“If we can provide what is required, would you produce it for us?” I asked. “Yes I would,” was her reply. She suggested though, that as a new group, she produce “Sally” for our first year to give us some experience, and to do “Rose Marie” for our second year’s production. The committee was not so thrilled because we had absolutely no money although they were all very keen to start. However, with Beryl producing, the productions would draw musical people and be a success they thought. But ……… Then I heard that the Rotorua Light Opera were doing “Rose Marie” about a month before we planned to produce ours. So I rang the President and he said he was coming to Auckland on business and invited myself and my Secretary Betty Stevenson to lunch at his hotel because they wanted to sell their costumes when the show finished. Of course, he didn’t know that we had no money! The day of the meeting arrived. Betty and I met him as arranged. He was such a nice man with a good sense of humour and good company. He provided wine with our meal and we all really relaxed. Then we started to talk about the costumes. He expected to get at least four hundred pounds, but I offered one hundred! He laughed and said his committee would never agree to that. We talked some more and I explained the situation. Unlike his established Rotorua group, we had no money from previous productions to help us, plus the fact that Beryl would only produce “Rose Marie.” Our group was so enthusiastic but without his help we would not be able to even get started. Our committee were mainly men and very against taking the chance that our first show “Sally” would produce the money to cover such expenses. After quite a while he said, “OK, but I shall probably have to supply some shortfall.” This was obviously not a problem for him as he owned a big, successful business. As we walked out of the hotel I said, “Of course, that one hundred pounds will include the props and the Totem Pole won’t it?” He stopped walking and looked astounded. “I can’t do that,” he said, “the boys have put so much work into the Totem Pole that they would never agree.” “Yes, but why would you want to store such a large item and other pieces of a show that you may never do again?” I asked. He laughed heartily and said, “Well, I hand it to you. You can certainly bargain! I will see how the boys take it and let you know.” On the last night of the Rotorua company’s production of “Rose Marie,” a number of our members went to see the performance and to collect the costumes. It was such fun and we took each costume almost as they came off the stage! A check was made to be sure that we had the correct number of each set of costumes required. The party that followed was a very happy event which we all enjoyed. We were made to feel so very welcome by the Rotorua group and many friends were made. So we sent away for the Libretto and music, then advertised for cast and chorus members. People were keen and we were soon auditioning. Beryl had several leads in Auckland which she followed up, so we were very fortunate to get excellent singers in the lead roles with a very good, strong cast of many experienced people. But how were we to raise the money? Many ideas were put forward but they would not have made enough money for this show. Then I had an idea. “Why don’t we produce a cookery book by asking all our friends and members to give us a few well-tried and favourite recipes?” Once I agreed to put the book together and a few members agreed to proof read, my committee were happy. And so we proceeded. My family enjoyed many unusual meals during that period because if I read a recipe that seemed to lack certain ingredients, I tried them out in my own kitchen rather than getting back to the donor because I didn’t want to offend. It was tedious work and took a great deal of time, but a neighbour who was a printer took it and produced the books. We had about a thousand printed and they sold really well. Many people sent them to relations and friends here and overseas, so altogether we were able to raise the money we needed. Some practice nights were held in members’ homes when the rehearsal was only for a few of the cast. I remember some nights when we rehearsed in one of our committee member’s home because she had a grand piano. At one end of the room her husband sat studying! He was a University lecturer and we were all amazed at his powers of concentration with all the noise going on. We certainly had a lot of fun. After a lot of hard work and a few other problems, the show was ready - complete with the props and Totem Pole from Rotorua! Our production was a huge success and many were amazed at how well we managed such an ambitious show. Of course, this was largely due to the wonderful talent and skill of our producer Beryl. This Light Opera group is still very active. Over the years they have managed to build their own theatre and props. rooms. There is only one lady there now whom I know, but they are very kind and invite me to all their special functions. I am most grateful for this. One year it happened to be my birthday and an announcement was made from the stage that the company’s second President was in the theatre! Some of the cast came onto the stage with a birthday cake and candles alight while the audience clapped. They were so kind and several strangers came to wish me a happy birthday. |
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