The year was 1950 when now Rynpark residents Gill Stephens, Brenda McDonald and Jean Downing joined the East Rand Musical Comedy Players (ERMCP) and Startime Variety Company.
The City Times recently caught up with the thespians, who loved sharing their fond memories of theatre as they knew it back in the day.
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“I remember during a rehearsal those of us who weren’t on stage at the time practicing would get bored, so John and Ray would form a line of chairs and make us all sit and pretend to be on an aeroplane, and we would laugh and laugh. These were such good times,” said Jean.
“I met my husband at this club. We were friends for five years before getting together. These really were special times,” agreed Brenda.
ERMCP was established in 1950, in Benoni, and joined forces with Startime Variety Company in 1985, which was at the time based in Boksburg.
This ended a 35-year era of ERMCP and 25 years of Startime, now known as Startime Players.
Startime Players is now based in Benoni CBD and is still going strong.
“We did shows such as Cinderella, the Wizard of Oz and Red Riding Hood between Startime and ERMCP and enjoyed every minute of the dressing up, make up, hair and definitely all the laughs shared in between,” said Gill.
“Both groups did at least two musicals a year with nine performances per show.”
With the introduction of television in the 1970s, the pattern slowly changed as the audience numbers decreased, resulting in the demise of theatre groups such as the East Rand Theatre Club, and the amalgamation of ERMCP with the Startime Variety Company.
“These productions were staged mainly in the Benoni (small) Town Hall with a little stage area and no technical equipment being supplied by the council,” said Ken McDonald, in an old theatre newsletter.
“The equipment used, like lighting and sound, were purchased by the various theatre groups so when the funds ran out and theatre was no longer the norm, these groups started to feel the pressure.”
These locals enjoyed every minute of acting and putting on a show.
“Having the men play girl parts, such as the ugly step sisters in Cinderella, was probably the most fun to watch,” said Gill.
They also spoke fondly about their musical director at the time, Brian Macpherson, who was born in Benoni in January 1938.
“Brian learnt to play the piano at the age of 12, after contracting polio, and became renowned in the East Rand for his musical talent,” said Gill.
“In 1958, he joined the East Rand Comedy players, which later became the Startime Players, and he was involved in many shows as musical director and producer.
“Brian was also one of the first tenants at the Northmead Mall when he opened Hi-Note, a music shop which was around for 26 years, until his death in 1997.”
Over a cup of tea and some biscuits, these three locals relished in their fondest memories of being on stage, with the loud music, the humour, the friends and loads more.
“If we could go back and do it all again, we would,” concluded Gill.
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From the 1940s, no less than five theatre groups were operating in the East Rand:
• East Rand Theatre Club: 1944 to 1985
• East Rand Musical Comedy Players: 1950 to 1984
• Startime Variety Company: 1960 to 1984
• Startime Players: 1985 to present day
• Protea Choral Society: 1972 to present day.
