It
was late Summer in 1961 that quite by accident I got myself employed
at the Tivoli Theatre as Stage Lighting Operator. The Alex Findley
Show was in it's last two weeks and the outgoing Lighting Operator (A
New Zealand chap) showed me the ropes during that period. My first
solo show starred Aly Wilson. It ran for three weeks and I was just
starting to enjoy the work when the show was terminated and the
theater closed for some weeks. It was quite a let-down, but I was
seeing the start of the end of the Tivoli as a regular Variety
Theatre. It would soldier on with some high moments but eventually
closed in 1966, almost three years after I had moved on.
Other
shows that I worked with were, Alex Findley, Jack Milroy, Lex McLean,
Johnny Victory, Clark & Murry, Calum Kennedy, Scout Show and
Christmas Pantomime (Dick Whittington 1962).
I
had been a regular theatergoer since first being taken to the Tivoli
by my Auntie Maggie around 1946/7. I knew of most of the regular and
top artists who appeared there and it was really nice to actually be
working on their shows. However, while the Alex Findley Show had been
packing them in over the Summer of 1961 I was soon made aware that the
Ally Wilson Show that followed had entered the autumn season and
audiences, especially during the week were very thin. We were handing
out more free tickets than paying audiences. Likewise, the 1962/3
winter was on it's way and turned out to be the coldest and one of the
longest winters since 1947. I recall walking over pavements of deep
frozen snow for weeks and often had to walk into work as it was
impossible to cycle or take the bus into town. When this miserable
winter ended, one of the cartoons in the local newspaper I always
remember is of a woman pushing her child in it's pram, with the child
screaming in terror, and the mother explaining ''It's all right dear,
it's only the Sun'. Which really says everything about that winter.
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