the biggest overall contribution to the Company (in terms of dedication, work and commitment) during his/her first year.
We continued to present huge productions. Hiawatha, in 1948, again at the Baptist Hall, had a cast of ninety-six and a full orchestra. Unusually for an amateur company we presented all three parts of this huge show: Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, The Death of Minnehaha and Hiawatha's Departure - a mammoth undertaking.
By 1948 Alfred Denville (remember that he was both the proprietor of The Coliseum and our President) was objecting to advance bookings being made more than one week before opening night! This is a sobering thought today! He objected because as soon as bookings opened our own Members always bought out the entire Saturday performance leaving not a single ticket for his regular patrons. If only that happened now!! He put his foot down with a very firm hand and the practice had to cease.
February 1949 saw a most unusual event. This was the presentation, by the training section of the Company, of Trial By Jury. What made his unusual was the fact that it was presented twice in one evening to the same audience at the Methodist Church Hall, Wealdstone, by two different casts. The two performances were then judged by Florence Leach who gave casts and audience her decision on which performance had been the best and the reasons for it. The evening was surprisingly successful.
By this time we had been joined by Stanley Downs who was later to become Chairman for many years and Cyril Leeson, a magnificent operatic tenor, who went on to play many principal parts for us. Our accompanist, Kay Lane had been joined by Ivy Bulmer who was later to form the well known Ivy Bulmer Singers. This year saw an amusing incident during New Moon, at the Coliseum. At one point the leading man knocked at the door of the leading lady and asked, in a soft voice, "Can I come in?" A raucous voice from the balcony shattered the quiet of the theatre by yelling, "Go on mate, yer in." It was several moments before the leading man was composed enough to carry on.
In 1950 we presented a Gala Opera Concert at the Harrow Weald County School. It included three long choral works and excerpts from seven operas and five light operas. It ran rather late. At 11.00 o'clock Joe, our Musical Director, pointedly asked the audience if they really wanted to stay to hear The Dances Polovstsiennes. Back came the thunderous demand, "more, more", coupled with enthusiastic applause. It was encouraging to say the least. The printed programme included the announcement that
"The many applications we have received for Membership cannot, unfortunately, be entertained but it might be possible in the future to accommodate a very limited number of young male singers."
It was a different world then. It is interesting to note that the total cost of mounting the concert was £124.13.5. The orchestra accounted for £48 .13.6 and we made a loss of £48.13.11. Without the orchestra the loss would have been only 5 old pence (2p in today's terms).
This was the year, back at the Coliseum for our second presentation of Bitter Sweet, when we were finally allowed to bill ourselves correctly as The Harrow Light Opera Company rather than HL Opera Company. At last the management of the Theatre had acknowledged the excellence of our work, irrespective of what we were called. However, we were still not allowed to mention our amateur status.
So well established were we at the Coliseum by now and so high was our reputation, that Alfred Denville asked us to present a full scale production of Merrie England as his theatre's contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain. In view of his well known view of amateur companies this was indeed a signal honour and we duly presented the show. It was presented twice nightly and three times on Wednesday and Saturday! Truly a demonstration of commitment not to mention stamina and one which it is doubtful could be repeated today. This was the year in which we broke with our established practice of presenting one full scale show a year at the Coliseum and one concert version at another venue.
This show saw one of those amusing incidents which stick in the mind, simple as it was. The character of Jill-all-Alone, played by Charlotte Morgan, is alone in Windsor Forest. She sings, "Cat, cat, where have you been?" to her black cat which is lying flat on the ground, beside a cauldron. In between the two verses the cat suddenly sat up, faced the audience and gave the most enormous yawn as if to say, "Oh I'm fed up with this; I've been doing it for a whole week," and strode off stage. The audience were delighted with this and gave it a round of applause.
Our next production, November 1951, was The Student Prince. We auditioned and accepted a young man for the leading role. Alfred Denville stepped in and expressed the view that he was just not good enough. We reluctantly informed the young man that he would not be getting the part after all. His name was John Boulter who later won fame as one of the principal Black and White Minstrels on television and in the long running musical at the Victoria Palace! Eva Callebaut, as usual, directed the show but the choreography was by Olive Hurford who was progressing from dancer to small parts to choreographer.
Advertisements in the programme included one for accommodation which offered double rooms plus kitchen for the equivalent of £1.62 per week and single bed-sitters for £1.00 per week. There was also an announcement, as there was in every Coliseum programme, that "This Theatre is disinfected throughout by Jeyes Fluid."
This was also the year in which Joe (musical director for every show so far) tendered his resignation which led Ross Davis to a three hour attempt to dissuade him from such drastic action. The cause was a certain young lady member who was making it blatantly obvious that she had joined for purely 'social' reasons. Before long several young men had good cause to be very pleased that she had joined but other members were finding her a disruptive influence!
She eventually had her membership withdrawn, peace was restored and Joe continued to conduct our shows.
Of our presentation of The Rebel Maid The local newspaper records that
".... the audience dared the wind and snow and were amply
rewarded ... to the extent of having a fire in the spacious
fireplace in the Hall."
Resisting all temptation to making the obvious comment one wonders how the fire authorities of today would react to this situation. The newspaper goes on to observe
" .... although the word 'dance' was on this occasion a
mere formality, the Company did their best, in their fixed
positions, to make it otherwise."
I would give a great deal to see a dance performed in a fixed position! The minutes of a committee meeting held in August records the marriage of Joe Fuggle and Charlotte Morgan and offered the Company's congratulations to two founder members who would continue to be with us until the end of the century!
In November 1952 we presented Gondoliers Among the cast was Sheilagh Steggals (now Sheilagh Duffin) who was to play principal parts for us and is still a Friend of the Company. A local newspaper is quoted as saying "The Harrow Light Opera Company has staged its finest production to date .... encores were a matter of course." It goes on to heap praise on most of the principals. It is interesting to note that the cost of presenting this show was £681.46. The costumes and wigs cost £105, the scenery £33.50 and the furniture the staggering sum of £1.50!
The following year saw the arrival of Madge Hiney giving a solo performance. Madge was later to play many parts, become Madge Jones and take up committee duties for many years. Her son Richard was to become a professional performer and eventually Chairman of our Company. Another important member joined this year, Dudley Ely who also went on the professional stage for many years before returning to us as performer, chairman, business manager and producer. Valerie Fardell became our Assistant Dancing Mistress and later went on to play principal parts, choreograph and direct for us.
The Pirates of Penzance, in 1954, was the first show which was not directed by Eva Callebaut. It was part of a double bill, the other part being Trial by Jury. Amongst the interesting advertisements in our programme was one for wallpaper at 7.5 pence a roll and tickets for the schoolboy football international at Wembley for 10 pence. This year, for the first time, we were allowed to include the word "amateur" after our name in the programme. There was another important change to the programme. For the first time the main page carried details of our presentation instead of the theatre details which was relegated to the back page. This was more of a major step forward than might be realised.
The name of our planned Autumn 1955 show has been lost in the mists of time. Rehearsals for it were abandoned when Alfred Denville approached us to fill an important vacant slot in the theatre with only eight weeks to go. We needed to present something which would require the minimum of rehearsal time. It had to be something familiar enough for the Company to easily repeat it yet not so familiar that the audiences would stay away. We chose The Gondoliers, last presented three years earlier. For this production we had a stage cloth in black and white squares. During the performance so much dust was raised during the Cachucha number that the cast and set were virtually lost to view and the orchestra nearly choked to death. The cloth was hastily removed.
This was a fateful year for the theatre and for the Company. Alfred Denville died and the theatre passed into the hands of his family. His beneficiaries did not have the same interest in it and it became apparent to us that the theatre was probably facing closure and, perhaps, demolition or development. It was the beginning of an uphill struggle to save the only real theatre in the Borough.
In spite of all this activity we were still rehearsing for our 1956 presentation of The Desert Song. This eventually saw us competing with a donkey for the attention of the audience! For some reason best known only to itself it refused to move down stage. This despite much pushing and pulling in full view of the delighted audience. Then someone had the bright idea of using a carrot. This worked and it moved a full two feet! That really was as much as it was prepared to do. Clearly it did not like the show! The director and choreographer was Dorrit Maclaren, the younger sister of the ballet mistress for the original Drury Lane production.
When the final curtain came down on the Saturday evening performance we knew that it really was the final curtain for us at the Coliseum. Shortly after this the theatre closed. A fight was staged to save it. At a meeting convened in the theatre itself by the Town Clerk it became blatantly obvious that he was personally in favour of the closure and redevelopment. He questioned the extent of the real support for the theatre that might be forthcoming. Ken and Ross, representing our Company, pledged £500 (a not inconsiderable sum in those days) towards the £75,000 needed to rescue the building. Offers from all the other interested groups and societies amounted to less than £50. Despite this, strenuous efforts continued to raise enough money to buy the theatre but the Council was just not interested in the project. It was determined on redevelopment.
Then an outside buyer emerged with enough ready cash to buy the building outright. Hopes soared. Alas, it was to no avail. The Council refused to budge and the building was demolished to make way for yet another supermarket. Thus a very familiar landmark, and slice of theatrical history, disappeared from Station Road and we were forced to look for another home.
By now many people had established themselves with us who would continue to feature prominently in our success for a long time to come, including names still familiar today. Not only our star performers such as Charlotte Morgan, Ross Davis, Arthur Guy, Stanley Downs, Dudley Ely, Charles Hawkins, Madge Hiney (Jones), Sheilagh Steggals (Duffin), Fred Bishop, Cyril Leeson, Dorothy Kendall and Cyril Rogers but also other members such as June Scott, Hazel Rogers, Doreen Challans, Olive Hurford and Valerie Fardell.
The names of Joe Fuggle and W.J. Kenhope (Ken) were almost synonymous with that of the Company. Joe not only was our Musical Director and conductor, but arranged and even composed choruses. Others, although less well known, worked hard behind the scenes; people such as Percy Edwards as Stage Manager, Gerald and Nellie Hiney looking after the social side of things, Ernest and Florrie Watson helping in a variety of ways, including wardrobe.
The majority of these names will mean little or nothing to present day members but it is to these people and others to follow, that we owe the undoubted success of the Company. They are part of our history. Our period at the Coliseum had been a golden era. One in which a great new Company had been born and nurtured, establishing a foundation for its prosperity and reputation. The latter was enviable. Such a high standard was reached that it became acknowledged as one of the foremost amateur Companies in the country. Even Alfred Denville, always difficult to please, had accorded us a regular place amongst the many top professional Companies that graced his boards. His acknowledgement of our quality was apparent in his request that we present his theatre's contribution to the Festival of Britain and he had also turned to us to fill vacant dates shortly before he died.
This era, however, was over. The search was on for a suitable home. For the first time since our foundation we performed only one show that year. We did not let the grass grow under our feet. There was no other theatre in the Borough of Harrow but before long we were negotiating to appear at the Dominion Cinema in Station Road.
The present cinema in Station Road, Wealdstone was, at one time, the ABC Cinema and was also know as the Dominion Theatre. It was to this large cinema that we moved in 1957, after the closure of the Coliseum. Although the stage itself was of a somewhat awkward shape, ranging from thirty-five feet depth from back wall to orchestra pit on stage left, to about fifteen feet depth on stage right, it was nevertheless large enough for our large scale productions. However we were always conscious that the huge cinema screen, weighing several tons, was always suspended above our heads.
Indeed we were really spoiled by the equipment and facilities we enjoyed at this venue. There were fourteen dressing rooms, the majority of them seating eight people or more. Even with an average of eighty-five performers there was ample room. On stage left there was a large wing with a huge lighting panel. Above our heads was room to 'fly' anything and everything we would ever need. Stage right was much smaller and directors always had to set shows with this in mind.
One disadvantage was that if our set occupied the full depth of the stage the only way to cross from one side to the other without being seen by the audience was to go outside the theatre. There was a narrow alley between the back wall of the theatre and the wall surrounding the Wealdstone football ground. This kept us nicely out of view of the general public except, that is, where there was a football match on. On those occasions there was invariably a row of young men perched on top of the wall dividing their attention between the action on the football field and the (sometimes) scantily clad young ladies dashing along the alley in a variety of exotic costumes.
There was a large orchestra pit (we had an average of twenty-five musicians) in front of the stage with an access on either side of it to the auditorium. We made use of these entrances on several occasions when wanting to enter or exit through the audience. At the back of the stage was a large props room and furniture bay. Underneath the entire stage was an open area used for storage, make-up facilities and a green room. Here would gather anyone not actually on stage. Here they would refresh make-up, wait to be called, have a cup of tea, listen to the show being performed above their heads. Here also was an entrance to the orchestra pit, a band room and a props store room.
The refreshment bar is a vital part of show week as we still know to this day. But in those days we ran it at rehearsals as well, providing a welcome break from strenuous rehearsals in a building without bar facilities. During the week it provided not only sustenance but a meeting point where, seated on a series of costume skips, we could relax, commiserate or congratulate. This invaluable facility was run for many years by Gerald and Nellie Hiney (the parents of Madge Jones and Richard Jones' grandparents) and assisted by Pamela Bishop and Mr. and Mrs. Minter.
Our standards were maintained at a very high level but the Company was run on very rigid and formal lines. For example, shortly after Rita and I were married we had to take a show off (for a very good domestic reason). As a result, despite having given them formal notice in writing, we were thrown out of the Company by Ken for showing disloyalty. It is difficult to believe today but that was the culture of the Company in those days. In the event we simply ignored his letter and turned up at the first rehearsals for the next show. Nothing further was ever said to us.
Dancers were always treated as guest performers despite the fact that we had a regular troupe of eight boys and eight girls with another eight girls on call. They were not, at first, granted full membership although they were expected to be in every show. This was because they were not expected to sing and only singers (who had to sight read) were granted full membership. Only in later years was this attitude relaxed and dancers became full and equal members. It was then acknowledged that dancers brought a certain skill to the Company just as singers did. They were granted membership on the basis of that skill.
Even then it was some time before dancers were expected to attend the Annual General Meeting let alone vote on anything! Those of us who did attend were the object of curiosity. If any of us displayed any real interest in the proceedings or actually asked a question we were regarded with astonishment. I often wonder what W.J. Kenhope's reaction would be to learn that one of the dancers he had thrown out had since progressed to Chairman and eventually to President! It would certainly raise his eyebrows!
Singers were occasionally asked to re-audition to remain in the Company or to take part in a particular show. The rules of the day made provision for this. Despite this practice there was never any shortage of applications for membership. Most chorus members were potential principals and competition for parts was always intense. One was expected to sight read music and Joe, the MD, would wander amongst us at music rehearsals selecting people at random to sing a few bars solo, standing in front of them with cocked head, listening carefully to every note. This was nerve wracking but it certainly focused one's attention on the music. Even whilst standing at his music stand in front of sixty plus singers he could single out one person and accuse them of singing a false note or singing half a tone flat. And he was usually right.
If our years at the Coliseum were a golden era then our years at the Dominion were platinum. They were certainly our most successful in terms of audience attendance. It was not unusual to put up "House Full" notices. House full for a week at the Dominion meant fourteen thousand tickets sold. When we presented the grand opera Carmen just to indulge ourselves we expected to play to less that full houses. Instead there was a scramble for returned tickets and we played to full houses at every performance.
People flocked from everywhere. Coach loads came from Leeds and Birmingham; from Wales and Hull and Bournemouth. Amongst them were sometimes well known names such as Eric Maschwitz and Ronald Hamer who had rewritten or rearranged many famous operettas. There was usually a queue by 7.00 p.m. on our opening night (which was always Monday) because this was often the only performance for which there might be a few seats available. On Saturday the auditorium would ring with calls for encores and there was often a standing ovation.
Looking back it is difficult to know just what it was that brought in the crowds. At that time society was different, with a different lifestyle. There was not today's range of television channels and people were more attuned to going out for their entertainment. It was well known that we presented memorable shows and we did have a large and dedicated following with over 3000 regular bookers (more than today's full capacity at Watersmeet for our six performances). Our publicity must have played a part in our success. Our Publicity Manager spent a lot of time in local trains and buses leaving a trail of handbills behind, something we could not do today. We had posters everywhere and huge banners on the Theatre facade. Often a shop window in central Harrow would be devoted to our current show with posters and, perhaps a mannequin or two dressed in appropriate costume.
Inevitably presenting live shows gives rise to a host of stories and some have already been told. Not all of them were amusing at the time. One outstanding memory of our early days at the Dominion is the episode with another donkey who insisted on playing a starring role in our presentation of Chu Chin Chow. It was the opening of Act Two, an eastern bazaar. Silks and satins draped over stalls; a brightly lit stage full of colour and movement. Hustle and bustle and an air of expectation as the orchestra tuned up. Stall holders, street entertainers, girls in yashmacs. And a donkey.
He was brought on at the last minute and positioned centre stage. The Musical Director, Joe, satisfied himself that all was well and everyone was ready, confident that the donkey had been well rehearsed. He went down to the orchestra pit and they started to play the opening music. It was at this point that the donkey decided to make his own, unrehearsed, contribution to the scene. The bright lights, milling throng and music were all too much for his sensitive nature and he expressed his opinion in no uncertain manner. A pile of useful manure was deposited centre stage just behind the main curtain. This was then well watered.
Instantly the Company scattered to the four corners of the stage whilst the orchestra played on, momentarily and blissfully unaware that, on the other side of the curtain, there was silent pandemonium. Stage hands hurriedly found dust pans and brushes, brooms and buckets, mops and clothes pegs.
The orchestra reached the point where the curtain was supposed to rise. It remained firmly down. Joe instructed his orchestra to return to the letter "a" and off they went again on the introductory music. The audience was, of course, completely unaware that anything was wrong. The offending addition to the stage 'furniture' was removed before the end of the repeat music and the curtain rose on the colourful scene complete with wet patch and powerful stench. For the rest of that performance the Company carefully avoided centre stage.
Nor is this the end of the story. On Saturday night the owner of the donkey forgot to collect the animal. Obviously it could not be left in the theatre and the Company, or, more precisely, the Chairman, had a problem. Scenery was being moved, curtains taken down, costumes and props packed. The donkey was in the way and a danger to everyone. At eleven o'clock that night the Chairman, in full evening dress, set off through the centre of Harrow leading a donkey on a rope. A friendly policeman, at first deeply suspicious, suggested the local United Dairies milk depot. After lengthy negotiations the donkey was bedded down for the night with the horses. We did not ask him to play for us again!
The donkey was not the only problem we had with this show. At one performance one of the forty thieves, emerging through the centre stage trap door, became firmly wedged. In freeing him the trap door was damaged and could no longer be shut properly. One particularly hefty member of the chorus went under the stage to hold up the trap door whilst thirty nine thieves marched back and forth across it. He was glad when they finally left the stage. This show had been a truly memorable first presentation at our new venue.
During our stay at the Coliseum we had performed twenty-four shows; at the Dominion we were to present a further thirty. A full list of shows appears in the chapter "In Case You are Interested". Our second show there, The Song of Norway, had thirty two featured parts, thirty nine chorus and no less that twenty three dancers. The twenty-five minute ballet, to the music of a Grieg piano concerto and which forms the finale of the show, was classical in concept with the girls on pointe and was a triumph of choreography and performance.
The programme of White Horse Inn, in 1958, recorded the fact that the Coliseum was in the process of being demolished. Our Annie Get You Gun in 1959 saw several acting triumphs but the most rewarding was that of Ann Kingston who had stepped straight from the corps de ballet to give us an exuberant and captivating Annie Oakley. This fully vindicated the faith of the casting panel in awarding her the role.
November 1959 saw us presenting The Merry Widow. This was Joe Fuggle's hundredth major musical, a truly remarkable achievement. A glance through the programme discloses a cast of eighty seven with twenty four dancers. The title role was played by Peggy Shields, a professional singer who joined us as a full member and went on to play many leads for us and remained a Friend of the Company until four years ago. The programme carries an advertisement for "... the incredible new Austin 7 car." The price: £350 brand new. Furthermore "it does 50 miles to the gallon, is a full ten feet long and can be parked in an eleven and a half feet space!" How's that for a specification? In the same programme the Harrow Building Society advertises home mortgages at 5.5%.
Unknown to us at the time there was a 'scout' from Moss Empires in the audience. They later offered us a two week engagement at the Streatham Empire with a substantial donation towards Company funds as an incentive. However the engagement had to include Wednesday matinees and too many of the Company were unable to do this so we had, very reluctantly, to turn down this offer. It was nice to be asked though.
The director of our 1960 presentation of The Desert Song, Margaret Boyle had been a dancer in the original 1927 production at Drury Lane. Exciting as stage work is, it is not always a bed of roses. It can be a hazardous hobby as I found out during the run of this show. I was being driven to the theatre when the car had to make an emergency stop. My head hit the roof (or is it the ceiling) of the car rather forcefully and I spent the rest of the evening with slight concussion, a headache and double vision. Crossing the stage to approach a dancing partner was particularly tricky. With what looked like two sets of furniture to negotiate, double the usual number of chorus and two potential partners it proved to be an obstacle course. Needless to say I chose the wrong 'partner' and nearly walked into the scenery.
Advertisements in our programmes of the period point out that an investment of £15 would be £18.50 in only six years (!) and goes on to list the many things one could do with such a large sum! The list includes down payment on a house, daughter's wedding, school fees, a holiday and even retirement!!! A good Kodak camera was advertised at £2.70 - "try it out at your local dealer". Twenty cigarettes would have cost you 16 pence and to see Cinderella on Ice at the Wembley Stadium would have set you back 17 pence for a good seat.
Reading through these old programmes I was struck by the stability of the Company membership. New members were continually joining and new soloists coming forward into principal parts but for show after show after show the same names are listed. This applied not only to the performing Members but also to Committee, Officers, Vice Presidents and Patrons (the latter a list of ninety six). Perhaps even more importantly it applied also to our back stage crew, property masters, wardrobe mistresses, electricians on light and sound. This situation gave the Company strength, depth and continuity. We could even rely on the stability of our audiences: the programme for our 1961 presentation of Carmen listed 367 Patrons (Friends of the Company) and 86 party booking groups!
Oklahoma also in 1960 provided me with yet another vivid memory. Dancing the part of Jud Fry I was carrying Betty Arnold (dancing Laurey) high above my head. A back cloth complete with its steel bar came crashing down catching me on the shoulder before bouncing onto the stage. The was a deathly silence from the auditorium followed by a round of applause when neither of us gave the slightest sign of having even noticed. I look back on incidents like this with a slight shudder, because we were not insured at the time, not even considering that anything untoward could happen on the stage.
For our 1963 presentation of The Land of Smiles we were joined, in the two principal parts, by Peter Clarke and Sylvia Gray both of whom would go on to play several leading roles for us. Peter was the Opera aficionado at NODA for many years and Sylvia was a professional singer.
There was a note in the Die Fledermaus programme (1964) that Joe Fuggle had been invited to conduct a Golden Jubilee festival at the new Pavilion in Westcliffe-on- Sea to mark the granting of County Borough status to Southend-on-Sea. During this show I had yet another little hazardous incident which also involved Rita. We were performing a ballet in which the dancers were dressed as Bats complete with papier mache masks. These had whiskers of match sticks. At one point I stumbled while carrying Rita above my head. Being right on the edge of the orchestra pit I had to quickly lower Rita but in doing so she landed with her full weight on my upturned face. The match stick whiskers went right through the mask and into my face. By the end of the dance I was bleeding freely.
These incidents are not always potentially dangerous. They can be very amusing. In the same production of Die Fledermaus another partner, Pauline Thompson, slipped and lost her balance during an olde tyme waltz number. In order to save us both from toppling into the orchestra pit I picked her up bodily and carried her round until she was able to put her feet down again. Unfortunately when she did so she put them firmly down on top of mine. For the rest of the number I was supporting her partly from the waist and partly with my feet. It must have looked as if I was dancing with a dummy albeit a live one.
Yet another professional singer joined the growing list of those who liked to appear with us (for no fee). This was Glenn Marten who played the lead in our 1964 Kiss Me Kate. This was the show in which I received a pair of tights cobbled together from two other pairs. The only problem was that one foot faced front and the other faced back! It was Olive Hurford's debut as our director and choreographer. She had started as a dancer, become ballet mistress, choreographer and part player, having made her stage debut in our very first production. This was the first of her ten productions for us.
During one performance of Brigadoon in 1965 a little girl, sitting in the front row, was inconsolable when Harry Ritchie 'died' and would not be consoled until after the performance when she insisted on meeting Harry at the stage door to prove that he really was still alive.
The Music Man in 1965 was our twenty-first anniversary presentation. (At the time of writing it is also scheduled to become our sixtieth anniversary presentation.) A newcomer to the Company and playing a small part was Ray Jeffrey who went on to direct for us and eventually to become an award winning director and adjudicator for NODA. Jo Grant, the mother of the television presenter and horoscope writer Russell Grant, also played a small principal part.
In 1966 we were accorded the honour of presenting what amounted to a world premiere. This was the Eric Maschwitz translation and adaptation of Franz Lehar's The Count of Luxembourg. Maschwitz came to our opening night and the BBC sent a representative with a view to producing it for television. Twenty years old Ray Jeffrey played the seventy years old Grand Duke Basil and was quite brilliant in the role.
Another superb performance was given by David Griffiths in the title role of The King and I, in 1966. Two of the dancers in the ballet, Norma Lock and Marguerita Ray had been professional dancers in earlier days. Amongst the chorus was Tony Austin who is still with us and who went on to become Chairman and eventually President. Also in the cast were Anna Maria le Bon and her son Simon who, of course, became world famous as the lead singer with the pop group Duran Duran. He played for us again in Bless the Bride in 1970.
Our April 1967 presentation was La Belle Helene. The programme mentions that our make up artist, who was a very well know professional, Jules Martin, was celebrating his eightieth birthday and still practising his artistry - and he really was a true artist. He had worked with us for twenty-three years. I was reminded recently just how small this world is when I had occasion to find someone to do our make up for us. Nancy Beer, our then regular make up artist was ill and we could not find a replacement locally. I rang a few numbers further afield and eventually spoke to a lady who turned out to be Jules' daughter and who reminded me that she had learned her trade from her father with our company amongst others.
Our November 1967 presentation was Kismet and for this we engaged four Olympic weight lifters to carry on Lulume. One of them was Blair Blenman, Olympic gold medallist. Between the Saturday performances we held a champagne party in the stalls. This was to celebrate Ken's (founder and Chairman) golden wedding anniversary. The event was tinged with regret because he also announced his retirement from the chair after holding it for twenty-three years. He then became our second President and was succeeded as only our second Chairman by Stanley Downs . Three weeks later Ken celebrated his seventy-sixth birthday.
Our spring 1968 presentation of The Merry Widow was the first time we were without Joe Fuggle as Musical Director. He and Charlotte were on a world cruise and Peter Barnett took up the baton. Thereafter Peter became our Chorus Master until eventually becoming Musical Director. For this show I hung up my dancing shoes but not quite for the last time. I felt that it was better to do so now than wait until someone suggested I should! Later that year we presented The Most Happy Fella. It was a great success but started with a near disaster.
The opening scene takes place in a cafe. On the first night the 'flats' started to cave inwards threatening to bring down the whole set. With great presence of mind Jo Grant, one of the waitresses, yelled "Look out, it must be dry rot." Playing the proprietor of the cafe I yelled back, "Well, don't just stand there, prop the wall up while I telephone for help." We were hoping that this change of dialogue might warn the stage crew that something was amiss. Just in case they had not cottoned on I picked up a (unconnected) telephone from the counter, dialled a number and informed the 'listener' that we had severe dry rot. The stage crew were now on to it and arrived behind the scenery to pull back the offending flats. Needless to say they made doubly sure that the incident was not repeated despite several requests from audience members to "keep it in".
During this year Joe Fuggle was appointed Musical Tutor at the NODA Operatic Summer School held at Ripon College in Yorkshire for one week every August. He held the post until 1982.
Our November 1969 presentation of Showboat marked our twenty-fifth anniversary. For Joe Fuggle it was an even more significant event. It marked his two hundredth musical show as Musical Director. Surely a record difficult if not impossible to beat.
In April 1970 we presented Bless the Bride in which the young Simon le Bon played the part of Buttons. He was, at the time, a pupil at the Studio School of Speech and Drama in Pinner (where Joanna Lumley also studied). Sir Alan Herbert, who wrote the libretto, attended our Saturday evening performance.
The programme records the death of one of our long time members, Dorothy Ross-Davis (wife of one of the founders, known as 'Ross'). Like a good number of our members over the years Dorothy had come from a professional background. She had been a member of the great Diaghilev Ballet Company, having danced at Covent Garden and before Royalty. She had danced for us as a founder member but, tragically, her career as a dancer was brought to an end by a cruel illness. Nevertheless she continued to take an active part in the affairs of the Company as Librarian, Social Secretary, Prompt and Executive Committee Member. The programme further records that four members had been awarded the NODA medal for twenty-five years service: Renee Forder, June Scott, Arthur Guy and Doreen Challans.
Our production of The Gypsy Princess is etched onto my mind in flaming letters. One great fear we all have is to go blank during a performance. It rarely happens that anyone completely forgets their lines but when it does it affects people in different ways. Some panic, some happily ad-lib until fellow performers bring them back to the proper dialogue. If going blank is traumatic consider the situation when a principal does not even turn up at the theatre for a performance. Unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me.
Called to Manchester on urgent business and acutely conscious that I was due in the theatre by 6.45 at the latest I duly caught a return aeroplane at 4.30 expecting to arrive at Heathrow by 5.15, in plenty of time. Unfortunately a jumbo jet had to abort a take off on the
main runway at Heathrow and it took several hours to clear it away. Meanwhile, with increasing apprehension, irritation, frustration and perspiration Prince Eugen (me) was allowed to leave the aircraft (then still standing on the tarmac at Manchester airport) just in time to telephone Rita as she was about to leave for the theatre wondering what had happened to me.
She rushed to the theatre. The entire part had to be drastically reduced and rewritten as a series of letters and notes from the missing prince in order to explain the story line to the audience. I eventually arrived at the theatre just as the final curtain was coming down. I was immediately marched into Stan's (the Chairman) office (an unused dressing room) and informed in no uncertain manner that I would never again appear with this or any other Company. Thus I was thrown out for the second time. Again I ignored this and turned up for the music rehearsals of the next show; fortunately for me no-one seemed to notice! This is not an experience I wish to repeat.
This show marked Joe Fuggle's retirement as Musical Director. He was to continue to act as Musical Adviser but his baton now passed Peter Barnett. To replace it Joe was presented with a silver baton as a gift from the Company.
Our November 1971 presentation of The Song of Norway was our last at the Dominion. It was Ray Jeffrey's first production for us and it was a dazzling debut. Valerie Fardell was the Choreographer and Peter Barnett our Musical Director. All three had come from the ranks of the chorus and they did us proud.
When the final curtain rang down we faced an uncertain future once again. The Dominion was, like the Coliseum before it, due for redevelopment albeit without demolishing it. Part of the building was to become a bingo hall and the rest of it devoted to specialist films.
We had not yet found a suitable alternative venue and negotiations were still going on. Our stay at the Dominion had been not only a happy one but a tremendously successful period. This success was due in large measure to the stability we had enjoyed for so many years. We had presented thirty shows at the Dominion and fifty-four in total. At the end of this period our programmes were still featuring names that had been with us from the start: on the list of officers, on cast lists, on the production teams, on the back stage crews. Perhaps most important of all, we had built a strong following which assured us massive forward bookings and full houses in theatres which seated over two thousand. From now on, however, it was to prove increasingly difficult to maintain this position.
This was then another very large cinema only a few hundred yards along the road between the Coliseum and the Dominion. Short as this distance was it presented us with problems.
The props and costume accessories which had filled a fair sized room at the Dominion (made permanently available to us at no charge) now had to be stored somewhere else. There was no room at all at the Granada so it fell to members to store what they could in lofts and garages. Inevitably there were many items for which no room could be found and there were even more items which were eventually 'lost'.
The same thing happened to other items which the Company had acquired over the years, including extra light and sound equipment. For fifteen years we had enjoyed a base for our activities; a 'home' which provided storage space. Now that we had to rely on individual members finding space for a few items each the tangible assets of the Company began to disappear.
The move to the Granada produced other problems too. The dressing room space was totally inadequate for our large Company and we had to hire two caravans to provide additional accommodation. These were stationed in the small car park adjacent to the stage door and converted into dressing rooms. Despite valiant efforts much of the back stage atmosphere was missing. The transition from stage set to car park caravans every time we came off stage somehow killed the 'magic'.
The wings were small, the stage itself more like a letter box, there was little room for scenery storage, almost none for props and furniture. There was still less room for a refreshment bar. However, despite all these difficulties we still managed to produce two excellent shows here.
These were Waltzes From Vienna and Fiddler on the Roof. Both were great successes and played to full houses (the theatre seated over two thousand). The production team of Ray Jeffrey, Valerie Fardell and Peter Barnett were to work together for ten shows. In all Ray directed fourteen shows and choreographed one; Valerie choreographed ten shows and directed two and Peter was Musical Director for ten shows.
This was the year in which Ray Jeffrey was appointed a member of staff to the NODA summer school at Ripon, joining Joe Fuggle. Kay Lane achieved twenty five years as our regular accompanist.
After only these two shows we were on the move again. Once again our venue was being redeveloped, this time into several smaller cinemas. Once again our committee had to start the search for a suitable alternative. there was no doubt that this time nothing appropriate was available (or even existed) in Harrow.
Going further afield we investigated possibilities in Ealing, Watford, Golders Green, Borehamwood and Hammersmith. There was even brief talk of the Saville Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. For a variety of reasons, including unsuitable dates, inadequate facilities and transport problems, one after another of these possibilities had to be discounted. Finally we negotiated with the Rank Organisation for the use of the Gaumont State Theatre in Kilburn.
Thus it was that an important era in our history drew to a close. Fiddler on the Roof was the last major, full scale musical we presented (to date) in the Borough of Harrow. This was due entirely to the failure of the borough Council to provide adequate (or any) suitable facilities.
The interval is usually a time for reflection on what we have seen and heard (in this case on what we have read) so far and to speculate on the future. In our case the future, when we left the Granada (and therefore the Borough of Harrow) was far from guaranteed.
For us, as for many Companies, it had become a fight for survival. This was a relatively new experience for us. Gone were the days when we could sell fourteen thousand tickets for one show and regularly put up the 'House Full' notice. Gone were the days when we could welcome coach parties from all corners of the country; when we ourselves would organise coaches for our patrons; when we could sell three thousand seats to 'block bookers' before the box office opened to the general public; when queues formed for returned tickets on our opening nights. Gone too were the days when members were exhorted not to sell too many tickets in case there were not enough left for the general public! It is very hard to believe these days but such was the situation in those days.
They were great and grand days; days of pride and glory; days to be fondly remembered by those of us who were there to enjoy them. Days which are now but a fading memory.
Many factors conspired against us but the process began on the day we left the Borough of Harrow. On that day we left our audience behind. It was an indictment of the entertainment facilities in the Borough that our Company, successful as it was, could find no home within the Borough boundaries which was large enough to take either our productions or our audiences.
When we first moved to the Gaumont State, Kilburn, many of loyal supporters did, in fact, staunchly follow us. But they rapidly fell by the wayside. The older ones found the journey costly, difficult and increasingly troublesome. Travelling to Kilburn at night was not the safest of activities, especially on public transport. Car parking was available almost next door to the Theatre but at a high price and at a high risk. Our 'block bookers' thinned in numbers; our general audiences dwindled.
For the first time ever our members were faced with the need to actually go out and sell thousands of tickets. This was not easy even amongst family and friends because I am not using the word 'thousands' just as a figure of speech; it really was thousands. We tried to build local audiences but this proved to be extremely difficult. In this respect we found ourselves in a cleft stick; with a name like The Harrow Light Opera Company we could hardly claim to be a local Kilburn Company and performing in Kilburn meant that we could not fully justify a claim to be a Harrow Company! We are to this day still on the horns of this particular dilemma.
We are, as you know, still unable to find a suitable home in Harrow for our mainstream shows. No theatre of any size is available and those halls which, in theory, are suitable for theatrical performances, either cannot stage our productions or cannot accommodate our Company. This means that not only are we not a local Three Rivers Company but we are, in some respects, competing with well established local Companies for audiences and other support.
With the decline of our audiences our financial resources also declined. Costs were even then increasing at an alarming rate; we were, after all, about to hire the largest cinema in Europe. For the first time we were faced with the prospect of an actual cash loss on specific shows. Then another factor arose which, although not directly contributing to our financial position, was to have a far reaching impact on membership. It was certainly the custom, almost a condition of our contract with the Rank Organisation, (owners of the Gaumont State in Kilburn) that we used and paid for union labour for the scene shifting and lighting work. This not only added to the cost of productions but also meant that our experienced and dedicated back stage teams were no longer able to contribute as much to our performances as before. Inevitably interest amongst them first waned and then died and we lost many good members. This had a domino effect on our performing members, many of whom were in the same families.
The three years we spent at the Gaumont State proved to be a watershed for the Company. Our stay there began the decline in audiences, financial resources and membership. It became quite clear that we could not hope to survive if we remained there.
What was really needed (and is still needed) was a proper theatre of reasonable size in the Borough of Harrow. There have, in fact, been many schemes to build art complexes which would include a theatre. Amongst the schemes which have arisen since 1952 can be included: the Coliseum Theatre; an organ factory; 'Woodlands' in Clamp Hill, Harrow Weald; Harrow Weald Lodge; a large, disused air raid shelter; the Wealdstone Leisure Centre; a Territorial Army drill hall; a large garage; a bandstand; Headstone Manor and Barn; two Chapels and Kodak Hall. Most of these places have since disappeared.
In addition to these 'plans' it was originally intended that the Harrow Civic Centre should have not one but two theatres, a fifteen hundred seater and a five hundred seater. This idea never materialised. There were also plans drawn up for a very comprehensive Arts Centre in the very centre of Harrow to include a main theatre, a studio theatre, rehearsal rooms, storage facilities, library, restaurant, art gallery and shops. It was to cost £11,000,000. Plans and a model were on display in Marks and Spencer in the town centre. That was the nearest it ever came to fruition.
Eventually, in 1988, the Harrow Arts Council took possession of a new Arts complex based around the Elliott Hall in Hatch End, a splendid Victorian listed building. The complex had originally been a school for the children of commercial travellers. Part of the site was given over to building a Safeways supermarket and the money raised from this deal went towards the cost of refurbishing the rest of the site. As we know, the site includes not only a range of rehearsal rooms but also a studio theatre, The Travellers, which seats a maximum of 130, a bar and the Concert Hall seating around 300.
The one glaring omission is a large theatre in which Companies like ours can present large scale, high standard productions. Actually there were plans to build one on what is now the car park but these were shelved (surprise, surprise). In any case the plans were far from adequate from our point of view. The dressing room accommodation would not have housed our membership. More importantly the building would have lacked a fly tower. I attended a meeting on site with other potential user groups to discuss the plans with the architect. He was astounded when I announced that we would not be able to use the building. When asked why I pointed out the omission of the fly tower whereupon he asked what a fly tower was and what it was used for. He expressed surprise that we would ever need to fly scenery or back cloths. This was an architect that specialised in theatres!
As you can see there have been many ideas and actual plans for building theatres in Harrow. Some of the ideas were hare brained; some of the plans inadequate. Perhaps one day ....in the meantime we can go on dreaming. On the other hand we should ask ourselves whether it would now be such a good idea to move back to Harrow. It would again mean losing some of our audience and having to rebuild locally. If, by some remote chance, a superb theatre was built in the Borough, seating five to six hundred and with every facility we could wish for, we might have to seriously consider the situation and make a very far reaching decision.
In the meantime the second act is about to begin. In the absence of a suitable venue in Harrow and after a long search, we were finally forced to leave our traditional home and perform outside our Borough. Please take your seats at the Gaumont State Theatre in Kilburn.
Yet another cinema, this time with the distinction of being the largest one in Europe (at the time). A huge stage, spacious wings, sixteen dressing rooms on three floors but little space for gathering together. Our social committee managed to set up a refreshment bar in one of the dressing rooms but it had to be a 'take-away' service as there was no room to sit and chat. Make-up occupied another dressing room. The only spaces available for the entire Company was on stage or in the wings; hardly the place, during a performance, for any kind of social gathering.
Although the auditorium was vast (it had originally seated three thousand, five hundred) the stalls consisted of only ten or so rows. Beyond them there was a wall erected to create a bingo hall in what had been the rest of the stalls. This produced acoustic problems for principals but certainly forced us to make eye contact with our ground level audience. It was either look at them, stare at a blank wall or up into the circle which stretched away into the darkness above the bingo hall.
As I have said, it was whilst we were at this theatre that our first real problems began. We were playing outside our own territory, an unknown amateur group with a local audience that had never heard of us. The 'Irish problem' was just beginning and Kilburn was not without its share of resultant problems. The theatre was ten minutes walk from the nearest tube station, which at night, was a hazardous journey.
Notwithstanding all of these problems we presented seven successful shows there. Amongst the audiences was occasionally a famous name. One such was Ralph Reader, famous for his series of gang shows. Another was the comedian Ronnie Barker, whose daughter Charlotte was in our second presentation of The King and I.
Our first production at this new venue was My Fair Lady. The programme records the arrival of two more members with a background in the professional theatre. These were Alan Holman as Publicity Manager whose experience had been gained in the Phoenix and Aldwych Theatres in the West End and Judy Holmes, Wardrobe Mistress, who had worked for the Bristol Old Vic. Others in the Company with a professional background were: Peggy Shields, Dudley Ely, Ken Mason, Charles Hawkins, Sally-Ann Bellman, Brenda Engle, Norma Lock, Suzanne Logan and Marguerita Ray.
This show also saw the introduction of several children who were to remain together for several shows. These were Michelle Ray (Mullick), Sharon Byrne, Suzanne Toynbee and Jo Ann Smith, they joined Richard Jones who had begun with us in The Song of Norway in 1971. Two of them are with us to this day.
Our presentation of Oliver in 1974 included thirty children, mostly as urchins in the workhouse and Fagin's den scenes, but also some as crowd extras throughout the show. During the general melee of the workhouse scenes the orchestra was regularly showered with bits of bread and cheese as the boys entered into the spirit of the occasion. One or two of the musicians were observed secretly taking umbrellas into the pit!
This was also the show which brought a mild rebuke from the theatre management when one or two members of the audience complained about our behaviour in the tavern scenes! It would seem that some of our adult members had also got carried away by the spirit of the occasion.
A marvellous memory of our 1974 presentation of The Sound of Music was the use of the great Wurlitzer Organ that was still installed in the Theatre. It was used as an accompaniment to the wedding scene and for the Nuns' chorus. It rose majestically from the depths of the orchestra pit and filled the building with its glorious music. It was so powerful it vibrated the whole stage. The entire Company, including those not on stage and those working back stage used to gather in the wings to listen and the audience sat in absolute silence until a storm of applause broke out at the end of the scene. It is a magical memory.
An advertisement in the programme offered a "star buy" pack of best beef consisting of 37 pounds of meat including: 8 pounds of rump steak; 8 pounds of top side and 3 pounds of roasting beef. Price: £17.80; a bargain indeed.
This was the year (1974) when we presented three full shows, For this extra show we returned to Harrow and presented The Boy Friend, directed and choreographed by Valerie Fardell. Valerie had started with us as a dancer, progressed to Ballet Mistress, Principal performer, Choreographer and now to Director. It was a path trodden previously by Olive Hurford and now trodden with equal success by Valerie.
One of the reasons for presenting this show was to provide a vehicle for our younger singers and dancers. Among those were names still familiar to us: Tony Austin, Bill Northover, Jacky Fryer (now Mrs. Northover), Chris Brookes and Bill Baynes (who played several principal parts for us and is a member of our Murder Most Fun team.
The programme for our Presentation of Half a Sixpence records the fact that our Director, Ray Jeffrey had just won the award as the best professional Director for his production of The Merry Widow at the famous Waterford International Festival of Light Opera. Ray had, by then, already directed over two hundred shows and was still only in his late twenties!
The same programme also records that our Musical Advisor, Joe Fuggle had been appointed to represent NODA on the prestigious National Music Council of Great Britain. This was indeed an honour to be selected from the huge array of musical talent available to NODA. This show also marked the retirement of Kay Lane as our regular accompanist. Our wardrobe mistress, Judy Holmes, also retired and was replaced by Kathy Smith, Jo Ann's mother.
Our 1976 presentation of Hello Dolly was our seventh and last at the Gaumont State. An announcement in the programme informed patrons that we would henceforth be alternating between The Gaumont State and the Gade Theatre in Rickmansworth. In fact we were never to return to Kilburn. The show was an immense success. Valerie Fardell demonstrated her versatility by giving us a superb performance in the title role, combining this performance with the role of Choreographer. One dance routine featured a 'horse' which was played by Suzanne Toynbee and Michelle Ray.
Despite the undoubted artistic success of our shows at the Gaumont State we had not always been financially successful. We still firmly believed that the Harrow Light Opera Company, with its tradition as the premier musical society of Harrow and arguably of North London; its reputation for its first class, large scale presentations; its ability to stage a variety of shows ranging from Carmen to The Boy Friend, from Oliver to Die Fledermaus; rightfully belonged in a purpose built, well equipped theatre in its own home Borough.
Certainly our core members, dedicated and enthusiastic, were determined that the Company would survive to rebuild its membership, financial resources and audiences. After seven shows here we knew that the time had come to move on again but this time to a much smaller venue than we had been used to. There would be an effort to stem rising costs and arrest the decline in our audience numbers. So, in the Autumn of 1976, we moved to our present home, then known as The Gade Theatre, Rickmansworth. For some it would be a culture shock!
A very new building, opened only in 1975, the Watersmeet Centre is really a multipurpose complex which serves as a cinema, theatre, dance hall, bar and venue for all kinds of meetings and events. As a theatre it is compact and functional with four dressing rooms, good lighting and stage equipment. For a Company of around forty it provides reasonably comfortable accommodation.
This chapter is headed up "The Gade" because that was the name of the theatre within the complex when we arrived there. This and two large meeting rooms are named after the three rivers Gade, Chess and Colne which also give the district its name. The theatre is still officially The Gade but is now more commonly known as Watersmeet and it is this name which I shall use from now on.
At the Watersmeet Theatre we can stage the kind of production we have become renowned for: fairly large scale and certainly first class. However the scale is not as large as we were used to and the size of the Company was less than half that during our days in Harrow theatres. The twenty-six years we have spent at Watersmeet, where we have presented sixty-two shows, have been, by and large, happy and successful but not without problems.
As with the Gaumont State in Kilburn we are neither a local Rickmansworth Company nor a fully Harrow Company. Audiences are to this day reluctant to travel even the short distance from Harrow to Rickmansworth, a journey of only fifteen minutes or so depending on the mode of transport. It is a journey worth making because, despite our many difficulties, we still present shows of a very high standard and which meet with the approval of those who do make the effort. A recent survey showed us that only 43% of our audiences now come from the Harrow area with 44% from Three Rivers and 13% from wider afield.
Our first presentation at this new venue was Love From Judy, a delightful show which is rarely heard of today but from which the Fred Astaire film Daddy Long Legs was derived. Ray Jeffrey directed and Joe Fuggle was back behind the baton. Suzanne Logan had replaced Valerie Fardell as choreographer. The cast included many names from earlier days: Charlotte Morgan, Renee Forder, Bill Baynes, Maurice Ray, Jacky Fryer and four of those regular children, Jo Ann Smith, Suzanne Toynbee, Sharon Byrne and Michelle Ray. Our audience for this first show at the venue was only 47%, the lowest we had ever recorded. However, we were relatively unknown in the area so it was not, perhaps, too surprising.
The programme records the fact that we had won the Kathleen Oyler Trophy for the best chorus work of 1975/1976 in the London Area of NODA. This area extends from Oxford to Southend on Sea and from Milton Keynes to Croydon and comprises over two hundred and eighty societies. The award was for singing, diction, musical precision, action, reaction, movement, enthusiasm and verve. We won it for our work in Hello Dolly.
In the same programme it is recorded that our Director, Ray Jeffrey, had won further awards and acclaim. Not only had he won Best Producer Award for The Desert Song but also the International Overall Award. The programme also records the many achievements of our Musical Director, Joe Fuggle. These include professional engagements at the Fortune and Scala Theatres in the West End; MD for the famous Royal River Pageant in 1953; MD to the City of London Festival Players; Chorus Master for the BBC production of Merrie England; Chorus Master for the Festival of the City of London presentation of Yeoman of the Guard at the Tower of London from 1962 to 1966; charity performances in the presence of Royalty and, of course, wielding the baton for our two long playing records for Pye Records (but more of this later).
Our third presentation at Watersmeet was also our third production of Showboat. We still had the production team of Ray Jeffrey, Joe Fuggle and Suzanne Logan and the cast included Zorka Whitehurst (mother of Antje) as Magnolia, and the familiar names of Tony Austin, Maurice Ray, June Scott and Bill Baynes. This show saw the retirement of Stan Downs, who had taken over the Chair from W.J. Kenhope. He was to be replaced by Dudley Ely (aka Dudley Marsh - his professional stage name).
Our next show, Perchance to Dream, was the last for Charlotte Morgan. She was a Founder and Life Member who had played many principal roles for us over three decades, had served on the Committee and been wardrobe mistress on more than one occasion. The local press said of her, in her role of Lady Fayre, "Her splendid presence and every line she uttered were perfect examples of the manner and style required in a Novello musical - a brilliant characterisation - so clear and delightful." This was in the days when the local press still attended shows regularly and would publish a good write-up.
Valerie Fardell returned to both direct and choreograph Fiddler on the Roof, our second presentation of this wonderful show. For the next show, our second presentation of Carousel, Dudley Marsh (by then also our Chairman) took over the direction. It introduced a new Member, Jean Marnoch as Julie Jordan. Jean and Jim Marnoch remained active Members until very recently when they moved back to Scotland. Another newcomer was Sue Hall (now Sue Reynolds) who played Carrie. Sue has since played a number of principal parts for us.
In musical shows we are often the victim of practical jokes, particularly during Saturday matinees. This is never a wise or good practice and is often as embarrassing as it can be humorous. During Carousel the 'boys' are offered, on stage, a tray of jam doughnuts (or should I spell that 'donuts'). The props mistress treated them to freshly made doughnuts all through the week and they got used to greedily snatching them and eating them with great enthusiasm. On Saturday they were in for a real 'treat'. The props mistress carefully cut them open, removed the jam and replaced it with tomato ketchup. In due course the boys snatched their goodies and, seeing oodles of 'jam', took larger than usual bites. The look on their faces was a joy to behold but their singing immediately afterwards was not so joyful. However, they made sure that the audience remained blissfully unaware of the situation.
The Vagabond King was our next production, in May 1980. There were several very strong performances but acting honours undoubtedly went to a newcomer, Ken Elvey, in the role of King Louis XI and John Saxon Jones as Francois Villon. This was Kathy Smith's last show as Wardrobe Mistress and the job was taken on jointly by Rita and myself. Rita has continued, with only six missed shows, ever since.
In the spring of 1981 we staged a most unusual show with the title of Novello. It consisted of fully staged excerpts from The Dancing Years, Gay's the Word, Glamorous Night and King's Rhapsody together with many more of his songs under the collective title of Novello Rhapsody. It was decided, after the tremendous effort of presenting such a mammoth work as Novello, that we would not produce an autumn show. This was the first time since 1956 that we had presented only one show in a year.
Our production of Die Fledermaus in 1982 saw a new choreographer arrive; this was Paulene Rees, the fourth member of our dancing team who had progressed from dancer to choreographer. Our autumn 1982 show was completely different from anything we had ever done before. This was a presentation of The Wizard of Oz. This is not everyone's cup of tea but the Company performed it with gusto. It was not without its problems.
Getting Tony Austin, as the Tin Woodman, into and out of his genuinely metal costume required patience, perspiration and a pair of pliers. More often than not he also needed a quick re-spray! On the Friday night we thought we had lost our Lion. John Saxon Jones, resplendent in a costume complete with magnificent mane, began to gasp and choke whilst on stage. All manner of thoughts went through our minds but it turned out that he had swallowed some of the mane. All was well after a drink but worse was to befall us on the following day.
It has been said that stardom is always just round the corner and our Saturday performances of The Wizard of Oz certainly demonstrated the truth of this. Sue Hall, playing Dorothy, was taken ill during the first act of our matinee. For the rest of the performance one of our dancers, Yvonne Gray, read in the part whilst a member of the singing chorus, Ann Macdonald, sang from the pit. When the Director, Ruth Barber, arrived for the evening performance she decided to play the part herself. A wig was found for her and a libretto thrust into her hands. As Director she did, of course, know every move and most of the dialogue. Ann, who was also Aunt Em and Prompt (!) again sang from the wings. It cannot be often (thank goodness) that three different performers play the same role in the same production on the same day but the performance went without a hitch.
The Girl Friend, in May 1983, was our third essay into the 1920's style of musical the others being The Boy Friend and No, No, Nanette. It is a little known musical with many of our supporters wondering if we had really meant to present The Boy Friend. It was written by six different writers amongst them Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Gus Kahn, so its credentials are impeccable.
During the early eighties we briefly entered a period when both membership and financial resources came to a comparatively low ebb. It has to be said that one or two of our shows at this time did not come up to our usual high standards but fortunately we had begun to rebuild a local audience loyalty. There were by now signs that local people were coming to see our shows simply because they were being presented by The Harrow Light Opera Company. Our fortunes might be ebbing but our reputation was growing!
We presented another Novello musical in November, The Dancing Years for which Linda Anderson, who had danced with us some years before, came back. She played Jean in our next production, Brigadoon and thereafter became Director and Choreographer for the next thirty shows. Linda is yet another who started as a dancer, went on to play parts and then
moved on to choreograph and direct.
In April 1985 we presented our second production of Annie Get Your Gun. In our first production, in 1959, we gave one of our dancers the opportunity to play the leading role which she did with great success. In this second presentation we gave the same opportunity to a member of the chorus, Rebecca Rosen, aged 22. She gave us a splendid performance. For this show Philip Lee, Linda Anderson's husband, became our Musical Director and went on to do twenty-five shows for us.
For our autumn presentation of Gigi we once again gave a dancer the chance to show what she could do in the leading role. Alison Campbell (now Mansfield) gave us a spirited performance in the title role. Her leading man was Roger Rufey (Julia's husband) who had already played several principal parts for us. Also in the cast were Madge Jones, Bill Northover and John Saxon Jones . The dancing line up also included three names from way back: Michelle Ray, Sharon Byrne and Richard Jones, all previously child performers with us.
For our spring 1986 presentation of Carousel (our third production ) we were joined by Reg Williams in the role of Billy Bigelow. He went on to play many other principal parts for us. The cast again included Roger Rufey as Enoch Snow and John Saxon Jones as Jigger. The ballet was led by Alison Campbell and Chris Brookes.
The next production was something completely different, Robert and Elizabeth, the love story of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. It was comparatively little known and infrequently performed but we took the gamble and presented a first class production. The cast again included John Saxon Jones with Julia Rufey, Reg Williams, Richard Jones, Mike Monk and Bill Northover. John had originally been cast as Barrett with Roger Rufey as Browning. When Roger was called unexpectedly to America he had to bow out of the show and John took on the role at short notice and well into rehearsals. We brought in Michael Guerin to play the part of Barrett.
At the AGM that year we said a big "thank you" to June and Thomas Scott who would soon be moving from the area. They had given us many years of dedicated service. June had been with us almost from the start and over the years had been singer, dancer, part player, Membership Secretary, General Secretary and Minute Secretary. Thomas had been Front of House Manager, Box Office Manager and Transport Officer. Truly a dedicated couple who were a real loss to the Company but who regularly make the trip from near Oxford to see our matinee performances.
The cast of our spring 1987 production of Half a Sixpence (our second) was a very strong one and included Reg Williams, Richard Jones, Ritchard Tysoe, Mike Monk, Sharon Bassingthwaite, Alison Campbell, John Saxon Jones, Chris Guerin, Roger and Julia Rufey Tony Austin and a newcomer, Liz Martin who was to play many principal parts for us.
Our second presentation of Kiss Me Kate, in the spring of 1988 saw the welcome return to the Company of Ian Parrott and Bernard Levien after an absence of several years. They played the two gangsters and 'brought the house down' with their antics and their rendering of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare".
There followed our second presentations of both My Fair Lady and The Music Man before tackling something quite different, this was the infrequently performed Camelot. This was a huge gamble. The cast included many of our regulars but was augmented by a newcomer, Lee Power, in the role of Lancelot. He was later to play several principal parts for us. During one performance a solo ballad singer completely dried on the lyrics and had to revert to what he afterwards claimed was an "earlier version". Here are the lyrics he made up on the spur of the moment:
"Up the wall, down the pub,
In the moat, there's the rub!
Lance escaped them, don't know how,
Could it be he stole a dhow?
In the hedge, lost the way,
Doesn't care, p'rhaps he's gay!
Wish the words would come to mind.
What a cock up, I'm in a bind.
Up with Arsenal, down with Spurs,
O this lyric is getting worse.
How to think up another rhyme,
Here's an idea, just in time.
From the pyre, near where Reg is,
Someone's lighting a Benson and Hedges.
All this smoking, makes me cough,
Here's the ending - quick, I'm off!"
Whilst this speaks much for his vivid imagination it doesn't say much for his enunciation because no-one in the audience detected that there was anything odd about the song. Despite this mental aberration the show was artistically a great success with both the Company and the audiences, but it made a disappointingly heavy loss. Nevertheless it was an immensely satisfying show to present and perform.
Our third presentation of The Desert Song, in April 1990 featured nine principal parts and it is interesting that despite such a lengthy line-up the chorus included eleven other members who had played principal parts. Three people from the past came back for this production: Bill Duffin, Sheila Pearce and Ken Rands. Bill remained with us and eventually joined the committee.
In October we again presented something which could not have been more different. This was the frothy British musical Salad Days by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade. This whimsical tale of a magic piano is a far cry from King Arthur (Camelot) and French legionnaires! (The Desert Song.) It proved to be one of the brightest, most cheerful and best loved shows in recent years. The line up of twenty-two featured players was led by Liz Martin and Richard Jones and welcomed back Sheilagh Duffin and Harvey Kessleman from earlier days.
Even this light hearted show was not without its problems. A heavy picture, hanging from a lighting bar, fell and caught our Property Mistress, who was 'dressing' the stage, on the back of the neck. It pole-axed her. There was stunned silence from the audience during which the front curtains were hastily drawn. I had to address the audience with the news that an early interval was being called. Later I was able to tell them that Sue Tunnicliffe (the injured person) was all right but in hospital. She had sent the time honoured message that the show had to go on! We were later congratulated by the Chairman of the Harrow Arts Council for the professional way in which we had handled a potentially disastrous situation.
For Oklahoma (our third presentation), in 1991, we fielded an impressive line up which included Lee Power, Liz Martin, Bill Northover, Sheilagh Duffin, Richard Jones, Mike Monk, Ian Parrott, Fiona and Ian Haigh, Alison Mansfield, Chris Brookes and John Saxon Jones. There were seventeen dancers and twenty-two chorus which included no less than fourteen principal players without parts for this production! Peter Barnett, Publicity Manager, won a NODA award for his programme design.
Our autumn production was our third Fiddler on the Roof and this was followed by another unusual show (for us). This was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The programme featured all the names that had become so familiar in recent years and our chorus work again won the Kathleen Oyler award (against opposition from the 200 plus Companies in the area) for its high standard. It lost financially but was loved equally by audience and performers; a very happy show to present.
Our second presentation of South Pacific in October 1992 was our one hundredth major musical show, including several large scale concerts. This was the show in which one elderly lady told me how much she had enjoyed it but suggested that the principals "should have been micro-waved"!
In 1993 we presented, surprisingly for the first time, Guys and Dolls. It was notable for selling our entire first night to the charity "The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation". This arose because its Chairman and principal fund raiser had happened to be in the audience for our preceding show and conceived the idea on the spot.
Our Golden Jubilee year, 1994, was celebrated with a special dinner-dance to which every past member that we could trace was invited. They turned up in droves. It was a wonderful evening of music and reminiscence. Photographs, publicity material and press releases were available for browsing through and the exhibits were crowded all evening. We also prepared a book detailing our fifty year history which was sent to the printer in disc form. He lost the disc and the person who had prepared it had moved away from the area. Consequently the project was shelved and never picked up again. However, it is likely that had we proceeded with that book I would not be writing this one.
Our two shows that year were our fourth presentation of Carousel and our first production of Anything Goes. The latter is over fifty years old but has been updated and rewritten with four additional Cole Porter songs interpolated. This has resulted in a frothy, funny and hugely entertaining show.
Most Happy Fella, in 1995 (our second presentation) saw yet another dancer take up choreography for us; this was Claire Goodwin. Our presentation of Billy, in 1996, was Philip Lee's twenty-fifth and last show with us. Our second presentation of Gigi, in 1996, welcomed Ian Bradford as Musical Director. This was the first of ten shows with us.
In 1998 our spring presentation was Me and My Girl. Linda Anderson took a one show break and we welcomed a new team for this one show; John Hebden as Director and Sue Williams as Choreographer. John had played principal roles for us and Sue was yet another dancer who had progressed to principal parts and choreography. Linda Anderson returned for our autumn presentation of Hello Dolly (our second production of this show).
The Pirates of Penzance, in 1999 was the last show directed and choreographed by Linda Anderson. It was her thirtieth production for most of which she had also choreographed. This was a remarkable achievement which the Company greatly valued. For much of that time Philip Lee had been Musical Director and John Saxon Jones had worked closely with her on the set designs. This partnership had given the Company stability and continuity and had produced a string of successful shows.
Our following production, My Fair Lady, made an inauspicious start. As most of my readers will know from experience the path from first rehearsal to first night does not always (if ever) run entirely smoothly. This show was no exception. Rehearsals did not go well and the technical rehearsal on the Sunday did nothing to raise anyone's spirits. Then the Company went on stage for the dress rehearsal and proved once again the truth that "it will be all right on the night". The result was a smash hit. The local press headed its write-up "Liza and co. were bloomin' luverly" and went on to speak in glowing terms of "this very long musical to tackle but all the cast acted par excellence and the audience was captivated."
Oliver, in 2000, was another success. Mike Monk, a performer with us a few years earlier, came back to direct. This was Ian McGregor's first show with us as Musical Director, taking over the baton from Ian Bradford who had been our regular MD since 1976. Richard Jones played Fagin, with Reg Williams as Bill Sykes, Sonja Taylor as Nancy and Roger Rufey as Mr. Bumble. The resultant write up was headed "The audience should have asked for more". It went on; "If there is one thing this Company is good at it is delivering inspiring musical performances with well choreographed dance numbers. .... The Harrow Light Opera Company never fails to amaze me and it is sometimes hard to consider it as an amateur Company."
Salad Days, in the Autumn, was another smash hit. In fact, it made the biggest profit on a single show that we have ever had. When we announced that we were going to do it our members had doubts and misgivings; simply because it was a show most of them knew nothing about. It is, in fact, the magical musical our publicity said it was. A joy to perform it gave twenty-two members the opportunity to shine in featured parts. Valerie Fardell, a name from our earlier days, came back to direct with Mike Monk choreographing.
Anything Goes with Mike Monk directing and Oklahoma, with Julia Rufey directing, both in 2001, were both very successful, artistically and financially. Fiddler on the Roof, in April 2002, again with Mike Monk directing, followed suit. For our autumn production we chose The Hot Mikado, a modern version of the famous G&S Operetta. This was a gamble. Would G&S lovers stay away because they did not like any tampering with the original? Would others stay away because they were not fond of G&S? As it happened we achieved only 58% audience attendance instead of the 85% - 95% we had become used to. However, what they lacked in numbers the audience certainly made up for in their enthusiastic reception of what is, after all, an exhilarating and thoroughly entertaining show to which we did full justice. Mike Monk directed, Clive Swann was MD and Kelly Hardwidge, yet another dancer from a few years ago, came back to choreograph.
At the time of writing we are scheduled to present, in the spring of 2003, Crazy for You with Julia Rufey directing and Elaine Twining choreographing. Then, in the autumn, we will be doing South Pacific, (our third presentation). This will again be directed by Julia Rufey; choreography will be in the hands of Janet Williams, yet another of our ex dancers. Ian McGregor will be MD for both of these productions.
Our Diamond Jubilee year runs from November 2003 to October 2004. A number of events are planned to mark this occasion including presentations of Barnum and The Music Man and a major concert of songs from American musicals. By October 2004 we will have presented fifty-eight shows (including two major concerts) at Watersmeet and one hundred and twenty-six shows in total (for the full list see page 49).
We are now well established in Rickmansworth. We have an enviable reputation for staging first class shows. We can justly claim to be the best Company regularly using the venue and certainly amongst the best in a wide area. We have an excellent working relationship with the theatre staff and management and loyal audiences drawn from both the Harrow and Three Rivers areas.
Of course, just being in the same venue and regularly staging shows does not in itself raise standards or enhance reputations. This is achieved by hard work and dedication by a number of people. The period has been notable for wonderful productions, superb individual performances, and the rise of members of both dancing teams and chorus singers to the ranks of part and principal players. No doubt there are many others who are also capable of the same progress and they will find their chance will come. Our chorus work is always energetic and enthusiastic and our dancing always exuberant yet disciplined. Our performers have always been ably and conscientiously supported by first class stage management and crews, excellent wardrobe and props teams, good front of house, green room and general management teams.
But how times have changed. The budget for our first show was a princely £406. The budget for current shows is in the region of £28,000. We played our first show in a theatre seating over two thousand, we can now squeeze 481 into a single performance - a maximum of two thousand, eight hundred and eighty-six in six performances! We use to regularly put between ninety and one hundred people on stage; now it is a squeeze to accommodate forty-five. We had a regular orchestra of twenty five players; now we range from eight to sixteen. We would often sell fourteen thousand tickets in a week, with a queue on opening night. Now we have to fight hard to sell tickets. In those 'old' days we would sometimes have to request members not to push ticket sales too hard as there were few left. Now we have to frequently remind members to sell as hard as possible. It is easy to think back to those days with nostalgia and things certainly were different then. But it remains fun; it remains a challenge; it remains well worth doing.
All in all at the moment we are riding high. We have good membership numbers; we are financially sound, indeed the position has never been better. Whilst we can never absolutely guarantee our future we can certainly face it with a great deal more confidence than when we first arrived at Watersmeet.
This chapter is more about our other shows and events than the venues. Obviously our two major musicals each year have always been the main events on our calendar but there are others.
We presented several full scale concerts and concert versions during our early years. I have covered these in the chapter "Act 1; Scene 1 - The Coliseum". I did this because they are very much a part of our early history and did much to establish our reputation. Since those days our full scale concerts have been fewer and farther between.
In 1956, during the Hungarian uprising, we staged a large scale concert in the Hammersmith Town Hall to raise funds for the refugees. In 1985 we staged another in the Watford Town Hall in aid of the Ethiopian refugees. Both concerts raised substantial amounts of money but the exact figures are lost from our records.
In December 1987 we returned to Harrow to present the full concert version of West Side Story coupled with a selection of Sondheim songs. This was at St. John's Church in central Harrow and was in aid of Church funds. It was a sell out and a highly successful evening from every point of view.
In December 1989 we were back in Harrow, this time at the Elliott Hall, Hatch End, to present an evening of Jerome Kern music. The first part consisted of a variety of his solos and duets by twelve of our performers. Philip Lee accompanied them on the piano and I delivered a linking narrative of Kern's life and career. The second half was a full concert version of Kern's masterpiece, Showboat, with an orchestra of thirty five musicians and seventy singers. The whole assembly was under the musical direction of Philip Lee. The concert was dedicated to Dudley Ely, Chairman, Director, Singer and Actor, who had died earlier in the year. It was a huge success earning not only a standing ovation but £2400 for the Children in Need charity.
In December 1993 we were back again, this time with a concert of Novello music, again at the Elliott Hall. This was a double event to mark Novello's centenary and the commencement of our own half century. The programme consisted of music from both The Dancing Years and King's Rhapsody. The line up included ten featured principals and a full chorus and orchestra. Between the two shows there was a talk by a visiting speaker about the life and work of Novello.
In January 2001 we presented our most ambitious concert to date. Called West End Blockbusters it consisted of music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Claude Michel Schonberg. It was presented in conjunction with the Watersmeet Theatre to mark their twenty fifth anniversary. The programme included music from Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon and Les Miserables. This was under the musical direction of Ian Bradford, the direction of Ian Parrott and Richard Jones and was accompanied by Ian McGregor on the keyboard and three other instrumentalists. We were joined on stage by some past members and several invited guests. In addition to our regular soloists other members of the Company were given the opportunity to show what they could do. With special lighting effects and good staging, coupled with some truly superb and inspired singing all three performances were rewarded with a standing ovation and loud acclaim. This was a magnificent concert and an outstanding success.
During the last twenty years or so we have also performed a number of smaller concerts and cabarets. I had floated the idea of forming a concert or cabaret team with the twin aims of raising funds and giving members something more to do. We launched it by holding a full scale event of our own with a ninety minute cabaret and a supper. Over thirty members took part with the production in the hands of John Saxon Jones and Sarah Jennings, with Philip Lee providing the accompaniment.
This was followed by two engagements at the Stanley Club in Southgate, a Church Men's Supper Club, a Ladies Club Afternoon, two Civil Service Retirement Club Evenings, Moor Park Golf Club, a Valentine Evening Party, Trewins of Watford annual dinner and a Men's Club Ladies Night Dinner. Not only did these engagements take us to a variety of venues and events but they raised both funds and awareness of our Company, enabling us to sell more tickets for our Watersmeet shows.
In January 1988 we were pleased to be involved with a performance of Beethoven's Choral Symphony, again at St. John's Church, central Harrow. Philip Lee had organised some seventy musicians and seventy singers for what was a magnificent rendering of this wonderful music. Our involvement was to help with the organisation, front of house and to provide some of the singers. Philip was, of course, conducting. Its artistic success was crowned by raising over £3,500 for the Hospitals for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street.
In October of the same year our new Arts Complex was officially opened. This was the present site, with its centre piece of the Elliott Hall. This is actually a Victorian listed building and had been developed as a concert hall. To mark its opening a celebratory concert was organised to be performed by six of the groups using the facilities. Our Company opened the proceedings with songs from the then current West End shows, including: Kiss Me Kate, South Pacific, Les Miserables, Cats, Phantom of the Opera and 42nd Street. We ended with a medley from My Fair Lady, the show we were to present at Watersmeet later that month. As a result of this, one celebrity in the audience bought twenty tickets for it. Linda Anderson and Philip Lee directed our presentation which was enthusiastically received.
In August 1989 we gave a 45 minute Entertainment at the NODA conference at Watersmeet. Linda Anderson directed it with a number of our singers and dancers performing
Our performances have not always been confined to the stage. For example, we have made two long playing records (in the days before the widespread use of tape cassettes and well before CD's had been invented!). They were made for the Marble Arch label of Pye Records and sold commercially. These were recordings of The Merry Widow (in conjunction with Hornsey Operatic Society) and Orpheus in the Underworld (with both the Hornsey and Lloyds Societies). On both occasions the orchestral backing was by the orchestra who had played for us for many years and was under the baton of Joe Fuggle.
In 1972 we were approached by Vic Hallums, a Television Producer, to compete in a televised quiz programme answering questions on the wide subject of entertainment. The quiz master was to be Geoffrey Wheeler and it was a north versus south contest. The Harrow Light Opera Company was to compete against the Altrincham Garrick Society. A test run took place with our two teams headed by Ross Davis and Sheilagh Duffin. The producer (Vic Hallums) declared himself satisfied. From these two teams a final team of three was selected with one other in reserve. Unfortunately the resultant very awkward travelling arrangements made it difficult for some of them and we reluctantly had to withdraw from the competition.
In 1973 we had another experience with television. We were entered for a talent competition. This was the long running programme, Opportunity Knocks, with Hughie Green as compere. We performed a three minute excerpt from My Fair Lady, the show then in rehearsal. To our great surprise and delight the studio audience decided that we had won. Alas we progressed no further but it was a most interesting experience.
We have also been heard (but not seen) in two television commercials; one for a Bird's Eye fast food product and the other for Cornetto Ice Cream. regrettably someone alerted Equity to our involvement and they stepped in to preclude us from further such forays into the commercial world. We have, however, since been asked to sing at a large, formal wedding and to give charity concerts.
During the late eighties and early nineties we gave a number of concert and cabaret performances at clubs for people who could not travel to a theatre. We also went carol singing at Christmas, sometimes in central Harrow shopping areas and sometimes in Hospitals where we would travel from ward to ward.
It can be seen, from all these activities, that our two major musicals a year are not the entire picture. We are often engaged in a wide variety of performances in a wide variety of events at a wide variety of venues and for a wide variety of reasons.
Variety is a word that certainly applies to this latest area of activity. Murder Most Fun is a group that was born in 1991. It was formed to present murder evenings as an entertainment to all kinds of organisations with a scenario being set and live suspects for the players to interrogate. It is really a form of interactive theatre in the round with the performers having to ad lib answers to all sorts of questions without giving too much information..
Currently the group has twelve scenarios with two more being developed. They include mysteries from various periods such as Roman, Medieval, Victorian, twenties, forties and nineties, all written by members of the group. Initially it was formed simply to provide an additional outlet for members of Phoenix Productions and other drama groups. A small fee was charged to pay for printing costs, prizes and costumes.
Since 2000 a growing number of Harrow Light Opera members began to take part as the original members drifted away. By mid 2001 all members of the group were either members of HLOC or had been in the past. At this point I suggested the group become affiliated to our Company and make donations to our funds. Current regular members are myself, Rita, Richard Jones, Geoff Bullen, Angela Brown, Sam Dolding, Michelle Mullick, David Martin, Norman Hayden, Bill Baynes and Sheilagh Duffin. The two latter ones are past members of HLOC and Sheilagh is a Friend of the Company. Others that have appeared with the group are Anna Statt and both Margaret and Jim Davis.
It is a very successful group, having given (at the time of writing) seventy-seven performances with other bookings during 2003.
It is probably not recognised that we do, from time to time, undertake training for our members. We have mounted an all day workshop at Watersmeet. Its aim was to improve basic knowledge and skills of use in a theatre. The programme included a talk on the principles of good lighting by Iain Maclean; a tour of the lighting box with a chance to operate a follow spot; a talk on and demonstration of the work carried out by stage crews with an opportunity of putting it into practice for ourselves; a movement and mime session by Linda Anderson; a make-up session by Nancy Beer our then resident make-up artist. The day culminated in two groups producing and presenting different scenes each judged by the other group. All good fun and very instructive.
We have also mounted several evening sessions on make-up, which are both interesting and useful. Often, prior to taking the floor for rehearsals we hold sessions on dancing and movement, including tap dancing. We have also held workshops on audition techniques.
This was a knockout competition inaugurated in 1988 in memory of Renee Forder, long term member of the Company and General Secretary of the London region of NODA. After several rounds and both a semi-final and final at the annual London Region Conference we emerged as the clear winners. Our team had included (at various times) John Saxon Jones, Tony Austin, Mike Monk , Bernard Levien and Reg Williams.
In the following year John Saxon Jones, Tony Austin and Sarah Jennings defended our trophy successfully. It was particularly pleasing to have twice won the trophy carrying the name of such a dedicated member of the Company.
In 1990 the format changed from one of group teams to one of individual competitors. John Saxon Jones was runner up and Tony Austin came third. In 1991 Tony brought back the trophy yet again to Harrow.
The June 21st. 1972 issue of The Times carried an item concerning two actors being prevented from entering the House of Commons. You may wonder what this has got to do with the Harrow Light Opera Company. This was the year in which the government was proposing to introduce value added tax. An amendment to the Act was being proposed by Hugh Jenkins, Labour MP for Putney, to give theatres and the entertainment industry a zero rating for VAT purposes. NODA had asked all societies to give what support they could to this amendment and one way of doing this was by lobbying MP's.
Ross Davis, whilst shaving that morning, decided to go to the House of Commons and, mulling over it, came up with the idea of donning Elizabethan costume, to lend impact to the occasion. He rang a colleague, Dudley Nisbet, who agreed to go along with him. Ross would go as the Earl of Essex and Dudley as Wilkins, the strolling player from Merrie England. This was all very appropriate to the theme of the day - free men of England and all that! They rang Fox, then a famous theatrical costumiers (we nearly always used them) and found that our usual contact was engaged on the same errand. He was delighted to arrange for everything Ross and Dudley needed. In due course they arrived at the House of Commons, to the great delight of the many tourists thronging the area. Many questions were asked and many flash bulbs were popped.
The policeman at the entrance to St. Stephen's Hall was not so delighted. He first stared in astonishment, then scratched his head and informed them, "I'm afraid you can't come in dressed like that!" Ross indignantly demanded to know why, pointing out that hundreds of years before all the people going in had been dressed as they were. The policeman was unmoved by this piece of information but, being requested to refer to higher authority, agreed to do so.
A representative of the Commons Sergeant arrived and, learning of their errand, agreed to admit them. John Pardoe (Liberal) arrived; Hugh Jenkins (Labour) joined them. Gerald Nabarro (always publicity hungry) hovered around and eventually found his way into the centre of the growing group. Ross was asked by an American tourist if he was a real Lord and Ross gave him a suitable reply. A reporter and photographer arrived from The Times newspaper. Hugh Manning, famous actor of the day, appeared on behalf of Equity.
This was not the end of the story. Arriving back at Fox's Ross and Dudley were dismayed to find it locked up. The thought of returning home by Tube in fancy dress did not appeal to them. However a small shower of gravel against a first floor window produced the caretaker to save them from such embarrassment.
As we know to our cost the government did not zero rate the entertainment industry, but its arrangements were confusing to say the least. If a performance could be proven to be for educational purposes rather entertainment purposes it was declared free of tax! For some very obscure reason known only to the strange minds of the authorities a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta was considered to be educational rather than entertaining! This situation prompted the Customs a