Postcard from Palmerston North

The 64th Musical Theatre New Zealand training and network conference was held in a small town with a remarkable theatrical history. David Spicer dressed up for the annual meeting and fancy-dress party in March. 

It never ceases to amaze me how lucky New Zealanders are to have such a formidable variety of magnificent theatres. Palmerston North, with a population of 87,000, is blessed with a 1400 seat depression era picture palace now called The Regent on Broadway, along with a professional theatre (Centrepoint) and a 200-seater aptly named The Globe.

When the Regent was built in 1930, the population was a quarter of the size, so it was big enough to house close to ten percent of the town’s residents.

The Palmerston North Operatic Club was in fact formed in 1900 and is the second oldest company in the country. Its opening production was The Pirates of Penzance. 

Now called Act Three Productions, the company was the host of the conference of the umbrella organisation for Musical Theatre companies in New Zealand (MTNZ) to mark its 125th anniversary.

In their clubhouse, they had an excellent display of clippings from every decade of their existence. The local newspaper noted that the initial season was an “unqualified success”, with performances filled with “vim and vigour.”

So, appropriately, the theme for the fancy dress part of the conference was The Pirates of Penzance.

It was my job to judge the fancy dress – giving bottles of wine as prizes to one delegate dressed as a parrot and another as a sunken chest. I awarded a special prize to the host company’s President Allan Nagy. A shy behind the scenes technical co-ordinator, and shrewd manager, he normally declines to dress up at these conferences, so I felt he deserved recognition. 

The clippings from past productions were a fascinating look at how the artform of musical theatre has changed over the decades.

Some of the 120 productions staged over the century ranged from now obscure operettas such as Utopia Limited, The Geisha Girl and The Vagabond King, through to the mid-century blockbuster The Desert Song. 

In the1960s, the company flourished with Calamity Jane, The Sound of Music and Oklahoma!  An early bite at 70’s hit Jesus Christ Superstar, through to the 90’s blockbuster Les Misérables kept the coffers flowing.

The 2009 season of Miss Saigon was the culmination of 50,000 volunteer houses from concept to performance. 

When a lead could not be found locally, the company secured a Broadway actress for the role. 

The company is often part of the New Zealand consortium which builds or buys expensive set pieces that are shipped all over the country. 

“Last year we staged a successful season of Matilda and Kinky Boots.  This year we are doing School of Rock and Come from Away,” said Nagy. 

He takes the success of the company personally. The hardest time was during Covid when it had to cancel We Will Rock You four times.

“I will never forget the tears that were shed,” he recalls. 

The company quickly pivoted to stage Sister Act in line with Government regulations by dividing the Regent into four separate spaces.

Nagy was involved with the committee that raised millions of dollars to restore the Regent. He’s especially proud of the carpet in the foyer, which is based on the original design and came in a special order from Italy.  

I had the pleasure of visiting the town in 2023 when it finally got its season of the Queen musical completed.

This year’s conference had an exceptionally high standard of seminars, divided into performing, technical and management streams.

One of the keynotes left the audience in tears as she explained how theatre had saved her life by giving her friendship at a time of great family stress.

The conference sees company stalwarts given merit certificates and prizes awarded for best program and posters. 

ORiGiN Theatrical CEO Kim Ransley was awarded Life Membership for her 30-year association with MTNZ which commenced when she was employed at Warner Chappell Music. 

A new feature was a weekend junior training course organised by Music Theatre International Australasia. The youngsters showed the delegates what they had learned in a few hours, shining with a nifty rendition from Newsies and Beauty and the Beast. 

It was a good tonic because the conference was tinged with sadness. Several giants of the New Zealand Musical Theatre scene passed away over the last year.

Best known around the conference alumni was the late Valda Peacock QSM, who was known by the politically incorrect title of ‘keeper of the virgins’. By virgins she meant people who had attended the conference for the first time. The parade of first timers was a distinctive comedic tradition of conferences past.