My earliest memories of the Gaiety Theatre
My Mum has been a member of The Service Players since the 1960s and when I was young she would take me along to rehearsals and shows at the Gaiety on many an occasion, unwittingly providing an addiction I am yet to kick. I joined the Christine Wild Theatre School in 1983 and performed at the theatre until I left the island in 1994 and then since I returned in 2001 as well.
My first appearance on stage
In 1981 The Service Players put on a production of ‘The Happiest Days of Our Lives’. This required the fleeting appearance of school children at the end of Act I. These children were played by myself (then aged 5) and Emma and Richard Cowin whose parents Jean and Lionel were also members of The Service Players. My memory of this is running on stage for three nights holding a tennis racket and being greeted by an audience full of laughter before the curtain came down – I was hooked!
Being sick stage left
At one of the rehearsals for a play that I was brought along to, I had been off school with a tummy upset. However, Mum reassured her fellow actors, I was on the mend. A little later in the rehearsal Mum was taking me to the toilet backstage, one of the very nice actors stopped us in the wing stage left to ask how I was. I answered by vomiting on his shoes!
It was always cold
I spent many hours sitting in the auditorium during weekends either watching Mum rehearsing or later on, being part of rehearsals with the Christine Wild Theatre School. This was the 1980s, before the theatre had been refurbished and was not quite as comfortable as it is these days. Also the heating was never on if there was no performance. You had to wrap up warm for the hours spent sitting in a cold auditorium. It was just a fact of working at the Gaiety that we all accepted and came to love as part of being in the theatre.
Tony McAvoy
A legend of the Gaiety Theatre, Tony was the first stage manager I remember at the theatre. An Irish chain smoker with a heart of gold, he would come on stage during rehearsals, fag in his mouth and quietly fix something or shout up to the flies for something to be flown in or out often while we carried on around him. He was as much a fixture of the theatre as the lights and fondly remembered by many.
Leslie Crowther
The Christine Wild Theatre School was always asked (and still is) to be a part of many variety and charity shows. One such show, after performing, we were allowed to watch the remainder of the show from ‘the Gods’. Leslie Crowther was the main star of the evening. We had been told that we must be quiet in the Gods and were shushed many times. Amongst other things, Leslie was known for playing Chesney Allen of Flanagan and Allen fame. His final number was ‘Underneath the Arches’ a song Flanagan and Allen made famous which we all knew. It might seem odd for 8/9/10 year olds to know a song made famous in the 1930s but we must have learnt it for a show, so we all sang along and I remember Leslie beaming up at us encouraging us to join in, despite the grown-ups telling us to shush!
Jack and the Beanstalk
The first show I remember being taken to see was the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. Mum had bought us seats in the dress circle, a rare luxury even today. At the appearance of the Giant I was so terrified I burst into tears and could not be persuaded to stay in the auditorium. I remember being told off in the foyer no doubt because Mum had spent lots of money taking me to see a show I didn’t stay to the end of!
My second experience of Jack and the Beanstalk was performing in it in 2007 with Dreamstar Productions opposite my then fiancé Neil Callin and with friends Matt James, Dot Tilbury, Amelia O’Shea, Gary Chatel, David Artus and Alex Toohey – not quite as scary!
Watching Manx stars on the stage
A benefit of going to Mum’s rehearsals and performing with the Christine Wild Theatre School was being able to watch many locally famous faces of the day. I remember watching in awe the likes of Wylie McDowell, Denny Cain, Val Kissack, Tony Hawkes and Jack Hampson (as well of course as my Mum, Carole Bairstow!) filling the auditorium with their presence and performance and inspiring the next generation.