Slice of opera house history saved
Expressions Gallery in Guyton St was the scene recently of an historic presentation.
A commemorative plaque had been made from wooden wall linings salvaged from old dressing rooms under the stage of the Royal Whanganui Opera House.
The wall linings had come to light during a project to strengthen and upgrade the building to modern earthquake structure codes. They were, in essence, an historical document of the theatre’s use since the opera house opened in 1900. It was graffiti, in that names, dates and occasional pictures recorded people and events from decades ago, but valuable graffiti due to its age.
The historical value was noticed immediately and demolition was paused to develop a plan to salvage every board with significant graffiti. The walls were removed and taken to The Men’s Shed in Wicksteed St, where a restoration project to save and present the history as art work was initiated. The project manager was The Men’s Shed’s John McGowan.
The result is more than 60 items of various sizes, now presented as wall hangings, all depicting names, dates, show titles, touring companies, actors, musicians, stage crew, stars and the occasional novelty act.
The largest of them was saved and presented by John Wicks, president of The Men’s Shed, to Fred Holmes, president of The Friends of the Opera House, as a separate part of the launch of Artists Open Studios.
“It’s a former No Smoking sign,” explained John McGowan. “It’s double-sided, and there’s reference to the Opera House on it, so it makes the most sense to give this one back to [Friends of the Opera House].”
John Wicks said the sign contained quite a bit of history “and it would have been a shame to see it lost”.
“The Friends are honoured to receive it back and this will be given pride of place in the Opera House,” said Fred Holmes.
Present to witness the exchange between the two presidents were Trissa McIntyre, Les Cockburn and John McGowan from The Men’s Shed, along with Jim Ennis, Eddie Frith and Fergus Reid from Friends of the Opera House. Also present was Steve Selfe, owner of Expressions Gallery.
The collaboration of all concerned has resulted in this slice of history being saved and available for sale to the public. All profits will be donated to registered charities in Whanganui.